Bereshit (Genesis) 18:1 –22:24
Haftarah: M’lakhim Bet (2 Kings) 4:1 –23
Brit Chadasha: Lk. 17:26 –37; Rom. 9:6 –9; Gal. 4:21 –31; Heb. 6:13 –20; 11:13 –19; James 2:14 –24 and 2 Kefa (2 Peter) 2:4 -10
The Aleph Tav
- In the Revelation of Yeshua Ha Mashiach to John we find 4 references to the Aleph Tav, the first and last letters of the Hebrew Aleph Bet; Rev. 1:8, 1:11, 21:6 and 22:13. The translation reads “I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending.” Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek Alphabet. Messiah Yeshua is a Hebrew man and not a Greek man therefore He would have said “I am the Aleph and the Tav, the beginning and the ending. He is the entire Hebrew Aleph Bet from A to Z so to speak therefore He is ALL the Hebrew letters, ALL the Hebrew words. Jn. 1:1 confirms this understanding. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Elohim, and the Word was Elohim. He was in the beginning with Elohim.”
- In its ancient form the Aleph Tav would read “strength of the covenant.”
- Ps. 22:22 –28: “I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you. You who fear Yehovah, praise him! All you “seed” of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel! For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help. From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you, I will fulfill my vows. The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek Yehovah will praise him—may your hearts live forever! All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to Yehovah, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to Yehovah and he rules over the nations.”
Parasha V’yeira
ויַּרֵָא meaning to appear, present oneself, to be seen or to be visible (Niphal verb stem)
Parasha Highlights:
- Three men visit Abraham
- Abraham intercedes for Sodom
- The birth of the “seed” of promise, Isaac
- Abrahams’ alliance with Abimelech at the well of “sevens”
- The “Akeidah” (the 10th trial of Abraham)
- The birth of Rebecca, Isaacs’ future wife
- At the end of last week’s Praasha, Abraham had just circumcised himself as well as the male population of his camp. He is still recovering from that experience.
- Ge. 18:1 -3: “Then Yehovah appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. So, he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground, and said, ‘My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant.'”
The three men can’t be both “standing” by him and far enough away for him to “run” to them. What Avraham experienced was a vision. The three men appearing to be standing outside his tent was a vision. He knew they were enroute. He then “ran” to meet them, - He recognized the three men as being messengers from Yehovah, so he prostrated himself. The Hebrew word for bowed is שָׁחהָ This is the first mention of “bowed” and is used in the Hithpael verb stem which means to bow down before those superior in homage. Abraham recognized one of these men, so he “bowed” down before them. We don’t bow down before angels. We are told who the third man is in V 33, Yehovah.
- An example is found in Rev. 22:8 –9: “I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things and when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things. But he said to me, ‘Do not do that, I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book. Worship Yehovah.'”
- The numerical value of שָׁחהָ is 313; 3 + 1 + 3 = 7. This word also means to give reverence and worship. It should be no surprise to us then that the numerical value reduces to 7, the 7th day is Shabbat; the day we meet with Yehovah to revere and worship Him.
- When we are engaged in a Shabbat service, we are completely focused on the reason we’re there, which is to meet with our Creator. We pray all week for His presence and for Him to send the Spirit of Holiness hoping for the same experience the 120 believers had in the upper room as recorded in Acts 2:1. Acts 2:1: “The festival of Shavuot (the 4th festival, a pilgrimage festival, connecting us to the 4th day of creation and the appointed times) arrived, and the believers all gathered together in one place. Suddenly there came a sound from the sky like the roar of a violent wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then they saw what looked like (cloven) tongues of fire, which separated and came to rest on each one of them. They were all filled with the Spirit of Holiness and began to talk in different languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak. (Complete Jewish Bible) What those in the upper room were experiencing wasn’t new.
