For the week of October 30, 2021 / 24 Heshvan 5782

Chayei Sarah
Torah: Bereshit/Genesis 23:1 – 25:18
Haftarah: 1 Melachim /1 Kings 1:1-31

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Abraham gave all he had to Isaac. (Bereshit/Genesis 25:5)

Abraham lived about thirty-eight more years after Sarah died. During that time, he married a woman named Keturah and had several more children through her. This shows that Abraham and Sarah’s inability to have children was due to something to do with Sarah. This was already evident by Abraham’s first son Ishmael whom he had through Hagar, Sarah’s servant, at Sarah’s behest.

That Abraham didn’t have a fertility issue seems to contradict Paul’s statement in the New Covenant Writings, where he writes, “He [Abraham] did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb” (Romans 4:19). This is saying, however, that Abraham reasonably understood himself and Sarah as beyond the age of having children. That the issue all along appears to have been with Sarah is besides the point. As a couple who couldn’t have children, Abraham trusted in God to overcome their infertility in order to fulfill his promise to them.

Abraham accepted God’s particularity regarding his plans and purposes. We see this demonstrated through the dispersion of his inheritance. Abraham and Keturah had six sons. It appears that he also had other children through various concubines (I don’t know if I will ever get used to the idea of concubines in the ancient biblical world). While he provided for all his sons while he was alive, his inheritance went to Isaac alone (see Bereshit/Genesis 25:1-6).

Perhaps you might think this is unfair, but Abraham was following God’s lead. After the birth of Ishmael, God determined that the one to carry on the promise was to be the child born to barren Sarah as we read in Bereshit/Genesis 17:18-19: And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.

The inheritance given to Isaac was not mainly about money or livestock, etc. It was the legacy of the promise of blessing unto the nations (see Bereshit/Genesis 12:3). In God’s providence, he deemed that he would develop through Isaac alone a particular people through whom he would reveal himself to the world and by whom the Messiah and Savior would come.

God’s particularity is a core part of God’s creation design. He made a world where things work in a particular way. To ignore the set principles of the universe is to invite unnecessary trouble. Discovering those principles is not a simple matter. But when the Creator God reveals his truth or gives a direction, we are well-advised to follow his lead.

The particularity of Isaac may seem unfair, but God knows what he is doing. What set Abraham apart is that he was willing to do life God’s way. Careful adherence to God’s direction is the only way to lasting blessing. Abraham’s life models God-inspired effective living for us all.

We might think it is unfair that things work the way they do rather than the way we want them to. Some insist that anything but giving people identical opportunities along with guaranteed outcomes is unfair. Perhaps it is unfair. While we must do what we can to enact justice, protecting the vulnerable and providing for the needy, God made a world of diversity. Humans possess a great variety of strengths, weaknesses, and abilities. Surely some inequality is due to injustice and sin, yet to attempt to create absolute equality at every level undermines the great variety that God instilled into his creation.

A key aspect of that variety is God’s particularity in the development of his rescue operation in and through the people of Israel and as fulfilled in the Messiah. It is humbling to accept that some things are just the way they are. Abraham was wise to accept that. We would be too.

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For the week of October 23, 2021 / 17 Heshvan 5782

Vayera
Torah: Bereshit/Genesis 18:1 – 22:24
Haftarah: 2 Melachim / 2 Kings 4:1-37
Originally posted the week of November 19, 2016 / 18 Heshvan 5777

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But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.” (Bereshit/Genesis 18:15)

The eighteenth chapter of the first book of the Bible is extraordinary in many ways. Primarily that it records a visit to the home of Abraham and Sarah by God Almighty himself accompanied by two angels. Talk about “guess who’s coming for dinner?”! This blows away the popular misconception within Judaic circles that the idea that God manifesting himself in human form is idolatrous. Forbidding the manufacturing of images is one thing, that God takes on human form from time to time, and supremely in the person of the Messiah, is another. Apples and oranges.

God’s agenda for this visit appears to be twofold. First, it is to confirm his promise concerning the birth of Isaac through Sarah. Abraham already received this promise in the previous chapter at the same time as the establishment of the covenant of circumcision. The confirmation of the promise regarding Isaac recorded here may have been more for Sarah’s benefit than Abraham, which we will come back to in a second. The other purpose for this special visit is found in the following chapter, in which God reveals to Abraham the coming judgement of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, where his nephew Lot was residing.

