There is a word that frequently appears in the Tanakh, usually right at the beginning of a sentence, which can help us understand how ordinary things that happen to us fit into Yahweh’s bigger plan for this world. The word is “vayehi,” derived from “hayah,” which means: to exist, to be, to happen. It is often not easy to translate this word—especially if a verse already describes how something happens. If one forces the translation of “vayehi” in such cases, it can lead to redundant language, as in the sentence: “Then it happened that something happened.” Therefore, “vayehi” is often left untranslated in some Bible versions. But sometimes it is indeed translated with something like: “And then it came to pass that…”
The fact that this short word is often not translated does not mean that it is an unimportant word. There is a very good reason why the Hebrew writers sometimes wrote, “And it came to pass that X went to meet Y,” and not just, “X went to meet Y.” Or that they will say, “And it came to pass that X and Y went up to Jerusalem,” and not just “X and Y went up to Jerusalem.” And this reason has to do with the typical Hebrew view that Yahweh is in control of what happens in our lives. We are certainly not little robots that are pre-programmed, not able to do anything other than what the program dictates. But what we do, what happens to us, what we choose, the hardship we experience, the failures, the victories—everything—finds a place within the greater framework of His plan and His involvement with the people of this world.
In the Messianic writings, there is a frequently used Greek word, similar to “vayehi,” that is also translated as “And it came to pass that…”. And often, when this word is used, it serves as confirmation that something Y’shua did was in line with the pre-Messianic prophecies about Him. Matthew 7:26 does not just say the people were astonished at Y’shua’s teaching (at the end of the Sermon on the Mount). It says: So it CAME TO PASS (“egeneto”) that the people were astonished at His teaching. Is there perhaps a prophecy that Y’shua would be a good teacher? Yes, there is! Isaiah 11:2: “The Spirit of Yahweh shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Yahweh.” Matthew 26:1 does not just say that Y’shua told the people that He would be delivered up at the Passover. It says: So it CAME TO PASS (“egeneto”) that Y’shua told the people this. Is there perhaps a prophecy or a pointer to this in the Pre-Messianic Scriptures? Yes, there is! Quite a few, the most important of which is the first Passover on the evening before the Exodus from Egypt. Mark 2:23 does not just say that the Pharisees got into an argument with Y’shua about the Shabbat. It says: So it CAME TO PASS (“egeneto”) that they got into an argument about the Shabbat. Does this mean that this conversation in the wheat fields perhaps has a function within Yahweh’s larger plan with Y’shua? Absolutely! Chapters from Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and other prophecies clearly indicated that the coming Messiah would cause people to look at their own hearts and would bring the message that to truly please Yahweh, one ought to focus on the deepest intention of the Torah and not merely on the external observance thereof, as was often the case among the Pharisees.
One can understand this principle even better if one considers that the Name, YAHWEH, is a derived form of the same word, “hayah.” We are all familiar with the conversation Mosheh had with Yahweh at the burning bush. And with the unique words Yahweh used before He revealed His Name, “Yahweh,” to Mosheh. “Ehyeh asher ehyeh,” which is usually translated as: “I Am who I Am”—sometimes also: “I will be what I will be.” However, He is not only the One who IS or EXISTS—He is also the One who CAUSES TO EXIST and who CAUSES TO HAPPEN. The basic meaning of “hayah” is “to exist.” “Ehyeh” is derived from “hayah” and means “I exist (from eternity to eternity).” “Yahweh” is also derived from “hayah” and means “He is the One who causes to exist” or “He is the One who causes to happen.”
It is clear that “Ehyeh” is not intended as the Name by which we should call upon Him, as if we also exist from all eternity. But “Yahweh” is the Name by which we ought to call upon Him. For with it, we confess that He is the One who causes to exist and causes to happen. And the most important reason why the Hebrew writers sometimes write “vayehi” at the beginning of a sentence is to draw the reader’s attention to the fact that Yahweh is in the process of causing something to happen. Something special. Something that fits into a bigger plan. Something that will help us make sense of the events taking place before us in the text.
Genesis 27 describes the events when Yitzchak (Isaac) in his old age called Esau, his eldest son, and told him two important things: (1) He had to go hunt and come back and prepare a dish with the meat he would bring back from the hunt, and (2) After the hunt and the meal, he was to come to his father so his father could bless him. And right at the beginning of this chapter we find the word “vayehi.” Why? Because the text wants to show us that the events unfolding here fit into a bigger plan. What is the bigger plan? The bigger plan had already transpired in Yahweh’s conversations with Yitzchak’s father, Avraham, when Yahweh told Avraham that He wanted to make him a great nation, bless him, and also bless other nations through him.
But Yahweh also spoke with Yitzchak and Rivkah (Rebekah) and told them, among other things, that there were two nations in Rivkah’s womb and that the older would serve the younger. The older, Esau, would serve the younger, Yaákov. The roles will be reversed. The “vayehi” in Genesis 27 is to tell us: Fasten your seatbelts, because the One who made a promise to Yitzchak has now begun to fulfil it—through his son Yaákov. Not the son Yitzchak thought it would be. Not in a manner that “suits” a woman like Rivkah and a young man like Yaákov, who would later become the father of an entire nation. But what happens here does not only affect Yitzchak. It also affects Yahweh’s word to Avraham. The covenant He made with Avraham, the nation He wanted to gather for Himself, and the Messiah He would later send to open the door wide for other nations.
In quite a number of places in the Scripture, only the second part of “vayehi” is used: “Yehi,” and the intention is: “May it happen that” or “May it be so that.” When someone whose heart is set on Yahweh expresses the desire or the prayer that something good may happen (in the future), this desire often arises from the knowledge that everything is not as it should be, but also the knowledge that Yahweh can do great things. After all, it is a desire brought before the One whose Name actually means: “He who is able to cause things to happen.”
The desire in Psalm 72:16, “May there be (yehi) an abundance of grain in the land,” perhaps arises precisely from a situation of scarcity of grain, but who else but Yahweh can turn scarcity into abundance? The desire in Psalm 22:7, “May there be (yehi) peace within your walls, O Yerushalayim,” tells us there may not be peace now, but this desire is expressed toward One who is able enough to bring peace even to a divided and besieged city like Jerusalem. And the desire in Psalm 104:31, “May Yahweh be (yehi) glad in His works,” may come from a background where people have grieved Him, and at that moment the Father may NOT glad about His works. But He can cause things to happen. He can change people’s hearts, He can bring new attitudes into being. He can move people who previously lacked the capacity to move. And He can make them part again of His works, over which He is glad, indeed.
“Vayehi” holds this message for us: What happens here and now—however insignificant it may seem—plays a role within Yahweh’s greater plan for this world. And, closely related to this, “yehi” holds this message for us: What happens here and now that is undesirable, that is bad, that hurts me, and that grieves Yahweh’s Spirit, can be reversed and made new and changed into something that pleases Yahweh. Because the Name of the One in Whom I trust, is Yahweh. The deepest meaning of this Name is that He can cause things to happen. He can bring something or someone that has halted in its tracks back into motion. He can not only make the impossible possible, He can also transform it into a great victory. He can even give birth to something that does not exist. He can make the biggest sceptic and the most venomous critic look foolish, so that the word is fulfilled: They shall see My great works, and they shall know that I am Yahweh!
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