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.
לֶךְ־לְךָ Go to find the purpose of your existence – YHVH’s creative purpose and calling for your life. then I shall know, as I also have been known. 1 Cor 13:12
Philippians 2:12: “Work out your own salvation with
fear and trembling.”
Greek: μετὰ φόβου
καὶ τρόμου τὴν ἑαυτῶν
σωτηρίαν κατεργάζεσθε.
Root: ergazomai = “to work, to bring about, to
accomplish.”
Prefix kata- intensifies it: “to work out fully,” “to
carry through to completion,” “to bring to effect.”
Not “work for”
salvation — but “work out” the salvation that is already within.
It’s the idea of developing what has been given, like a seed growing to
fruit.
So, Paul is echoing a biblical pattern: “Serve YHVH with fear
and rejoice with trembling.” — Psalm 2:11- 2Co 5:11 Knowing, therefore, the fear of יהוה, we persuade men..
The very next verse, Philippians 2:13, explains why
this “working out” is possible:
“For it is Elohim who works in you (ho energōn en hymin)
both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”
In Hebraic thought, salvation (yeshu‘ah) is
not only a one-time rescue, but an ongoing process living in covenant
faithfulness, shaped by Torah as evidenced in the lives of Messianic believers.
To “work it out” means to walk it out — to let redemption transform
one’s conduct, motives, and relationships. (‘’he who endures to the end shall
be saved 7x Revelation)
The “fear and trembling” recalls Sinai, where Israel
received Torah amid thunder and awe — awareness that covenant life is set apart
ground.
Exodus 19:16 — The Giving of the Torah at Sinai - “On the
third day… there were thunderings and lightning and a thick cloud upon the
mountain… and all the people in the camp trembled (vayecherad kol ha‘am).”
This is the archetype of “fear and trembling.”
When Israel entered covenant with YHVH, they literally shook — charadah,
trembling — before His presence.
Paul’s phrase echoes this scene of covenant awe: salvation is not casual; it’s
standing before the same Creator who descended with fire on Mount Sinai to
personally deliver the terms and conditions to Moses of how man should live in
an eternal covenant relationship with Himself and with his brothers and
sisters.
Deuteronomy 10:12–13 “And now, Israel, what does YHVH
your Elohim require of you, but to fear (yirah) YHVH your Elohim, to walk in
all His ways, and to love Him…”
2Co
5:11 Knowing, therefore, the fear (φόβος) of יהוה, we persuade men – φόβος – to be be
exceedingly afraid.
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear,
because fear has torment. He that fear is not made perfect in love.” (1 John
4:18, KJV) ‘’Perfect (mature) love obeys perfectly.’’(maturely)
In this verse, “fear” (φόβος – phobos) doesn’t mean
healthy reverence or respect for YHVH — it means the fear of punishment or
judgment.
“Fear has torment,” John says — meaning fear carries inner
suffering, guilt, or anxiety about the disbedient facing YHVH.
Ecc
12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the entire matter: Fear Elohim and
guard His commands, for this applies to all mankind!
Psa 23:3 He turns back (Heb ‘’ yeshovev’’
keeps on returning) my being; He leads me in paths (Heb ‘’magal’’ cycles) of
righteousness For His Name’s sake. (Thus לְמַעַן שְׁמוֹ
literally means:
“For the purpose of maintaining His Name / His reputation
/ His covenant faithfulness.”)
“For His Name’s sake” doesn’t exclude our benefit
— it secures it, because His honour guarantees His care.
The form yeshovev (Piel
imperfect) carries the idea of continual renewal — “He keeps bringing us
back,” “He restores again and again.”
‘’For this reason, we choose to ‘’lech lecha’’ to pursue
spiritual renewal and follow a 42-month Septennial Torah cycle.’’ Rom 12:2 And do not be
conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so
that you prove what is that good and well-pleasing and perfect desire of
Elohim.
Gen 12:1 And יהוה said to Aḇram, “Go yourself out of your
land, from your relatives and from your father’s house, to a land which I show
you.
