Bible Studies
Parshat Lech Lecha
“HASHEM said to Abram, ‘Go for yourself from your land, from your relatives, and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.’” Genesis 12:1 (Stone)
“And I will make of you a great nation; I will bless you, and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and all the families of the earth shall bless themselves in you.” Genesis 12:2-3 (Stone)
First Father tells Abram to leave everything he knows and go. But He does not tell Abram where to go. This is a great test of Abram’s faith. Then Father tells Abram that He will make Abram a great nation. This is the second test of Abram’s faith, because Abram has no children, as it says in Genesis 11:30, “And Sarai was barren, she had no child.” (Stone) Then Father tells Abram that, “I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse.” The exact way Father phrases this is interesting. He says He will bless as a general group those who bless Abram, but those who curse Abram will be singled out and individually cursed. As much as there is a great blessing for blessing Abram, there is a greater, more direct curse for cursing Abram.
It is important to see that the Hebrew does not say, “and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed,” but “and in you all the families of the dust will bless themselves.” Why is this important? Who is the blessing of all the families of the earth if it is not the Messiah? “And He is the propitiation for our sins; and not only for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” I John 2:2 (Lamsa)
Each family cannot be blessed unless they accept the covenant of Yeshua, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16 (Lamsa) So, in essence, they are blessing themselves.
Genesis 12:6-7, “Abram passed into the land as far as the site of Shechem, until the Plain of Moreh. The Canaanite was then in the land. HASHEM appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your offspring I will give this land.’ So he built an altar there to HASHEM Who appeared to him.” (Stone)
Father called Abram to the land of the Canaanites. In the last parshat Noach cursed Canaan, the son of Ham, so that his descendants would serve the descendants of Shem. Abram is a descendant of Shem. So it is important to note that this is where Father called Abram, and promised to give him this land.
“There was a famine in the land, and Abram descended to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.” Genesis 12:10 (Stone)
Why go to Egypt in a famine? Deuteronomy 11:10-11, “For the Land to which you come, to possess it—it is not like the land of Egypt that you left, where you would plant your seed and water it on foot like a vegetable garden. But the Land to which you cross over to possess it is a Land of mountains and valleys; from the rain of heaven it drinks water.” (Stone)
Canaan is a land that relies on the rain, while Egypt relies on the Nile. If there is a drought, Canaan’s crops die, but Egypt’s crops do not.
In the course of events, Pharaoh takes Sarai to be his wife, because Abram said that she was his sister, a half-truth, and so Pharaoh blesses Abram because of Sarai. When Pharaoh finds out, he sends Abram and Sarai out of Egypt “very laden with livestock, silver, and gold.” Genesis 13:2 (Stone)
In this way, Father blessed Abram in spite of his lack of trust. Twice, Abram and his descendents came up out of Egypt. Both times, through a plague, Father caused the Egyptians to send them away, loaded with spoils. “HASHEM gave the people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians and they granted their request—so they emptied Egypt.” Exodus 12:36, (Stone)
The word “emptied” is the Hebrew Natsal. Natsal means, “deliver,” “take away,” or “rescue.” The message is that when Father delivers His chosen He not only delivers them, but He blesses them and delivers riches with them. “Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring your sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, for the name of the LORD your God, and for the Holy One of Yisra’el, because he has glorified you.” Isaiah 60:9 (HNV)
Genesis 13:7, “And there was quarreling between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock—and the Canaanite and the Parasite were then dwelling in the land.” (Stone)
What is important about the Canaanite and the Parasite being in the land? What bearing does it have on this story? There are many levels to this. Canaanite comes from the root-word Kana, meaning, “To bend the knee,” “to humiliate,” or “humble.” Parasite comes from the root-word Paraz, meaning a leader or ruler, especially a proud or confident ruler.
On one hand, there were Canaanites and Parasites in the land. When Lot and Abram argued, it made them vulnerable to the native peoples. Also, while Abram was humble before Father, and gives Lot the choice of where to go, Lot is proud and chooses the best place, in the middle of sinners, where he is basically defenseless, spiritually and physically. In the end, though, Abram becomes a ruler, while Lot is humiliated by his enemies and all that he has is destroyed. This is echoed in verse 12 when it says, “Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan while Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain and pitched tents as far as Sodom.” (Stone)
In verse 15 Father promises Abram all the land as far as the eye can see in every direction. That includes the area that Lot had just chosen to go to. Because Abram was humble and trusted in Father for his needs, he was blessed abundantly.
“So you shall not say, ‘It is I who made Abram rich.’” Genesis 14:23 (Stone)
At the end of chapter 14, Abram recalls that it has always been Father Who provided for him, and that it is Father Who has promised to make him great. It is for Father to bless him, not men, and it is Father Who should get the glory.
Genesis 15:1, “After these events, the word of HASHEM came to Abram in a vision, saying, ‘Fear not, Abram, I am a shield for you; your reward is very great.’” (Stone)
Abram has just come through battle, in which he showed great courage, taking two allies to face five kings, and then refused payment from the king of Sodom. The blessing is very timely. He is Abram’s protection in battle. Abram’s blessing is very great, probably for the very reason that he refused a blessing from men.
“And Abram said, ‘My Lord, HASHEM/ELOHIM: What can you give me seeing that I go childless, and the steward of my house is the Damascene Eliezer?” Genesis 15:2 (Stone)
Some have said that the Hebrew Adoni is never used for Father, but only Adonai. But in this case, Adoni is clearly used to refer to Father, as in Psalm 110:1, “the LORD said unto my Lord, ‘Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” (KJV)
Abram is not just looking at Father blessing him, but at blessing his descendants, because a blessing on him is meaningless if he does not have anyone to pass it on to.
