Parasha
Vayera – and appeared -
B’reshit
18 :1 – 22 :24
2nd
M’lakhim 4 :1-37, 2nd Kefa 2 :4-11
The former Parasha told us
concerning Abraham and the
circumcision. The book of Yasher give
us some details, for instance that Abraham was suffering the circumcision
during three days and in the third days יהוה sent three messengers (angels) (Yasher 18: 4). This is very interesting as we know that
there are many doctrines running throughout the world. Some will tell you that
the one in the middle was “the L-rd” himself because it is written that “יהוה
appeared” to Abraham
(B’reshit 18:1). Some others groups say that the three angels are “the Father,
the Son and the Holy Spirit”, what a non sense.
First of all as we know the Ruach
HaQodesh is not a person, and to make יהושע to be present at this time is heresy.
יהושע
was not pre-incarnated,
there is no verses in the Torah teaching pre-incarnation. We will turn back to
these points later. Today in the world
we are living, heresy is recurrent among the “churches” in the Christian world. The pastors teach to impress
people, not to bring them to the truth.
We have learned in the parasha Noah
how races and ethnics group came in the world with Yapeth, Shem and Ham. This week (end of 2009) I saw in TV
a man in the US
Deu 13:1 If
there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, Deu 13:2 and the sign or the wonder come to pass,
whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let
us go after other elohim, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
Deu 13:3
Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of
that prophet, or that dreamer of
dreams: for YHWH your Elohim proveth
you, to know whether ye love YHWH your Elohim with all your heart and with
all your soul.......
Now let me explain why I quote these verses from D’varim. The man collected 36 000 A .D.N. from more as 6.5 billions
people on earth, this mean it is noting, even if he collect one hundred
thousand or more one million it still remain a drop! We know that the skin
colour has been changed because people have been mingled to one another e.g.
Caucasians with Africans or Asian type and other way round, so that today we
have different types of populations. The
point concerning this man is that he brings people to believe another “elohim” HaSatan the “G-d” of this world and so draw away
people from the true, the Torah. I guess that many will fall as they have
before believed Darwin’s evolution
theory. Look what Luke writes concerning
Sha’ul:
Act 17:10 and
the brethren immediately sent away Paul
and Silas by night unto Berea
Act 17:11 these were more noble than those
in Thessalonica, in that they received the word
with all readiness of mind, and searched
the scriptures daily, whether those things were so......
Have you ever question which “scriptures”,
the Bereans were searching? At
this time only the “Tanak” (O.T.) was
available, no so call “New Testament”,
scriptures refers to the Torah, Psalms and Prophets. Are you doing the same
when you read from others (including from me), are you opening your own
scriptures to see if it so or out of context? The only way to protect ourselves
from false doctrine is to search the scriptures and pray to Aba
Vayera: comes from the word: Strong’s#7200
ראה râ'âh raw-aw'written
resh, aleph,he. A primitive root; to see, literally or figuratively (in numerous applications, direct
and implied, transitively, intransitively and causatively): - advise self,
appear, approve, behold, X certainly, consider, discern, (make to) enjoy, have
experience, gaze, take heed, X
indeed, X joyfully, lo, look (on, one another, one on another, one upon
another, out, up, upon), mark, meet, X be
near, perceive, present,
provide, regard, (have) respect, (fore-, cause to, let) see (-r, -m, one
another), shew (self), X sight of others, (e-) spy, stare, X surely, X think, view, visions....... We see here that the word “Vayera” coming from the roots “ra’ah” can also mean “gaze”, “be near”, “perceive”, “thinks”, or even “vision”......
Remember
Abraham was in the third day of his circumcision and the pain was still there.
Abraham was waiting at the door of his tent. He was handicapped and we can easily
imagine that he was “gazing”, “thinking” or even having a “vision” about his
circumcision. We see in the Yasher text that the “appearance of יהוה
is
direct connected with sending three men, which is not so clear in the Torah.
So we could
have said: “While Abraham was sitting at the door of his tent in the third day
of his pain due to the circumcision, he was “gazing”
“thinking” about it, as יהוה
sent
three men to him, and he lifted up his eyes (removing his mind from thinking)
and saw them”. To interpret that the three men to be “the
L-rd, the Holy Spirit and Jesus”, is totally nonsense. We are going to see in
the book Yasher.(the Just) .Yasher Chapter 18: * in (-) mine added. 2. and there was not one
left whom he did not circumcise, and Abraham
and his son
Ishmael were
circumcised in the flesh of their foreskin; thirteen years old was Ishmael when he was circumcised in the flesh
of his foreskin. 3. and in the third
day Abraham went out of his tent and sat at the door to enjoy the heat of
the sun, during the pain of his flesh.
4. and YHWH appeared (in a visions or while Abraham gazed about
his circumcision*) to him in the
plain of Mamre, and sent three of
his ministering angels to visit him, and he was sitting at the door of
the tent, and he lifted his eyes and saw, and lo three men were coming from a distance, and he rose up and ran to
meet them, and he bowed down to them and brought them into his house. 5. and he
said to them, If now I have found favour in your sight, turn in and eat a
morsel of bread; and he pressed them,
and they turned in and he gave them water and they washed their feet, and he
placed them under a tree at the door of the tent. The writer of the Torah is
Moshe, and he understood that יהוה sent three of his “malak” or messenger for a purpose. In the study of angels we can
learn that there are different ones. In this group you have the one leading the
group and bringing the information to Abraham and you have two others one who
are sent to go to Sodom
Psa 103:20 Bless יהוה,
you His messengers (malakim), Mighty in power, who do His Word, Listening to the voice of His Word……..
We have also the angels who stand
before the throne of יהוה, the one leading יהוה’s army, the
Archangels and who have a greater decision’s ability:
Dan 10:5 then I lifted my eyes and looked
and saw a certain man dressed in
linen, whose loins were girded with gold of Uphaz! Dan 10:7 And I, Dani’ĕl, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not
see the vision, but a great trembling fell upon them, and they ran away to hide
themselves.
Now
see the Hebrew word for vision used
in Daniel 10:7: .......
Vision: Strong’s #H4759 מראה mar'âh mar-aw.....Feminine of H4758; a vision; also (causatively) a mirror:
- looking glass, vision. ....H4758 mar'eh
mar-eh' From H7200; a view (the act of seeing); also an appearance (the thing
seen), whether (real) a shape
(especially if handsome, comeliness; often plural the looks), or (mental) a vision: - X apparently, appearance (-reth), X as soon as
beautiful (-ly), countenance, fair, favoured, form, goodly, to look (up) on
(to), look [-eth], pattern, to see, seem, sight, visage, vision......H7200 râ'âh
raw-aw'
A
primitive root; to see, literally or figuratively (in numerous applications, direct and implied,
transitively, intransitively and causatively): - advise self, appear, approve,
behold, X certainly, consider, discern, (make to) enjoy, have experience, gaze, take heed, X indeed, X joyfully,
lo, look (on, one another, one on
another, one upon another, out, up, upon), mark, meet, X be near, perceive, present, provide, regard,
(have) respect, (fore-, cause to, let) see (-r, -m, one another), shew (self),
X sight of others, (e-) spy, stare, X surely, X think, view, visions...........You
remember few verses before Abraham:
Gen 18:1 and YHWH appeared (Strong’s H7200 ra’ah*) unto him in the plains of Mamre:
and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day. So we could read: and יהוה appeared in a vision to Abraham……….
Don’t
think I try to do my own doctrine I just put the English text in its right
context. It takes time to search dictionary and verses which demonstrate that
there are no error in the interpretation. Too long, Christians have made up
their own doctrines and put people into bondage, we must now be from those who
want to know the truth and not those following man’s doctrine. In Daniel’s text it was a vision, we
understand that it was a “messenger”
or “angel” (heb.malak) as the other men couldn’t see the vision. But let us see the
difference with simple “messenger” or “angel”. The Archangel has a complete
task to accomplish. In the case of Daniel, the archangel comes to explain
something to Daniel and later will go
because he knows before hand what his mission is.
Dan 10:11 and he said to me, “O Dani’ĕl, man
greatly appreciated, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand
upright, for I have now been sent to you.”
And while he was speaking this word to me, I stood trembling. Dan 10:12 and he said to me, “Do not fear, Dani’ĕl, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and to
humble yourself before your Elohim, your words were heard, and I have come because of your words (the purpose of his visit*). Dan 10:13 “But the head of the rule of Persia Persia
The Archangel has been
sent to Daniel to make him understand
something: To him alone and not to the other men who were with him. Dan 10:20 and he said, “Do you know why I have come
to you? And now I return to fight
with the head of Persia Greece
We
see in the verse 20 that the archangel knows what is ahead, he has the responsibility
to watch the heavenly realm, not so simple angels. The most known are Michael (chief of host), Raphael (healing), Gabriel
(spiritual knowledge),Samael (judgement or evil), Haniel
(grace, mercy); Sandalphon (Guardian spirit); Raziel (revelation), Zaphkiel
(contemplation), Zadkiel ( good). These are the archangel standing before יהוה’s
throne.
Gen 18:1 and יהוה appeared
to him by the terebinth trees of Mamrĕ, while he was sitting in the tent door
in the heat of the day.
Gen
18:2 so he lifted his eyes and
looked, and saw three men standing opposite him. And when he saw them, he ran
from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground, Gen 18:3 and said, “יהוה*, if
I have now found favor in Your eyes, please do not pass Your servant by. …..*
The Hebrew text read Adonai (master) instead
of יהוה The tradition to give hospitality was know to
Abraham from the time passed with Shem and Ebert and was kept among יהוה’s
people:
Jdg 13:15 and Manowaḥ said to the Messenger of יהוה, “Please let us detain You, and prepare a young goat for You.”
Gen
18:4 “Please let a little
water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. Gen 18:5 “And let me bring a piece
of bread and refresh your hearts and then go on, for this is why you have come
to your servant.” And they said, “Do as you have said.” ………
.Abraham is well known
for his hospitality. Sha’ul teaches
something concerning strangers:
Heb 13:2 Do not forget to receive strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly (not knowing) entertained
messengers (angels)....
Messenger
is the Hebrew word: “Malak” translated
many times “angel” and in the Greek text as “angelos”.
.... Here in the Torah concerning Abraham
it is the Hebrew word Strong’s # 376
“iysch” from “enosch” literally
“mortal” or “men”.
