Yes! It was so

 Reading the Torah each year, through the Parashot, always reveals new thoughts and ideas that we had not seen before, or brings back to mind previous insights that we had gleaned from other years.  One of my favorite chapters in the Torah is Genesis 1. There always seems to be a word or phrase that pops up as being important.  Recently, one such word that we use every day and in many ways came to mind.  The word in Hebrew is “Ken”, kaf, (final) noon, and in English “Yes”.

 Many times, when we succeed at something, we exclaim, “Yes!” I even hear my Hebrew-speaking grandsons use it when they score a goal in soccer.

In Genesis 1, verses 7,9,11,15,24, and 30, “ken” is combined with another word, “va’yi’hee", thus reading "ya'yi'hee ken" translated “it was so”.  This makes it into a statement of absolute truth.

In Genesis 1:9, for example, Elohim exclaims, "Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear"; and it was so” (emphasis added). Those three words are like saying “yes and amen!” We believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is true; that Elohim did what He had intended to do, or to perform.   

"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.  For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth, and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;  So shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it" (Isaiah 55:9-11).  

YHVH's covenants and promises with and to our forefathers and their called and chosen “seed” (in Genesis), that is, to the life/living soul (progeny), should be appended by, “and it was so”. For example, all three forefathers were given the same promise, that is, that their “life", or "soul" would grow into a multitude in the earth, like the stars, sand, and dust.  Just as all humanity shares the One living soul of Adam and Noah, we who have the faith of our father Abraham share his living/soul.

Adam became a living soul after YHVH breathed His Spirit-life into him; hence, all humanity has that same living soul. We are constituted “human beings” because of the one soul of Adam.  The life of the soul of Man is in the male sperm. The physical DNA does not constitute the soul, as we inherit our genetics from both our male and female ancestors. However, the soul-life is the same as it was in the First Man, Adam. But what differentiates the souls of humanity from one another is the Creator's pronouncements to a forefather, with that particular "Adamic" forefather’s soul carrying the anointing forward into his progeny, even to a thousand generations. His soul-life is renewed in every generation, no matter the makeup of the physical DNA.  That is why we cannot determine our ancestry by (solely) physical anatomy. Paul recognized or identified Abraham and his chosen progeny by two means: carrying the scepter of the Torah/Law, and having the “faith” of their father Abraham (see Romans 4:16). Yeshua said, "Have you not read that which was spoken to you by Elohim, saying, 'I am the Elohim of Abraham, and the Elohim of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob '? He is not the Elohim of the dead but of the living." (Matthew 22:31-32). Thus, “and it was so” may be added to these words.

 Jacob/Israel’s soul-life and progeny were destined to become the “fullness of the nations” (see Gen. 48:19 according to the Hebrew, Romans 11:25) va’yihee ken! No other soul-life was anointed by the word of Elohim like Jacob’s. The Word of Elohim is embedded in the soul-life of Jacob’s generations, even until today. When the prophets, who lived many generations after the forefather Jacob, speak to Israel/Jacob, they address only one man.  One such example is in Isaiah 44:21: "Remember these things, O Jacob, and Israel, for you are My servant; I have formed you, you are My servant, O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me”.  How beautiful and encouraging is that statement when we understand that YHVH is speaking to the soul of Jacob, "me"!

Israel’s destiny was sealed by the word of YHVH’s covenants and promises.  Even though the enemy has sown in the same field (earth) another seed, YHVH only recognizes His chosen seed.  He knows who belongs to Him because He cannot deny Himself (see 2 Timothy 2:13). Replacement Theology maintains that somehow other seeds from other forefathers can miraculously be changed into the life/force of Israel, and in this way the anointings of the promises and covenants can apply to them as well. Romans 11 serves as a classic example, with the dismissal of the fact that the "wild olive branches" mentioned there are nothing else but "olive branches", and an olive is an olive is an olive. "Then Elohim said, 'Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with seed in them, on the earth'; and it was so'. Elohim created everything after its kind." (Genesis 1:11 emphasis added) including those of the fifth and sixth days. If that is not the case, there is no need for the book of Genesis, and of course, no need to say “it is so”, making the Word of Elohim of no lasting effect, and not being the same yesterday, today, and forever.