Bless YHVH the blessed One; Blessed is YHVH, the blessed One for all eternity. Blessed are you, YHVH, our Elohim, King of the Universe, you have selected us from among all the peoples, and have given us your Torah. Blessed are you, YHVH, giver of the Torah. Amein.
ויסע משׁם
’’he pulled up the tent pins or started his
journey from there..’’
Gen 20:1
And Aḇraham set out from there to the land of the South, and dwelt between Qaḏěsh
and Shur, and stayed in Gerar.
Gen 20:2 And Aḇraham said
concerning Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Aḇimeleḵ sovereign of Gerar
sent and took Sarah.
Gen 20:3 But Elohim came to Aḇimeleḵ in a dream by night, and said to him, “See, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.”
This may
seem drastic, but this
lie was a big issue.
“Suppose Abimelech had taken Sarah and YHVH had not intervened? Two seeds would have been at the door to Sarah’s
womb, and to this day an element of doubt would cling to the ancestry of Messiah” (Barnhouse).
Gen 20:4 However, Aḇimeleḵ had not
come near her, and he said, “יהוה, would You kill a
righteous nation also?
Gen 20:5 “Did he not say to me,
‘She is my sister’? And she, even she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the
integrity of my heart and in the innocence of my hands I have done this.”
Gen 20:6 And Elohim said to him in
a dream, “Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart, and so
I kept you from sinning against Me. For this reason I did not let you touch
her.
Gen 20:7 “And now, return the
man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and let him pray for you and you live. But if
you do not return her, know that you shall certainly die, you and all that are
yours.”
Gen 20:8 So Aḇimeleḵ rose early in
the morning, and called all his servants, and spoke all these words in their
hearing. And the men were greatly frightened.
Gen 20:9 And Aḇimeleḵ called Aḇraham
and said to him, “What have you done to us? In what have I sinned against you,
that you have brought on me and on my reign a great sin? You have done matters
to me that should not be done.”
Gen 20:10 And Aḇimeleḵ said to Aḇraham, “What did you have in view, that you have done this matter?”
Abraham once again suffers rebuke from a heathen king
Gen 20:11 And Aḇraham said, “Only
because I said to myself, the fear of Elohim is not in this place, and
they shall kill me for the sake of my wife.
Gen 20:12 “And yet, she is truly
my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother,
and she became my wife.
Gen 20:13 “And it came to be, when
Elohim caused me to wander (התעו) from my father’s house, that I said to her, ‘This is your
loving-commitment that you should do for me: in every place, wherever we go,
say of me, “He is my brother.” ’ ”
“There is a terrible meaning in this verb wander (Heb ‘’ta ah’’)which Abraham uses. The Hebrew word occurs exactly fifty times in Scripture and never in a good sense. It is used of animals going astray, of a drunken man reeling, or staggering, of sinful seduction, of a prophet’s lies causing the people to err, of the path of a lying heart. Six other words are translated wander, any one of which Abraham might have used, but he used the worst word available.” (Barnhouse)
“Abraham should have said: ‘Forgive me, Abimelech, for dishonouring both you and my Elohim. My selfish cowardice overwhelmed me, and I denied my Elohim by fearing that He who called me could not take care of me. He is not as your gods of wood and stone. He is the Elohim of esteem. He is the living El, the Creator, the most High El, possessor of heaven and earth. He told me He would be my shield and my exceeding great reward, and supplier of all my needs… In sinning against Him, I sinned against you. Forgive me, Abimelech.’” (Barnhouse)
Gen 20:14 Then Aḇimeleḵ took
sheep, and cattle, and male and female servants, and gave them to Aḇraham. And
he returned Sarah his wife to him.
Gen 20:15 And Aḇimeleḵ said, “See,
my land is before you, dwell wherever it is good in your eyes.”
Gen 20:16 And to Sarah he said,
“See, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. See, it is to you
a covering of eyes before all who are with you and before all others, and you
are cleared before everyone.”