Abraham saw
three men. For him it was clear and we see that they will eat when Abraham invited them to seat and refresh
themselves, malak taking man
appearance in order to accomplish their task. We know from the book of Yasher that “malak” can take any form, as it is with the bush in fire in the
day of Moshe which is also a “malak”
(see the midrash concerning Moshe’s call)..... Gen 18:6 so Aḇraham ran into the
tent to Sarah and said, “Hurry, make ready three measures of fine flour, knead
it and make cakes.” Gen 18:7 and Aḇraham ran to the herd, took a tender and
good calf, gave it to a young man, and he hurried to prepare it. Gen 18:8 and he took curds and milk and the calf which he
had prepared, and set it before them, and he stood by them under the tree as
they ate. Gen 18:9 and they
said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “See, in the tent.”
Gen
18:10 and He said, “I shall certainly return to you according to the
time of life, and see, Sarah your wife is to have a son!” And Sarah was
listening in the tent door which was behind him. Gen 18:11 Now Aḇraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in
age, and Sarah was past the way of women. Gen 18:12 and Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown
old, shall I have pleasure, my master being old too?”
The malak’s
visit was to announce to Abraham that he will have a son. The reason is easy o
understand, because the birth of Itzak
will be behind man’s ability, both Abraham and Sarah been out of age to get
children. Many times in the Torah יהוה
has
close the womb of women for a purpose. She
(Sarah) laughed within herself! The
word is clear in Hebrew it is “qereb” the
center, or inner part. How can it be that the messenger knew that Sarah laughed?
Gen
18:13 and יהוה said to Aḇraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying,
‘Shall I truly have a child, since I am old?’ Gen 18:14 “Is any matter too hard for יהוה? At
the appointed time I am going to return to you, according to the time of life,
and Sarah is to have a son.”
Gen
18:15 But Sarah denied it,
saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did
laugh!” …….
Sarah was like many of us today, in spite of believing יהוה and following her husband, she couldn’t imagine a
single second to get a child in her old age, and she was limited in her belief.
Keil and Delitzsch give us this comment:
During the meal, at which Abraham
stood, and waited upon them as the host, they asked for Sarah, for whom the
visit was chiefly intended. On being told that she was in the tent, where she
could hear, therefore, all that passed under the tree in front of the tent, the
one whom Abraham addressed as Adonai
(my Master), and who is called Jehovah
in Gen_18:13, said, “I will return to thee (חַיָּה
כָּעֵת) at this time, when it lives again” (חַיָּה, reviviscens, without the article, Ges. §111, 2b), i.e., at this time next year; “and, behold, Sarah, thy wife, will (then) have a son.” Sarah heard this at the
door of the tent; “and it was behind Him”
(Jehovah), so that she could
not be seen by Him as she stood at the door. But as the fulfilment of this
promise seemed impossible to her, on account of Abraham's extreme age, and the
fact that her own womb had lost the
power of conception, she laughed within
herself, thinking that she was not observed. But that she might know that the promise was made by the omniscient and
omnipotent God (El), He reproved her for laughing, saying, “Is anything too wonderful (i.e.,
impossible) for Jehovah? at the time appointed
I will return unto thee,” etc.; and when her perplexity led her to deny
it, He convicted her of falsehood. Abraham also had laughed at this promise (Gen_17:17), and without receiving any reproof.
For his laughing was the joyous outburst of astonishment; Sarah's, on the
contrary, the result of doubt and unbelief,
which had to be broken down by reproof, and, as the result showed, really
was broken down, inasmuch as she conceived and bore a son, whom she could only
have conceived in faith (Heb_11:11)......
Have you also been in a situation were you “laughed” thinking that it was
impossible for you to get it or to see what seems impossible? Have you ever
dream when you were a child that one day you will be keeping Shabbat and
calling upon the Name of יהוה and יהושע? Have you ever thought that יהוה
was watching at you since your birth and knew you even before you were born?
You see it is not surprising that Sarah
was laughing looking at the natural! We
can see that the sent “malak” are one
in mind with Elohim and do not speak
on their own. Further they have divine abilities; man cannot hide anything
before them…..
Gen
18:16 and the men rose up from there and looked
toward Seḏom (Sodom
Here we can read what the prophet says:
Amo 3:7 for the Master יהוה does no matter
unless He reveals His secret to His
servants the prophets. …….
Was Abraham a prophet?
Gen 20:7 “And now, return the man’s wife (Abraham),
for he is a prophet, and let him
pray for you and you live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall
certainly die you and all that are yours.” Gen 18:18 since Aḇraham is
certainly going to become (in the future*) a great and mighty nation, and all
the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? Blessed is the Hebrew word:
Strong’s # 1288 בּרך bârak baw-rak'
written beth,resh,kaf (sofit form: at the end of the word)
A primitive
root; to kneel; by
implication to bless God (as an act of adoration), and (vice-versa) man
(as a benefit); also (by euphemism) to curse (God or the king, as
treason): - X abundantly, X altogether,
X at all, blaspheme, bless, congratulate, curse, X greatly, X indeed, kneel
(down), praise, salute, X still, thank.
The large meaning is that because of Abraham behaviour toward Elohim
and the future spreading of Abraham’s descendant יהוה
will
be concern with man destiny. Not because of Buddha or Allah or Krishna or any other “g-ds” The reason of “blessing” is Abraham’s commitment to the TORAH, as
we can read in the verse 19. .....
Gen
18:19 “For I have known him, so that he commands his children and his household
after him, to guard the way of יהוה,
to do righteousness and right-ruling, so that יהוה
brings
to Aḇraham what He has spoken to him.”
Gen
18:20 and יהוה said, “Because
the outcry against Seḏom and Amorah (Sodom
Abraham’s
intercession for the righteous:
Gen
18:23 and Aḇraham drew near
and said, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wrong? Gen 18:24 “Suppose there are fifty righteous within the
city, would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous
that were in it? Gen
18:25 “Far be it from You to
act in this way, to slay the righteous with the wrong, so that the righteous
should be as the wrong. Far be it from You! Does the Judge of all the earth not
do right?” Gen 18:26 and יהוה
said, “If I find in Seḏom fifty righteous within
the city, then I shall spare all the place for their sakes.” Gen 18:27 And Aḇraham answered and said, “Look, please, I
who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to יהוה, Gen 18:28 “Suppose there are five less than the fifty
righteous, would You destroy all of the city for lack of five?” And He said,
“If I find there forty-five, I do not destroy it.” Gen 18:29 and he spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose
there are found forty?” And He said, “I would not do it for the sake of forty.”
Gen
18:30 and he said, “Let not יהוה be displeased,
and let me speak: Suppose there are found thirty?” And He said, “I would not do
it if I find thirty there.” Gen
18:31 and he said, “Look,
please, I have taken it upon myself to speak to יהוה: Suppose there are found
twenty?” And He said, “I would not destroy it for the sake of twenty.” Gen 18:32 and he said, “Let not יהוה
be displeased, and let me speak only this time:
Suppose there are found ten?” And He said, “I would not destroy it for the sake
of ten.” Gen 18:33 Then יהוה
went away as soon as He had ended speaking to Abraham.
And Abraham returned to his
place.
What
about Lot who was living in the midst
of these people?
2Pe 2:7 and delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the
wicked: --- 2Pe
2:8 (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing,
vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)......
Lot,
his wife, his two daughters are four persons, יהוה said that for ten he would not destroy Sodom
and Gomorah! Ten represent an assembly of people in Hebrew though. Ten
is also the sum of all number, the closest divine action that man can reach on
earth; e.g. the Ten Commands. From Lot’s
own family is own wife was still hanging on the past and was not able to follow
her husband, so that only five remained. Five the number for Grace, Favour but also the number for
Torah! The account about Sodom Sodom
Chapter 18: .....10. and the men afterward departed and went their ways, to the places to
which they were sent. 11. In those days all the people of
Sodom and Gomorrah, and of the whole
five cities, were exceedingly wicked and sinful against YHWH and they provoked
YHWH with their abominations, and they strengthened in aging abominably and scornfully before YHWH, and their wickedness and crimes were in
those days great before YHWH. 12. and they had in their land a very
extensive valley, about half a day's walk, and in it
there were fountains of water and a great deal of herbage surrounding
the water. 13. and all the people of Sodom and Gomorrah
Is it not a picture of the world
today? Let us read what the prophet Yechezk’El
who compares the behaviour of Yehudah
and Israel
calling Sodom
Eze 16:48 “As I live,” declares
the Master יהוה,
“neither your sister Seḏom (Sodom) nor her daughters have done as you and your
daughters have done.
Eze
16:49 “See, this was the crookedness of your sister
Soḏom: She and her daughter had pride,
sufficiency of bread, and unconcerned ease. And she did not help the poor and needy. Eze 16:50 “And they were haughty and did
abomination before Me, and I took them away when I saw it.
The prophet Yechzk’el says
that the reason יהוה destroyed Sodom
Pro 16:18 before destruction comes
pride, and before a fall a haughty (arrogant*) spirit!
Jas 4:6 but He gives greater favour. Because of this
He says, “Elohim resists the proud,
but gives favour to the humble.”
Sufficiency of bread and unconcerned ease and she did
not help the poor and needy:
Mat 25:41 “He shall then also say to those on
the left hand, ‘Go away from Me, accursed ones, into the everlasting fire
prepared for the devil and his messengers – Mat 25:42 for I was hungry and you
gave me no food, I was thirsty and
you gave Me no drink, Mat 25:43 ‘I was a stranger and you did not take me in, was naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ Mat 25:44 “Then they also shall answer Him, saying, ‘Master, when did we see you
hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not
serve You?’ Mat 25:45 “Then He shall answer
them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, in
so far as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to
Me.’ Mat 25:46 “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous
into everlasting life.” Jas 1:27 Clean and undefiled religion before the Elohim and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their
affliction, and to keep oneself
unstained from the world. Mat 19:21 יהושע said to him, “If you wish to
be perfect, go, sell what you have and give
to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven. and come, follow
Me.”
Luk 14:13 “But when you give a feast, invite poor ones, crippled ones, lame
ones, blind ones, Luk 14:14 and you shall be blessed, because
they do not have to repay you. For you
shall be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
Rom 15:26 for it pleased those from Makedonia
and Achaia to make some contribution for
the poor among the set-apart ones who are in Yerushalayim.
Gal 2:10 only that we might remember the poor, which I myself was eager to do.
