Post by Ben Avraham on Oct 31, 2014 17:04:52 GMT -8
Preview: 'LEKH L'KHA" (go forth) A study over the call of Abraham
PARSHA: "lehk-Lecha" (go forth) a message to Father Abraham
GENESIS: 12:1-17:27 ISAIAH 40:27-41:16 ACTS 7:1-8
We will see quite a few interesting points to mention in this Parsha, First of all, the "Call of Abram" He was at, we can say, at the "cross roads" He was being challenged by Adonai, "Charan" which was his home, with father Terah, Lot, Sarai, the servants, etc...Now, he receives a call on his life, "Leave behind everything and follow me!" Would this be blind faith? Not if the call is from G-d, If G-d calls, He will supply ALL of our NEEDS. All He is looking for is a faithful responder, one who will respond to the command.
According to Jewish tradition, Abraham was a student of Shem, a son of Noah, Shem taught him about the true God Elohim, so, (according to this tradition) Abraham already knew something about God, He had an open mind, He certainly rejected the gods of Charan
When we look at the name "Abram" the Hebrew letters spell out "Alef" "Beit" "resh" "mem sofit" one way of looking at his name is the "First father of a (then) closed womb (mem sofit) looks like a womb which is closed, Does Abram obey God's command? to leave his family? NO, he does NOT, he takes Lot with him, he was called to leave ALL behind, of course, not his own wife, It should have been Abram, Sarai, (and of course their servants) Lot proves to be a stumbling block for Abram.
Abram responds to God's call, And at one time, we were at those same cross roads, to leave behind a world that offered us nothing but perdition, lusts of the eyes, of the flesh, a world that is controlled by ha Satan, and to embark on a new journey, a journey of faith, when we accept Yeshua (Jesus) as our LORD and Savior. Abram is known as a "Hebrew" (Ivri) which means "one who crosses over" and in this case, the cross over is the Tigris Euphrates River, So, we are All in manners of speaking "Ivrim" we have all crossed over, BUT.....many are looking back, we must NOT look back, but forward.
We see that Abram camps and makes "Altars" two significant things to mention,
an "altar" is a place of worship, then it was a place to sacrifice a clean animals, made of stones and probably earth, wood was placed on top and the animal was then sacrificed. A perfect picture of Calvary, Yeshua the "Solid Rock" who was the second "Adam" (Adamah = earth/dust) who was nailed to a "wooden" cross, who was the "sacrifice lamb".
We never see Abram ever settling in a permanent house, He was always "encamped" some where. We also are "sojourners" on "planet earth" This is not our permanent home, we are on the move, and if the LORD moves us, we should move, each encampment could signify different epics of our lives, the encampments of "childhood,' youth, adulthood, senior or the golden years,
Abram went to Egypt, did G-d tell him to go to Egypt? NO, he did it on his own,
He was looking at the immediate circumstances and thought that it would be best to go to Egypt, that's what you get for thinking, He tried to out slick Pharaoh, lie about his wife (or half lie) not a very good witness, and harvested "Hagar" who would be the future "thorn in the flesh" for the descendants of Israel, thanks to Hagar, we have "Hamaz" Al Kaeda" "Hesbola" etc but Hagar didn't get pregnant on her own, she had help, from Abram
Two men listened to their wives, and messed up. Adam, and he took of the forbidden fruit, and Abram, who accepted Hagar as a second wife, BUT, we see that God still blesses and has a plan, the plan is Yeshua, But we see that God is faithful to his covenant, Abram becomes "AbraHam" the letter "H" (Hey) can symbolize "breath" or also an "open window" the "mem" (womb of water) is now "open" and receives the "breath of life" and Isaac is born, also "Sarai" becomes "SaraH" also an "H" (hey) the breath of life within her, womb now open,
"MELCHIZEDEK" (Who was he or IS he?) the Hebrew name is "MELECH-TZADIK"
King of Righteousness, or Righteous King. He symbolizes "Yeshua" who is our "Righteous King" Now, was He a real person, a real king? or the Pre-incarnate Messiah Yeshua? He was King of Salem, the old name for Yerushalayim, If he was a real king, nothing much is known about him, only that he was righteous,
Abraham honored him by giving him his tithes, Today we do the same, we honor the presence of God by tithing of our time, talent, and treasure,
God honored Abraham, by making him a Father of many, making him our Father of faith, and giving him an inheritance, the Land of Israel, Our same God has made us "B'nei Emunah" (children of the faith) and has promised us the "New Jerusalem" when our journey across this earth is ended, we will enter into the "Joy of our LORD"
ISAIAH 40:27-41:16
God reminds Israel of the position of servanthood "You are my servant Jacob who I have chosen the descendants of Abraham My friend......
1. We are HIS servants. 2 WE have been chosen 3. We will NOT be cast away
We have been taken from the ends of the earth, brought to the knowledge of Yeshua, and now, we serve HIM, who is our Redeemer, what a privilege!!
ACTS 7:1-8
Even the first martyr, "Stephan" testifies to Abraham's faith and his obedience,
We need to also be faithful in our walk with God, who knows who will go after us,
perhaps, some day, someone will speak about you, and YOUR faith walk! may it be positive and not negative.