There is an interesting compare and contrast in the reactions of Abraham and Sarah to the two promise announcements, since both of them laughed, which became the basis of Isaac’s name. This is the sort of thing that keeps scholars employed as they discuss how these are likely two different story traditions that were both included in the final version of the book. We don’t know exactly how these accounts were passed on over time, but it’s not unreasonable to accept them at face value. That both parents laughed makes sense. That such a couple would have their first baby is pretty funny no matter how you look at it. It also makes sense that their laughter arose from completely different perspectives as they are two very different individuals.

Abraham’s laughter appears to be one of astonishment. He gives no indication that such a thing wasn’t possible for God to do; only that it was completely unusual. Sarah’s laughter, on the other hand, was one of incredulity, unbelief in other words. We derive this from a combination of her statement about her elderly condition, the Lord’s response to her laughter, and her denial of it. Reading this, I don’t get the impression that the Lord has a serious issue with her reaction, but rather with her denial.

God’s promise of the unexpected and the unusual, if not impossible, elicited different responses from two different people. Laughter is an emotion that doesn’t normally emerge after a long period of contemplation; it occurs in the moment. As a reaction, it reveals something about the nature of the person at that precise time. In Sarah’s case, it was unbelief. That she would deny it is understandable, especially when talking to God. But who is she kidding? Did she really think she could fool God?

And yet don’t we do the same? Don’t we try to cover up when we are embarrassed and ashamed about something? Sometimes the shame of what we have done is so great, not only would we deny it to God’s face, we may even try to fool ourselves into thinking we didn’t do what we did.

Look at God’s response to her after she said she didn’t laugh: “No, but you did laugh” (v. 15). End of scene. Did anything happen between God and Sarah on this issue after that? We don’t know. Did Sarah accept the truth of her behavior? We don’t know that either. In the way the story is presented, the reader knows the truth of the situation, and God has the final word. That’s a picture of the way life is for all of us. There is an objective truth about who we are and why we react the way we do. God, more than anyone, knows what’s going on. He will have the final word about us and our lives. We can either accept the truth and deal with it or we can keep on denying it.

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For the week of October 16, 2021 / 10 Heshvan 5782

Lech-Lecha
Torah: Bereshit/Genesis 12:1 – 17:27
Haftarah: Isaiah 40:27 – 41:16

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Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Bereshit/Genesis 12:1-3)

I don’t know if you have heard of the show, “The Chosen,” the first-ever multi-season dramatic depiction of the Gospels, currently with season three in development. At some point I want to do a full review of it on my weekly video podcast “Thinking Biblically,” but for now let me say that I have found it very insightful, especially in reminding me how very real Yeshua, his followers, and the time they lived in were. Also, it has shown me how much I have read into the Bible without realizing it, including elements such as emphasis and tone. The Chosen depicts the characters and the cultural context in surprising ways, challenging me to give more thought to these elements than I usually have. Their interpretations aren’t necessarily correct but are certainly worthy of consideration. Here’s an example.

Up until watching the Chosen, I always understood Yeshua’s call as “Follow me,” (e.g. Matthew 9:9) with the emphasis on the “me.” That preaches well. As Messiah and Son of God he calls us to focus on him. After all, he is Messiah, Lord, and Savior, “the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6), the only one who can restore our relationship to God. But in the Chosen, the Yeshua character doesn’t say it like that. Instead, it’s “Follow me,” With the emphasis on “follow.” (I have provided a link below to the Chosen clip of Yeshua’s call of Matthew the tax collector, where you can hear it yourself.)

Of course, we don’t know for sure how it sounded. It was probably Aramaic anyway, though it could have been Hebrew (the scholarly jury is still out on that one). The point is, however, the “follow” in “follow me” is at least as important as the one we are called to follow.

Last week, we looked at what I called “Noah’s secret,” which is walking with the Lord. I mentioned that doing so is a mark of every good Bible character. Whether or not a person heard the actual words, “Follow me” as did many of Yeshua’s disciples, true godliness is expressed by living according to a course set by God, a course that is most often very different from that of the prevailing culture.

Few characters exemplify this as much as Abram, whose name became Abraham, as described in this week’s parsha (Torah reading portion). I never tire of thinking about what it must have meant for this elderly man to journey in those days from his homeland to live as a nomad in hostile foreign territory. His following a God unrecognized by those around him is the biblical model of faith.