These
are few examples from the scripture concerning the poor and needy. Now the
question is to know what the world or let us say the “rich nations” of the
world are doing today. Behind the mask of a “fake generosity“, they put a
burden to the poor and oppress the needy. Their actions are only on purpose: to
“steal” the wealth, the natural riches from countries which need help for
development. If we look carefully at
what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah, do you think it will be again
in our days? We see in the European
Union a raising wall against strangers
especially those from countries who have real need for help. In France we now have discussion concerning Afghans
coming illegal (without papers) trying
to reach the U.K. in Calais north France
Read:
Ecc 1:9 What has been is what shall be, what
has been done is what shall be done, and there is no new matter under the sun. Ecc 1:10 is there a matter of which it is
said, “See, this is new”? It was here already, long ago. ........
The nations
are warned long ago, but they mock and despise the truth, therefore judgment
will come, as it was under Sodom and Gomorra. Remember יהוה
told Noach that the world will not be
destroyed anymore by water! Sodom
Isa 66:15 “For look, יהוה comes with fire; and with His chariots, like a whirlwind to render
His displeasure with burning,
and His rebuke with flames of fire.
Isa 66:16 “For by
fire and by His sword (Torah*) יהוה
shall
judge all flesh, and the slain of יהוה shall be many – Zep 1:18 Neither their silver nor
their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of יהוה. And
by the fire of His jealousy all the
earth shall be consumed, for He makes a sudden end of all those who dwell in the earth. Zep 3:8 “Therefore wait for Me,” declares יהוה, “until the day I rise up for
plunder. For My
judgment is to gather nations, to assemble reigns, to pour out
on them My rage, all my burning wrath. For by
the fire of My jealousy all the earth shall be consumed.
2Pe 3:10 but the day of YHWH will come as a thief in
the night; in the which the heavens
shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat, the earth also and the
works that are therein shall be burned up.
Rev 8:7 and the first messenger sounded, and there came to be hail and fire mixed with blood, and they were
thrown to the earth. And a third of the
trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up. Rev 9:18 a third of mankind was killed
(more than two billions people*) by these three plagues, by the fire
and the smoke and the sulphur which came out of
their mouths. Rev 14:10 he also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of Elohim, which is poured
out undiluted into the cup of His
wrath. And he shall be tortured with
fire and sulphur before the set-apart messengers and before the Lamb.
........
We
read in the book of Revelation that people die from hail, fire, smoke and sulphur. The word for Sulphur in Hebrew has
been translated with brimstone now let us look at
dictionary from Christians scholars like Fausset: --- Brimstone - gaphrith, related to gopher wood, and so expressing any inflammable substance, as
sulphur, which burns with a suffocating smell. It is a mineral found in
quantities on the shores of the Dead Sea. It was the instrument used in
destroying Sodom and Gomorrah, the adjoining cities of the plain (Gen_19:24), for divine miracle does not
supersede the use of God's existing natural agents, but moves in connection
with them. An image of every visitation of God's vengeance on the ungodly,
especially of the final one (Deu_29:23;
Job_18:15; Psa_11:6;
Isa_34:9; Eze_38:22;
Rev_19:20; Rev_20:10;
Rev_21:8).
Similar we
find from Strong: gophrı̂yth gof-reeth'.....Probably feminine of H1613; properly cypress resin; by analogy sulphur
(as equally inflammable): - brimstone......
Also from
Easton’s dictionary: --- Brimstone - An inflammable mineral substance found in
quantities on the shores of the Dead Sea. The cities of the plain were
destroyed by a rain of fire and brimstone (Gen_19:24,
Gen_19:25). In Isa_34:9 allusion is made to the destruction of
these cities. This word figuratively denotes destruction or punishment (Job_18:15; Isa_30:33;
Isa_34:9; Psa_11:6;
Eze_38:22). It is used to express the
idea of excruciating torment in Rev_14:10;
Rev_19:20; Rev_20:10........
But if we
carefully read the Torah we find out that this brimstone or Sulphur came from heaven:
Gen 19:24 then YHWH rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah
Keil and Delitzsch claim also the idea that Brimstone came from heaven: --- The
words are to be understood quite literally, as meaning that brimstone and fire,
i.e., burning brimstone, fell from the sky, even though the examples of burning
bituminous matter falling upon the earth which are given in Oedmann's vermischte Sammlungen (iii.
120) may be called in question by historical criticism. By this rain of fire
and brimstone not only were the cities and their inhabitants consumed, but even
the soil, which abounded in asphalt, was set on fire, so that the entire valley
was burned out and sank, or was overthrown (הָפַךְ)
i.e., utterly destroyed, and the Dead Sea took its place.......
What can we conclude out of this?
Could it be that this rain of
brimstone was a mighty rain of meteor coming from the outer space? And so
could it be in the near future to the world as we know that many scientists
have found out that meteorites and comets are running in the outer space
for some of them been a “danger” for
the world. The only point they gaze upon is when! We can see in these
few verses that there is no difference between Sodom
2Pe 2:6 and having reduced to ashes the cities of Seḏom and Amorah(Gomorrah
Do not
worry for יהוה will protect his people. (read Psalm 91 which is the promise for the Qadosh Ones during the great
tribulations)....
Gen 19:24 then YHWH rained…………..from YHWH out of
heaven. .......This verse is many times used by Christians to
demonstrate that the first יהוה is the Father in heaven
and the second is “Jesus”. Is it
really so? We must discipline ourselves
when reading the Torah and not run through it like a book, if we want the Ruach HaQodesh (Set Apart Spirit) to
help us to see. We have read in Chapter
18:1 that יהוה appeared “ra’ah” (in a vision) to Abraham and that right after
that Abraham see three men coming to
him. In the Book of Yasher two of
these messengers are sent to Sodom
and Gomorrah to look for Lot. The other one was sent for the sole purpose to
announce to Abraham that he will have a son, read carefully:
Gen 18:9 and they
said (three messengers) unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said,
Behold, in the tent. Gen 18:10 and
he said (one messenger) I will certainly return unto thee
according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And
Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.......
Two
messengers (M'lakhim/angels) went to bring Judgement to Sodom and Gomorrah, the
other one went back to heavens. Messengers send to specifics works are also
called by the Name יהוה ......
Exo 23:20 behold, I
send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into
the place which I have prepared. Exo 23:21 beware
of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your
transgressions: for my name is in him.
....
Why two
messenger, not one? ---- The answer may
be:
Deu 19:15 One witness shall not rise up against a man
for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the
mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.
Chapter 19
Let us
introduce the story of Lot with an
account of the book of Yasher chapter
19:
37. for a traveller came into the city of Admah to abide there all
night, with the intention of going home in the morning, and he sat opposite the
door of the house of the young woman's father, to remain there, as the sun had
set when be had reached that place; and the young woman saw him sitting by the
door of the house. 38. and he asked her for a drink of water and she said to him,
Who art thou? and he said to her, I was this day going on the road, and reached
here when the sun set, so I will abide here all night, and in the morning I
will arise early and continue my journey. 39. and the young woman went into the
house and fetched the man bread and water to eat
and drink. 40. and this affair became known to the people of Admah, and
they assembled and brought the young woman before the judges, that they should
judge her for this act. 41. and the judge said, The judgment of death must pass
upon this woman because she transgressed our law, and this therefore is the
decision concerning her.
42. aAnd the people of those cities assembled and brought out the young
woman, and anointed her with honey from head to foot, as the judge had decreed,
and they placed her before a swarm of bees which were then in their hives, and
the bees flew upon her and stung her that her whole body was swelled. 43. and
the young woman cried out on account of the bees, but no one took notice of her
or pitied her, and her cries ascended to
heaven.
44. and YHWH was provoked at this and at all the works of the cities of
Sodom, for they had abundance of food,
and had tranquillity amongst them, and still
would not sustain the poor and the needy(remember what Yechzk’el write*), and in
those days their evil doings and sins became great beforeYHWH. 45. and YHWH sent for two of the angels that had
come to Abraham's house, to destroy Sodom and its cities. 46. and the
angels rose up from the door of Abraham's tent, after they had eaten and drunk,
and they reached Sodom in the evening, and Lot
was then sitting in the gate of Sodom Lot was sitting in the gate of Seḏom. And when Lot saw them, he rose up to meet them, and
he bowed himself with his face toward the ground, Gen 19:2 and he
said, “Look, please my masters, please turn in to your servant’s house and
spend the night, and wash your feet, and rise early and go your way.” And
they said, “No, but let us spend the night in the open square.” .........
Lot was raised by Abraham before he
separated himself from him, and knew ho to behave toward strangers. Who is Lot to today? Was he not a relative to Abraham, I mean blood relative,
descendants of Terah Abraham’s father through Haran Abraham’s brother (see the chart at the end of the parasha). Lot got two sons from his own daughters Moab and Benammi where we get
the Moabites and the Ammonites. Was not Ruth a Moabite, was she not married to Boaz (see the chart at the end of the parasha) from Yehuda the father of Obed the father of Jesse the father of David from
whom our Master יהושע was the descendant? Read what Kefa
write concerning Lot :
2Pe 2:7 and
rescued righteous Lot ,
who was oppressed with the indecent behaviour of the lawless.
2Pe 2:8 (for day after day that righteous man, dwelling among them, tortured
his righteous being by seeing and hearing their lawless works), 2Pe 2:9 then
יהוה knows how to
rescue the reverent ones from trial and to keep the unrighteous unto the Day of
Judgment to be punished, …….
Kefa write
that Lot was a righteous man who dwelt among
wicked people. Is it not like the house of Israel
Gen 19:3 but he (lot) urged them strongly, and they turned in to him and came
into his house. And he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they
ate. Gen 19:4 before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Seḏom, both old
and young, all the people from every part, surrounded the house. Gen 19:5 and they called to Lot and said to
him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, and let
us ‘know’ them.” Gen 19:6 so Lot
went out to them through the doorway, and shut the door behind him,
Gen 19:7 and said, “Please, my brothers, do not do evil! Gen 19:8 “Look, please, I have two
daughters who have not known a man. Please, let me bring them out to
you, and do to them as you wish, only do no deed to these men, because they
have come under the shadow of my roof.” Gen 19:9 but they said, “Stand back!” And
they said, “This one came in to sojourn, and should he always judge? Now we are
going to treat you worse than them.” So they pressed hard against the man Lot , and came near to break down the door.
Gen 19:10 but the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot
into the house with them, and shut the door.
