Fishers of Men — The Hidden Treasure in Jacob's Blessing

"Vayechi" — A Formula That Means Death

Like all the portions of the Torah, and in fact like all the names of the books in the Torah, the name comes from the first word in the reading. The reason for that is that numbers of chapters and verses did not exist until much later. Chapter numbers were added by Archbishop Stephen Langton in the 13th Century and in the 16th Century numbers for verses were added by Robert Estienne. This method spread in the 16th century mainly because of the invention of the printing press.

When you examine this biblical formula, you immediately see that any time that the Bible starts a verse with the word "vayechi" it means that he died. This is true for Genesis. In chapter 5 alone you have this formula repeated numerous times: Genesis 5:3,6,9,12,15… This formula actually is repeated 50 times in the Hebrew Bible.

So, the portion is called "and he lived" — and Jacob dies. But we are also approaching the end of the book of Genesis, and it starts with the word Vayechi — Jacob lived in the land of Egypt. Yet it is interesting that the portion of the Torah that announces the death of Sarah, the wife of Abraham, is called "The Life of Sarah," and now the Torah portion that announces the death of Jacob is called "Jacob lives."

The Source of "Fishers of Men"

One of the very interesting things in this Torah portion is a phrase from Jacob's blessing that contains one of the great hidden treasures in the whole Bible. Jacob is on his deathbed, and he is blessing his children and the children of Joseph. Here is the text:

The great revelation in this Torah portion is the phrase "let them grow into a multitude" that Jacob uses in relation to Abraham and Isaac. The phrase is translated in the Hebrew as "ve-yidgu" — a verb that is used only one time in the Bible, and the root of this verb is DAG, "fish." "Fish" is a symbol of proliferation and multiplicity (see Numbers 11:22).

The words translated into English as "the people whom they had acquired in Haran" ought to be translated based on the idiom of "acquiring souls" — to evangelize — like in modern Hebrew today "la'asot nefashot" ("to make souls"). We know from Genesis 14 that Abraham had 318 men between the ages of 20-50 in his camp. These are the men that chased the kings from the North, who captured Lot and his family. If Abraham had 318 men of that age, I would presume that most of them were married, and had at least one child. These were men that Abraham "acquired." They were made in Haran. In other words, Abraham converted them from idolatry to faith in the One God.

So, from Jacob's deathbed we learn that Abraham and Isaac were fishing for men, evangelizing the pagans in Haran to believe and follow the God who is one, and the God who chose Abraham and His seed to bless all the nations of the world. It is from this text that Yeshua said to His disciples:

Yeshua our Lord, our Teacher, our Rabbi, our Savior, and our example was a Torah teacher, and for most of the years of his ministry in the Galilee He was considered a great rabbi, and He was invited by all the synagogues in the Galilee to teach there on the Sabbath:

This aspect of Yeshua's ministry and persona is often forgotten and neglected. We must not neglect this one of the most impressive aspects of Yeshua's life and ministry. Yeshua is not only Lord, but also a rabbi and a teacher of God's wisdom.

The Angel Who Redeemed Jacob — Who Is He?

There is another thing about the blessing in Genesis 48:15&16 that is intriguing and needs to be understood in greater depth. What I would like to unpack is Jacob's use of the phrase:

The context of this phrase is from verse 15-16, talking about before whom Abraham and Isaac walked, meaning that this Angel is God. The second thing about this Angel mentioned is that he is a redeemer who redeemed Jacob from all evil.

Normally Jacob prayed and talked to God Himself, and God Himself talked to Jacob in that dream in Beth-El, when he used a rock for his pillow. As you can see in Genesis 32:9-12, Jacob is talking to the angel in the crossing of the Jabbok River, just before he crosses the River Jordan, but Jacob is addressing the God of his fathers, Abraham and Isaac. This is the angel that Jacob also calls "my redeemer"! Who could that angel, the redeeming Messenger of God, be? The difference between God and His divine Messenger/Angel is blurred in Genesis 31:3,11,13, and also in the encounter of Moses and the burning bush on Mount Sinai (Exodus 3:2-4).

This same pattern goes all the way to the prophet Hosea 12:3-6:

There is only one divine Messenger/ Angel that redeems in the bible and that is Yeshua, the living son of God.

The Mission — Fishers of Men Like Abraham

Now back to the fishing of men. We must not forget that we are commanded to acquire, save, and bring the pagans to the Lord and place Israel as the priests to usher the nations to the Kingdom of God. Out of the darkness of idolatry and into the light of God's presence, being fishers of men like our forefathers, Abraham and Isaac!

When you are an evangelist, a soul-winner, you must want those who follow you to keep following the same Lord that you follow. As Paul said to his disciples:

This might seem strange to you, but the object of sharing the Gospel with people is that they follow you into the kingdom of God and make you their example and model. This is one reason that so many of the so-called "discipleship" programs in the world are not really successful long term. Every child follows his father and mother and often your child will display the same good and bad and ugly traits that he learned from you, his father. Stop being a bad example! Take hold of your son and yourself and change together. It is never too late. Return dear brothers and sisters and become fishers of men!