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Parsha Toldot – Apostolic Readings, Commentary, and Videos

New Testament readings for Torah portion Toldot, plus links to related commentary and video. Torah study for Christians.

Readings

  • Genesis 25:19-26:11
    • Acts 18:1-11
    • Romans 9:3-33
    • 1 Corinthians 11:3-15
    • 1 Corinthians 11:16-24
  • Genesis 26:12-35
    • Mark 10:24-31
    • Acts 5:12-18
    • Hebrews 12:11-17
  • Genesis 27:1-40
    • Matthew 8:18-22
    • Matthew 20:17-28
    • Matthew 26:51-53
    • Luke 12:35-53
  • Genesis 27:41-28:9
    • Mark 7:14-23
    • James 4:1-12
    • Revelation 9:18-21

Additional Reading

Videos Related to Parsha Toldot

  • Did God forget his promise to Abraham and Isaac? – Some people say that God revoked some of his promises because of the bad behavior of men. Does scripture support that claim?
  • Ensuring Your Legacy by Honoring Your Parents – There is a recurring theme in Scripture of first born sons being replaced by their younger brothers because they did not honor their parents. You can protect your legacy by ensuring the legacy of your parents.
  • They (and we) are Israelites – Romans 9:3-8 – In this passage, Paul says a very curious thing: The Jews are descended from Abraham, but they aren’t all children of Abraham. On the other hand, many people from the nations are not descended from Abraham, but they are children of Abraham and of God. How can this be so? There are two kinds of “father” in Scripture: genetic fathers and spiritual fathers.
  • Authority Relationships in the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 20:25-28) – Yeshua said that he came to serve and not be served. He is the King, which means he’s in charge, so what does that really mean? Yeshua serves his bride (the citizens of the Kingdom) by 1) sacrificing his own life for hers, 2) teaching and guiding her, and 3) being her king. This pattern is an example for all leaders to follow. Family, government, military, business, etc. But especially families.
  • A Woman of Valor, Who Can Find? – The Hebrew word used to describe the Proverbs 31 wife in v10 and translated variously as “valor” is chayil. It most often refers to an army or a mighty warrior. Do you want an excellent wife? Then look for a woman with strength, competence, and intelligence coupled with humility and a desire to serve her husband.”
  • Romans 2:12 and the Law without the Law – Paul and John said that the Law defines sin, so how is it possible for people who have never known the Law to be guilty of sin? Actually, all people know enough of the Law to be guilty of breaking it. The Law is in our DNA and all people know most of it without ever having to be told.
  • They (and we) are Israelites – Romans 9:3-8 – In Romans 9, Paul says a very curious thing: The Jews are descended from Abraham, but they aren’t all children of Abraham. On the other hand, many people from the nations are not descended from Abraham, but they are children of Abraham and of God. How can this be so? There are two kinds of “father” in Scripture: genetic fathers and spiritual fathers.
  • What Does the Election of Jacob Mean in Romans 9:11? – God is never arbitrary. He doesn’t roll dice to decide who is “chosen” and who isn’t. However, we know his choice of Jacob wasn’t about anything Jacob or Esau had done either, so what was it?
  • The Potter and Clay in Romans 9:21 – Paul’s use of the potter and clay analogy in Romans 9:21 is from Isaiah 29 that speaks of God’s temporary hardening of Israel because of their sins. They blinded themselves with pride, so he blinded them further to ensure that his judgment would be carried out, with the intent that the nation would eventually repent and be restored.
  • When Knowledge Breaks Understanding – Romans 9:30-33 – The Jews had the Torah for many centuries by the time Yeshua came to inaugurate the New Covenant that had been promised through Jeremiah at the midpoint between himself and Moses. Their familiarity with the Law and their pride at having been chosen above other nations led them to believe the Law was sufficient for all their spiritual needs. The gentiles had no such barrier to overcome, being presented with their guilt and salvation at the same time.

You Will Not Wander Forever

And the LORD appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell 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 to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws." Genesis 26:2-5
Check out this related video: Does God ever forget his promises?

And the LORD appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell 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 to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”
Genesis 26:2-5

A Promise Delayed

Because of Abraham’s faith that was made manifest in his obedience to God’s instructions and laws, God made promises to both Abraham and Isaac, promises that neither of them ever saw fulfilled in their own lifetimes.

God said that he would give them the land that we now call Israel, yet they were both wanderers in a land occupied by foreigners all their days.

God said that he would multiply their descendants as the stars of heaven The promise was first given to Abraham, and only his son Isaac inherited it. LIkewise, of Isaac’s two sons, the inheritance passed by Esau in favor of Jacob. After three generations, Abraham’s descendants numbered the vast total of one.

