Exodus 30:11 - 34:35

When a person sees a movie for the second time, he/she often gains additional insight into the story.  How much more when we read the Bible.  I often learn more the second, third, and fourth time I read a passage, than during the initial reading.  This occurs because the Bible is the best source for defining scripture.  The more you know, the more you will learn, like ground prepared to receive a new planting.  The experience is also a testimony to the faithfulness of God’s word, “For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be open,” (Luke 11:10). 

Some related passages in scripture became clearer to me after reading this week’s (3/7/2015) Torah portion (Ex 30:11-34:35).  I have read these chapters at least four times in the last five years.  Yet, it was during my reading on Saturday when I saw so many connections to other passages in the text.  Here is a brief synopsis of a few, but you will find more and might not agree with all the ones I saw.

(1)   The payment of a half a shekel was said to be “a ransom” for each individual to the LORD, (Ex 30:12). Although not specifically commanded for his purpose, by the first century this “ransom” was collected for the daily sacrifices.  Connection:  Jesus’ referred to Himself as the “ransom”, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Matt 20:28).  Referring to Jesus’s life as “a ransom for many” and “a ransom for all” (1 Tim 2:5-6), draws on the image of the daily sacrifice that was continuously before the LORD for every member of the nation.  For those who place their faith in Jesus, He is the “ransom” continuously before the LORD in the "more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands," (Heb 9:11).

(2)   One passage I frequently refer to is Acts 3:19-21, “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that time of refreshing may come from the presence of the LORD; and that He may send Jesus the Christ appointed to you..”  Connection: Although I believed this passage to be a reference to the Millennial Kingdom, I was not sure exactly how “refreshing” conveyed that understanding.  Then I read this, “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor and was refreshed,” (Ex 31:17).  Refreshing is associated with the Sabbath, which we understand as a picture of the Millennial Kingdom.  RVL has suggested that Jesus often healed on the Sabbath to demonstrate the coming power of God in the Millennial Kingdom.

(3)   The Acts passage also holds another interesting nugget.  “Jesus the Christ” will come “from the presence of the LORD.”  Connection: In this week’s Torah reading, the LORD promised Moses, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest,” (Ex 33:14).  In Acts 3:20-21, Peter has defined for us that, “the Presence of the LORD” is “Jesus Christ” who led Israel through the wilderness.  We already knew from Paul, that the “spiritual rock which followed them…was Christ,” (1 Cor 10:4).  Now I see another connection to Jesus in the wilderness.

(4)   Exodus 33:14 concludes with God saying, “I will give you rest.”  Connection: These words remind us of what Jesus said, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest,” (Matt 11:28).  This is one of the numerous statements in the Greek text that directly connect Jesus to God the Father.

(5)   In describing the sin of the golden calf, scripture records, “The people sat down to eat and to drink and rose up to play,” (Ex 32:6).  Connection: When I read this passage, I immediately think of the Shema portion that seems written with the sin of the golden calf in mind, “You shall teach them (the words of God) diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up,” (Deut 6:7).  In the Shema, God appears to be saying, “Do not be like the generation in the wilderness that worshipped me part of the time, while the rest of the day they rose up to play.  I want you to be my people 24/7, both when you lie down and also when you rise up.”

(6)   One of Paul’s quotations in Romans comes from this week’s Torah reading, “For He says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’  So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God Who has mercy,” (Rom 9:15-16).  Connection: Paul’s reference is the LORD’S response to Moses’ request, “I pray You show me Your glory!” (Ex 33:18).  The LORD responded by saying to Moses, “‘I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.’ But, He said, ‘You cannot see My face for no man can see Me and live,’” (Ex 33:19-20).  In the context of the original passage, the LORD is referring to the revelation of His nature, which is completely at the LORD’S discretion.  He can choose to show mercy and have compassion, yet He is still limited by the nature of the finite creation, "No man can see Me and live."  The passage does not relate to the LORD predetermining an individual’s fate in the world to come.  Although some may like to read Paul’s words as predestining a person’s fate, that understanding is not consistent with good Bible interpretation, and only adds to the general impression of non-believers that you can make the Bible say anything.