The call to follow is a call to direct our lives in God’s direction alone. He doesn’t lasso us and drag us on a leash (sorry for the mixed metaphor). He is intent on finding those who are willing to keep in step with him, whatever the cost. To follow is to give ourselves to him as he leads us into the great unknown, a life out of step with the crowd, to go against the grain, to swim upstream, and as I mentioned last week, to march to the beat of a different drum.

To follow is not to enter into an alternate spiritual state disconnected from reality. Far from it! It is to journey through life according to reality, the reality of a creation God designed and is restoring. To follow is to live like Abraham, who, by turning his back on what others thought was normal, helped to set the course of God’s rescue plan whereby all the nations of the world would be blessed.

You can be part of that plan. But are you waiting for God to swoop you up on a magic carpet and carry you along on some spiritual high? Or will you get up, turn from whatever it might be that is holding you back, and follow the Messiah right now?

An example of “Follow me” from The Chosen:

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For the week of October 9, 2021 / 3 Heshvan 5782

Noach
Torah: Bereshit/Genesis 6:9 – 11:32
Haftarah: Isaiah 54:1 – 55:5

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And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. (Bereshit/Genesis 6:13-14)

We live in troubled times. Whether you believe that we are doomed due to climate change or climate change politics, it’s pretty unsettling. COVID, of course, has taken this to another level. Whether we view it as the plague of all plagues or an excuse for the establishment of totalitarian control, pandemic or no pandemic, we are certainly in a global predicament.

Whatever the exact nature of the current situation, whether we are on the brink of disaster or this whole thing will blow over (I would be very happily surprised if that is the case), this week’s parsha (weekly Torah reading) is instructive. Its lessons are a sort of one-size-fits-all solution to just about any kind of challenge we might face in life. While it’s simple in its all-encompassing nature, implementing it is easier said than done. Yet, it’s something that is within reach of everyone.

This week’s reading includes the story of Noah and how God enabled him to overcome the second greatest disaster in world history. The greatest disaster of all time hasn’t happened yet. As we wait for that to happen, we continue to endure many lessor disasters. So let’s learn Noah’s secret.

It’s not a secret, actually. We are told in Bereshit/Genesis, chapter six and verse nine, “Noah walked with God.” That’s it. That’s all we need to know, sort of. You need the rest of the Bible to fully understand what walking with God is all about. But that’s what he did. That’s what made the difference between him and everyone else. That’s why only his family survived the flood. And that’s what we need to survive the challenges of our day.

To walk with God is a metaphor, a figure of speech, that creates a mental picture of traveling with God as we would with any other person. Walking with someone is necessarily relational. It requires a basic agreement between the two parties. If the parties are peers, the directional orientation may be that of mutual consent. If one is regarded as the senior in any way, then that person sets the course and the other follows, which would be the case with Noah and God. God set the course; Noah followed.

Noah’s day was one in which the prevailing culture was on the brink of destruction due to lifestyles completely contrary to the Creator’s design. Noah was different in that he kept in step with God. As a result, God entrusted him with a long-term plan that saved not only his own family, but also God’s overall creation project. To walk with God is not only beneficial for self, it finds fruition in being a blessing to others.

This is also the essence of God’s call of Abraham (see Bereshit/Genesis 12:1-3). The directive to him to go to the land which would become the land of Israel was a call to walk with God. It’s no wonder, that when the Messiah finally appears on the scene, he says, “Follow me.” To walk with God is set to one’s course in the direction in which God is going. Whatever might be happening around us, God sets the course; God determines the destination.

How walking with God finds expression in each person’s life will be different. For Noah, it meant spending a large portion of his life building an enormous rescue craft that must have appeared ridiculous to everyone else. But since Noah walked with God, he wasn’t deterred by people’s opinions and emotions. Abraham lived as an elderly foreigner in a hostile environment with little to show for his efforts while he was alive yet laid the groundwork for God’s master plan. We could look at almost every other key Bible character and remark on how they marched to the beat of a different drum – different metaphor, but you get the point.

So then, when you and I respond positively to the Messiah’s call to follow him, we find ourselves on the same journey as all these before us who walked with God. To others, we may look strange, out of place – crazy perhaps – but on a road full of life and blessing. We don’t have to be overwhelmed by these troubled times if we walk with God.

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