- The Greek word for “cloven or tongues” means to cleave asunder, cut in pieces to be divided into opposing parts or to be at variance. Those in the upper room experienced a fiery purification or baptism into the covenant of pieces, a renewal. It isn’t that they were unaware of the covenant of pieces, rather Yehovah wanted to give them an experience so profound they would be forever changed. Can this be the baptism of fire spoken of in Mt. 3:11? This same purification of renewal was experienced by Covenant Israel in Dt. 33:2. Dt. 33:2 records…”And Moshe said: ‘Yehovah came from Sinai and dawned on them from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran, and He came with ten thousand of saints; from His right hand came a “fiery” law ( אשֵׁ דַּת ) for them.”
- This Scripture is found in Parasha V’zot HaBrachah, and This is the Blessing! The “fiery” law is a picture of Yeshua, the “Aleph Tav and fiery law” walking through the pieces. It is the fiery law by which we will be judged Lk. 12:49.
- The three men appeared to Abraham on the 14thday of the first month. The day which would become Pesach, Passover.
- Ge. 18:4: “Please let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. And I will bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh your hearts. After that you may pass by, inasmuch as you have come to your servant.” They said, ‘do as you have said.'” The mention of “bread” is significant to our timeline because in Ge. 19:3, Lot offers the angels “matzah.”
- Ge. 20:1: “And Abraham journeyed from there to the South, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and stayed in Gerar. Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, ‘she is my sister.’ And Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent and took Sarah. This is the second time Sarah is said to be Abrahams’ sister. The first time was their sojourn into Egypt, the second time in the land of the Philistines. Can this narrative be telling us that “the wife” would be sent to the nations? Is “the bride” of Messiah ever sent to the nations? Does The Father bring her back from the nations?
Avraham dwells among the giants
- The land of Canaan was filled with tribes of giants. The Philistines are named as one of the tribes of giants along with 35 others. It is entirely possible that Abimelech of Gerar was of giant stature. He was a king of the Philistines. Can you name any other Philistine giants? Ishbibenob, Saph, Goliath and one with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. (2 Sam. 21:15 –20)
The birth of Isaac
- Ge. 18:10: “And He said, ‘I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.'” (Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.) V 14: “Is anything too hard for Yehovah? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.” **These words are significant because these words were spoken immediately prior to the judgment that was about to befall Sodom and Gomorrah (Todd D. Bennett, Walk in the Light, The Redeemed, pg. 20) The “appointed time” for the Concepcion of Isaac would be the following season of Pesach since we have already established the time of year in our sidra. This is important because the life of Isaac is a pattern for the Son of Elohim. We know this through his fulfillment of the “appointed times.” We can also see this from direct references to Isaac as the “only son” of Abraham. (Todd D. Bennett, Walk in the Light, The Redemption, pg. 23)
- Ge. 21:1 “And Yehovah visited Sarah ( אֶת־שָׂרָה ) as He had said, and Yehovah did for Sarah as He had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which Elohim had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son ( אֶֽת־שֶׁם־בְּנֹו ) who was born to him—whom Sarah bore to him—Isaac. Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac ( אֶת־יצְִחָק ) when he was eight days old, as Yehovah had commanded him.”
- Ishmael was the firstborn of Abraham in his flesh but was not the seed of promise. The seed of Isaac, passed through the circumcised cutting of Abraham -he literally passed through the covenant as did Yeshua when He executed the covenant with Abraham. (The Redeemed, pg. 23)
- The Aleph Tav Sarah has become the mother of the promised “seed.” She is a “free” woman, mother of the Covenant. Her son will follow Torah. Sarah is the “now” fulfillment of Ge. 3:15 which reads: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” Mary, the mother of Yeshua, is the “future” fulfillment of this prophecy. The Aleph Tav Isaac is the son of promise, directing our attention to Yeshua, the only begotten of The Father. Born into the Covenant as a fulfillment to promises given to Abraham.
- Ge. 21:9: “And Sarah saw the son of Hagar ( אֶֽת־בֶּן־הָגָר ) the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing. Therefore, she said to Abraham, ‘cast out this bondwoman and her son ( אתֶ־בְּנהָּ ) for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.” ** This is a prophetic picture of the physical nations and Covenant Israel** We see two spiritual conditions being played out in the narrative between Sarah and Hagar. Sarah represents the Holy, mother of the “seed” of promise, Isaac. Hagar, the slave woman, represents the profane, Ishmael, conceived outside the covenant.
