Parashat Vayera
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· 3 viewsThe promise, birth, and sacrifice of Isaac
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Today we are looking at Parashat Vayera. This passages extends from Genesis chapter 18 to chapter 22 and it starts with the phrase “ADONAI appeared” which is where we get the name of the portion. There is so much in this portion of Scripture that deals with the nature of God that it is hard to know where to start.
I will give a basic outline and then we will go into the details.
18a Adonai promises a son
18b Abraham intercedes for Sodom
19a Two angels rescue Lot
19b Lot fathers Moab and Ammon
20 Beautiful Sarah is taken by Abimelech
21a Isaac is born
21b Ishmael is banished, but delivered
21c Abraham covenants with Abimelech
21 The binding of Isaac
This passage covers 37 years, from the time that Abraham was 100 years old to the time that Sarah was 127. This passage speaks about the beginning of the fulfilment of Adonai’s promise to Abraham, and in the process we learn several major character traits of Adonai.
Let’s starty by reading: Gen. 18:1-8
Then Adonai appeared to him at Mamre’s large trees while he was sitting in the entrance of his tent during the heat of the day. When he lifted up his eyes to see, suddenly, three men were standing right by him. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed down to the ground. Then he said, “My Lord, if now I have found favor in your eyes, please do not pass by your servant. Please let a little water be brought so you can wash your feet, and make yourselves comfortable under the tree. And let me bring a bit of bread so that you can refresh yourselves—then you can pass on—since you have passed by your servant. They said, “Do just as you have said.” So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick! Knead three measures of fine flour and prepare bread loaves!” Then to the herd Abraham ran and took a young ox, tender and good, and he gave it to the servant, who prepared it quickly. Then he took butter and milk and the young ox that he had prepared and set it before them. While he was standing by them under the tree, they ate.
Adonai Appeared
Adonai Appeared
The very first word in this portion, vayera, literally means “And he became visible”. It is translated as “appeared”. Now even if we did not read any further, here is a passage that tells us that Adonai became visible and it reminds me of John 1:14
And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us. We looked upon His glory, the glory of the one and only from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Or how about Col. 1:15
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
In both cases, we see that the Son is the one who can be seen. The Hebrew Scriptures declared from the beginning that in some way Adonai can be seen, physically seen. Now we can wrestle what what John says in John 1:18 that “No one has ever seen God,” but we need to remember the rest of that sentence.
No one has ever seen God; but the one and only God, in the Father’s embrace, has made Him known.
Either way Adonai appeared to Abraham personally to deliver the good news of their miraculous child about to be conceived.
2 Wrongs, 1 Right
2 Wrongs, 1 Right
Now there are 2 wrong interpretations of this passage, and 1 right interpretation. Firstly, the Rabbis are wrong, because they claim that the three men who met with Abraham were three angels. This does not align with the Hebrew of the text, in that one of the individuals claimed to be Adonai, claims that he will personally return in a year to celebrate the birth of their new son, and as the 3 were leaving (after eating the meat and dairy that Abraham had prepared for them), we see in Gen. 18:19
For I have made myself known to him so that he will command his sons and his household after him to keep the way of Adonai by doing righteousness and justice, so that Adonai may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.”
And for the rest of the chapter, Abraham is interceding for Sodom with one of the individuals, who is Adonai.
But the second group that are wrong are those Christians to try to claim that the 3 individuals are the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is also wrong. Not only is the Spirit, invisible, by the very definition of “Ruach” or “Breath”, but we also in Gen 19:1 that 2 of the indiviudal go down to Sodom to rescue Lot.
Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, while Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them, and bowed down with his face to the ground.
So, the most straight forward, plain reading of Scripture is that Adonai and 2 of His angels came and met with Abraham and Sarah. They sat with him for several hours, Abraham fed them Meat and Dairy. 2 of those individuals then when down to Sodom while Abraham stood with the third, Adonai, and pleaded that Adonai would have mercy.
Mercy & Judgement of Adonai
Mercy & Judgement of Adonai
The next thing we learn from this passage is about the mercy of Adonai. We find out that Adonai is willing to stave off judgement of the wicked, even if only 10 righteous live in that place. It is from this passage that we get the understanding of a Minyan. It is the minimum number of righteous people that are necessary so that Adonai will not destroy the city.
But woe to the city that no longer has any righteous people. Not only do we see Adonai’s willingness to pardon and forgive, but we also see the necessity of his judgement of the wicked. Paul writes in Rom. 11:22
Notice then the kindness and severity of God: severity toward those who fell; but God’s kindness toward you, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off!
Many people blame Adonai for not bringing judgement against evil and wickedness, but here is a perfect example of Him doing just that. Adonai waited until the entire city was worthy of judgement as we read in Gen. 19:4
They had not yet lain down when the men of the city (the men of Sodom) surrounded the house—from youth to elderly, all the people without exception.
Remember that this is read the week after the Flood, where we read that, “every inclination of the thoughts of their heart was only evil all the time.” And yet, even in the middle of jdugement, Adonai still rescues Lot and his family as we read last week in 2 Pet. 2:7-9
He rescued Lot, a righteous man deeply troubled by the shameless immorality of the wicked. (For that righteous man, while living among them, was tormented in his righteous soul day after day by lawless deeds he saw and heard.) Therefore the Lord certainly knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and how to keep the unrighteous being punished until the Day of Judgment—
So already in this passage we see that Adonai can be visible, he is a God of mercy, but also of Justice. While we see His willingness to hold off the judgement, we also see that eventually it does come.
