Gen. 37 – Improving
Dear Family and friends, Genesis 37 Speaks loud about the unfortunate positions we place ourselves and others in. Jacob had four wives, then Rachel, the wife, Jacob loved died from childbirth as they traveled on the way to Ephrath. Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath, which is בֵּית לָחֶם Beh-Law Hem / Bethlehem. Jacob’s household was traveling to Hebron, where Israel’s father, Isaac, lived. After 14 years of studying in the Academy of Shem and Evier, after 20 years working for his father-in-law, Laban, and after eighteen months living in Shechem, Israel returned home with servants, herds, and great wealth.
God Willing, we will consider several Gematrias about Bethlehem.
House of Bread
בֵּית לָחֶם = 1050
House of Bread
בֵּית לָחֶם = 480
Knowledge
דֵּעוֹת = 480
Deuteronomy 8.3
And he humbled you, and let you hunger, and fed you with manna, which you knew not, neither did your fathers know; that he might make you know that man does not live by bread only, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord does man live.
Bread alone does not satisfy human need. Our souls have Spiritual needs that only The Torah of The Lord can fulfill.
House
בֵּית = 412
Unite
תחד = 412
Usually, תחד – Tachad is spelled יחד Yachad meaning to unite. When The Letter Tav is added to a Word that it is not usually a part of, that usually means, this is a sign. Study this word. The spelling of the word has been modified for a reason. It is our responsibility to find the reason the spelling was changed. What is that reason? This is a Mystical phenomenon that translators are unable to express.
Bread
לָחֶם= 78
Salt
מלח = 78
Let’s come back to the subject hand. Rachel died at an early age. Why? Jacob was careless with his words when Laban was searching for his idols.
In Genesis 31, Laban asked Jacob, ‘Why have you stolen my gods?’ Jacob answered and said to Laban, ‘With whomever, you find your gods, let that person not live.’ Jacob spoke these words hastily. He was not mindful of the possibilities when he said, ‘Let that person not live.’ Jacob did not know that his lovely wife, Rachel, had stolen Laban’s idols… A short time later, Rachel dies in childbirth. Rachel didn’t have to die. The Torah teaches us to be careful with words we say. Our words have an impact!
Genesis 37 informs us that Israel loved Joseph more than all his children because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a coat with long sleeves. Some teach Jacob made a coat of many colors for Joseph. Did this act of loving-kindness cause jealousy among his sons, daughter, and sons-in-law? Holy Scripture shares with us the beautiful and the not so beautiful. Jacob’s actions could have been glossed over. Yet, they were included to teach us. It is our duty to accept, acknowledge, and to determine how The Truth should be applied. Every Jew scrutinies the actions of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. We discuss, study, and analyze every action they made. We acknowledge their humanness. We acknowledge their frailties. We acknowledge their successes and their righteousness. The Torah is a truthful and open book.
Other beliefs often do not accept the imperfection of their leaders or admit mistakes their leaders make. Their leaders must be perfect! For example, Christian Text shares the sins of Rabbi Jesus. Christians do not acknowledge that Jesus spoke ill of others. They are unwilling to accept he made false claims, gossiped, and lied. Rabbi Jesus’ unthinkable sins are written in the Christian Text. Rabbi Jesus’s brother, James shares about sins we make with our speech, James 3. Matthew Jesus’ quotes several of Rabbi Jesus’ public sins. I have discussed a few of these over the years in my books; A Sincere Journey Ends Without Jesus, The LAST Six Days Of JESUS Life On Earth, The Jesus Probe, and others. My books are available through most book stores.
My goal is not to attack the beliefs of others. My goal is to share The Truth as revealed to me. Christians are strong supporters of Israel and The Jewish People. We appreciate their loving-kindness and charitable acts. Truth is Supreme!!
The Lord God Loves all of His Creation. He has shown each of us the same steps of repentance if we sin. We acknowledge our mistakes/sins. We take ownership of them. We repent. Teshuvah, i.e., repentance means to return. Wikipedia correctly defines, ‘Repentance (Hebrew: תשובה, literally, “return,” pronounced “teshuva” ) is one element of atoning for sin in Judaism. Judaism recognizes that everybody sins on occasion, but that people can stop or minimize those occasions in the future by repenting for past transgressions. Thus, the primary purpose of repentance in Judaism is ethical self-transformation.’ תְּשׁוּבָה Teshuvah / Return means we return to the correct path. One cannot return to a place that they have never been to. Returning means we go back. We go back to the proper Ethical and moral way of living according to The Torah, The Mitzvot / Commands / Observances. We make a plan to turn around to return.
Psalms 51
Oh, Lord God, You do not desire sacrifice; or else would I have given it. You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
לִישׁוּעָתְ קִוִּיתִי יְהוָֹה 1:1
For Your Salvation, I yearn.
Proverbs 24.16
For seven times, a Righteous man falls and rises up again…
What does this mean? It means a righteous individual is NOT necessarily perfect.
Genesis 4.7
If you do well [IMPROVE], shall you not be accepted? And if you do not well, sin lies at the door. And to you shall be his desire, and yet you may rule over him.
The Lord God Said to Cain, ‘If you improve yourself, you shall be accepted. The key to redemption is to improve one’s self. Part of repenting is acknowledging one’s mistake, taking ownership for doing wrong. Cain would not take ownership of his sin. Therefore sin lay at his door, and it consumed
him. He died in his sins. ALL that was required was for Cain to improve himself. Nothing more! When we fail, we follow the same path as discussed in Genesis three., our final repentance is automatic when our body decays in the grave.
We remember what The Lord God said to Cain.
Dear Ones, it is beautiful to know that The Lord God Offers us easy ways to repent. God Willing, we will share some of this at a later time. May we stay within Torah’s Guidelines Of righteous living and repentance. May we help others, May we bring peace and healing to our world. May this coming Sabbath and every Sabbath be a blessed Day.
Good Sabbath!
Akiva George Belk
