תּוֹלְדֹת 
Toldot/Generations   
Genesis 25:19-28:9
HafTorah Portion Malachi 1:1-2:7
Brit Chadasha Romans 9:6-13

     Toldot begins with the genealogy of Isaac and continues with God’s prophecy concerning the twins: ‘Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be separated from your body; one people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger.’ Genesis 25:23.
     Genesis 25:27-28 lays the foundation of the prophecy and their character traits. ‘So the boys grew. And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents. 28 And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.’
     Chapter 25 concludes with Esau relinquishing his birthright.  In Genesis 26, Isaac relives the same lie that his father Abraham committed claiming to Abimelech that his wife is his sister.  Chapter 26 continues with the Philistines envying Isaac and stopping up the wells. Wells are dug and quarrels ensue. In Genesis 26:24 God repeats the promise of the prophecy. ‘And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham’s sake.” 
     Genesis 26 ends with more information regarding the character of Esau. ‘When Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35 And they were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah.’ Genesis 26:34-35.
   The entire chapter of Genesis 27 contains the blessing over Jacob, Esau’s despair, and his threatening prophecy to kill Jacob.  Genesis 27 ends with a very strong statement about the wives that Esau took.And Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these who are the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?’ Genesis 27:46. Why was Rebekka so upset?  It will help to understand if we know exactly who Heth was. In Genesis 10:15 ‘And Canaan begat Sidon his first born, and Heth…’
      As a son of Canaan, Heth was of the lineage that Noah had cursed and had said would be a servant of his brethren. Genesis 9:25-27. ‘And he said, cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. 26 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. 27 God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. ‘
      Esau had broken one of the conditions of the covenant forbidding the intermarriage of God's people with other tribes as they were worshipers of false gods. It was because of their idolatry that both Isaac and Rebecca felt bitter grief as we read in Genesis 26:34. For Rebekah, it was especially disheartening that Isaac still intended to give Esau the birthright blessing. 
    Due to Esau’s rebellious character and the prophecy in Genesis 25:23, we can understand Rebekka’s favoritism toward Jacob. But why, even after we are told in Genesis 26:34 that Rebekka and Isaac were grieved about Esau’s, did Isaac love Esau more?  Did he love Esau merely because he had a taste for wild game? Did his flesh rule his heart? Did Isaac not know that Esau had sold his birthright for soup and that he had then despised the birthright itself in Genesis 25:29-34?
     By marrying two Hittite women, Esau assimilated into their culture.  He was clearly not the one ordained by God to carry the Abrahamic covenant forward, the covenant that involves one to be distant from the Hittites and Canaanites and all they represented regarding religion, culture, and morality. 
     Yet Isaac did love Esau more than Jacob.  Not only does the verse Genesis 25:27-28 say so, it remained so.  In Genesis 27:7 Issac speaks to Esau from a fleshly love, desiring to bless him: ‘Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.’ However, it is at the end in Genesis 27:33-34 that we see the depth of feelings between them when Esau enters with the food and Isaac realizes the deception that has been played. Isaac ‘trembled violently and Esau burst out with a loud and bitter cry.’  Was it just a father’s love that bound Isaac so deeply to Esau?
   One explanation is that the phrase “skillful hunter” to mean that Esau trapped and deceived Isaac. He pretended to be more religious than he was. He was cunning and able to deceive, similar to the practice of hunters when hunting for game, leaving out bait, salt, or man-made water holes, and erecting tree towers or hunting from camouflage specialty tents.  Either way it involves a certain amount of deception, and false caring. 
   The prophecy of Esau begins in Genesis 9.:25-27 and continues in Genesis 25:23-24. 
    Isaac continues the prophecy in Genesis 27:38-40: ‘And Esau said to his father, “Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me—me also, O my father!” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept. 39 Then Isaac his father answered and said to him: “Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above. 40 By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; and it shall come to pass, when you become restless, that you shall break his yoke from your neck.’
     This prophecy partly came true when Esau’s descendants revolted against Jacob’s descendants in 
2 Kings 8:20-22. Bitterness filled Esau, and he vowed to kill Jacob after their father’s death in Genesis 27:41
     In Genesis 33:4 we know that the kiss was the kiss of death. 
     The Edomites, Esau’s descendants, hated Jacob’s descendants, the Israelites. Edom regularly opposed and fought against Israel. The prophets Jeremiah and Obadiah said that God would “bring disaster on Esau” Jeremiah 49:8 and that the Edomites would eventually be destroyed as stated in Obadiah 1:18. Malachi 1:2-3 clearly reveals God’s point.  Amos 1:1-11 declares God’s punishment. 
     The writer of Hebrews instructs us to not associate with the lineage of Esau, an Edomite. Hebrews 12:14-17 ‘Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: 15 looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; 16 lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. 17 For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.’  Hebrews 12:15-16 describes Esau’s attitude toward Jacob as a "root of bitterness," a profound and deep-set animosity that ultimately corrupts and defiles anyone who maintains it.
     The remainder of the prophecy in Genesis 27:39-40 is actually a curse, predicting that Esau's descendants would dwell away from fertile lands and plentiful rainfall, live in near-constant conflict, and serve Jacob's offspring except in infrequent instances of rebellion. It is no wonder that Esau's hatred for his younger brother burned and continues to burn so intensely.
     Genesis 36:6 ‘Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the persons of his household, his cattle and all his animals, and all his goods which he had gained in the land of Canaan, and went to a country away from the presence of his brother Jacob. Genesis 36 continues with  the genealogy.  Verse 1: "… Esau, who is Edom."  Verse 8: "Esau is Edom."  Verse 19: ". . . Esau, who is Edom."  Verse 43: "Esau was the father of the Edomites."
     However, Zechariah 2:8-9 ‘For thus says the Lord of hosts: “He sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye. For surely I will shake My hand against them, and they shall become spoil for their servants. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me.’