Even so, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob kept their faith in God’s name. They trusted him that those promises would be fulfilled when the time was right, and God’s timing can’t be rushed. He sees more and farther and deeper than we ever will. His understanding of the movement of time and men’s hearts is perfect.

God Hasn’t Changed or Forgotten Anything

God has made promises to all of us who have pledged our allegiance to Yeshua and joined ourselves to Israel, and sometimes it seems as if they will never come to fruition. It’s easy to get discouraged and distracted when the light at the end of the tunnel never gets any brighter.

Fortunately, God’s light is always around us. It’s in the long history of his faithfulness to his word, the beauty and wonder of his creation, and the wisdom of his Torah.

Remember also that the light of his promises can never be dimmed by us. No matter how un-Christ-like we might feel or actually be at times, God will never break his word. Judgment will come, balance will be restored, and the bill for our ultimate salvation is already paid in full. Not because of anything we have ever done or could do, but because Abraham was faithful to obey God’s voice, to keep his charge, his commandments, statutes, and laws, and–more importantly–because God has said it.

In the words of Balaam who tried and failed to curse us…

God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? Behold, I received a command to bless: he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it. He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob, nor has he seen trouble in Israel. The LORD their God is with them, and the shout of a king is among them.
Numbers 23:19-21

The Fires of Edom

One of the greatest differences between Jacob and Esau was the immediacy of their passions.
One of the greatest differences between Jacob and Esau was the immediacy of their passions.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
(Galatians 5:22-26 ESV)

Passions are powerful. Love has built kingdoms and lust has torn them down. Ambition has built industrial empires and greed has bankrupted them.

We’ve all known someone who consistently allowed their passions to lead them into bad decisions. I had a friend who went from relationship to relationship–even if relationship wasn’t always the right word–and made major purchases that he couldn’t afford the moment he got his head above the financial water. He wasn’t a bad guy; he was a good friend who was there when I needed him. Unfortunately, his passions made all of his major decisions for him. He rarely considered how his actions today would impact his life ten years in the future. Most of his decisions were only about right now.

Much like Esau.

Esau’s birth name means “hairy”, which conveys a bit of his rough character, but I think his other name, Edom, is even more apropos. It means “red” like the earth or like the fire of his anger, ambition, and lust. He wasn’t a farmer like his father, Isaac, nor a shepherd like his brother, Jacob. He was a hunter. He started quarrels, married impulsively, made bad deals in desperation and then promptly forgot about them.

Esau was a sort of reverse spiritual alchemist, turning the gold inheritance of his fabulously wealthy father into the lead of struggle and broken relationships. The inevitable end of the exceedingly passionate, those people who see what they want and go after what they see, is to be consumed by their urges.

Passion is a good and powerful force when checked by the Spirit, but when it is allowed to run free, it is crippling. The words Esau spoke at his father’s bedside when he finally realized what he had done in selling his birthright to Jacob are heartbreaking, but hardly unexpected:

As soon as Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!”
(Genesis 27:34)

Solomon described Esau’s state of mind in Proverbs 11:3: “His heart rages against the LORD.” The passionate fool rarely directs his rage where it belongs. He lashes out at anyone nearby–which is why Rebekah was wise to send Jacob away to Laban before Esau could catch him–and against God when no more convenient target is available, but his ruin was his own doing. Whatever conspiring Jacob and Rebekah did, only Esau was in a position to sell his birthright. Nobody tricked him. Nobody forced him. He lusted after what was before him in the moment and didn’t value at all those things that he couldn’t see and taste.

Esau, enslaved to his passions, spent decades learning just a small portion of the peace and prosperity that he could have attained in his youth by submitting desire and passion to a higher calling in his father’s house. Although he learned to master his passions enough to reconcile with Jacob and build a legacy of his own, but his passed his anger and envy on to his descendants whose uneasy relationship with Israel simmered for more than a thousand years. His grandchildren and great grandchildren carried on his pattern of willful and ignorant self-immolation for many generations.

Concerning appropriate behavior of spiritual brothers toward one another, Paul wrote:

Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
(Romans 12:11-12)

In other words, be passionate about things that are not immediate and for which the ultimate rewards are more spiritual than physical, and restrain your passions concerning things that are physical. Be zealous, but not hasty; be passionate, but not vengeful.

Hunger will pass. God’s Word won’t, and neither will hell.

God can help you master your passions through prayer, study, and consistent practice. It’s not easy, but it can be done, and the earlier you start, the better. Your grandchildren will thank you.