Isaac is Born
Isaac is Born
When we say that the birth of Isaac was a miracle, what do we mean. We mean that God temporarily suspended the natural order, or the normal way things happen, in order to achieve an event. In the case of Sarah, she was 90, and well past Menopause, and then Adonai stepped in and allowed her to get pregnant. And not only is the conception miraculous, but so is the birth. The risk of complications skyrockets for women who get pregnant for the first time after 40, so for Sarah’s first time pregancy at 90 years old, well, the entire process was a miracle. So much so, Sarah named her son “Laughter” or “Isaac” in Gen 21:6-7
So Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me! Everyone who hears will laugh with me.” She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham, ‘Sarah has nursed children’? For I have given birth to a son in his old age!”
Unfortunatly, the attitude of Hagar, and eventually Ishmael, meant that a rift was formed between 2 brothers. That is a rift that still exists to this day.
But not only do we learn that Adonai is a promise keeping God, but we also see that he still choosed to bless, protect and preserve Ishmael. And although the ultimate blessing to the world, Yeshua the Messiah, came through the descendants of Isaac, we see that Adonai did not forget the descendents of Ishmael. We read in Gen. 21:11-13
Now the matter was very displeasing in Abraham’s eyes on account of his son. But God said to Abraham, “Do not be displeased about the boy and your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, listen to her voice. For through Isaac shall your seed be called. Yet I will also make the son of the slave woman into a nation, because he is your seed.”
Binding of Isaac
Binding of Isaac
Now I would like to show you some artwork of the binding of Isaac, and I would like to see what you notice. Many times we are taught that Isaac was a young boy who was just weaned, as was stated in the previous chapter. But the weaning of Isaac occured at the same time Ishmael was banished. But some time has passed.
We actually see that Hagar had enough time to go to Egypt and get a wife for her son, and then we see that King Abimelech makes a covenant with Abraham, and then the events of Gen 22 happen “after these things.”
In fact at the begining of Chapter 23 we see that Isaac is already 36 years old. How do we know that? Well Gen. 23:1 states:
Now Sarah’s life was 127 years—the years of Sarah’s life.
Sarah was 90 when she was promised a son, and Isaac was born a year later. So by chapter 23 Isaac is 36.
Also we see that Isaac is old enough the carry the wood of the sacrifice in Gen. 22:6
Then Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and put it on Isaac his son. In his hand he took the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together.
So here is Isaac, probably somewhere between 20 and 30 years old, and here is Abraham who is between 120 and 130 years old. Who in this picture would have greater strenght and stamina? Isaac.
Let us continue reading: Gen. 22:7-10
Then Isaac said to Abraham his father, “My father?” Then he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Look. Here’s the fire and the wood. But where’s the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself a lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” The two of them walked on together. Then they came to the place about which God had told him, and Abraham built the altar there, laid out the wood, bound up Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.
The father and the son walking up the Mountains a three day journey north of Beersheba. What is 3 days journey north of Beersheba? Jerusalem!
God will provide for Himself a lamb for the offering, and approx. 2000 years later that is exactly what happened. The Father led the Son up to the mountains of Jerusalem, only this time the knife was not stopped, and God provided Himself as the offering.
But there is another interesting part here with Abraham and Isaac. Who was it that called from heaven to stop Abraham? Gen. 22:11-12
But the angel of Adonai called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham! Abraham!” He said, “Hineni!” Then He said, “Do not reach out your hand against the young man—do nothing to him at all. For now I know that you are one who fears God—you did not withhold your son, your only son, from Me.”
This interesting messenger from Adonai claims that Abraham did not withold his son from him, and then in Gen 22:15-18
The angel of Adonai called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, “By myself I swear—it is a declaration of Adonai—because you have done this thing, and you did not withhold your son, your only son, I will richly bless you and bountifully multiply your seed like the stars of heaven, and like the sand that is on the seashore, and your seed will possess the gate of his enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed—because you obeyed My voice.”
Who had promised to richly bless Abraham, who claimed to be the one whom Abraham obeyed? Adonai in the flesh.
The author of Hebrews summarises this story in this way Heb. 11:17-19
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. Yes, he who had received the promises was offering up his one and only son— the one about whom it was said, “Through Isaac offspring shall be named for you.” He reasoned that God was able to raise him up even from the dead—and in a sense, he did receive him back from there.
In a sense, Abraham recieved his son back from the dead. And what do we see in Yeshua? Yeshua rose from the dead! Heb. 12:1-2
Therefore, since we have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also get rid of every weight and entangling sin. Let us run with endurance the race set before us, focusing on Yeshua, the initiator and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame; and He has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
Application
Application
The application today, is mostly in knowing who Adonai is.
Visible in the person of Yeshua
Promise keeper
Merciful in judgement
Just as required
Miracuously powerful
Willingly substitues Himself for us
This is the God that Abraham served, this is the God that we serve! We will close by rereading Col. 1:15-20
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created— in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen, whether thrones or angelic powers or rulers or authorities. All was created through Him and for Him. He exists before everything, and in Him all holds together. He is the head of the body, His community. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead— so that He might come to have first place in all things. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, making peace through the blood of His cross— whether things on earth or things in heaven!