Gen 19:11 Then they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with
blindness, both small and great, and they wearied themselves to find the door. Gen 19:12 And the men said to Lot , “Have you
anyone else here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whomever
you have in the city – bring them out of this place! Gen 19:13 “For we are going to destroy this place, because the cry against them has grown great before the face of יהוה, and
יהוה has sent us to
destroy it.” …Sin calls for Judgment! ---- Rev 17:1 and
one of the seven messengers who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me,
saying to me, “Come, I shall show you
the judgment of the great whore sitting on many waters. Rev 18:5 “Because her sins have piled up to reach the heaven, and Elohim has
remembered her unrighteousnesses. Rev 18:8 “Because of this her plagues shall come in
one day: death and mourning and scarcity of food. And she shall be burned up
with fire, because יהוה Elohim who judges her is mighty. ….
How is it today with the sins of the nations of the
world, do they reach to heavens with sexual immorality, homosexuality,
abortion, gambling, rejecting to help the poor and needy, making ‘g-ds’ in
sport like “nike” and Olympic games
which were under the Romans emperors making place for pagans feats all around
the world, Christmas and Easter, following “mammon” the “g-d” of money,
rejecting the Shabbat to adapt the Sunday after the Roman Catholic satanic
worship, and there is much more? Today unfortunately, the eyes of people are
dimmed by lack of understanding and rejecting of the truth. HaSatan sprays his doctrine “does Elohim has said?” around like
gangrene in the flesh. People cannot discern anymore and only few faithful ones
are aware of what is coming ahead. Parents do not teach anymore the children in
godly ways, children have no more respect for parents. Family values have been
destroyed by Satan’s agents ruling
the world. Immorality is promoted in TV, movies, music and other forms. I
explained in the former Parasha Lech
Lecha how now Governments offer free
full HD TV technique to every household in Europe
and U.S in order to manipulate the mind of people and make them addicted to
their doctrines. ……………..
Gen
19:14 and Lot
went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said,
“Get up, get out of this place, for יהוה
is going to destroy this city!” But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be as one joking. Gen 19:15 and when morning dawned, the
messengers urged Lot to hurry, saying, “Get
up, take your wife and your two
daughters who are here,(the virgins not the married ones*) lest you be
consumed in the punishment of the city.”
Gen
19:16 and while he loitered,
the men took hold of his hand, and his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two
daughters, יהוה having
compassion on him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.
Gen
19:17 and it came to be, when
they had brought them outside, that he said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay
anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be consumed.”
Gen
19:18 and Lot
said to them, “Oh no, יהוה! Gen 19:19 “Look, please, your servant has found favor in
your eyes, and you have increased your kindness which you have shown me by
saving my life, but I am unable to escape to the mountains, lest calamity
overtake me and I die. Gen 19:20 “Look, please, this city is near enough to flee
to, and it is small. Please let me escape there – is it not a small matter –
and let my life be saved?” Gen 19:21 and He said to him, “Look, I have favored you
concerning this matter also, without overthrowing this city for which you have
spoken. Gen 19:22 “Hurry, escape there. For I am not able to do any deed until
you arrive there.” So the name of the city was called Tsoʽar (heb.
insignificant, ignoble). Gen 19:23 the sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Tsoʽar. Gen 19:24 and יהוה rained sulphur and fire on Seḏom and Amorah, from יהוה out of the
heavens. Gen 19:25 so He overthrew those
cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew
on the ground. Gen 19:26 but his
wife looked back from behind him, and she became a post of salt. Gen 19:14............... But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be as
one joking. …….
The sons in law were not acquainted with Lot traditions, they were stranger to
the Torah and their mind was limited to the warning. The were “in between” on one sight Lot and his daughter on the other side
they were raise in the midst of the pagan Sodomites.
Is this not a warning how to claim to the Torah
and follow those having more experiences and understanding? What will you do
when the messenger will come to
gather יהוה’s people, will you be able to recognize the call or
will you look back to the former system in which you have been grown up? It’s
time to let behind every worldly tradition and even those from our family who
refuse vehemently to listen to the truth, having chosen the doctrines of Satan.
Let us go back to the story and see what יהוה
want
us to know. As we saw before this is a scenario of what will happen in the near
future to the wicked. Unfortunately this study reveals that many of those who
have been called will also perish in the day of wrath, because they will not
“believe”. But let us see and understand the warning: --- In the Household of Lot there were also some from among Sodom and Gomorra who
were married to Lot daughters. The Torah doesn’t give so many details how
many daughters Lot had. The Book of Yasher makes details clear and shows
that some of Lot’s daughter remained in Sodom
when the messengers told Lot to go
away, only two of them followed there were the two virgins lot wanted to give to the sodomites, the others
daughters were married with sodomites. This was the reason why Lot’s wife looked back and became a
pillar of salt: ----- 51. Then YHWH rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah Lot
looked back to see the destruction of the cities, for her compassion was
moved on account of her daughters who remained in Sodom Lot and two of his daughters that remained with him
fled and escaped to the cave of Adullam, and they remained there for some time.
With this we
can see what יהושע says:
Mat 10:34 “Do not think that I
have come to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword, Mat 10:35 for I have come to bring
division, a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a
daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law – Mat 10:36 and a man’s enemies are those of
his own household;......
In the first reading it seems to be
out of context, but if we read carefully we will see that it is not so far. In the time of Lot, The sons in law married to Lot
daughters but rejected the instruction from Lot
they didn’t followed him and Lot
daughters followed pagans ways. This is what יהושע
is saying, some will
follow him other will not. Some of Lot’s daughters were adopting the
tradition of their husband from Sodom
and Gomorra and the price was that
they were destroyed with the wicked. Do you think it is different today? I have
seen people calling themselves followers of “the L-rd” and marrying Catholics
or even unbelievers. Lot’s wife has a
heart which was still half in the world and half after her husband:
Luk 9:62 but יהושע said
to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the reign
of Elohim.” Luk 14:26 “If anyone comes to
Me and does not hate his father and mother, and wife, and children, and
brothers, and sisters, and his own life too, he is unable to be My taught one.
Gen 19:27 and Aḇraham arose early in the morning and went to the place where he had
stood before יהוה,
Gen 19:28 and he looked toward
Seḏom and Amorah, and toward all the land of the plain. And he looked and saw
the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace. Gen 19:29 Thus it came to be, when Elohim destroyed the
cities of the plain, that Elohim
remembered Aḇraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He
overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt. Gen 19:30 and Lot
went up out of Tsoʽar and dwelt in the mountains, and his two daughters were
with him, for he was afraid to dwell in Tsoʽar. And he and his two daughters
dwelt in a cave. Gen
19:31 and the first-born said
to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man on the earth to come in
to us, as is the way of all the earth. Gen 19:32 “Come, let us make our father drink wine and lie
with him, so that we preserve the seed of our father.” Gen 19:33 so they made their father
drink wine that night. And the first-born went in and lay with her father, and
he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she arose. Gen 19:34 and it came to be on the
next day that the first-born said to the younger, “See, I lay with my father
last night. Let us make him drink wine tonight as well, and you go in and lie
with him, so that we keep the seed of our father.” Gen 19:35 so they made their father
drink wine that night as well. And the younger arose and lay with him, and he
was not aware of it when she lay down or when she arose. Gen 19:36 Thus both the daughters
of Lot became pregnant by their father. Gen 19:37 and the first-born bore a
son and called his name Mo’aḇ, he is the father of the Mo’aḇites to this day.
Gen 19:38 and the younger, she also
bore a son and called his name Ben-Ammi, he is the father of the children of
Ammon to this day. ….
Many years was I asking myself what
is the meaning of Lot’s daughter
sleeping with their father? I knew that the situation was so, but I overlook
something. Can you today by reading these verses explain why the daughters
slept with their fathers? Here the explanation: The confirmation is given us hundreds
of years later:……Tamar:
Gen 38:13 and it
was told Tamar, saying, Behold thy
father in law goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep.
Gen 38:14 and she put her widow's garments off from her,
and covered her with a vail, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place,
which is by the way to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was
not given unto him to wife. Gen 38:15 When Judah Judah Judah Judah
Ruth:
Rth 4:5 and
Boʽaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naʽomi, you shall also acquire Ruth the Mo’aḇitess,
the wife of the dead, to raise up the
name of the dead on his inheritance.” .........Rth 4:10 “And also, Ruth the Mo’aḇitess, the wife of Maḥlon, I have acquired
as my wife, to raise up the name of the
dead on his inheritance, so that the name of the dead should not be cut off
from among his brothers and from the gate of his place. You are
witnesses today.” Rth 4:13 and Boʽaz took Ruth and she became his wife.
And he went in to her, and יהוה granted her conception, and
she bore a son. Rth 4:17 and
the women her neighbours gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi;
and they called his name Obed: he is the
father of Jesse, the father of David......
Now
where is the relation with Lot’s
daughter account, do you know? Lot
like Tamar and Ruth didn’t had any
descendant especially boys to raise his name for the coming generation so that
if the daughter had married to other men, Lot
descendants were eradicate at this point! The same reason was with Tamar and also with Boaz
who married Ruth. It is the man who
carries the chromosome who will determine the sex of the baby. Women have only “Y Chromosom”, man carry the “x Chromosm” who determine the sex. יהוה had already in his mind what will be with Lot but also with Tamar and Judah and with Boaz!.......
Conclusion: -- 1) If Lot
didn’t got a child from the eldest virgin daughter, Ruth the Moabite were not
born. 2) If Tamar didn’t slept with
her father in law Judah, Boaz were not born and so neither King David. What seems to be incest or even immoral to
us today was a divine way for יהושע to come! Something is also of interest, the question can
be raised: Why did Lot two virgin
daughters slept with their father, they could had wait for others men?
The book of Yasher
gives us the answer:
Chapter 19: 57. And Lot and his two daughters remained in the cave, and they made their
father drink wine, and they lay with him, for they said there was no man upon
earth that could raise up seed from them, for they sought that the whole earth
was destroyed.
This is why
it is only when Moshe gave the Torah that it was forbidden for a man to uncover
the nakedness of his sister:
Lev 18:9 The
nakedness of thy sister, the
daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother, whether she be born at home,
or born abroad, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover. Deu 27:22 Cursed be he that lieth with his sister, the
daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother. And all the people
shall say, so be it.
Lev 18:11 The
nakedness of thy father's wife's daughter, begotten of thy father, she is thy
sister, thou shalt not uncover
her nakedness. ......
Everything
done for the sake of heaven is not sin. We see that from the time of Moshe such action were no more possible.