 

Toldot / Generations
Genesis 25:19-28:9
HafTorah Malachi 1:1-2:7
Brit Chadasha Romans 9:6-13

     Toldot, beginning with the genealogy of Isaac, transitions into Adonai preparing Rebekah: “Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be separated from your body; one people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger.” Genesis 25:23. Chapter 25 ends with the famous story of Esau selling his birthright.
     In Chapter 26 there is a similar scenario; a generational recap with Isaac as what happened in Genesis 20 with Abraham when he was not forthright regarding Sarah, his wife. In Toldot, Isaac lies to Abimelech the King, claiming Rebekah is indeed his sister not his wife, ending with a confrontation between Abimelech and Isaac. Chapter 26 ends with Esau marrying Hittite women which makes his parents grieve.
    In Genesis 27, Jacob deceives his father into thinking that he is Esau in order to acquire the birthright.  Not only did Jacob lie about the situation and who he was, but he also lied about God.  Genesis 27:18-20 ‘So he went to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn; I have done just as you told me; please arise, sit and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.” But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” And he said, “Because the Lord your God brought it to me.”
     It was not God; it was Rebekah who prepared the meal. ‘So Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, “Indeed I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, ‘Bring me game and make savory food for me, that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.’ Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to what I command you. Go now to the flock and bring me from there two choice kids of the goats, and I will make savory food from them for your father, such as he loves. 10 Then you shall take it to your father, that he may eat it, and that he may bless you before his death.” Genesis 27:6-10.
     What are the immediate and generational consequences for lying to and about God? What are the immediate and generational consequences for Esau, who ‘despised his birthright’ and, in rebellion married exactly who his parents did not want him to marry.
     Toldot ends with a generational blessing from Isaac to his son, Jacob: ‘“May God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may be an assembly of peoples; and give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and your descendants with you, that you may inherit the land in which you are a stranger, which God gave to Abraham.” Genesis 28:3-4.
     Some teach that generations are linear.  However, according to Scripture, aren’t generations circular? We either return to the ways of our forefathers, whatever that may be, or return to God.
     Generational promises are clear in Exodus 20:4-6 ‘You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.’
    Micah 7:18-19 tells us that God is loving and merciful, desiring that His children return to Him. ‘Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in unchanging love. He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins Into the depths of the sea.’
     God tells His people to return to Him throughout Scripture.   In order to return to something we have to have been there. How can we return to a home that isn’t ours?  How can we return to a spouse that we never married?  Do we return to a path if we were never there?
      Joel 2:13 ‘And rend your heart and not your garments.” Now return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness and relenting of evil.’
     Hosea 14:1 ‘Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.’
     Zechariah 1:3 ‘Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Return to Me,” declares the Lord of hosts, “that I may return to you,” says the Lord of hosts.’
     Nehemiah 1:9 ‘…but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I will gather them from there and will bring them to the place where I have chosen to cause My name to dwell.’
     Job 22:23 ‘If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored; if you remove unrighteousness far from your tent…’
     Lamentations 3:40 ‘Let us examine and probe our ways, and let us return to the Lord.
     Hosea 6:1 ‘Come, let us return to the Lord. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us.’
     There is a beginning - always a beginning – always God. We move forward, maybe out of sync, charging our own ways, but we are always moving forward. It is when we heed, hear and listen to His voice that we know to circle back and return.  However, some moving forward circle back, but the circle is incomplete, wandering, circling back to nothingness, generation after generation, living in the dark.     It is when we return that the promises of His ways are bestowed upon us.
     Isaiah 59:21 ‘As for Me,” says the Lord, “this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” says the Lord, “from this time and forevermore.”
     Psalm 112:2 ‘His descendants will be mighty on earth; the generation of the upright will be blessed.’
     Isaiah 44:3 ‘‘For I will pour out water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring and My blessing on your descendants…’
     Romans 9:8 ‘That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.’
     Galatians 3:29 ‘And if you belong to Yeshua (The Living Word, The Way, The Truth, The Life, The I AM), then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.
     What is it to belong to something? Definitions and synonyms of belong are: to be the property of, to be the possession of, to be connected to, to be affiliated with, to be linked to, and to be in accord with.  The antonyms of belong are: to avoid, to disassociate with, to disagree, to disconnect, to oppose, to leave, and to differ.
     IF we return. There are no promises in the covenant unless we choose to return. It is ‘if’ we return.
     Nehemiah 1:9 ‘…but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I will gather them from there and will bring them to the place where I have chosen to cause My name to dwell.’
     Job 22:23 “If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored; If you remove unrighteousness far from your tent…’
     Jeremiah 15:19 ‘Therefore this is what the Lord says: “If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me…’
     Zechariah 1:3-4 ‘Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Return to Me,” says the Lord of hosts, “and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts. “Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets preached, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Turn now from your evil ways and your evil deeds.”
     Jeremiah 4:1-2 “If you will return, O Israel,” says the Lord, “Return to Me; and if you will put away your abominations out of My sight, then you shall not be moved. And you shall swear, ‘The Lord lives,’
In truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; the nations shall bless themselves in Him, and in Him they shall glory.”
      Are we returning to His Ways, or are we disconnected to the Creator of the Universe? Let us all return.