‘’Lech
lecha ‘’Yahshua made a similar challenge to His followers - Mar
10:29 יהושע
said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or
sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for the sake of Me
and the Good News, Mar 10:30 who shall not receive a hundredfold now
in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and
lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come, everlasting life.
This means
a willingness and courage to separate (Gk – ekllessia – called out) from
everything that will separate us from YHVH’s love, calling and purpose. This is
the nature and heart of the Hebrew. The word “Hebrew” comes from the Hebrew
word “avar” which speaks of one who has “crossed over. (Secret is to ‘lech’
(walk) when YHVH says so)
Stones
Chumash page 55 “Though Abraham and Sarah had many disciples, they were
essentially alone; they could never blend into whatever culture surrounded
them. Abraham was called an “ivri” from the word “avar” which essentially means
“from the other side” Literally this means that he came to Kena’an from the
other side of the Euphrates, but the sages interpret the title in a deeper
sense, too. He was on one side of a moral and spiritual divide, and the rest of
the world was on the other. Righteous people must be ready to endure such
isolation; popularity is pleasant, but it can also be a snare, because the
natural desire to win the approval of others can lead people to bend their principles.’
There is
often talk in the church about ‘making a paradigm shift’’ several
sincere believers are leaving well established churches; several church leaders
know that there is ‘something wrong with the system’ but they are not quite
able to identify the problem. The following is a quote from a sincere leader in
the charismatic movement about making a paradigm shift: ‘’What if we were wrong
and they are right …. And the reason was that we misunderstood, mistranslated,
and misinterpreted the scriptures?
Gen
12:2 “And I
shall make you a great nation,(וְאֶעֶשְׂךָ, לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל ) and bless you and make your
name great, and you shall be a blessing. (blessing of lech lecha)
Gen
12:3 “And I shall bless those who bless you, and curse him who curses
you. And in you all the clans of the earth shall be blessed.”
In Hebrew there are various words used for the
verb "to curse" they are "arar, qualal,
"Arar" means "to curse
thoroughly and properly in a premeditated manner with intention of bringing
about great harm" (to devote to destruction)
Qualal means "to revile or vilify in a malicious way, to
esteem lightly, to make a contemptuous comment to disrepect".
The
Law of First Appearance
To best understand
the meaning of a word, one needs to go to the first time the word was used. In
the case of the word “arar” or curse, this word first appears in Gen/Ber 3:14
When YHVH cursed the serpent. This was an extremely severe curse which resulted
in ha satan’s eternal separation from YHVH and with no possibility to ever
repent and return.
Here in vs
3 it tells us that YHVH will "arar"(curse) those who
"qualal" Abram.
Gen
12:4 So Aḇram left, as יהוה had commanded him, and Lot went
with him. And Aḇram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Ḥaran. (Heb parched with
unrighteous passion)
Gen
12:5 And Aḇram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their
possessions that they had gathered, and the beings whom they had acquired in Ḥaran, and they set out for the
land of Kena‛an. And they came to the land of Kena‛an. (a place of being
humbled S3667)
Abram’s story is not about instant perfection but progressive
faithfulness: He left behind the familiar but carried some remnants — YHVH
refined him step by step until obedience was complete.
The Lech-lecha pattern (two divine “goings”)
reappears in Jewish liturgy and spiritual practice — especially
in the Amidah (daily prayer) and the Counting of the Omer — as a map
of the soul’s ascent from awakening to union.
Gen
12:6 And Aḇram passed through the land to the place of Sheḵem, as far as the terebinth tree
of Moreh. At that time the Kena‛anites were in the land.
“Shechem” means back or shoulder. (burdensome place – Mat
11:28-30) The Hebrew word “elyon” is used for “Terebinth”.” Elyon” means “supreme”
or an oak or Terebinth tree, this too would become the pattern of the ‘’lech
lecha’’ for the patriarchs and the nation of Israel.