Lot was born before Moshe, Tamar also and for Boaz
he took Ruth to raise a descendant to
Mahlon a Yehudin. One question can also be raised: Why did the
children of lot’s daughter, Moab and Ammon became enemies to the children of Israel? It is the mother
responsibility to teach her children the way of the Torah! You may be surprised but let us read:
Prov.6:20 my son keep the commandments (heb.mitzvat)
of thy Father and the Torah of thy
mother….
The father
sustained the family he is the one working in the field, while the mother at
home teach Torah to the children. In
the case of Moab and Ammon, their mothers the daughters of Lot were grown up in a pagan surrounding
influenced by their traditions. We see the same with Ishmael and his mother Hagar the
Egyptian.....
Chapter 20.
The book of
Yasher chapter 20 gives us following
information: 1. And at that time Abraham
journeyed from the plain of Mamre, and he went to the land of the Philistines,
and he dwelt in Gerar; it was in the twenty-fifth year of Abraham's
being in the land
of Canaan
Abraham
was in the land of the Philistines which will become the enemy from יהוה’s people.
יהוה will always protect
those who walk in the righteous way of the Torah following יהושע with all
their heart. Not only will he protect them but will afflict the wicked on their
behalf. This story is very interesting as Abimelech
didn’t knew that Sarah was Abraham’s wife, but his bad attitude, to take to
himself whatever was pleasing to him, bring him into trouble with יהוה. There is also one
passage verse 17 which is similar to what happened to Yob: Job 42:8 and now, take seven bulls and seven
rams, and go to My servant Iyoḇ, and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves.
And let My servant Iyoḇ pray for you
– for I accept him – lest I punish you; because you have not spoken of Me what
is right, as did My servant Iyoḇ.”
After Abraham prayed for Abimelech, יהוה opened the
womb of his wife and all the household and she could bear children. Abraham
spoke the true to Abimelech, Sarah was
really his sister (b’reshit 20:12)
Gen 20:1 and Aḇraham set out from there to the land of the South, and dwelt
between Qaḏĕsh and Shur, and stayed in Gerar. Gen 20:2 and Aḇraham said concerning Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Aḇimeleḵ sovereign of Gerar sent and took
Sarah. Gen 20:3 but Elohim came to Aḇimeleḵ in a dream by night, and said to him,
“See, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a
man’s wife.” . Yasher
20: 12. as at evening time, before men lie down to rest, the king
was sitting upon his throne,
and a deep sleep fell upon him, and he lay upon the throne and slept
till morning. 13. and he dreamed
that an angel of YHWH came to him
with a drawn sword in his hand, and the angel stood over Abimelech, and wished
to slay him with the sword, and the king was terrified in his dream, and said
to the angel, In what have I sinned against thee that thou comest to slay me
with thy sword? 14. and the angel
answered and said to Abimelech, Behold thou diest on account of the woman which
thou didst yesternight bring to thy house, for she is a married woman, the wife
of Abraham who came to thy house; now therefore return that man his wife, for
she is his wife; and shouldst thou not return her, know that thou wilt surely
die, thou and all belonging to thee. 15.
and on that night there was a great outcry in the land of the Philistines, and
the inhabitants of the land saw the figure of a man standing with a drawn sword
in his hand, and he smote the inhabitants of the land with the sword, yea he
continued to smite them. 16. and
the angel of YHWH smote the whole land of the Philistines on that night,
and there was a great confusion on that night and on the following
morning. 17. and every womb was
closed, and all their issues, and the hand ofYHWH was upon them on account of
Sarah, wife of Abraham, whom Abimelech had taken.18. and in the morning Abimelech rose with terror and confusion and
with a great
dread, and he sent and had his servants called in, and he related his
dream to them, and the people were greatly afraid. Gen 20:4 However, Aḇimeleḵ had not come
near her, and he said, “יהוה, would You slay a righteous
nation also? Gen 20:5 “Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And
she, even she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart
and in the innocence of my hands I have done this.” Gen 20:6 and Elohim said to him in
a dream, “Yea, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart, and so
I kept you from sinning against Me. For this reason I did not let you touch
her. Gen 20:7 “And now, return the
man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and
let him pray for you and you live.
But if you do not return her, know that you shall certainly die, you and all
that are yours.” Gen 20:8 so Aḇimeleḵ rose early in the morning, and
called all his servants, and spoke all these words in their hearing. And the
men were greatly frightened. Gen 20:9 and Aḇimeleḵ called Aḇraham and said to him,
“What have you done to us? In what have I sinned against you, that you have
brought on me and on my reign a great sin? You have done matters to me that
should not be done.”
Gen
20:10 and Aḇimeleḵ said to
Aḇraham, “What did you have in view, that you have done this matter?”
Gen
20:11 and Aḇraham said, “Only
because I said to myself, the
fear of Elohim is not in this place, and they shall kill me for the sake of my
wife. Gen 20:12 “And yet, she is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not
the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. Gen 20:13 “And it came to be, when
Elohim caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said to her, ‘This is
your kindness that you should do for me: in every place, wherever we go, say of
me, “He is my brother.” ’ ” Gen 20:14 Then Aḇimeleḵ took sheep, and cattle, and male
and female servants, and gave them to Aḇraham. And he returned Sarah his wife
to him. Gen 20:15 and Aḇimeleḵ said,
“See, my land is before you, dwell wherever it is good in your eyes.” Gen 20:16 and to Sarah he said,
“See, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. See, it is to you
a covering of eyes before all who are with you and before all others, and you
are cleared before everyone.” Gen 20:17 and Aḇraham prayed to Elohim, and Elohim healed Aḇimeleḵ,
and his wife, and his female servants, so they bore children, Gen 20:18 for יהוה had closed up
all the wombs of the house of Aḇimeleḵ because of Sarah, Aḇraham’s wife. ……
Chapter 21
Again
following the book of Yasher will
help to understand Abraham’s life and
those who were around him at this time. You may be surprised to see that we
found Terah, Abraham’s father as well
as Shem and Eber who were direct descendants from Noach as we can read: 4. and the child grew up and he was weaned, and Abraham
made a great feast upon the day that Isaac was weaned. 5. and Shem
and Eber and all the great people of
the land, and Abimelech king of the Philistines, and his servants, and Phicol,
the captain of his host, came to eat and drink and rejoice at the feast which
Abraham made upon the day of his son Isaac's being weaned.
6. also
Terah, the father of Abraham, and Nahor
his brother, came from Haran
So we understand that the recalling
of Abraham’s life is not chronological but much more build on
events has Moshe has been inspired by the Ruach
HaQodesh.
Gen 21:1 and יהוה
visited Sarah as He had said, and יהוה did for Sarah
as He had spoken.
Gen 21:2 So Sarah conceived and bore Aḇraham a son
in his old age, at the appointed time of which Elohim had spoken to him. Gen 21:3 and
Aḇraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to
him, Yitsḥaq. Gen 21:4 and Aḇraham circumcised his son
Yitsḥaq when he was eight days old, as Elohim had commanded him. Gen 21:5
and Aḇraham
was one hundred years old when his son Yitsḥaq was born to him. Gen 21:6 and
Sarah said, “Elohim has made me laugh, and everyone who hears of it laughs with
me.” Gen
21:7 and she said, “Who would
have said to Aḇraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a
son in his old age.” Gen 21:8
and the child grew and was weaned, and
Aḇraham made a great feast on the day that Yitsḥaq was weaned. Gen 21:9 and
Sarah saw the son of Haḡar the Mitsrite,
whom she had borne to Aḇraham, mocking. Gen 21:10 so
she said to Aḇraham, “Drive out this female servant and her son, for the son
of this female servant shall not inherit with my son, with Yitsḥaq.” Gen 21:11 and
the matter was very evil in the eyes of Aḇraham because of his son.
Gen
21:12 but Elohim said to Aḇraham, “Let it not be evil in your eyes because
of the boy and because of your female servant. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice, for in
Yitsḥaq your seed is called.
The book of Yasher
explain about Ishmael, this we should always remember as today the arabs are
the descendants from Ishmael and
would try to destroy the seed of Itzak:
11. and Ishmael the
son of Abraham was grown up in those days; he
was fourteen years old when Sarah bare Isaac to Abraham. 12. and God was with Ishmael the son of
Abraham, and he grew up, and he learned to use the bow and became an archer. 13.
and when Isaac was five years old he
was sitting with Ishmael at the door of the tent. 14. and Ishmael came to Isaac and seated himself opposite to him, and he took
the bow and drew it and put the arrow in it, and intended to slay Isaac.
15. and Sarah saw the act which Ishmael
desired to do to her son Isaac, and it grieved her exceedingly on
account of her son, and she sent for Abraham, and said to him, Cast out this bondwoman and her son, for
her son shall not be heir with my son, for thus did he seek to do unto him
this day. 16. and Abraham hearkened to the voice of Sarah, and he rose up early
in the morning, and
he took twelve loaves and a bottle of water which he gave to Hagar, and
sent her away with her son, and Hagar went with her son to the wilderness, and
they dwelt in the wilderness of Paran with the inhabitants of the wilderness,
and Ishmael was an archer, and he dwelt in the wilderness a long time. .....
We see that Yasher explain the reason why Sarah
asked Abraham to send Ishmael away. The Torah doesn’t give any information and
thus, many pastors have made up
stories all out of mind……
Gen 21:13 “And of the son of the female servant I also
make a nation, because he is your seed.” Gen 21:14 and
Aḇraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, which
he gave to Haḡar, putting it on her shoulder, also the boy, and sent her away.
And she left and wandered in the Wilderness of Be’ĕrsheḇa. Gen 21:15 and
the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the
shrubs. Gen 21:16 and she went and sat down about a bowshot away, for she said, “Let me
not see the death of the boy.” And she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice
and wept. Gen 21:17 and Elohim heard the voice of the boy, and the messenger of Elohim
called to Haḡar from the heavens, and said to her, “What is the matter with
you, Haḡar? Do not fear, for Elohim has heard the voice of the boy where he
is. Gen 21:18 “Arise, lift up the boy and hold him with your hand, for I make a great nation of him.” Gen 21:19 and
Elohim opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled
the skin with water, and gave the boy a drink. Gen 21:20 and
Elohim was with the boy, and he grew
and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. Gen 21:21 and
he dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran, and
his mother took a wife for him from the land of Mitsrayim
The book of Yasher gives again more details
concerning Ishmael: 17. and he and his
mother afterward went to the land
of Egypt
Hagar took a wife for her son from Egypt, and her name was Meribah. 18. and the wife of Ishmael conceived and bare four sons and two daughters, and
Ishmael and his mother and his wife and children afterward went and returned to
the wilderness. 19. and they made themselves
tents in the wilderness, in which they dwelt, and they continued to travel and
then to rest monthly and yearly. 20. and God gave Ishmael flocks and herds and tents on account of Abraham
his father, and the man increased in cattle. 21. and Ishmael dwelt in deserts and in tents, traveling and
resting for a long time, and he did not see the face of his father ......