The Akeidah, the binding of Isaac
- Ge. 22:1 -13: “Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘here I am.’ Then He said, ‘take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” So, Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which Yehovah had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said to his young men, ‘stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.’ So, Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, ‘my father!’ And he said, ‘here I am, my son.’ Then he said, ‘look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” And Abraham said, ‘my son, Elohim will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.’ So, the two of them went together. Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the Angel of Yehovah called to him from heaven and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ So, he said, ‘here I am.’ And He said, ‘do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now, I know that you fear Elohim, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.’ Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So, Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.”
- There are so many Aleph Tav connections in the foregoing lock of Scripture it would require another teaching.
- V 19: “Abraham returned to his two young men, and they stood up and went together to Beer-Sheva, and Abraham stayed in Beer-Sheva.” Abraham returns but where is Isaac? It’s clear that the Akeidah, the binding of Isaac, is a type and shadow of the events of Yeshua’s’ death.
- Did Yeshua die inside or outside the camp? We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat. The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so, Yeshua also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. (Hebrews 13:10-13 NIV)
- I have come to believe that Yeshua died “outside the camp” on the Mt. of Olives in the same location where the sacrifice of the Red Heifer occurred and in the same location as His ascension. Using deductive reasoning we know that Isaac was thirty-seven years old at the time of the Akeidah. Gen 23:1 state, that Sarah was 127 at the time of her death. We know that Sarah was 90 years old when Isaac was born (Gen 17:17); 127-90 = thirty-seven years up to the year Sarah died. Isaac said to his father, bind me securely and then place me upon the altar lest I should turn and move, and break loose from the force of the knife upon my flesh and thereof profane the burnt offering; and Abraham did so. (The Book of Jasher, pg. 80)
- In conclusion, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is a separation of the holy and the profane. The separation of Hagar and Ishmael from the family unit is more subtle. Ge. 21:13 Yehovah promises Abraham “Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bond woman, because he is your seed.” The Apostle Paul uses this Torah precept in his letter to the Galatians 4:21 –31which we will discuss in the Brit Chadasha portion.
Haftarah
- M’lakhim Bet (2 Kings) 4:1 -23
- Abraham was a prophet. In the first story the woman was a widow of a prophet, Obadiah. He was a disciple of Elijah along with Micah, Jonah and Elisha. Obadiah hid one hundred prophets in a cave and fed them (1st Ki. 18:13), “I sustained them with bread and water.” (Encyclopedia of Biblical Personalities)
- The first story not only speaks to the hospitality of Obadiah toward the prophets (having spent his own wealth) but also the number one speaks to the first Festival of Yehovah, Pesach (Passover) which is the time appointed for the birth of Isaac.
- The second woman is barren, like Sarah. She is exceedingly hospitable to the prophet Elisha. He intercedes and she is given a son. Her son dies but is resurrected only after the prophet lays his body over the child’s body twice. The boy sneezes seven times representing the millennial kingdom.
- The number two speaks to the 2ndredemption which occurs at the 7th millennia.
Brit Chadasha
- Lk. 17:26-37: A reference to Sodom.
- Rom. 9:6-9: What is to be called your “seed” will be in Isaac. (At the time set, I will come and Sarah will have a son.)
- Heb. 6:13-20: I will certainly bless you, and I will certainly give you many descendants.
- Ja. 2:14-24: Abraham had faith in Yehovah, and it was credited to him as righteousness.
- 2 Pt. 2:4-10: And he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
- Ga. 4:21–31 Tell me, you who desire to be under the Torah, do you not hear the Torah? For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman (Hagar), the other by a freewoman (Sarah). But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai (Torah) which gives birth to bondage (traditions of men), which is Hagar—for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to Jerusalem (Spirit) which now is and is in bondage with her children—but the Jerusalem (Spirit) above is free, which is the mother of us all.
- For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren, you who do not bear! Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor! For the desolate has many more children than she who has a husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.