於2018-10-19發佈


每週一妥拉 2018/10/14-10/20

從古時起,世界各地的猶太會堂會一週一次在安息日讀經,從摩西五經(妥拉)到先知的書(先知書)。每週的讀經內容都有一個希伯來名稱,其出自經文內容起頭的字。每週慣例讀經的實例剛好記載在路加福音四章16節,耶穌來到拿撒勒的會堂,讀了一段先知書(以賽亞書61章)。我們發現每週一次閱讀這些內容,不僅提供我們機會,與世界成千上萬的猶太人來確認神話語的內容,在我們為以色列與猶太人的代禱上,聖靈更時常貼切的啟發具體的內容禱告。

這週的閱讀(10/14-10/20)稱為『你要離開』(Lekh Lekha):
妥拉創世記12:1-17:27
先知書以賽亞書40:27-41:16

亞伯拉罕

這週的妥拉閱讀重回到亞伯拉罕在吾珥的呼召(創世記12:1-3;使徒行傳7:2),最後是對以撒的應許作為結束,而亞伯蘭與他的家則進入了割禮之約。在這幾章中,他從吾珥與哈蘭旅行到迦南,穿越了示劍、伯特利、南地(南方乾旱之地)、埃及,又回到南地、伯特利,向東南西北行走(13:14),走到希伯崙,與北方的大馬士革交戰,又回到希伯崙。我們無法在此一一談到這過程中所發生的每一件事,但當我們與信心之父一起旅行時,我們祈求主的同行。 

『你們這追求公義、尋求耶和華的,當聽我言!你們要追想被鑿而出的磐石,被挖而出的巖穴。要追想你們的祖宗亞伯拉罕和生養你們的撒拉;因為亞伯拉罕獨自一人的時候,我選召他,賜福與他,使他人數增多。耶和華已經安慰錫安和錫安一切的荒場,使曠野像伊甸,使沙漠像耶和華的園囿;在其中必有歡喜、快樂、感謝,和歌唱的聲音(以賽亞書51:1-3)。

*創世記12:1-3耶和華對亞伯蘭說:你要離開本地、本族、父家,往我所要指示你的地去。我必叫你成為大國。我必賜福給你,叫你的名為大;你也要叫別人得福。為你祝福的,我必賜福與他;那咒詛你的,我必咒詛他。地上的萬族都要因你得福。

a. 耶和華對亞伯蘭說:你要離開本地、本族、父家…』

一些拉比猶太教在傳統上教導這裡的本地指著是哈蘭(在土耳其境內),因為創世記11:31告訴我們,亞伯蘭的父親他拉帶著兒子亞伯蘭與兒婦撒萊,還有他的孫子羅得,但新約至少有一處顯示此訊息是錯的:

使徒行傳7:2-4: 司提反正在對耶路撒冷的宗教猶太領袖傳福音:諸位父兄請聽!當日我們的祖宗亞伯拉罕在美索不達米亞還未住哈蘭的時候,榮耀的神向他顯現,對他說:『你要離開本地和親族,往我所要指示你的地方去。』他就離開迦勒底人之地,住在哈蘭。他父親死了以後,神使他從那裡搬到你們現在所住之地。當司提反在傳講時,這些宗教領袖並沒有不同意他這樣說。

*從這些段落我們得知神向亞伯拉罕顯現,並再一次出現在創世記12:7許多猶太人很難相信耶穌的神性,他們堅持神不可能以某種形式出現或被看見。然而這裡讓我們看見神可以以某種形式出現,讓人看見─祂『向亞伯拉罕顯現』,我們在妥拉裡看見類似的『顯現』一再發生。

*祂向亞伯拉罕顯現時,亞伯拉罕當時還在吾珥,神吩咐他離開他的本家本族來跟隨祂。這對亞伯拉罕而言是全新的經歷,在吾珥有許多的『神明』,就像今日的我們,他必須學習認識並信靠這位新神─他也會犯錯,他卻操練信心來信靠祂所擁有的真光。顯然亞伯拉罕將此事告訴他父親,而他父親後來決定跟著來。事實上,他拉可能也把家中的神明帶著來,許多年過後我們看見這讓亞伯拉罕子孫陷入很大的問題中。但此刻,神讓他拉跟著走,卻沒有走到終點站,等到亞伯拉罕父親死後,神才繼續將他和他妻子與羅得帶到迦南。