The problem
with Ishamel is that although he was
Abraham’s son, he was raised by his mother an Egyptian (Ham), who still had
Egyptians traditions. We see it when she went to look for an Egyptian woman to
marry Ishmael. Ishamel wife had other traditions which were not so after Elohim’s teaching: 22. and in some time after, Abraham said to Sarah
his wife, I will go and see my son Ishmael, for I have a desire to see him, for
I have not seen him for a long time. 23. and Abraham rode upon one of his camels to the wilderness to seek his
son Ishmael, for he heard that he was dwelling in a tent in the wilderness with
all belonging to him. 24. and Abraham went to
the wilderness, and he reached the tent of Ishmael about noon, and he asked
after Ishmael, and he found the wife of Ishmael sitting in the tent with her children,
and Ishmael her husband and his mother were not with them. 25. and Abraham asked the wife of Ishmael,
saying, Where has Ishmael gone? and she said,
He has gone to the field to hunt, and Abraham was still mounted upon the camel,
for he would not get off to the ground as he had sworn to his wife Sarah that
he would not get off from the camel. 26. and Abraham said to Ishmael's wife, My daughter, give me a little
water that I may drink, for I am fatigued from the journey. 27. and Ishmael's wife answered and said to
Abraham, We have neither water nor bread, and she continued sitting in the tent
and did not notice Abraham, neither did she ask him who he was. 28. but she
was beating her children in the tent, and she
was cursing them, and she also cursed
her husband Ishmael and reproached him, and Abraham heard the words of
Ishmael's wife to her children, and he was very angry and displeased.
29. and Abraham called to the woman to come out to him from the tent,
and the woman came and stood opposite to Abraham, for Abraham was still mounted
upon the camel. 30. and Abraham said to Ishmael's wife, When thy husband
Ishmael returneth home say these words to him, 31. a very old man from the land
of the Philistines came hither to seek thee, and thus was his appearance and
figure; I did not ask him who he was, and seeing thou wast not here he spoke
unto me and said, When Ishmael thy husband returneth tell him thus did this man
say, When thou comest home put away
this nail of the tent which thou hast placed here, and place another
nail in its stead. 32. and Abraham finished his instructions to the
woman, and he turned and went off on the camel homeward. 33. and after that
Ishmael came from the chase he and his mother, and returned to the tent, and
his wife spoke these words to him, 34. a very old man from the land of the
Philistines came to seek thee, and thus was his appearance and figure; I did
not ask him who he was, and seeing thou wast not at home he said to me, When
thy husband cometh home tell him, thus saith the old man, Put away the nail of
the tent which thou hast placed here and place another nail in its stead. 35. and Ishmael heard the words of his wife,
and he knew that it was his father, and that his wife did not honour him. 36.
and Ishmael understood his father's
words that he had spoken to his wife, and Ishmael hearkened to the voice of his
father, and Ishmael cast off that woman and she went away. 37. and Ishmael afterward went to the land of
Canaan, and he took another wife and he brought her to his tent to the place
where he then dwelt. The “nail” was the bad wife which was to be removed before she corrupt
the all house.
Gen 21:22 And it came to be at that time that
Aḇimeleḵ and Piḵol, the commander of his army, spoke to Aḇraham, saying,
“Elohim is with you in all that you do. Gen 21:23 “And
now, swear to me by Elohim, not to
be untrue to me, to my offspring, or to my descendants. Do to me according to the kindness that I have done to
you and to the land in which you have dwelt.” Gen 21:24 and Aḇraham said, “I swear.” Gen 21:25 And
Aḇraham reproved Aḇimeleḵ because of a well of water which Aḇimeleḵ’s
servants had seized. Gen 21:26
and Aḇimeleḵ said, “I do not know who
has done this deed. Neither did you inform me, nor did I hear until today.”
Gen 21:27 so
Aḇraham took sheep and cattle and gave them to Aḇimeleḵ, and the two of them
made a covenant. Gen 21:28
and Aḇraham set seven ewe lambs of the
flock by themselves. Gen 21:29
and Aḇimeleḵ asked Aḇraham, “What are
these seven ewe lambs which you have set by themselves?” Gen 21:30 and
he said, “Take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, to be my witness that I have
dug this well.” Gen 21:31 so he called that place Be’ĕrsheḇa, because the two of them swore an
oath there. Gen 21:32 Thus they made a covenant at Be’ĕrsheḇa. And Aḇimeleḵ rose with
Piḵol, the commander of his army, and they returned to the land of the
Philistines. Gen 21:33 and he planted a tamarisk tree in Be’ĕrsheḇa, and there called on the
Name of יהוה, the Everlasting Ěl. Gen 21:34 and Aḇraham
sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days.
Yasher: the servants of Abraham dug wells of water, and Abraham and all
belonging to him dwelt by the water, and the servants of Abimelech king of the Philistines heard the
report that Abraham's servants had dug wells of water in the borders of the
land. 5. and they came and quarreled with the servants of Abraham, and they
robbed them of
the great well which they had dug. 6. and Abimelech king of the
Philistines heard of this affair, and he with Phicol the captain of his host
and twenty of his men came to Abraham, and Abimelech spoke to Abraham
concerning his servants, and Abraham rebuked Abimelech concerning the well of
which his servants had robbed him.7. and Abimelech said to Abraham, As YHWH
liveth who created the whole earth, I did not hear of the act which my servants
did unto thy servants until this day. 8. and Abraham took seven ewe lambs and
gave them to Abimelech, saying, Take these, I pray thee, from my hands that it
may be a testimony for me that I dug this well.
9. and Abimelech took the seven ewe lambs which Abraham had given to
him, for he had also given him cattle and herds in abundance, and Abimelech
swore to Abraham concerning the well, therefore he called that well Beersheba Beersheba
time.11. and Abraham planted a large grove in Beersheba, and he made to
it four gates facing the four sides of the earth, and he planted a vineyard in
it, so that if a traveller came to Abraham he entered any gate which was in his
road, and remained there and ate and drank and satisfied himself and then
departed.
Abimelech
was scarred by Abraham after what
happened with Sarah.
Wells have a particular meaning in
the Torah. First of all in the literal sense they were absolutely needed to
provide water for the people living there and also for their cattle. Wells of
water have also a spiritual meaning. To dig to get water is also a euphemism of
searching the water of the Torah. You may think that I have too much fantasy,
just read!
Isa 12:3 and you shall draw water with joy from the wells of salvation.
Joh 4:6 and Yaʽaqoḇ’s fountain (well) was there. So יהושע,
being wearied from the journey, was sitting thus at the fountain (well). It was
about the sixth hour. Joh
4:7 a woman of Shomeron came
to draw water. יהושע said
to her, “Give Me to drink.”
Joh 4:10 יהושע answered and said to her, “If
you knew the gift of Elohim, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me to drink,’
you would have asked Him, and He would
have given you living water.” …..
Again we
understand that from the beginning wells are directed to water and to salvation,
first of all from starving, and in the spiritual way from becoming dry. For
information in case of confusion concerning Terah,
Abraham’s father we can read in the book of Yasher
(The righteous):
33. and Terah died in that year,
that is in the thirty-fifth year of the birth of Isaac son of Abraham.
34. and the days of
Terah were two hundred and five years, and he
was buried in Haran
Chapter 22:
Gen 22:1 and it came to be after these
events that Elohim tried (heb.nasah, to
put to the test) Aḇraham, and said to him, “Aḇraham!” And he said, “Here
I am.” Gen 22:2 and He said, “Take your son, now, your only son Yitsḥaq, whom you
love, and go to the land
of Moriyah
Gen
22:14 and Aḇraham called the
name of the place, ‘יהוה Yireh,’ as it is said to this day, “On the mountain
יהוה provides.”
Gen 22:15 and the Messenger of יהוה called to Aḇraham a second
time from the heavens,
Gen
22:16 and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares יהוה,
because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son, Gen 22:17 that I shall certainly bless you, and I shall
certainly increase your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which
is on the seashore, and let your seed possess the gate of their enemies. Gen 22:18 “And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you
have obeyed My voice.” Gen 22:19 Then Aḇraham returned to his young men, and they
rose up and went together to Be’ĕrsheḇa. And Aḇraham dwelt at Be’ĕrsheḇa. Gen 22:20 and it came to be after these events that it was
reported to Aḇraham, saying, “See, Milkah too has borne children to your
brother Naḥor: Gen
22:21 “Uts his first-born, and
Buz his brother, and Qemu’ĕl the father of Aram
Gen
22:22 and Keseḏ, and Ḥazo,
and Pildash, and Yiḏlaph, and Bethu’ĕl.” Gen 22:23 and Bethu’ĕl brought
forth Riḇqah. These eight Milkah bore to Naḥor, Aḇraham’s brother. Gen 22:24 and his concubine, whose
name was Re’uwmah, also bore Teḇaḥ, and Gaḥam, and Taḥash, and Maʽaḵah. ……
This
chapter is the foundation of יהוה teaching us that the promise for us
was done long ago. Abraham in this midrash plays the role of Aba
First we
are going to look again in the book of Yasher
if we can glean some complementary information: 40. and Isaac the son of Abraham was growing up in those days, and
Abraham his father taught him the way of YHWH to know YHWH, and YHWH was with
him. 41. and when Isaac was thirty-seven years old, Ishmael his brother was
going about with him in the tent. 42. and Ishmael
boasted of himself to Isaac, saying, I was thirteen years old when YHWH spoke
to my father to circumcise us, and I did according to the word of YHWH which
he spoke to my father, and I gave my soul unto YHWH, and I did not
transgress his word which he commanded my father. 43. and Isaac answered
Ishmael, saying, Why dost thou boast to me about this, about a little bit of
thy flesh which thou didst take from thy body, concerning which YHWH commanded
thee? 44. as YHWH liveth, the God of my father Abraham, if YHWH should say unto my father, Take now thy son Isaac and bring
him up an offering before me, I would not refrain but I would joyfully accede
to it. 45. and YHWH heard the word
that Isaac spoke to Ishmael, and it seemed good in the sight of YHWH, and he thought to try Abraham in this matter........
