Genesis

בייה

Dear Ones, part one of our Israel/Canaan series is to provide the Scriptural foundation for why the Israelis/Jewish People say the land of Israel/Canaan, Gaza, The West Bank, Galilee, part of Lebanon, and Jordan is our God-Given land! IT IS!! I AM PRO-ISRAEL! That should not come as a surprise. Yet, I also strongly believe in lovingkindness, compassion, righteous justice, truth, empathy, honesty, faithfulness, and morality through the Torah’s Teachings and Observances.

Having shared the above reflection, please ask yourself the following four questions?

Do I believe that [the] Lord God is Sovereign?

Do I believe [the] Lord God Created everything in our universe?

Do I believe [the] Lord God is the sole owner of everything in the Universe at the time of creation and that He may do as He pleases with it?

Do I believe that [the] Lord God Made a covenant agreement with Abraham and his descendants through Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph?

Now, we will begin discussing what the Holy Scriptures/Ha Tanakh/the Hebrew Bible teaches regarding each question. The answers to these questions are interwoven throughout the following Holy Scriptures.

The Torah declares [the] Lord God as Creator and Owner.

The Torah is a book of Laws spoken by the mouth of [the] Lord God. (Psalms 78.1) Says, A Maskil of Asaph. ‘Give ear, O My people, to My Torah; incline your ears to the Words of My mouth.’ The words ‘My Torah’ occur throughout the Holy Scripture. They inform us that [The] Lord God is the originator of the Torah. This is what is meant by the Words ‘MY TORAH.’ The same holds for the words ‘YOUR TORAH’, as stated in (Psalms 94.12), ‘Happy is the man whom you chasten, O Lord, and whom You teach from Your Torah.’ (Psalms 19.8) Says, ‘The Torah of [the] Lord is Perfect.’ (Genesis 1.1) Says, ‘In the beginning [the Lord] God completely Created the Heavens and the Earth.’

(Psalms 135.4-6) Sums it up pretty well. ‘Hallelujah! For [the] Lord is good; sing praises to His name; for it is pleasant. For [the] Lord has chosen Jacob to Himself, and Israel for His own possession, for I know that [the] Lord is great and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever [the] Lord wishes, He has done in heaven, earth, the seas, and all deep places.’

(Genesis 12.4-6) Says, ‘So [In 2023 From Creation] Abraham/Abram departed, as [the] Lord had spoken to him; and Lot went with him; and [Abraham] was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. And [Abraham] took Sarah/Sarai, his wife, and Lot his [brother Haran’s] son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go to the land of Canaan; and to the land of Canaan, they came. And [Abraham] passed through the land to the place of Shechem, [the place where Dinah, Abraham’s great-granddaughter, would be kidnapped and raped by a Canaanite Shechem] to the terebinth of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. And [the] Lord Appeared to Abraham, and said, To your seed will I give this land; and there [Abraham] built an altar to [the] Lord, who appeared to him.’

The Torah informs us that ‘Abraham gave all he had to Isaac’ – (Genesis 25.5). (Genesis 21.10) Says, ‘[Sarah] said to Abraham, Cast out this slave [Hagar] and her son [Yishmael]; for the son of this slave shall not be heir with my son, with Isaac.’

(Genesis 26.2-6) Says, ‘And [the] Lord Appeared to [Isaac], and said, Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you; Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you; for to you, and your seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham, your father, And I will make your seed multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give to your seed all these countries; and in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; Because Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept My charge, my commandments, My statutes, and My laws. And Isaac lived in Gerar;

(Genesis 28.12-14) [Jacob] dreamed that a ladder [was] set up on the earth, and the top of it reached heaven; behold, the angels of God ascended and descended on it. And, behold, [the] Lord Stood above it, and said, I am [the] Lord God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you, and your seed; And your seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south; and in you and your seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’

Jacob named this HolyPlace בֵּית־אֵ֑ל Beth-El, The House of God. (Genesis 28.19) Says, ‘And he called the name of that place Beth-El, but the name of that עִיר Eer city was called לוּז Luz at first.’

Luz is the early name of Bethel and probably the name of the town near the actual location of the altar and pillar of Jacob.

Our Objective in the above explanation is for each of us.

Those that recognize [the] Lord God as Sovereign of the universe

Dear Ones, may we be comforted knowing that [the] Lord God is Sovereign of the universe. The Lord God processes supreme power, i.e., sovereignty over the universe.

We MUST replace EVIL with GOOD, HOPELESSNESS with PROSPARITY, and LIES with the Truth of The Torah. That is how we change a culture.

May we use the tools of The Torah to restore, heal, and bring peace to ourselves and others. We can succeed despite past sins and mistakes. We can lift ourselves and others.

Good Sabbath.

Dr. Akiva Gamliel Belk

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