(7)   The statement of the LORD, “You cannot see My face…and live,” (Ex 33:20), will cease to be true in the world to come where it is said of the saints, “They will see His face, and His Name will be on their foreheads,” (Rev 22:4).

These are some of my thoughts, what do you see in the weekly reading? - Scott 

 

Does the Potter Predestine the Clay? (Part 2 of 2)

Ironically, and contrary to popular interpretation, Paul argued that salvation is NOT based on predestination or election, but by “the word of the promise”.  For Paul to argue otherwise, would only complement the predominant Jewish view that salvation came automatically to all the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  If salvation was by election alone, then God would have predestined all the descendants of Abraham to be saved, but He did not, (Rom 9:7).  If salvation was by election alone, then God would have predestined all the descendants of Isaac to be saved, but He did not, (Rom 9:9-12).  Finally, God could have predestined all the descendants of Jacob to be saved, but they are not, as Paul has written, “They are not all Israel who are descended from Israel” (Rom 9:6), and “Though the sons of Israel be like the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that will be saved,” (Rom 9:27).

Salvation is not based on predestination, but based on the promise alone.  In the Book of Romans, Paul wrote to bring Jews to his revelation that Jesus, as Messiah, is the fulfillment of the promise given to Abraham. 

“If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confess, resulting in salvation,” (Rom 10:9-10).

I do not believe that Paul ever intended for his words to establish a doctrine of salvation based on predestination.  If predestination does not apply to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, how much less does it apply to the Gentiles, the wild olive branch, who do not descend from the Patriarchs.  Salvation for all men is based on the promise alone, as it is written,

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to the promise,” (Gal 2:28-29)

Shabbat Shalom - Scott 

 

Does the Potter Predestine the Clay? (Part 1 of 2)

“Does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?  What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?” (Rom 9:21-22)

A common analogy in rabbinic writings is to compare the relationship of God and man, to that of a potter and his clay.  After all, man was formed by God from the clay of the earth.  Paul draws on this analogy in the ninth chapter of his letter to the Romans, immediately following his discourse on the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart.  Many have interpreted the words of Paul to mean that God providentially determines the salvation of an individual at the time of his creation, but is this an interpretation consistent with the balance of scripture?

The Hebrew text contains a number of references to the potter and the clay.  One of the most notable examples comes from the eighteenth chapter of Jeremiah.

 
“Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, ‘Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?’ declares the LORD.  ‘Behold like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.  At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull down, or to destroy it; if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it.  Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build it up or to plant it; if it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will thing better of the good with which I had promised to bless it’…Thus says the LORD, ‘Behold I am fashioning calamity against you and devising a plan against you.  O turn back, each of you from his evil way, and reform your ways and your deeds.’” (Jer 18:5-11)

In Jeremiah’s example, the potter has the right to build up or tear down the clay.  Yet, the potter’s response is not arbitrary, but based on the actions of the clay.  If the clay “turns from its evil” (repents), then the potter “will relent concerning the calamity” he planned to perform.  On the other hand, if the clay “does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice,” then the potter will “fashion calamity” against the clay.  In either case, the actions of the clay are not predetermined.  For this reason, the LORD commands, "O turn back, each of your from his evil way, and reform your ways and your deeds."

In the Book of Romans, Paul may have been recalling the words of Jeremiah, or Isaiah who wrote, “Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay, that what is made would say to its maker, ‘He did not make me’; or what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘He has no understanding’?” (Isa 29:16).  Isaiah draws on the example of the potter to remind Israel that God has sovereignty over His Creation, and can judge His people according to their ways.  Even though their “deeds are done in a dark place, and they say, ‘Who sees us?’ or ‘Who knows us?’” (Isa 29:15), “All who are intent on doing evil will be cut off,” (Isa 29:20).  In Isaiah’s analogy, like that of Jeremiah, the clay is not preordained to destruction by the potter, but is judged by the potter based on the freewill actions of the clay.  Isaiah uses the “potter and the clay” analogy three additional times to teach the authority of God to judge His creation.

