בס”ד

Parashat Vayishlach (and he sent) Genesis 32:4-36:43

Haftarah: The Prophecy of Obadiah

In the same way that our Torah portion deals with a conflict between Esau and Jacob, so too is this the message in the reading from the prophets. Obadiah, although a short prophecy, contains one of the most significant messages for the world today. It reveals some of the things that must happen before the Kingdom of G-d is established. In fact the prophecy ends with the statement, “…and the Kingdom will be HaShem’s.” (See verse 21).

I am always amazed that so often what is read in the synagogue is so timely for what is going on in the world. This week the Prime Minister of Israel said that Israel would freeze construction in the Biblical land of Judea and Samaria for ten months. Why? The answer is to appease those who want to see a terrorist state established in the land that G-d has given to the Jewish people through a covenant. If you doubt that a Palestinian state will be rooted in terrorism with a goal of destroying Israel then you have not listened to what the leaders of the “Palestinian” people have said. For example, the PLO charter, which calls for the destruction of Israel, has never been amended as was promised and is the basis for negotiations.  The leaders have been involved in terrorism in the past and whether one is talking about the Palestinian Authority in Judea and Samaria or Hamas in Gaza they both have military branches which have and still carry out terrorist activity.

If you are one that questions that G-d has given this land to the Jewish people then you have not read Obadiah. Once again, as a criterion for the Kingdom of G-d to be established, the lands that are commonly called the “West Bank” and Gaza and even parts of Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt must be turned over to the Jewish people. To see this in the Scripture read verses 19-20. This section says that the Jewish people in the south will inherit and expand their land to include the mountain of Esau, which is in southern Jordan, and the lowlands of Philistia.   This is the land south of Tel Aviv, including Gaza.  It also says that Jewish individuals will inherit the field of Ephraim; this is north of Jerusalem, near where the Palestinian Authority has their government offices (Ramallah).  The verse continues and says that this inheritance will proceed further north into Samaria, where three years ago the Israeli government removed 4,000 Jewish residents.  The prophecy continues and promises that the descendents of Benjamin will inherit Gilead, which is in northern Jordan.   If one pays close attention to verse 20, more land is given to the Jewish people, both in the north and in the south, into Lebanon and Egypt.

Once again, the plans and policies of the world seem to be in opposition to the prophecy of the Bible.  I don’t believe it is an accident that this prophecy was given to a man called Obadiah, which means “servant of the L-rd,” because only those who truly desire to serve HaShem through the revelation of scripture will believe and receive these words of this prophecy.  It is also significant that Obadiah’s prophecy was given to the gentile nations and not specifically to Israel, for it says in verse one,

“…a messenger was sent among the nations…”

I commend you to study this short message and see how the descendants of Esau (Edom) will war against the descendants of Jacob and cause a war in the last days that will bring about the Kingdom of G-d. It does not take much faith to see the world being arranged for this by present day activities.

Shabbat Shalom