Gen 20:17 And Aḇraham prayed to
Elohim, and Elohim healed Aḇimeleḵ, and his wife, and his female servants, so
they bore children,
Gen 20:18 for יהוה had closed up all the wombs of the house of Aḇimeleḵ because of Sarah, Aḇraham’s wife.
The
Birth of Yitschak
Gen 21:1
And יהוה visited Sarah as He had said, and יהוה did for Sarah as He had spoken.
Gen 21:2 So Sarah conceived and
bore Aḇraham a son in his old age, at the appointed time of which Elohim had
spoken to him.
Gen 21:3 And Aḇraham called the name
of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Yitsḥaq.
Gen 21:4 And Aḇraham circumcised
his son Yitsḥaq when he was eight days old, as Elohim had commanded him.
Gen 21:5 And Aḇraham was one hundred years old when his son Yitsḥaq was born to him.
ויסע משׁם
’’he pulled up the tent pins or started his journey from there..’’
In the context of this Torah portion, maybe, Abraham should have stayed where he was. Maybe like Lot he too became fearful that the judgment of YHVH was not yet over and he wanted to make sure he could move further away to a safer place.
Moving ‘’lifting up tent pins’’ under YHVH’s guidance would become a critical lesson for the Yisraelite nation to follow in their wilderness journey.
Num 9:17 And whenever the cloud was taken up from above the Tent, after that the children of Yisra’ěl would depart. Heb יסעו -And in the place where the cloud dwelt, there the children of Yisra’ěl would camp. Num 9:18 At the mouth of יהוה the children of Yisra’ěl departed, Heb יסעו- and at the command of יהוה they camped. They remained camped as long as the cloud dwelt above the Dwelling Place. Num 9:19 Even when the cloud lingered many days above the Dwelling Place, the children of Yisra’ěl guarded the Charge of יהוה, and did not depart. Heb יסעו
This may
also be a critical lesson for an end time generation.
The
hafrarah portion is also significant. It is about moving, but this time our
destination is with Messiah and we should learn from Avraham to stay in YHVH’s
will until we reach our destination.
Sadly this
has not always been true for His followers.
Gal
5:7 You were running well, who held you back from obeying the truth?
If Avraham
could get sidetracked so, can we.
People will
die in during the millennium - Isa 65:20 “No more is an infant from there going to live but a
few days, nor an old man who does not complete his days, for the youth dies one
hundred years old, but the sinner being one hundred years old shall be lightly
esteemed.
It seems
possible that even in the Messianic reign people will still be able to make
wrong choices. Most believers don’t even consider this possibility.
Isa 65:21 “And they shall build houses and inhabit them, and plant vineyards and eat their fruit. Isa 65:22 “They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat. For the days of My people are going to be as the days of a tree, and My chosen ones outlive the work of their hands. Isa 65:23 “They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth children for trouble. For they are the seed of the blessed of יהוה, and their offspring with them. Isa 65:24 “And it shall be that before they call, I answer. And while they are still speaking, I hear. Isa 65:25 “Wolf and lamb feed together, a lion eats straw as an ox, and dust is the snake’s food. They shall do no evil, nor destroy in all My set-apart mountain,” said יהוה.
Isa 66:1 Thus said יהוה, “The heavens are My throne, and the earth is My footstool. Where is this house that you build for Me? And where is this place of My rest? Isa 66:2 “And all these My hand has made, and all these that exist,” declares יהוה. “Yet to such a one I look: on him who is poor and bruised of spirit, and who trembles at My Word. Isa 66:3 “But whoever slays the bull strikes a man; whoever slaughters the lamb breaks a dog’s neck; whoever brings a grain offering – pig’s blood; whoever burns incense blesses an idol. Indeed, they have chosen their own ways, and their being delights in their abominations. (Possibly a reference to those who despise the sacrificial system)Isa 66:4 “I shall also choose their punishments, and bring their fears on them. Because I called, but no one answered. I spoke and they did not hear, and they did evil before My eyes, and chose what was displeasing to Me.” Isa 66:5 Hear the Word of יהוה, you who tremble at His Word, “Your brothers who hate you, who cast you out for My Name’s sake, said, ‘Let יהוה be esteemed, so that we see your joy.’ But they are put to shame.”Isa 66:10 “Rejoice with Yerushalayim, and be glad with her, all you who love her; rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn for her; Isa 66:11 so that you feed, and shall be satisfied with the breast of her comforts, so that you drink deeply, and shall delight yourselves in her overflowing esteem.”