*創世記12:2a.我必叫你成為大國。我必賜福給你。』在希伯來文『國』通常指非猶太人(goy);『大國』則指的是『廣大的非猶太人』(goy gadol),在現代希伯來文俚語中常用到『國』這個字,代表非猶太人的個人或族群/外邦人。聖經大部分使用『國』來提到列國而非以色列;然而,在這裡神是對一個人說話,將他從列國中帶出來,他的子孫會成為大國,並使全地蒙福。值得注意的是,『全地』的希伯來文是adamah─泥土(亞當(adam)─人類即是由塵土受造)。神當時就看亞伯拉罕的後裔如同一個國家,如今也是如此,神將透過他們將祝福臨到祂所創造的全人類。 

*創世記12:2.我必叫你成為大國。我必賜福給你,叫你的名為大;你也要叫別人得福。』最後幾個字在希伯來文中是以清楚的命令式出現。神並不是在說亞伯拉罕的後裔『將會』成為祝福,祂乃是命令其後裔『成為』亞當後裔的祝福,彌賽亞會藉由此後裔而來。然而,神聖的命令從未被廢止,神對亞伯拉罕後裔的工作持續反映出祂對所有人類的工作。因此對一切有眼可看、有耳可聽之人,以色列會持續『成為祝福』。當以色列認出並接受她的彌賽亞,回到她的完全與豐滿時,她的被收納會使萬國『死而復生』(羅11:15)。 

*創世記12:7-8.耶和華向亞伯蘭顯現,說:我要把這地賜給你的後裔。亞伯蘭就在那裡為向他顯現的耶和華築了一座壇。從那裡他又遷到伯特利東邊的山,支搭帳棚;西邊是伯特利,東邊是艾。他在那裡又為耶和華築了一座壇,求告耶和華的名。許多美好的事情發生在示劍(現在稱為拿不勒斯Nablus),當亞伯拉罕還在吾珥時,榮耀的神向他顯現(使徒行傳7:2),經過艱辛漫長的旅程後,神再次顯現!再次來看這段經文,示劍無疑成為:

  • 神引領的合法目的地。
  • 神彰顯同在的地方。
  • 神釋放先知性話語的所在。
  • 『向那位顯現者』築壇敬拜之地。
  • 似乎是安定下來的理想之處。


*創世記 14:5,17. 十四年,基大老瑪和同盟的王都來在亞特律加寧,殺敗了利乏音人,在哈麥殺敗了蘇西人,在沙微基列亭殺敗了以米人,在何利人的西珥山殺敗了何利人,一直殺到靠近曠野的伊勒巴蘭。…亞伯蘭殺敗基大老瑪和與他同盟的王回來的時候,所多瑪王出來,在沙微谷迎接他;沙微谷就是王谷。』 

亞伯拉罕追上並殺敗那擊敗利乏音人、蘇西人、以米人和何利人的王。很有趣的是在五百年之後,他們高大的身材與殘忍在40年前嚇壞了他們的父母,而這些巨人的子孫(申命記2:10, 12, 20, 22;3:11),卻很快被以色列年輕一代在前進迦南地前解決。或許約書亞和迦勒從小就被教導,他們父親亞伯拉罕的神是如何輕易勝過基大老瑪,他可是親自殺敗這些可怕的人。他倆被派去窺探那地,以信心帶回好消息。 