Gen
12:7
And יהוה appeared to Aḇram and said, “To your seed I give
this land.” And he built there a slaughter-place to יהוה, who had appeared to
him. (Please note the land was not given to the Palestinians or
Jebusites)
Gen
12:8 And from there he moved to the mountain east of Běyth Ěl, and he
pitched his (her) tent,
with Běyth Ěl on the west and Ai on the east. And he built there a
slaughter-place to יהוה, and called on the Name of יהוה. (Gen 3:15)
Genesis 12:8 is Abram’s first recorded altar in the Land
of Canaan; the first act of worship tied to the promise of the land. Abram
builds the altar as a first spiritual foothold in the Promised Land.
Let us reflect on what the sages found most
interesting in verse 8 - the Hebrew states ‘’ohelah’’ or ‘’her tent’’ and not
‘’his tent’’ (Rabbinic commentary)
1. Genesis 12:8 — “He pitched her tent”
As we saw, the Torah’s choice of words is intentional.
- Avraham
pitches Sarah’s tent first.
- This
shows covenant order — Avraham’s calling includes his wife,
not apart from her.
- The
“tent” becomes the first home of faith in the Land — the beginning
of the Mishkan (dwelling) idea.
So, from the start, “tent” = dwelling of covenantal
relationship between YHVH, man, and woman.
2. “Tent” (אהל) — in Torah imagery
In Hebrew thought, a tent is never just a house; it’s
a portable sanctuary, a place where YHVH meets His people.
Numbers 24:5 — “Mah tovu ohalecha Yaakov…”
“How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel!”
→ The tents of Israel are blessed because YHVH dwells among them.
So, Avraham’s tent becomes a prototype of the Mishkan
(Tabernacle) — the human home where divine presence can rest.
3. Ezekiel 23 — Oholah & Oholivah (אֹהֳלָה וְאָהֳלִיבָה)
Centuries later, the prophet Ezekiel deliberately
revives the word “tent” from Genesis — but now it’s a tragic reversal.
Ezekiel 23:4
“And their names were Oholah (אָהֳלָה)
the elder, and Oholivah (אָהֳלִיבָה)
her sister.
And they were Mine, and they bore sons and daughters.
Oholah is Samaria, and Oholivah is Jerusalem.”
Meanings:
- Oholah
(אָהֳלָה) =
“Her tent” — symbolic of Samaria (Northern Kingdom).
She set up her own tent, her own worship — separate from YHVH’s true dwelling. - Oholivah
(אָהֳלִיבָה)
= “My tent is in her” — symbolic of Jerusalem (Judah).
She had the Temple, YHVH’s own tent within her — yet she too became unfaithful.
Thus, the same word that once showed honour and covenant
faithfulness (Sarah’s tent) becomes, in Ezekiel, a symbol of unfaithfulness
and self-made worship.
4. Spiritual
interpretation
- “Her
tent” (Oholah) = religion apart from divine presence —
self-willed worship.
- “My
tent in her” (Oholivah) = true indwelling — the covenantal
presence of YHVH.
- The
prophetic rebuke is that both have profaned their tents — the place
meant for sacred union with YHVH.
5. Midrashic echo
— from Sarah to Zion
Rabbis noticed that the matriarch’s tent (Sarah’s) was the first
sanctuary of holiness, with miracles like:
“A cloud rested upon the tent… the lamp burned from Sabbath
to Sabbath… and blessing was in the dough” (Genesis Rabbah 60:16).
These same signs later described the Shekhinah’s presence
in the Mishkan and Temple — the “Tent of Meeting.”
So, her tent in Genesis is the seed,
and her tent in Ezekiel is the fallen copy — the misuse of that
sacred pattern.
Avram and Sarai in Mitsrayim/Egypt
Gen
12:9 And Aḇram set out, continuing toward the South. (ha negeva)
This is the pattern for Abraham’s seed; before we enter the
Promised Land, we go to the ‘’Ha negeva’’, to the ‘’parched place’’
Gen
12:10 And a scarcity of food came to be in the land, and Aḇram went down to Mitsrayim to
dwell there, for the scarcity of food was severe in the land. (our current
domicile)
Deu 8:1 “Guard to do every command which I
command you today, that you might live, and shall increase, and go in, and
shall possess the land of which יהוה swore to your fathers.