 
“He will come upon rulers as upon mortar, even as the potter treads clay,” (Isa 41:25)
“Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker…Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’ Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands?’” (Isa 45:10)
“But now, O LORD, You are our Father, We are the clay and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand,” (Isa 64:8)

None of the prophetic examples teach that the clay is predestined to destruction, or that God acts arbitrarily within His creation.  This is the context in which Paul’s reference to the potter and the clay must be framed to be consistent with scripture. 

Rather than “vessels of wrath prepared (katartizo) for destruction,” (Rom 9:22), as most translations are written, the Greek word “katartizo” can also be rendered, “fully trained” or “equipped” for destruction.  In this rendering, the reader can understand that the destruction is not predetermined, but “wrath” brought on by the lifestyle of the clay, as in the words of Jesus, “A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained (katartizo), will be like his teacher,” (Luke 6:40).  It is the unrighteous actions of the clay, which set the clay on a road destined for destruction.

Like all analogies, the teaching point of the potter and the clay can only be carried so far.  Paul is consistent with the prophets in his rhetorical question.  The Potter (God) has power over the clay to make us into who we are and to build up or tear down.  But this power is not exercised randomly or arbitrarily.  Nor does the Potter predetermine the fate of His creation.  The response of the Potter, according to the prophets, is based on the actions of the clay, whether righteous or wicked.  After all, no rational potter predetermines to destroy his work prior to its completion, and “God is not a God of confusion, but of peace” (1 Cor 14:33). 

It is cold and wet in Austin - Scott

Who Hardened Pharaoh's Heart??

 

“For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My Name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.’  So then He has mercy on whom He desires and He harden whom He desires.” (Rom 9:17-18)

 

The words of Paul have led most readers to conclude that Pharaoh’s heart was hardened providential, that is, beyond the power or control of Pharaoh.  The actual story is more extensive than Paul’s short narrative.  Seventeen times in Exodus, Pharaoh’s heart is said to be hardened, (Ex 4:21, 7:3, 7:13, 7:22, 8:15, 8:19, 8:32, 9:7, 9:12, 9:34, 9:35, 10:1, 10:20, 10:27, 11:10, 14:4, and 14:8).  Three times we are told that Pharaoh hardened his own heart, “But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he did not let the people go,” (Ex 8:32, 8:15, & 9:34).  Five times we are told, “the heart of Pharaoh was hardened” (Ex 7:13, 7:22, 8:19, 9:7, & 9:35).  Although the source of the hardening is not specifically stated, the context implies that Pharaoh caused the hardening.  The nine remaining times we are told, “The LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not listen to them, just as the LORD had spoken to Moses,” (Ex 9:12, 4:21, 7:3, 10:1, 10:20, 11:10, 14:4, & 14:8). 

 

In the beginning Pharaoh hardened his own heart, a fact foreseen by the LORD Who told Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn; he refuses to let the people go,” (Ex 7:14).  Through the initial miracles, especially those that could be replicated by the magicians of Pharaoh, “Pharaoh…hardened his heart” (Ex 8:15), and “Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also,” (Ex 8:32).  Additional references during the initial plagues imply that the LORD foresaw the hardening of Pharaoh heart, but did not participate in the hardening, “Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and he did not listen to them as the LORD had said,” (Ex 7:22).

 

In the last reference to Pharaoh hardening his heart, we are told, “When Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned again and hardened his heart,” (Ex 9:34).  At this point, scripture identifies “sin” as the source of Pharaoh’s hardening.  This statement is consistent with the words of the Hebrew writer and the warning to all believers against being “hardened by the deceitfulness of sin,” (Heb 3:13). 

 

Beginning with the fifth plague, and exclusively from the eight plague onward, scripture identifies God as the singular source that hardened Pharaoh’s heart, “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Go to Pharaoh for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may perform these signs of Mine among them,” (Ex 10:1).  The believer might wonder why it became necessary for the LORD to harden Pharaoh’s heart since Pharaoh had been capable of hardening his own heart during the initial plagues.  The answer involves freewill, and the story indicates that the increasing revelation of God’s power in the final plagues was sufficient to turn even the unrepentant heart of Pharaoh toward repentance, in effect, subverting Pharaoh’s freewill.  To keep freewill in balance against an increasing revelation of God, it sometimes becomes necessary for God to give, “a thorn in the flesh,” (2 Cor 12:7).  In Pharaoh’s case, the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart.  

