Yeshua in the Torah starting with Bereishit (Genesis)

On the Emmaus Road
In Luke 24:27 Yeshua then explained everything written about himself in the Scriptures, beginning with the Law of Moses (Torah) and the Books of the Prophets. Have you ever wondered what He shared with the two disciples that made their hearts burn?

In this series on Understanding the Torah we will start to look into the Five Books of Moses starting with Genesis, called Bereshit in the Hebrew to find Yeshua hidden in the Torah.

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Jewish people have studied the Torah for centuries but only a few have seen Yeshua their Messiah revealed in Torah and the Prophets. Something changed in 1967 when the Messianic movement started to grow and more Jewish people began to find their Messiah in a significant way since the early days of Christianity.

• What is significant about 1967 in which the Six Day war took place?

This was the first time since 70AD that Jerusalem, the Holy City was in Jewish hands and the Shofer was blown at the Western Wall to proclaim its liberation. This could well have been a Jubilee year as 50 years previously in 1917 the Balfour Declaration was issued on 2 November and General Allenby entered Jerusalem on the 11 December 1917 taking it back from the Ottoman Empire. Both very significant events of restoration of the Land to the Jewish people and starting the return of His People to their Messiah! Now is the time of the restoration of Yeshua as revealed in Torah and specifically in the first Book Of Moses, Genesis to the Jewish people.

AlephTav (The Alpha and Omega)
The very first sentence of the bible in Genesis 1:1

בראשׁית ברא אלהים את השׁמים ואת הארץ׃
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  

contains seven Hebrew words. The central word is את spelt Aleph Tav which is not pronounced in English. These are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet equivalent to the Alpha and Omega in the Greek alphabet that is used in Revelation (1:8, 11, 21:6 and 22:13) to refer to Yeshua as the Beginning and the End of creation. Think of the seven candles of the Menorah with the middle candle called the Shemash or servant candle representing Yeshua, the Light of the world. This is reflected in the seven fold Spirit given in Isaiah 11:2 And the Spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Jehovah. Yeshua has the Spirit of הוה Father with the three pairs represented by the three candles on either side of the Menorah.

• A beautiful picture of Messiah, the Creator shining forth from the Menorah. As stated in John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

(As an aside, the very first thing Elohim, God created was the את, the Hebrew Alephabet which He spoke “Let there be light” etc.)

This flows into the next observation of where both the את and the ואת are placed during the creation in Genesis 1:1 which links the working of י הוהFather with and through את Yeshua. The את in placed in front of the heavens (haShamayim) and the sixth word ואת vav Aleph Tav in Hebrew connects Yeshua to both the creation of heavens (haShamayim) to the creation of the earth (haAretz). This pattern of connection is continued right through the Torah linking all covenants and covenant people to Yeshua through the את and the ואת as they only occur at these significant cases! Interestingly the letters את (aleph tav) each paint a picture, the א (aleph) represents an ox or strength and the number one or leader, while the ת (tav) represents a cross or covenant.

• When put together it has the meaning of 'The Strength of the Covenant' is את Yeshua.

(Please refer to the work of Bill Sanford on the Aleph Tav http://www.alephtavscriptures.com/)  

Shadows, Types and Theophany in The Torah

Yeshua can be found in shadows and types, and even pre-incarnate appearances, especially as the mysterious “Angel of the Lord” in each of the books of the Torah and the Prophets. (Refer to Penny's blog on Judges 2) Let us consider a few of these shadows, types and theophanies below:

Adam
The first type of Yeshua in Genesis is the 'first Adam' who was created in the image and likeness of God. As the crown of creation, he was formed at the close of the sixth day. Adam came into the world a full grown man, with the elements of skill and knowledge sufficient to maintain his Lordship over nature. The Second Adam came as an infant by humiliation to regain for man his lost Lordship. Paul states in Romans 5:14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even on those who had not sinned in the likeness of Adam's transgression, who is a type of the coming One.

• So Yeshua has come like a sinless Adam to restore Adam's lost relationship with Our Father as stated in 1Corinthians15:45 So also it has been written, "The" first "man", Adam, "became a living soul;" the last Adam a life-giving Spirit.