Deu 8:2 “And you shall remember that יהוה your Elohim led you
all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you, prove you, to
know what is in your heart, whether you guard His commands or not.
Deu 8:3 “And He humbled you, and let you suffer
hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers
know, to make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word
that comes from the mouth of יהוה.a
Footnote: aSee also Mat_4:4 and in Luk_4:4.
Gen 12:11 And it came to be, when he was close to
entering Mitsrayim, that he said to Sarai his wife, “See, I know that you are a
beautiful woman to look at.
Gen 12:12 “And it shall be, when the Mitsrites see
you, that they shall say, ‘This is his wife.’ And they shall kill me, but let
you live.
Gen 12:13 “Please say you are my sister, so that it
shall be well with me for your sake, and my life be spared because of
you.”
Gen 12:14 And it came to be, when Aḇram came into Mitsrayim, that
the Mitsrites saw the woman, that she was very beautiful.
Gen 12:15 And Pharaoh’s officials saw her and
praised her before Pharaoh, and the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house.
Gen 12:16 And he treated Aḇram well for her sake, and he had sheep, and
cattle, and male donkeys, and male and female servants, and female donkeys, and
camels.
Gen 12:17 But יהוה plagued
Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Aḇram’s wife.
Gen 12:18 And Pharaoh called Aḇram and said, “What is this
you have done to me? Why did you not inform me that she was your wife?
Gen 12:19 “Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’? And
so I was going to take her for my wife. Look, here is your wife, take her and
go.”
Gen
12:20 And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him, and they sent him
away, with his wife and all that he had.
Avram and Lot Separate
Gen 13:1 And Aḇram
went up from Mitsrayim into the South, he and his wife and all that he had, and
Lot with him.
Gen 13:2 And Aḇram
was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.
Gen 13:3 And he went on his journey from the South
as far as Běyth Ěl, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning,
between Běyth Ěl and Ai,
Gen 13:4 to the place of the slaughter-place which
he had made there at first. And there Aḇram
called on the Name of יהוה.
Gen 13:5 Now Lot, who went with Aḇram, also had flocks and herds
and tents.
Gen 13:6 And the land was not able to bear them,
that they might dwell together, for their possessions were great, so that they
could not dwell together.
Gen 13:7 And there was strife between the herdsmen
of Aḇram’s livestock and
the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. And at that time the Kena‛anites and the
Perizzites dwelt in the land.
Gen 13:8 Then Aḇram
said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, and between my
herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brothers.
Gen 13:9 “Is not all the land before you? Please
separate from me. If you take the left, then I go to the right; or, if you go
to the right, then I go to the left.”
Gen 13:10 And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the
plain of the Yarděn, that it was well watered everywhere – before יהוה destroyed
Seḏom and Amorah – like
the garden of יהוה, like the land of Mitsrayim as you go
toward Tso‛ar.
Gen
13:11 So Lot chose for himself all the plain of the Yarděn, and Lot moved
east. Thus they separated from each other,
‘’Modern
man with his modern religion continues to pursue his self-interests and
incestuously impregnate his own (spiritual) sons and daughters with his own
seed rejecting the perfect seed that comes from the Word of YHVH.’’
1Pe
1:23 having been born again – not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible
– through the living Word of Elohim, which remains forever,
Gen 13:12 Aḇram
dwelling in the land of Kena‛an, and Lot dwelling in the cities of the plain
and pitched his tent (va eohal- tenting or pilgrimaging) as far as Seḏom.
Gen 13:13 But the men of Seḏom
were evil and sinned before יהוה, exceedingly so.
Gen 13:14 And after Lot had separated from him, יהוה said
to Aḇram, “Now lift up
your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and
eastward and westward,
Gen 13:15 for all the land which you see I shall give
to you and your seed forever.
Gen 13:16 “And I shall make your seed as the dust
of the earth, so that, if a man could count the dust of the earth, then
your seed also could be counted.