*創世記14:18-19.又有撒冷王麥基洗德帶著餅和酒出來迎接;他是至高神(El Elyon)的祭司。他為亞伯蘭祝福,說:願天地的主、至高的神賜福與亞伯蘭!正如英文的神God來自古盎格魯撒克遜人對神的表達,迦南人對神稱為el,他們拜許多神(elelim)。一當亞伯蘭進入迦南之後,在吾珥與示劍向他顯現的那位開始顯出祂的本質,清楚表明這位神『El何等不同於所有其他充滿在那地的眾神『el's』。這些屬性反映出亞伯拉罕與他子孫開始用來稱為神的名字:El Elyon是至高神;El Roi是看顧人的神(16:13);El Shaddai是全能的神 (17:1)。到了22節,亞伯蘭意識到向他顯現的神就是在吾珥與示劍的神(12:1,12:7-8),而這位至高神El Elyon亦是同一位神:我已經向天地的主─至高的神耶和華起誓(14:22) 

*創世記15:6. 亞伯蘭信耶和華,耶和華就以此為他的義。』 

*創世記15:12-18. 日頭正落的時候,亞伯蘭沉沉地睡了;忽然有驚人的大黑暗落在他身上。耶和華對亞伯蘭說:你要的確知道,你的後裔必寄居別人的地,又服事那地的人;那地的人要苦待他們四百年。並且他們所要服事的那國,我要懲罰,後來他們必帶著許多財物從那裡出來。但你要享大壽數,平平安安地歸到你列祖那裡,被人埋葬。到了第四代,他們必回到此地,因為亞摩利人的罪孽還沒有滿盈。日落天黑,不料有冒煙的爐並燒著的火把從那些肉塊中經過。當那日,耶和華與亞伯蘭立約,說:我已賜給你的後裔,從埃及河直到伯拉大河之地…。』 

亞伯拉罕因著信,蒙召的時候就遵命出去,往將來要得為業的地方去;出去的時候,還不知往哪裡去。他因著信,就在所應許之地作客,好像在異地居住帳棚,與那同蒙一個應許的以撒、雅各一樣。因為他等候那座有根基的城,就是神所經營所建造的。因著信,連撒拉自己,雖然過了生育的歲數,還能懷孕,因他以為那應許他的是可信的。所以從一個彷彿已死的人就生出子孫,如同天上的星那樣眾多,海邊的沙那樣無數。這些人都是存著信心死的,並沒有得著所應許的;卻從遠處望見,且歡喜迎接,又承認自己在世上是客旅,是寄居的。說這樣話的人是表明自己要找一個家鄉。他們若想念所離開的家鄉,還有可以回去的機會。他們卻羨慕一個更美的家鄉,就是在天上的。所以神被稱為他們的神,並不以為恥,因為他已經給他們預備了一座城』(希伯來書11:8-16)。 

*創世記16:4b-5a. 夏甲見自己有孕,就小看他的主母。撒萊對亞伯蘭說:我因你受屈。』我們必須瞭解夏甲行為上所反映出的掙扎與撒萊的回應,其強度遠超過這兩個女人所能察覺,這絕不是單純的家務事而已(雖然對她們而言看起來是如此),一場宇宙間的戰役正在神的盟約上激烈進行著,不單是為著亞伯拉罕的後裔,更牽動著全人類!當撒萊失控地對亞伯蘭說她因他『受屈』,她所使用的字是哈馬斯hamas─聖經中常用來形容『殘忍的暴力』(創世記49:5;詩篇25:19;27:12)。仇敵正試圖改變神定意由撒萊子宮而來的盟約(創世記17:21),此盟約─殘忍暴力而來的仇恨力量試圖撕裂她,相同的戰役仍在激烈進行著!在伊斯蘭教裡教導神的盟約是透過以實瑪利而來,而非以撒。在此虛假背後的力量厭惡生命與賜生命的神,並掌管那些目前在哈馬斯管轄下的人。 

請禱告:穆斯林會從殘忍的暴力裡得自由,此力量想要將他們摒除在至高神的盟約以外。禱告異夢與異象,禱告神聖靈大能的運行,澆灌天父的愛在他們心中。禱告完全的愛會藉由對耶穌的知識而被發現,此完全的愛將除去懼怕。  