תּוֹלְדֹת
Toldot/Generations
Genesis 25:19-28:9
HafTorah Portion Malachi 1:1-2:7
Brit Chadasha 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

     The Results of Living for Self…

     This parsha tells of the ‘stolen’ birthright. But was it stolen or rightfully taken? Here is one way of viewing this incident: Rebecca was right to do what she did and Jacob was right to concede to her wishes. She knew that it would be Jacob, not Esau, who would continue the covenant and carry on the vision of Abraham given by God into the next generations. She knew because of several incidents and because of who she was.  She was chosen by God to carry on the lineage. She was the one that displayed the extra kindness by watering the camels and also, her actions were the sign that the servant had asked for. She was also the mother, and was witness to her son’s way of living.
     She knew because she directly heard this from God before the twins were born in Genesis 25:23, ‘Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the elder will serve the younger.”
     She knew because she had watched the twins grow up. She knew that Esau was a hunter, a man of violence, and had undoubtedly heard the harm that he had done. She also witnessed him sell his birthright for a bowl of soup, and later lie to his father that it was ‘stolen’. She had watched and heard while he “…ate, drank, rose and left. So Esau despised his birthright” Genesis 25:34. No one who despises his birthright can be the trusted guardian of a covenant intended for eternity that began with Abraham.
     Third, she knew because just before the episode of the blessing we read in Genesis 26:34 that Esau married outside of the covenant and how it grieved Isaac and Rebecca: “When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith, daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath, daughter of Elon the Hittite. They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebecca.” This showed Esau’s denial to comply with what the covenant required. By marrying Hittite women, he proved himself indifferent to the structure of the covenant of not marrying outside the tribe and to the wishes of his parents.  
     In all three incidents there is a direct statement: he didn’t care and was concerned only with ‘self’.
     We see this again in Genesis 27:30-40 when Esau comes before Isaac. The verses say that Isaac trembled exceedingly and that Esau let out a bitter cry. Then Esau reveals once again his true character in Genesis 27:36, ‘And Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and now look, he has taken away my blessing!” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”  We just read in Genesis 25:34 that Esau despised his birthright.
      Self is our inner ego, the reason why we make the decisions that we do. We live for self, we die for self, we move for self. However, when we claim to live in the covenant of God, to abide by His Torah with the filter and salvation of Yeshua, we have to die to self, which is different than die for self.
     Ephesians 4:20-24 ‘But you have not so learned Messiah, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Yeshua: 22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.’
     Luke 9:23 ‘And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.’
     Romans 12:1-2 ‘Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.’
     1 Peter 4:1-2 ‘Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.’
     Galatians 5:24 ‘Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.’
     Romans 8:12-13 ‘So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.’
     Verses in the Brit Chadasha on ‘self’ far outnumber any verses in the Torah. What happened? Were people living according to God and His will then suddenly denied the will of God?
       We have to look at the times when God sent His Son. Judea was very corrupt; the land of Israel was under Roman rule and the Pharisees and all the spiritual leaders had become corrupt and thus corrupted the Torah. At the time of the destruction of the Temple, there were 26 factions of Jews fighting amongst themselves.  ‘Self’ had become the ruler of the people.  So, God sent His Son, the Torah incarnate, The Living Word for a reset. This was to reset the Torah within the people and to set straight the ways of God.
     Yeshua knew of the corruption how deep it went and He knew the thoughts of men.
     Matthew 22:15-22 ‘Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk. 16 And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men. 17 Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”
18 But Yeshua perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? 19 Show Me the tax money.” So they brought Him a denarius. 20 And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” 21 They said to Him, “Caesar’s.” And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.’
     Do we die to self? Do we live according to the Torah, the Ways of God? Or have we interpreted Scripture for our own demise?
     Kefa, in 2 Peter 3:14-18 reveals to us the dangers of twisting the writings of Rabbi Shaul (Paul) which many do to this day. ‘Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 15 and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. 17 You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Yeshua HaMashiach.’
     We must not live as Esau did, denying the ways of God, His Covenant and living for self. But rather we must live for the glory of God, and live according to His Will – in all things.