Gen 13:17 “Arise, walk in the land through its length and
its width, for I give it to you.”
Gen 13:18 So Aḇram moved his tent and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamrě, which are in Ḥeḇron, and built a slaughter-place there to יהוה.
A coming separation between believers is inevitable.
Finally, our haftarah portion connects with this midrash on Sarah’s tent. (Gen 12:8)
These events took place in the same location as where Abraham erected
Sarah’s tent and built the first altar in the promised land.
Jos 24:1 And Yehoshua gathered all the tribes of Yisra’ěl to Sheḵem and called for the elders of Yisra’ěl, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers. And they presented themselves before Elohim.
Jos
24:15….. But I and my house, we serve יהוה.” (we are going to ‘’lech
lecha’’ ….)
Jos
24:16 And the people answered and said, “Far be it from us to forsake יהוה, to serve other mighty ones,
Jos
24:17 for יהוה our Elohim is He who has
brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Mitsrayim, from the house of
bondage, who did those great signs before our eyes, and has guarded us in all
the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed.
Jos 24:18 “And יהוה drove out from before us all the people, even the Amorites who dwelt in the land. We too serve יהוה, for He is our Elohim.”
Jos
24:19 Then Yehoshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve יהוה, for He is a set-apart Elohim, a jealous
Ěl is He. He does
not bear with your transgression and with your sins,
Jos
24:20 if you forsake יהוה and shall serve mighty ones of a stranger. Then He shall turn
back and do you evil and consume you, after He has been good to you.”
Jos
24:21 And the people said to Yehoshua, “No, but we do serve יהוה!” לא תוכלו
לעבד את־יהוה
Jos
24:25 And Yehoshua made a covenant with the people that day, and laid on
them a law and a right-ruling in Sheḵem.
Jos
24:26 Then Yehoshua wrote these words in the Book of the Torah of Elohim.
And he took a large stone, and set it up there under the oak that was by the
set-apart place of יהוה.
Jos 24:27 And Yehoshua said to all the people, “See, this stone is a witness to us, for it has heard all the words of יהוה which He spoke to us. And it shall be a witness against you, lest you lie against your Elohim.”
Luk
17:26 “And as it came to be in the days of Noaḥ, so also shall it be in the days
of the Son of Aḏam: (Describing the last days)
Luk
17:27 “They were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they
were given in marriage, until the day that Noaḥ went into the ark, and the flood
came and destroyed them all.
Luk
17:28 “And likewise, as it came to be in the days of Lot: They were
eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were
planting, they were building,
Luk
17:29 but on the day Lot went out of Seḏom it rained fire and sulphur from
heaven and destroyed all.
Luk
17:30 “It shall be the same in the day the Son of Aḏam is revealed.
Luk
17:31 “In that day, he who shall be on the house-top, and his goods in
the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is
in the field, let him not turn back.
Luk
17:32 “Remember the wife of Lot.
Luk 17:33 “Whoever seeks to save his life shall lose it, and whoever loses his life shall preserve it.
18 Forbidden Secrets of SODOM: What Really Happened There
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSOVpi92UWc
Rom
9:15 For He says to Mosheh, “I shall favour whomever I favour, and I
shall have compassion on whomever I have compassion.” Exo_33:19.
Rom
9:16 So, then, it is not of him who is wishing, nor of him who is
running, but of Elohim who shows favour.
Ezekiel 36:26–27: “I will put My Spirit within you
and cause you to walk in My statutes.”
Jeremiah 31:33: “I will write My law upon their
hearts.”
So, a first fruit (a very small remnant) is chosen by
divine initiative, not by chance or human merit. They are sanctified and
sealed to show us the way back into His Kingdom in the last days (144000).
Isa
1:9 Unless יהוה of hosts had left to us a
small remnant, we would have become like Seḏom, we would have been made like
Amorah.
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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9NjM9YoSnw
Hebrew Song - Lech Lecha - Go Forth
Lech Lecha | Brit Chadashah | B'nai Shalom
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaA9KDCYbdA
.jpg)