 

Although Paul’s statement that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart is correct (Rom 9:18), this hardening only occurred after Pharaoh first hardened his own heart through “stubbornness” (Ex 7:14), and “sin”, (Ex 9:34).  Pharaoh’s life becomes an example and a warning for every person whose heart will eventually become hardened through repeated unrepentant sin.  The hardening of an individual’s heart has not been providentially determined, as many interpret Paul’s words in Romans.  On the contrary, “Each one is carried away and enticed by his own sin,” (James 1:14).  God does not tempt an individual (James 1:13), and neither does God harden an individual’s heart apart from an individual’s own sin which precipitates the hardening.  For this reason, the writer of Hebrews repeatedly warns believers, “Do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me” (Heb 3:8, 3:15, & 4:7).  For we know that “He who hardens his heart will fall into calamity,” (Prov 28:14). 

 

After repeated unrepentant sin, a person’s heart will be hardened to a place where, God will give “them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity,” (Rom 1:24).  The Rabbinic view is that God often supports a person in the direction that he/she wants to go, whether good or bad.  The Hebrew Talmud said it this way, "In the way that a person wants to go, he will led him.”[1]  David feared this after his sin with Bathsheba, leading him to pray, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me,” (Psa 51:10).  Therefore, believers must “Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life” (Luke 21:34), and “Guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus,” (Phil 4:7). 

 

“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith,” (Heb 12:1-2)

 

Keep warm in Midland - Scott

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[1] The Power of Teshuvah, Rabbi Heshy Kleinman, Published 2011, page 77.

JESUS HAD EARS

This is a revision of one sent earlier in the month...

“When He comes into the world, He says, ‘Sacrifice and offering You have not desired, But a body you have prepared for me.” (Heb 10:5)

Hebrews 10:5 is an often quoted passage believers, and my pastor in Austin, like because it appears to allude to the coming of God in the flesh.  However, Dan Lancaster has pointed out that the passage is a quotation of Psalms 40:6, which reads somewhat differently, “Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired; My ears you have opened” (NASB), or “Ears Thou hast prepared for me” (YLT), or “But you have given me an open ear” (ESV).  Somehow, the “ear” of the Psalmist became the “body” in our New Testament translation of the Book of the Hebrews. 

 

It is not clear how the “ear” became the entire “body”.  Some have suggested translational difficulties as the word for ear and body are similar in the Greek Septuagint.  Others have speculated that the translators did not appreciate the Hebrew idiom used for ear and expanded the anatomy to include the body. 

In scripture, the ear often represents hearing that leads to obedience, as Moses wrote, “Give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes,” (Ex 15:26).  While on earth, Jesus frequently told His listeners, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear,” (Luke 11:31)(Matt 11:15).  To “hear” in scripture means to “do”, as in the prelude to the greatest commandments, “Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is One;” which is immediately followed by the commandment, “and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all you strength…” (Mark 12:29-31).  Stephen criticized members of the Sanhedrin using three phrases related to disobedience originating from unrepentant hearts,

“Stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears…always resisting the Holy Spirit,”  (Acts 7:51).   

Zechariah prophesized against disobedient people saying, “They refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing,” (Zech 7:11).  In the book of Hebrews, the author used similar language warning against the people who “have become dull of hearing,” (Heb 5:11).  Among the many messages of Hebrews, the Book is a warning, “So that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience,” (Heb 4:11). 

When “ear” is substituted in Hebrews 10:5 for “body”, then the verses that follow are consistent with the context of obedience, “In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have taken no pleasure.  Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come (In the scroll of the Book it is written of Me) to do your will, O God’” (Heb 10:6-7).  Jesus came with body that was offered up on the cross.  Jesus also came with a hearing ear to do the complete will of the Father.  What God desires from His people is obedience, a hearing ear in place of sacrifice. 

“Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams,” (1 Sam 15:22).

 

In the coming year, maybe all of us can strive, empowered by the Spirit, to put on better ears than in the past, ears prepared for obedience and service.  The world certainly needs better examples than those being portrayed in the movies, the news, and on television.  If the LORD was capable of given Jesus, "an open ear," will He not surely do the same for those who want to be like Jesus?