Who Ate lunch with Abraham?
Scholars have always debated who were the three men speaking to Abraham and two of whom continued onto Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 18. Verse 1 states that יהוה Yehovah appeared /was seen by Abraham but who did Abraham see? One of these three men was Yehovah in bodily form, the other two were angels. An angel will never receive worship (Rev 19:10). The Hebrew word used in verse 2 for Abraham 'bowed' toward the ground is Strong’s H7812 shachah which is the strongest Hebrew word for worship there is, used a total of 172 times in the Tanach. As this story unfolds it becomes very clear Abraham is eating with the Yehovah-Man. For no angel would receive worship and carry on a conversation with Abraham on whether or not He should destroy Sodom and Gomorrah without it being את Elohim. The three figures are called 'men' three times in verses 2. 16 and 22. The special One י הוה in the group is called Yehovah four times in verses 1, 17, 22, and 33.

• This can only be את Yeshua in the flesh as a theophany, an appearance of God. Does this not remind us of Yeshua having a meal with His disciples before His Crucifixion. In John 8:57 the Judeans said to Yeshua, “You’re not even fifty years old and you’ve seen Abraham?”

Abraham's wife's slave woman Hagar also had an encounter with this special person. In Genesis 16:7 the Angel of Yehovah finds her by a spring having run away from her mistress since conceived Ishmael. She declares in verse 13 that she has seen Him who sees her. This Angel of Yehovah is different from all other angels as He speaks as God in the first person as shown in Genesis 22:11 to 17.

• Is this the Yehovah-Man that ate with Abraham?

The Binding of Isaac
God then tells Abraham in Genesis 22:2 "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you." On the third day Abraham laid the wood on Isaac just like Yeshua carried the crucifixion stake to Golgotha (the place of sacrifice) as the willingly Paschal lamb. His living still after the three days (Gen_22:4) in which he was dead in Abraham's purpose prefigures the Messiah's resurrection on the third day.

• Hence, the Binding of Isaac is a for-shadowed of this event and Isaac is a type of Yeshua.

Joseph a Foreshadow of Yeshua
Joseph’s name is used a total of 157 times in the Torah, with the את appearing in front of his name 13 times. It is common knowledge that his life is a type and foreshadow of Yeshua the Messiah for Joseph will save the Egyptians and the Israelites from starvation.

Key points of interest for the את are as follows, in Genesis 37:23 when Joseph is stripped by his brothers of his clothing they were actually stripping את coat from Joseph, a type and foreshadow of Yeshua who would be stripped of his robe and humiliated by the Romans. In verse 28 Joseph’s name is used 3 times in this one verse and every time there is an את in front of his name symbolizing it was את Joseph who was lifted out of the pit, את Joseph that was sold for 20 pieces of silver and את Joseph was sold by his brothers. In verse 31 when Joseph’s brothers take Joseph’s את coat, they are actually dipping it into the blood of a goat, which is a type and foreshadow of את Yeshua's blood which will be shed.  
Continuing with the life of Joseph, whose life is a type and foreshadow of Yeshua the Messiah. We see in Gen 41:8…and Pharaoh told them את his dreams…implying that Pharaohs dreams are prophetic and given to him by את. We see in Gen 41:9 that it is את that causes the chief butler of Pharaoh to remember Joseph and that Pharaohs authority is actually given to him by את. In Gen 41:16 we see that it is the את that will give the interpretation of peace to Pharaohs dream. In Gen 41:34-35 we see that it is את that owns the land and the food of Egypt and in Gen 41:42 we see authority over Egypt is transferred to Joseph by an את ring which Pharaoh gives to Joseph to wear.
 

• All these verses are symbols of a type and foreshadow in future events that would unfold in the life of Yeshua the Messiah the את being sold by his brethren (House of Judah), having his blood stained clothing stripped from off his back and thrown into the pit of death.

Hebrew4Christians identifies 60 ways that Joseph pre-figures Yeshua as Messiah Ben Joseph the suffering servant. Some are as follows:

• Such as being anointed by his father with a 'long' (many coloured) tunic pointing to his coming authority. While Yeshua was anointed as Mashiach ben David Heb 1:9 and Psalm 45:7. Joseph was finally vindicated and exalted over the whole of Eygpt (Genesis 41:40-42) while "The Son of Man is seated at the right hand of Power".
• Joseph married an Egyptian woman so his descendants would be taken as Gentiles today. However, they were incorporated into Israel just as the Gentiles now have been incorporated into the commonwealth of Israel identified by Paul in Ephesians 2:12.
• Joseph's brothers who had rejected him and wanted him dead, did not recognise him until he revealed himself to them in Genesis 45. This is exactly what has happen up until now with the Jewish people's rejection of Yeshua until He reveals Himself to them!

References
Who Ate Lunch with Abraham by Asher Intrater
Bill Sanford http://www.alephtavscriptures.com/
Christians for Hebrew at http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Articles/Mashiach_ben_Yosef/mashiach_ben_yosef.html