It may sound a bit “story” reading
this verses, but if you look carefully in the Tanak there is another story which sound similar in the reaction of
יהוה when man speak to fast:
Jdg 11:29 And the Spirit of יהוה came upon Yiphtaḥ, and he
passed through Gilʽaḏ and Menashsheh, and passed through Mitspeh of Gilʽaḏ.
And from Mitspeh of Gilʽaḏ he passed on toward the children of Ammon. Jdg 11:30 And Yiphtaḥ made a vow to יהוה,
and said, “If You give the children of Ammon (lot’s descendants*) into my
hands, Jdg 11:31 then it shall be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet
me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall belong to יהוה,
and I shall offer it up as a burnt offering.” Yiptah was very quick making a vow:
Jdg 11:32 Yiphtaḥ then passed on toward the children of Ammon to fight against
them, and יהוה
gave them into his hands. Jdg 11:33 and he smote them from
Aroʽĕr as far as Minnith, twenty cities, and to Aḇĕl Keramim, with a very
great slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were humbled before the children of
Yisra’ĕl.
יהוה
gave him the victory: Now Yipthah must fulfill his vow to יהוה Jdg 11:34 and Yiphtaḥ came to
his house at Mitspah, and saw his
daughter coming out to meet him with timbrels and dancing. Now except for
her he had neither son nor daughter. Jdg 11:35 and it came to be, when he saw her, that he tore his garments, and
said, “Oh my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are among those
who trouble me! And I, I have given my word to יהוה, and
I am unable to turn back.” Jdg 11:36 and she said to him, “My father, if you have given your word to יהוה,
do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, because יהוה has taken
vengeance for you upon your enemies, the children of Ammon.” Jdg 11:37 and she said to her
father, “Let this be done for me: let me alone for two months, and let me go
and wander on the mountains and bewail my maidenhood, my friends and I.” ..This is a very amazing story but,
and we should have wisdom when binding ourselves to יהוה, for he will ask us to do
whatever we have vow to him. ….Yasher: 46. and the day arrived when the sons of God came and placed themselves
before YHWH, and Satan also came with the sons of Elohim before YHWH.
47. and YHWH said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? and Satan answered YHWH and said, From going to
and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. 48. and YHWH said
to Satan, What is thy word to me concerning all the children of the earth? and
Satan answered YHWH and said, I have seen all the children of the earth who
serve thee and remember thee when they require anything from thee. 49. and when
thou givest them the thing which they require from thee, they sit at their
ease, and forsake thee and they remember thee no more.
50. Hast thou seen Abraham the son of Terah, who at first had no
children, and he served thee and erected altars to thee wherever he came, and
he brought up offerings upon them, and he proclaimed thy name continually to
all the children of the earth. 51. and now that his son Isaac is born to him,
he has forsaken thee, he has made a
great feast for all the inhabitants of the land, and YHWH he has forgotten.
52. for amidst all that he has done he
brought thee no offering; neither burnt offering nor peace offering,
neither ox, lamb nor goat of all that he killed on the day that his son was weaned.
53. even from the time of his son's birth till now, being thirty-seven years, he built no altar before thee, nor brought any
offering to thee, for he saw that thou didst give what he
requested before thee, and he therefore forsook thee. 54. and YHWH said
to Satan, Hast thou thus considered my servant Abraham? for there is none like
him upon earth, a perfect and an upright man before me, one that feareth Elohim and avoideth evil; as I live, were I to say
unto him, Bring up Isaac thy son before me, he
would not withhold him from me, much more if I told him to bring up a
burnt offering before me from his flock or herds. 55. and Satan answered YHWH
and said, Speak then now unto Abraham as thou hast said, and thou wilt see
whether he will not this day transgress and cast aside thy words. .....
We see the similarity with the book
of Yob when HaSatan come before יהוה:
Job 1:6 and the day came to be that the sons of
Elohim came to present themselves before יהוה,
and Satan also came among them. Job
1:7 and יהוה said to Satan, “From where do you come?” And Satan
answered יהוה
and said, “From diligently searching in the earth,
and from walking up and down in it.” Job 1:8 and יהוה said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant
Iyoḇ, that there is none like him on the earth, a perfect and straight man,
one who fears Elohim and turns aside from evil?” …
.Satan is called the “accuser of
the brethren” By the way, it is said that the book of Yob is the oldest book of the scriptures.
Rev 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in
the heaven, “Now have come the deliverance and the
power and the reign of our Elohim,1 and the authority of His
Messiah, for the accuser of our
brothers, who accused them before our Elohim day and night, has
been thrown down....... It was HaSatan job until he
was cast down from יהוה’s
presence. Now the sacrifice of Itzak
as we read in the book of Yasher is
not when he was a little baby has many Christians will tell you. Itzak was thirty seven years old and for
sure was willing to become the sacrifice. That gives a clear meaning of יהושע
who gave his life for
us. יהושע says:
Mat 20:28 even as the Son of Aḏam did not
come to be served, but to serve,1
and to give His life as a ransom for
many.”.
Joh 11:50 neither do you consider that it is better for us that one man die for
the people than that the entire nation
should perish.”
Joh 11:51 But he did not say this from himself, but being high priest that year
he prophesied that יהושע
was about to die for the nation,
1Ti
2:6 who
gave Himself a ransom for all, to be witnessed in its own seasons,
Tit 2:14 who gave Himself for us,………..
Itzak is the for-runner of the perfect sacrifice.
יהושע of Nazareth who gave his life for us. It is
interesting to read that the Yehudin of
יהושע time knew that
one had to die for the nation (Yochan; 11:50-51)...
Yasher Itzak sacrifice: --- 14. and in the morning Sarah selected a very fine and beautiful garment
from those garments which she had in the house, that Abimelech had given to
her. 15. and she dressed Isaac her son therewith, and she put a turban upon his
head, and she enclosed a precious stone in the top of the turban, and she gave
them provision for the road, and they went forth, and Isaac went with his
father Abraham, and some of their servants accompanied them to see them off the
road. 16. and Sarah went out with them, and she accompanied them upon the road
to see them off, and they said to her, Return to the tent. 17. and when Sarah
heard the words of her son Isaac she wept bitterly, and Abraham her husband
wept with her, and their son wept with them a great weeping; also those who went
with them wept greatly. 18. and Sarah caught hold of her son Isaac, and she
held him in her arms, and she embraced him and continued to weep with him, and
Sarah said, Who knoweth if after this day I shall ever see thee again? 19. and
they still wept together, Abraham, Sarah and Isaac, and all those that
accompanied them on the road wept with them, and Sarah afterward turned away
from her son, weeping bitterly, and all her men servants and maid servants
returned with her to the tent.
The Torah
doesn’t give any information concerning those who went with Abraham. The book
of Yasher gives the details:
21. and Abraham took
two of his young men with him, Ishmael the son of Hagar and
Eliezer his servant, and they went together with them,
and whilst they were walking in the road the young men spoke these words to
themselves, 22. and Ishmael said to
Eliezer, Now my father Abraham is going with Isaac to bring him up for a
burnt offering to YHWH, as He commanded him. 23. Now when he returneth he will
give unto me all that he possesses, to inherit after him, for I am his first
born.
It is very interesting that Ishmael
is not concerned about his brother Itzak
but much more about the heritage. If we read more we can see that Eliezer is also concerned with heritage
and think to see an opportunity to inherit Abraham. We know it will not be so,
because יהוה wanted it another way.
Back to the book of Yasher: ---- 41. and
on the third day Abraham lifted up
his eyes and saw the place at a distance which God had told him of. 42. and a
pillar of fire appeared to him that reached from the earth to heaven, and a
cloud of glory upon the mountain, and the glory of YHWH was seen in the cloud. 43.
and Abraham said to Isaac, My son, dost thou see in that mountain, which we
perceive
at a distance, that which I see upon it? 44. and Isaac answered and said
unto his father, I see and lo a pillar of fire and a cloud, and the glory of YHWH
is seen upon the cloud. 45. and Abraham
knew that his son Isaac was accepted before YHWH for a burnt offering. 46. and
Abraham said unto Eliezer and unto Ishmael his son, Do you also see that which we
see upon the mountain which is at a distance? 47. and they answered and said,
We see nothing more than like the other mountains of the earth. and Abraham knew that they were not accepted
before YHWH to go with them, and Abraham said to them, Abide ye here with
the ass whilst I and Isaac my son will go to yonder mount and worship there
before YHWH and then return to you. 48. and Eliezer and Ishmael remained in
that place, as Abraham had commanded....
In this we understand better how the
scene was going on for each of those taking part in this action. Abraham
was fully devoted to יהוה
and knew that if יהוה ask him to slain his son, he was able to raise
him from the dead. You will say how do we know?
Gen 22:5 So Aḇraham said to his young men, “Stay
here with the donkey while the boy and I
go over there and worship, and come back
to you.” There is no mention of
Abraham coming back alone! ........ 43.
And Abraham said to Isaac, My son, dost thou see in that mountain, which we
perceive at a distance, that which I see upon it? 44. And Isaac answered and said unto his father, I see and lo a pillar of
fire and a cloud, and the glory of YHWH is seen upon the cloud. 45. And Abraham
knew that his son Isaac was accepted before YHWH for a burnt offering.
46. And Abraham said unto Eliezer and unto Ishmael his son, Do you also
see that which
we see upon the mountain which is at a distance? 47. And they answered and said, We see nothing more
than like the other mountains of the earth. And Abraham knew that they were not
accepted before YHWH to go with them, and Abraham said to them, Abide ye here
with the ass whilst I and Isaac my son will go to yonder mount and worship
there before YHWH and then return to you. Gen 22:6
And Aḇraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it
on Yitsḥaq his son .
Just read: Joh 19:17 And bearing His (Yehoshua)
stake, He went out to the so-called Place of a Skull, which is called in
Heḇrew, Golgotha,
The burnt offering: Strong’s # H5930 עולה עלה ‛ôlâh o-law',
o-law'written Ayin,lamed,he. Feminine
active participle of H5927; a step or (collectively stairs, as ascending);
usually a holocaust (as going
up in smoke): - ascent, burnt offering (sacrifice), go up to. See also H5766.