Shabbat Shalom
from Rabbi Jacob Ben Avraham
PARSHA: "lehk-Lecha" (go forth) a message to Father Abraham
GENESIS: 12:1-17:27 ISAIAH 40:27-41:16 ACTS 7:1-8
We will see quite a few interesting points to mention in this Parsha, First of all, the "Call of Abram" He was at, we can say, at the "cross roads" He was being challenged by Adonai, "Charan" which was his home, with father Terah, Lot, Sarai, the servants, etc...Now, he receives a call on his life, "Leave behind everything and follow me!" Would this be blind faith? Not if the call is from G-d, If G-d calls, He will supply ALL of our NEEDS. All He is looking for is a faithful responder, one who will respond to the command.
According to Jewish tradition, Abraham was a student of Shem, a son of Noah, Shem taught him about the true God Elohim, so, (according to this tradition) Abraham already knew something about God, He had an open mind, He certainly rejected the gods of Charan
When we look at the name "Abram" the Hebrew letters spell out "Alef" "Beit" "resh" "mem sofit" one way of looking at his name is the "First father of a (then) closed womb (mem sofit) looks like a womb which is closed, Does Abram obey God's command? to leave his family? NO, he does NOT, he takes Lot with him, he was called to leave ALL behind, of course, not his own wife, It should have been Abram, Sarai, (and of course their servants) Lot proves to be a stumbling block for Abram.
Abram responds to God's call, And at one time, we were at those same cross roads, to leave behind a world that offered us nothing but perdition, lusts of the eyes, of the flesh, a world that is controlled by ha Satan, and to embark on a new journey, a journey of faith, when we accept Yeshua (Jesus) as our LORD and Savior. Abram is known as a "Hebrew" (Ivri) which means "one who crosses over" and in this case, the cross over is the Tigris Euphrates River, So, we are All in manners of speaking "Ivrim" we have all crossed over, BUT.....many are looking back, we must NOT look back, but forward.
We see that Abram camps and makes "Altars" two significant things to mention,
an "altar" is a place of worship, then it was a place to sacrifice a clean animals, made of stones and probably earth, wood was placed on top and the animal was then sacrificed. A perfect picture of Calvary, Yeshua the "Solid Rock" who was the second "Adam" (Adamah = earth/dust) who was nailed to a "wooden" cross, who was the "sacrifice lamb".
We never see Abram ever settling in a permanent house, He was always "encamped" some where. We also are "sojourners" on "planet earth" This is not our permanent home, we are on the move, and if the LORD moves us, we should move, each encampment could signify different epics of our lives, the encampments of "childhood,' youth, adulthood, senior or the golden years,
Abram went to Egypt, did G-d tell him to go to Egypt? NO, he did it on his own,
He was looking at the immediate circumstances and thought that it would be best to go to Egypt, that's what you get for thinking, He tried to out slick Pharaoh, lie about his wife (or half lie) not a very good witness, and harvested "Hagar" who would be the future "thorn in the flesh" for the descendants of Israel, thanks to Hagar, we have "Hamaz" Al Kaeda" "Hesbola" etc but Hagar didn't get pregnant on her own, she had help, from Abram
Two men listened to their wives, and messed up. Adam, and he took of the forbidden fruit, and Abram, who accepted Hagar as a second wife, BUT, we see that God still blesses and has a plan, the plan is Yeshua, But we see that God is faithful to his covenant, Abram becomes "AbraHam" the letter "H" (Hey) can symbolize "breath" or also an "open window" the "mem" (womb of water) is now "open" and receives the "breath of life" and Isaac is born, also "Sarai" becomes "SaraH" also an "H" (hey) the breath of life within her, womb now open,
"MELCHIZEDEK" (Who was he or IS he?) the Hebrew name is "MELECH-TZADIK"
King of Righteousness, or Righteous King. He symbolizes "Yeshua" who is our "Righteous King" Now, was He a real person, a real king? or the Pre-incarnate Messiah Yeshua? He was King of Salem, the old name for Yerushalayim, If he was a real king, nothing much is known about him, only that he was righteous,
Abraham honored him by giving him his tithes, Today we do the same, we honor the presence of God by tithing of our time, talent, and treasure,
God honored Abraham, by making him a Father of many, making him our Father of faith, and giving him an inheritance, the Land of Israel, Our same God has made us "B'nei Emunah" (children of the faith) and has promised us the "New Jerusalem" when our journey across this earth is ended, we will enter into the "Joy of our LORD"
ISAIAH 40:27-41:16
God reminds Israel of the position of servanthood "You are my servant Jacob who I have chosen the descendants of Abraham My friend......
1. We are HIS servants. 2 WE have been chosen 3. We will NOT be cast away
We have been taken from the ends of the earth, brought to the knowledge of Yeshua, and now, we serve HIM, who is our Redeemer, what a privilege!!
ACTS 7:1-8
Even the first martyr, "Stephan" testifies to Abraham's faith and his obedience,
We need to also be faithful in our walk with God, who knows who will go after us,
perhaps, some day, someone will speak about you, and YOUR faith walk! may it be positive and not negative.
Shabbat Shalom
from Rabbi Jacob Ben Avraham
- there are 70 faces to 
and stigma of having been taken by a pagan king.