 

As always, Scott

All Israel Will Be Saved (Part 3 of 3)

ALL ISRAEL WILL BE SAVED

“A partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, ‘The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.’  ‘This is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.’” (Rom 11:25-27)

The writers of the New Testament follow the existing pattern and make a distinction between the names Jacob and Israel.  Jacob is used when referring to the Patriarch, while Israel is used in reference to the collective descendants of Jacob (Matt 8:10), sometimes referred to as the “house of Israel” (Matt 15:24), the “sons of Israel” (2 Cor 3:7), the “nation of Israel” (Phil 3:5), and the “commonwealth of Israel” (Eph 2:12).  The name Israel is also used in reference to the physical land of the promise, the “land of Israel” (Matt 2:20). 

In the New Testament, the name “Israel” is rarely used in reference to the Patriarch.  However, at least one time, the name Israel was used by Paul in reference to both the man and the nation, “For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel,” (Rom 9:6).  In using the name “Israel” instead of “Jacob”, Paul alludes to the spiritual and not the physical.  Paul tells us that a person can physically descend from Jacob, but not be a spiritual descendant of the promise, who are called “Israel”.  Paul reinforces this point by offering the example of Abraham.  Abraham had two sons, but only “through Isaac your descendants will be named” and “the children of the promise are regarded as descendants,” (Rom 9:8).  It is not the physical sons of Jacob, but the spiritual sons of Israel that have a place in the world to come. 

Fifteen hundred years before the birth of Christ, Balaam prophesized, “I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; A star shall come forth from Jacob, a scepter shall rise from Israel,” (Num 24:17).  A “star” alludes to the physical nature of Jacob, like the “stars” in Joseph’s dream that represented Joseph’s brothers.  A “scepter” is the sign of a kingdom and the ruler of the kingdom of heaven.  Even Isaiah appears to use this pretext in writing, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel,” (Isa 49:6).  It is Jacob who is raised up in the physical resurrection, and Israel who are the spiritual “preserved ones” in the world to come. 

The contrast between the names Jacob and Israel does not work in every case.  Sometimes scripture just reinforces a statement by using both names as the testimony of two witnesses, “Gather together and hear, O sons of Jacob; and listen to Israel your father,” (Gen 49:2).   Isaiah has an interesting passage that relates the two names, “But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel,” (Isa 43:1).  The words allude to the original creation with Jacob as the original created man and Israel as the woman who was “fashioned,” (Gen 2:22).   Both go together, and like marriage, represent the full manifestation of the Creator.  Without the Spirit, the flesh accounts for nothing.

Paul’s statement, “All Israel will be saved” (Rom 11:26), was said to be “provocative” by Dwight Pryor, as it was open to numerous interpretations.  However, when we see the historical usage of the names Jacob and Israel, we come to understand the truth being conveyed by Paul, “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God,” (Rom 8:14).  The physical will be resurrected, but it is the those “led by the Spirit of God” that are the sons of Israel and have a place in the world to come, as written, “All Israel will be saved” (Rom 11:26).

Scott

 

All Israel Will Be Saved (Part 2 of 3)

DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN THE NAMES JACOB AND ISRAEL IN THE TANAK
 
Although the names Israel and Jacob are both used in the Hebrew text for the second son of Isaac, a close examination of scripture reveals a distinction in the use of the names. Israel is most frequently used in reference to the believing and spiritual filled condition of the Patriarch, while Jacob is more often used in reference to the original undegenerated man.
 
An example of this contrast comes from the Torah Club. When Jacob’s sons brought news to him that Joseph was still alive, the Patriarch did not initially believe and was referred to as “their father Jacob,” (Gen 45:25). As Jacob came to believe that Joseph was alive, “The spirit of their father Jacob revived. Israel said, ‘It is enough; my son Joseph is still alive,’” (Gen 45:28). Joseph is a type of Christ, the suffering Messiah and Jacob is a picture of the nation of Israel. As long as the Patriarch thought Joseph was dead, he is called “Jacob”. However, as soon as Jacob believes that Joseph is alive, his spirit is revived and he is referred to as “Israel”.
 