H5927 âlâh aw-law' A primitive root; to ascend,
intransitively (be high) or active (mount); used in a
great variety of senses, primary and secondary, literally and figuratively: - arise (up). (cause to) ascend up, at once, break [the day]
(up), bring (up), (cause to) burn, carry up, cast up, + shew, climb (up),
(cause to, make to) come (up), cut off, dawn, depart, exalt, excel, fall, fetch up, get up, (make to) go (away, up), grow
(over), increase, lay, leap, levy, lift (self) up, light, [make] up, X mention,
mount up, offer, make to pay, + perfect, prefer, put (on), raise,
recover, restore, (make to) rise (up), scale, set (up), shoot forth (up),
(begin to) spring (up), stir up, take away (up), work. ......
We see that the brunt offering carry
the idea of going up! Where if not to the throne of יהוה! It is used literally and figuratively: the idea is that
when the sacrifice is burning it brings a sweet odour to יהוה. This will be later
transformed after יהושע
sacrifice in sacrifice
of praise, the fruits of lips proclaiming his Qadosh name (Hebr)....
Exo 29:25 “Then you shall take
them from their hands and burn them on the altar as a burnt offering, as a sweet fragrance before יהוה. It is an
offering made by fire to יהוה. The
angel stopped Abraham, because the time was not yet come. Remember יהוה speaks the End from the beginning and the life
of the patriarch are the pattern of what יהוה will do because of what he promised to Abraham, the friend of Elohim.......Keil and delitzsch give us
an interesting comment:
But Abraham brought his reason into captivity to the obedience of faith.
He did not question the truth of the word of God, which had been addressed to
him in a mode that was to his mind perfectly infallible (not in a vision of the
night, however, of which there is not a syllable in the text), but he stood firm in his faith, “accounting
that god was able to raise him up, even from the dead” Heb_11:19). Without taking counsel with flesh
and blood, Abraham started early in the morning (Gen_22:3,
Gen_22:4), with his son Isaac and two
servants, to obey the divine command; and on
the third day (for the distance from Beersheba to Jerusalem is about 20 1/2
hours; Rob. Pal. iii. App. 66,
67) he saw in the distance the place mentioned by God, the land of Moriah, i.e., the mountainous country round about
Jerusalem. The name מֹרִיָּה, composed of the Hophal
partic. of רָאָה and the divine name יה,
an abbreviation of יְהֹוָה (lit., “the shown of Jehovah,” equivalent to the
manifestation of Jehovah), is
no doubt used proleptically in Gen_22:2,
and given to the mountain upon which the sacrifice was to be made, with direct
reference to this event and the appearance of Jehovah to Abraham there. This is confirmed by Gen_22:14, where the name is connected with the
event, and explained in the fuller expression Jehovah-jireh. On the ground of this passage the mountain upon
which Solomon built the temple is called הַמֹּרִיָּה with
reference to the appearance of the angel of YHWH to David on that mountain at
the threshing-floor of Araunah (2Sa_24:16-17),
the old name being revived by this appearance.....
Heb 11:17 By belief, Aḇraham, when he was
tried, offered up Yitsḥaq, and
he who had received the promises offered up his only brought-forth son,
Heb 11:18 of whom it was said, “In Yitsḥaq your seed
shall be called,” Heb 11:19 reckoning
that Elohim was able to raise even from the dead, from which he received him back,
as a type. .....
Let
us conclude with the words from the book of Yasher
which bring us to glean how our forefathers were full of faith in יהוה. This faith
was imparted from Noach to Shem, to Eber and then to Abraham and Itzak: ----- 50. and when they were going along Isaac said to his father, Behold, I
see here the fire and wood, and where
then is the lamb that is to be the burnt offering before YHWH? 51. And Abraham answered his son Isaac, saying,
YHWH has made choice of thee my son, to be a perfect burnt offering instead
of the lamb. 52. and Isaac
said unto his father, I will do all that YHWH spoke to thee with joy
and
cheerfulness of heart. 53. and Abraham again said unto Isaac his son, Is
there in thy heart any thought or counsel concerning this, which is not proper?
tell me my son, I pray thee, O my son conceal it not from me.
54. and Isaac answered his father Abraham and said unto him, O my
father, as YHWH liveth and as thy soul liveth, there is nothing in my heart to
cause me to deviate either to the right or to the left from the word that he
has spoken to thee. 55. Neither limb nor muscle has moved or stirred at this,
nor is there in my heart any
thought or evil counsel concerning this. 56. but I am of joyful and
cheerful heart in this matter, and I say, Blessed is YHWH who has this day
chosen me to be a burnt offering before Him. 57. and Abraham greatly rejoiced at the words of Isaac, and they went on
and came together to that place that YHWH had spoken of.
Is
it not amazing when we see also the same struggle יהושע went through when asking the Father in the garden
of Gethsemane if the cup could pass
from him? He knew that he had to experience dead in order to see resurrection!
When
Abraham brought Itzakh to the Mount Moriah,
he was not a little “baby” as taught
in Christianity, Itzakh was 37 seven years old and able to say No!.....HALELLUYAH!
Abraham was tested ten times! How it is with us, have you counted how many
times יהוה has tested you? Have you kept the
faith in spite of trials and temptations? There is many who could learn that
nothing happen by coincidence but by the perfect will of יהוה for those who love him..
Haftorah
Everything
happens in His time, after His perfect will, remember what the first wife from
Ishmael did to Abraham when he came to visit his son, she despised her, but the
second behaved in a good manner. Now let us look at the Shunnamite woman: 2Ki 4:1 and a certain woman of the wives of the
sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is
dead, and you know that your servant feared יהוה. And
the lender has come to take my two sons to be his slaves.” 2Ki 4:2 and Elisha said to her, “What should I do
for you? Inform me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your female
servant has none at all in the house except a pot of oil.” 2Ki 4:3
and he said, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors,
empty vessels, do not get a few. 2Ki 4:4 “And
when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons. Then
pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the filled ones.” 2Ki 4:5
so she went from him and shut the door
behind her and her sons, who brought the
vessels to her, and she poured it out. 2Ki 4:6 and it came to be, when the vessels were filled, that she said to her
son, “Bring me another vessel.” But he said to her, “There is not another
vessel.” And the oil ceased. 2Ki 4:7 so
she went and informed the man of Elohim, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay
your debt. And you and your
sons live on the rest.” 2Ki 4:8 and
it came to be on a day that Elisha went to Shunĕm, where there was a prominent
woman, and she urged him to eat some food. And it came to be, as often as he
passed by, that he turned in there to eat some food. 2Ki 4:9 and she said to her husband, “Look, I know that this is a set-apart man
of Elohim, who passes by us continually. 2Ki 4:10 “Please, let us make a small upper room on the wall, and let us put a
bed for him there, and a table and a chair and a lampstand. And it shall be,
whenever he comes to us, let him turn in there.” 2Ki 4:11 and it came to be on a day that he came there, and he turned in to the
upper room and lay down there. 2Ki 4:12 and he said to Gĕḥazi his servant, “Call
this Shunammite woman.” So he called her, and she stood before him. 2Ki 4:13
and he said to him, “Please say to her,
‘Look, you have gone to all this trouble for us. What is there to be done for
you? Should I speak on your behalf to the sovereign or to the commander of the
army?’ ” And she answered, “I am dwelling among my own people.” 2Ki 4:14
and he said, “What then is to be done for
her?” And Gĕḥazi answered, “Well, she has no son, and her husband is old.”
2Ki 4:15
and he said, “Call her.” So he called
her, and she stood in the doorway. 2Ki 4:16 and he said, “About this time next year you
shall embrace a son.” And she said, “No, my master, man of Elohim, do not lie
to your female servant!” 2Ki 4:17 and
the woman conceived, and bore a son when the appointed time had come, of which
Elisha had spoken to her. 2Ki 4:18 and the child grew. And it came to be on a
day that he went out to his father, to the reapers, 2Ki 4:19 and he said to his father, “My head, my head!” And he said to a
servant, “Take him to his mother.” 2Ki 4:20 so
he took him and brought him to his mother, and he sat on her knees till noon,
and died. 2Ki
4:21 and she went up and laid
him on the bed of the man of Elohim, and shut the door on him, and went out. 2Ki 4:22 and she called to her husband, and said, “Please send me one of the
young men and one of the donkeys, so that I hurry to the man of Elohim and
return.”
2Ki
4:23 and he said, “Why are you
going to him today? It is neither the New Moon nor the Sabbath.” And she said,
“It is well!” 2Ki
4:24 and she saddled the
donkey and said to her servant, “Drive and go, do not slow down, except I speak
to you.” 2Ki 4:25 and she went, and came to the man of Elohim at Mount Karmel
2Ki
4:36 and he called Gĕḥazi and
said, “Call this Shunammite.” So he called her. And she came in to him, and he
said, “Pick up your son.” 2Ki
4:37 then she went in and fell
at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and picked up her son and went
out. ……
Kefa/Peter
gives a strong warning, reminding that יהוה doesn’t change and we should learn from the Torah. How foolish is it
today when we see the nations boasting in their wealth. יהוה is bringing signs to make them aware that the
judgment is near, but they keep their way, so that יהוה’s righteous judgment will
come. Are you like Abraham, opening your door to the stranger in order to share with
them the goodness of Elohim, or do
you walk in a selfish way, too busy with yourselves?
2Pe 2:4 For if Elohim did not spare the messengers
who sinned, but sent them to Tartaros, and delivered them into chains of
darkness, to be kept for judgment, 2Pe 2:5 and
did not spare the world of old, but preserved
Noaḥ, a proclaimer of righteousness, and seven others, bringing in the
flood on the world of the wicked,
2Pe 2:6 and
having reduced to ashes the cities of Seḏom and Amorah (Gomorrah Lot ,
who was oppressed with the indecent behaviour of the
lawless1 Footnote: 1The
Greek word here, and in 3:17, is athesmos (not the usual one, anomos)
but it also means “lawless.”2Pe 2:8 (for
day after day that righteous man, dwelling among them, tortured his righteous
being by seeing and hearing their lawless works), 2Pe 2:9 then יהוה knows how to
rescue the reverent ones from trial
and to keep the unrighteous unto the day of judgment, to be punished, 2Pe 2:10 and most of all those walking after the
flesh in filthy lust and despising authority – bold, headstrong, speaking evil
of esteemed ones, 2Pe 2:11 whereas
messengers who are greater in strength and power do not bring a slanderous
accusation against them before the Master. …..May יהוה bless you and keep as you keep the way following
our Master Yehsua.