Verse 3, “Then Abram said, ‘See, to me You have given no offspring; and see, my steward inherits me…’”
Why did Eliezer inherit if Abram had a kinsman; Lot? Was it because of Lot’s greed? Or did living in Sodom corrupt Lot? Certainly Abram had a reason. Probably because of some sin or fault of Lot’s.
“And Abram believed in the LORD; and it was counted to him for righteousness.” Rom. 4:3 (Lamsa)
How can belief be counted as righteousness? Because belief, faith, involves action, “Wouldst thou know, O frail man, that faith without works is dead? Abraham our father, was not he justified by works, in offering his son Isaac upon the altar? Seest thou, that his faith aided his works; and that by the works his faith was rendered complete? And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith: Abraham believed in God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness, and he was called the Friend of God.” James 2:20-23 (MUR)
Faith is fulfilled in action. Faith without action is dead, because if faith isn’t strong enough to act on, what kind of faith is it? Is salvation through faith? Yes. But faith is a faith of action, not only of mental agreement.
Genesis 15:7, “He said to him, ‘I am HASHEM Who brought you out of Ur-kasdim to give you this land to inherit it.’” (Stone)
Exodus 33:1, “HASHEM spoke to Moses, ‘Go, ascend from here, you and the people whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land about which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, “I shall give it to your offspring.”’” (Stone)
First He brought Abram out of Ur of the Chaldes to give him the land. Then He brought the children of Israel out of Egypt to give them the land. It is a perfect parallel.
“And He said to Abram, ‘Know with certainty that your offspring shall be aliens in a land not their own—and they will serve them, and they will oppress them—four hundred years.’” Genesis 15:13 (Stone)
Each part of this lines up with a part of the journey of Abram’s descendants. From Isaac’s birth do Joseph’s death they were strangers in a strange land. From Joseph’s death until just before they left they were servants. Then Pharaoh made it harder for them when he realized they were becoming a great nation, and he oppressed them.
Genesis 15:17, “So it happened: The sun set, and it was very dark. Behold—there was a smoky furnace and a torch of fire which passed between these pieces.” (Stone)
Both the smoking furnace and the burning torch represent the anger and judgment of Father. When He goes on to say that He is giving the lands of these certain nations to Abram’s descendants, He is not only blessing Abram, He is passing judgment on nations that are not following Him. Some scholars have also pointed out that the smoking oven parallels the pillar of smoke that was with Israel in the wilderness, and the torch parallels the pillar of fire.
“An angel of HASHEM found her by the spring of water in the desert, at the spring on the road to Shur. And he said, ‘Hagar, maidservant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?’ And she said, ‘I am running away from Sarai my mistress.’” Genesis 16:7-8 (Stone)
Where do you come from, and where are you going?
It is at the Well of the Living One Appearing to Me, or Be’er L’hai Royi, that Father made a covenant with Hagar to make her descendants a great nation. It is in this same way that wells are always a place of covenant in Scripture. For instance, a number of covenants were made at Be’er Shev’a, called Beer Sheba. In the desert, wells are places of significance, and so places of covenants. Going through the Torah, many, many of the most important covenants were made at wells, especially from this point onward. The water is a symbol of life. Blood, too, is a symbol of life. In a covenant there is always either blood, water, or both involved. In the covenants up to this point it has been the blood of a sacrifice made either before, during, or after the making of the covenant.
There is always an agent of life involved in a covenant because of the very nature of covenant. By covenant life is given, and by covenant it is taken away.
The difference between water covenants and blood covenants is that the water covenant is a blessing from the ground that does not require any human effort, while the blood covenant requires a sacrifice from man, with only one exception, and that is the sacrifice of the animal that Father made when Adam and Chava were forced out of the Garden of Eden. This sacrifice is a precursor to the sacrifice of the Messiah.
“God said to Abraham, ‘And as for you, you shall keep My covenant—you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is My covenant which you shall keep between Me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.’” Genesis 17:9-10 (Stone)
While Father made a water covenant with Hagar, He turns right around and makes a blood covenant with Abraham. While Hagar’s covenant was because of Abram and Sarai’s actions, Abraham’s is because of his own actions. Is this to say that Hagar is exempt from following Father? Not by any means. If she and her descendants want to be part of the chosen people, the direct blessing of Father, they must become part of this blood covenant, making the sacrifice to Father. Their blessing is different than Abraham’s. Hagar’s blessing is that her people will be great. Abraham’s blessing is that his descendants will be great and will be followers of Father.
The covenant of blessing Abraham through Sarah (Verses 19-22) is not a blessing which Abraham could simply sit still and receive. It required action on his and Sarah’s part. If they didn’t do the duty of marriage, the covenant and the blessing that goes with it would have been void. Without action, covenant is nothing, as it says in verse 14, “An uncircumcised male who will not circumcise the flesh of his foreskin—that soul shall be cut off from its people; he has invalidated My covenant.” (Stone)
It is interesting that Abraham brought Ishmael into his blood covenant by circumcising him, as he did in verse 25.
The Readings: Parshat Lech Lecha, Genesis 12:1-17:27. Haftarat Lech Lecha, Isaiah 40:27-41:16. Tehillim Lech Lecha, Psalm 110. Brit Chadesha Lech Lecha, John 4, James 2, I Jon 2:1-6.
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