This interchange follows a pattern in scripture for the Patriarch. Genesis Chapter 37 begins, “Now Jacob lived in the land where his father had sojourned, in the land of Canaan. These are the records of the generations of Jacob,” (Gen 37:1-2). The passage then switches to the story of Joseph saying, “Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons,” (Gen 37:3). When speaking of Joseph, a type of Christ, the Patriarch is referred to as “Israel,” as written, “Israel said to Joseph, ‘Are not your brothers pasturing the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them,’” (Gen 37:13).
 
Shortly thereafter, the brothers of Joseph sold him into slavery. To cover the truth, they slaughtered a male goat and dipped Joseph’s tunic in blood to deceive their father into believing that Joseph is dead. We know that the Patriarch immediately believed that Joseph was dead because scripture records, “So Jacob tore his clothes,” (Gen 37:34). In the span of thirty-one verses, the Patriarch has gone from the believing and loving father “Israel”, to the grieving and unbelieving father “Jacob” who accepts Joseph as dead. The name “Israel” does not appear again in scripture until the family re-establishes their relationship with Joseph, “The sons of Israel came to buy grain among those were coming, for the famine was in the land of Canaan also. Now Joseph was the ruler over the land,” (Gen42:5-6).
 
The Patriarch remained as Jacob until he learned that Joseph was alive, (Gen 45:28). The believing Patriarch then set out for Egypt, “Israel set out with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac,” (Gen 46:1). Although referred to as Israel, the passage reflects some unbelief or concern on the part of the Patriarch by saying he offered sacrifices to “the God of his father Isaac,” but not saying to “the God of Israel”. Outwardly, the Patriarch doubted, whether or not his trip to Egypt was part of God’s plan. His doubting was reinforced by the next verse which contrasts both names, “God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, ‘Jacob, Jacob.’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ He said, ‘I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you a great nation there,” (Gen 46:2-3). Although referred to as “Israel”, God addressed the Patriarch as “Jacob, Jacob”.
 
Calling the Patriarch “Jacob, Jacob” appears to run contrary to an earlier verse is scripture, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob; But Israel shall be your name,” (Gen 33:10). The Sages have various explanations for God calling the Patriarch, “Jacob, Jacob”. The Zohar stated that the repetition of the name was “intended to animate his spirit and spur him on.” Radak offers, “God now called his name twice so that he should truly understand that it was a Prophetic Spirit that was summoning him.” Artscroll summarizes the event this way,
 
“God had given Jacob the name Israel and that name is used three times in this section (verses 46:1, 2, and 5), but, in addressing him now, God calls him Jacob. This implies that during his forthcoming stay in Egypt he would not ‘contend with God and man and triumph’, as the name Israel intimates, rather he would be in a house of bondage until God will bring him back…The family is given a name alluding to their future growth in Egypt ‘children of Israel’, but the father, who would not live to share that happy fate, is called Jacob.”
 
From this point onward in scripture, the nation will be referred to as “the sons of Israel”, but the Patriarch will be referred to as “Jacob”, “the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob and their little ones and the wives in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him,” (Gen 46:5). One exception to this pattern occurred when the Patriarch came into the presence of Joseph:
 
“Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel” (Gen 46:29), “Then Israel said to Joseph, ‘Now let me die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive” (Gen 46:30), “When the time for Israel to die drew near, he called his son Joseph” (Gen 47:29), “When it was told to Jacob, ‘Behold, your son Joseph has come to you,’ Israel collected his strength and sat up in the bed” (Gen 48:2), “Israel saw Joseph’s sons” (Gen 48:8, 48:10, 48:11, 48:14, 48:21), “Listen to Israel your father” (Gen 49:7), “So the physicians embalmed Israel,” (Gen 50:2).
 
In the presence of Joseph, the savior of Israel and a pattern of the Messiah, the Patriarch is revived and referred to as Israel. Apart from Joseph, the Patriarch remains Jacob. The Patriarch is seen to pass from this world in a state of belief, “So the physicians embalmed Israel.”
 
Scott