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Parsha Page
Torah, Genesis 3:22 - 4:26
And the Lord God said, “ Now
that the man has become like one of us, knowing good and bad, what if he should
stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live
forever!”
The story of Adom and Eve in
Gan Eden ends, with Adonai casting them out to till the soil, and posting the
cheruvim and fiery sword at the entrance to prevent them from coming back in.
Chapter 4 relates the story
of how the first child born to Eve, Cain, became a murderer. Rashi teaches that
Cain and Abel were born before Adom was banished from Gan Eden, and that they
had sisters. Cain had become a farmer, while his brother Abel tended the flocks.
They both brought offerings to Adonoi, Cain’s from the produce of the field, and
Abel’s was from the choicest of his flock. For an unstated reason, Adonai looked
favorably upon Abel’s offering, but not upon Cain’s. Rashi’s interpretation is
that Cain brought whatever was at hand, indicating carelessness in his dealings
with Adonoi.
When Adonai did not approve
of his offering, Cain was depressed. He called Abel into the field and started a
quarrel, presumably to find a reason to kill him. After Cain killed Abel, Adonai
gave him a chance to confess and repent, by asking, “Where is your brother”.
Instead, Cain acted as if he could deceive the Lord, saying he did not know. As
Adonai cursed Cain, stating that the land would no longer give him strength, and
exiling him to the east, he also helped assuage Cain’s fear that someone would
kill him by placing a mark upon Cain’s forehead, and declaring that no one
should kill him. Cain settled in the East in the land of Nod, and had children
and grandchildren. It is said that Lemech, the seventh generation descendant of
Cain, killed Cain, and that is the meaning of the poem in verses 23 and 24.
Adom and Hevel had another
child, named Seth, who had a son Enosh; it was during his time that men began to
invoke the Name of the Lord. This implies that mankind became idolatrous, naming
idols to be deities.
Qeriath, Ezekiel 28:13-25
Ezekiel has just finished
pronouncing judgment on the prince of Tyre – now he condemns the king of Tyre.
The early sages, like Rashi, interpret this to be an earthly king that Adonai
had blessed with great wealth and glory, who lived in such comfort that it was
like living in Gan Eden. He became haughty, to the point where he declared
himself to be a god, and Adonai brought destruction upon him. Many Christian
commentators consider this king of Tyre to be a description of Satan before his
fall, with the kingship indicating that he was a spiritual ruler. He was cast
down from the holy mountain of God. While either interpretation has significant
spiritual learning, we must be careful to be discerning in reading this sort of
passage. One basic message is that anyone who trusts in his own power, wealth,
beauty or other attributes, and sets himself up as equal to God, will be judged
and punished by Adonoi.
An oracle condemning Sidon,
a city about 25 miles from Tyre, follows this. Adonai will destroy that city as
well, Israel will no longer be persecuted, and will be allowed to return to
their land. This will demonstrate to the nations that Adonai is the Lord, and He
is the God of Israel.
Da'ath, James 3:13 - 4:10
In this book Ya’akov (James), the brother of Yeshua, encourages the people to
demonstrate their wisdom by good actions, to be humble rather than boastful. The
wisdom we are to heed comes from Adonoi. We are to reject the worldly wisdom
that is unspiritual and demonic. Ya’akov continues, telling us that the reason
we are not satisfied is that we desire things with the wrong motive. Or we fail
to pray with proper motives, instead wanting to satisfy worldly desires. There
is a spirit within us, (which is called the yetzer hara’, or evil inclination)
which creates this worldly lust.
He quotes Psalms 3:34, telling us that God opposes the arrogant but gives peace
to the humble. By submitting to God, opposing the Adversary who is Satan, and
humbling ourselves, God will lift us up. The implication here is that part of
this “lifting up” means to rise above the yetzer hara’, changing our motives to
be more aligned with the motives of Adonoi.
Igarath, Hebrews 2:10-18
The author of this letter to
the Messianic Jews continues his description of what Yeshua has done for His
followers. It was necessary for Yeshua to come to us as a man, and suffer as
flesh and blood, so He could totally identify with us. This makes Him a merciful
and faithful cohen gadol (high priest), and He makes atonement for our sins.
Thus, He sets free those who had been in bondage to sin all their lives.
Conclusion
In Torah Cain opposed Adonoi,
and was exiled from the presence of God. Qeriath shows the destruction of the
king of Tyre for setting himself up as a god. Da'ath tells us that Adonai
opposes the proud, but lifts up those who humble themselves to Him. Igarath
makes it clear that Yeshua came to earth as a man, so that He could set us free
from the effects of our own sins. Thus, He is the way for us to approach God in
humility; in turn God will lift us up out of our slavery to sin.
Barukh
HaShem,
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Shalom