Heb 11:8 By belief, Aḇraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he was about to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. Heb 11:9 By belief, he sojourned in the land of promise as a stranger, dwelling in tents with Yitsḥaq and Ya‛aqoḇ, the heirs with him of the same promise, Heb 11:10 for he was looking for the city having foundations, whose builder and maker is Elohim. Heb 11:11 By belief also, Sarah herself was enabled to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the normal age, because she deemed Him trustworthy who had promised. Heb 11:12 And so from one, and him as good as dead, were born as numerous as the stars of the heaven, as countless as the sand which is by the seashore. Gen_15:5, Gen_22:17. Heb 11:13 In belief all these died, not having received the promises,[a] but seeing them from a distance, welcomed and embraced them, and confessed that they were aliens and strangers on the earth. Footnote: aSee Heb_11:39. Heb 11:14 For those who speak this way make it clear that they seek a fatherland. Heb 11:15 And yet, if they had indeed kept remembering that place from which they had come out, they would have had the chance to return. Heb 11:16 But now they long for a better place, that is, a heavenly. Therefore Elohim is not ashamed to be called their Elohim, for He has prepared a city for them.
Perhaps the
mystery of this Torah portion is suggested in the word ‘’misham’’ ‘’from
there’’
Where is
‘’there’’?
I believe
we can only reach our destiny in our pilgrimage if our ‘’there’’ is a firm
foundation. Our whole life’s journey is a series of ‘’entering and leaving’’ –
the way we leave one stage of our lives will determine how we enter the next
stage.
Heb 6:1 Therefore, having left the word of the beginning of the Messiah, let us go on to perfection,[a] not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of belief toward Elohim, Footnote: a Mat_5:48. Heb 6:2 of the teaching of immersions, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of everlasting judgment. Heb 6:3 And this we shall do, if Elohim indeed permits. Heb 6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Set-apart Spirit, Heb 6:5 and have tasted the good Word of Elohim and the powers of the age to come, Heb 6:6 and fall away, to renew them again to repentance – having impaled for themselves the Son of Elohim again, and put Him to open shame.[b] Footnote: bSee Heb_10:26-31. Heb 6:7 For ground that is drinking the rain often falling on it, and is bearing plants fit for those by whom it is tilled, receives blessing from Elohim, Heb 6:8 but if it brings forth thorns and thistles, Gen_3:18 it is rejected and near to being cursed, and ends up by being burned. Heb 6:9 But although we speak in this way, beloved, we are persuaded, concerning you, of better matters which possess deliverance.
Essentially ‘’there’’ may be narrowed down to two issues: Messiah and Torah – if we get them wrong, we get everything wrong and will fail to fulfil the heavenly calling upon our lives.
Joh 8:14 יהושע answered and said to them, “Even if I witness concerning Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you do not know from where I come, or where I go. See 2 John 1. Joh 14:3 “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I shall come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, you might be too. Joh 14:4 “And where I go you know, and the way you know.”
Baruch atah YHVH,
Eloheinu, Melech ha-‘Olam, asher natan lanu Toraht-emet, v’chai-yeh o’lam
nata-b’tochenu. Baruch atah YHVH, notein ha-Torah. Amein.
Blessed are you YHVH,
our Elohim, King of the Universe, you have given us your Torah of truth, and
have planted everlasting life within our midst. Blessed are you, YHVH giver of
the Torah – Amein.