Esau’s Choices

I’ve heard it said that there are two kinds of people in the world: those who learn from others’ mistakes and those who have to learn from their own. Esau represents a third type: those who don’t learn from anyone’s mistakes and blame others when things go badly.

Esau had a number of character flaws, the most obvious of which was an inability to master his base urges. This is illustrated in Genesis’ characterization of him as a hunter, as opposed to his father, Isaac, who was a farmer, and his brother, Jacob, who was a herdsman. There’s nothing wrong with being a hunter, but it is emphasized in the narrative because it is an activity through which an impetuous, yet skilled, man can easily earn a living, at least for a time. If he wants meat, he can go out and get it. A herdsman, on the other hand, tends his animals today for next year’s meat. He plans many more moves in advance than does a hunter. A wise hunter also plans in advance to learn effective techniques and to ensure conditions favorable to game, but such wisdom isn’t absolutely necessary to be a successful hunter, while, without planning and preparation, a herdsman must shortly seek a new career.

However, this Torah reading (Genesis 25:19-28:9, called Toldot) reveals another of Esau’s flaws, one that isn’t discussed quite as much.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God.Esau hated asking for directions.

He was a lot like Cain in this respect. When Abel’s offering was accepted and Cain’s wasn’t, Cain’s response wasn’t to ask for help, but to attack Abel. Esau was especially bad at this when it came to women.

The custom in those days–and it was a very good custom–was for parents to find a spouse for their child, or at the very least to be heavily involved in the vetting process. Esau, however, being a man of the “now” didn’t wait to ask his parents’ advice. He married not one, but two, Hittite women who “made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah.” (Genesis 26:34)

Perhaps Esau misinterpreted the friendly commercial dealings between his family and the Hittites or perhaps he just fell prey to his impulsive nature. We aren’t told precisely why he chose these women. We are only told that his decision was deeply offensive to his parents.

About thirty-six years later, Jacob and Rebekah conspired to get Esau’s blessing from Isaac and seized on Jacob’s need for a wife as an excuse to send him away from Esau’s murderous rage. Rebekah told Isaac, “I loathe my life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women like these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me?” (Genesis 27:46)

Esau learned of this and, in an attempt to regain his parents’ favor, decided to get another wife, this time from the family of Abraham. Unfortunately, he went to the wrong side of the family. Instead of going to Abraham’s nephew, Bethuel, for a wife, he went to Abraham’s half-Egyptian son, Ishmael.

Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he directed him, “You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women,” and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and gone to Paddan-aram. So when Esau saw that the Canaanite women did not please Isaac his father, Esau went to Ishmael and took as his wife, besides the wives he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth.
(Genesis 28:6-9)

Instead of asking Isaac and Rebekah directly, he again tried to reason out for himself what he should do. Instead of resolving the problem, he merely added to it. He could have saved everyone trouble by asking for help in finding a good woman from the beginning. When his parents’ displeasure became obvious, again he could have saved even more trouble by asking for help. Unfortunately, Esau just wasn’t the type to ask for directions. With no map and only a hint at the proper bearing, he thought he could plot out the correct route for himself, and he failed at every turn.

I’ve been where he was. I thought I was smart enough to plot my own course. Marriage, parenthood, career… Billions of people manage these things. Surely I could figure them out too. What I failed to see is that nobody does it successfully without the active support of family and community and the advise of others who did it first. I didn’t have those things–didn’t know that I needed them–and I foundered.

The Scriptures are full of admonitions to listen to counsel.

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.
(Proverbs 12:15)

Better was a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knew how to take advice.
(Ecclesiastes 4:13)

But these verses leave out one important lesson that we should take away from Esau’s example: You can’t follow advice that you never received.

Esau didn’t do what his parents wanted, but it appears that he wanted to. For whatever reason, Isaac and Rebekah failed to teach Esau in a way that he understood, and he failed to ask. He was an intelligent and capable man who could learn the habits of wild game through observation and reason. Applying those skills to his relationships, he saw what his family did and heard what they said, but he drew the wrong conclusions because there were factors that he couldn’t see.

The world is full of wisdom. Some comes only by experience and some by listening, but there is wisdom that only comes by asking.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
(James 1:5)

If you find that your plans continue to end poorly no matter how hard you try to do the right thing, it’s time to ask for help. Ask your parents, brother, pastor, or rabbi. Ask God. If you ask honestly, very few will deny you, so ask them all. “Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.” (Proverbs 15:22) Nobody can figure everything out alone.

Wisdom is all around you, available for the asking, and you can’t follow advice that nobody gives you.