創世記 17:4-12. 我與你立約:你要作多國的父。從此以後,你的名不再叫亞伯蘭,要叫亞伯拉罕,因為我已立你作多國的父。我必使你的後裔極其繁多;國度從你而立,君王從你而出。我要與你並你世世代代的後裔堅立我的約,作永遠的約,是要作你和你後裔的神。我要將你現在寄居的地,就是迦南全地,賜給你和你的後裔永遠為業,我也必作他們的神。神又對亞伯拉罕說:你和你的後裔必世世代代遵守我的約。你們所有的男子都要受割禮;這就是我與你並你的後裔所立的約,是你們所當遵守的。你們都要受割禮;這是我與你們立約的證據。你們世世代代的男子,無論是家裡生的,是在你後裔之外用銀子從外人買的,生下來第八日,都要受割禮。』 

值得注意的是,神應許賜給亞伯拉罕後裔的頭兩個地方:示劍(現在稱為拿不勒斯),創世記12:7;伯特利,創世記13:14-15(可能還有希伯崙,創世記15:18, 17:1-14)都是位在『以色列的諸山』,就是現在大部分人所謂的『西岸』。那正是列國不斷施壓給以色列,要她讓出來建立一個永久穆斯林巴勒斯坦國的地方。我們也發現很有意義的是,在最近幾年,割禮在西方一些國家受到攻擊,包括美國的某些地方和歐洲。我們必須切記,雖然禁止割禮是出於保護孩子的權利,但此儀式是全能神賜給希伯來人作為立約的證據(創世記17:1),永久將他們與所謂的『迦南』土地緊緊綁在一起,包括猶大全地、撒馬利亞和耶路撒冷全部。 

創世記 17:18-22. 亞伯拉罕對神說:但願以實瑪利活在祢面前。神說:不然,你妻子撒拉要給你生一個兒子,你要給他起名叫以撒。我要與他堅定所立的約,作他後裔永遠的約。至於以實瑪利,我也應允你:我必賜福給他,使他昌盛,極其繁多。他必生十二個族長;我也要使他成為大國。到明年這時節,撒拉必給你生以撒,我要與他堅定所立的約。神和亞伯拉罕說完了話,就離開他上升去了。 

在亞伯拉罕對神說:但願以實瑪利『活在祢面前』,神並沒有說不,也沒有說好─在希伯來文的翻譯神只是說:『不然,你妻子撒拉要給你生一個兒子』。以實瑪利確實活在神面前,成為『十二個族長』的大國,在創世記25:16我們看見此預言得以應驗。但在這裡有一個很重要的字『約』(19節和21節)。神的約是給全人類的生命之約,而在這裡的約全人類都必須透過以撒來完成。在這裡我們看見猶太教、基督教和伊斯蘭教之間的分歧。正如上面所提到的,在伊斯蘭教教導說以實瑪利才是神所揀選的器皿,不是以撒。任何違背神的約之約都無法成為生命之約。

請禱告:穆斯林能得著啟示,神的約是透過以撒而來,耶穌出於他的後裔,而祂是所有亞當之子的真理、生命和道路。

*以賽亞書41:8-13.惟你以色列─我的僕人,雅各─我所揀選的,我朋友亞伯拉罕的後裔,你是我從地極所領(原文是抓)來的,從地角所召來的,且對你說:你是我的僕人;我揀選你,並不棄絕你。你不要害怕,因為我與你同在;不要驚惶,因為我是你的神。我必堅固你,我必幫助你;我必用我公義的右手扶持你。凡向你發怒的必都抱愧蒙羞;與你相爭的必如無有,並要滅亡。與你爭競的,你要找他們也找不著;與你爭戰的必如無有,成為虛無。因為我耶和華─你的神必攙扶你的右手,對你說:不要害怕!我必幫助你。』                                           

下週的閱讀進度(10/21-10/27)被稱為顯現(VaYera),讀經內容包括:妥拉─創世記18:1-22:24;先知書─列王記下4:1-37。 

馬汀和娜瑪賽維士(Martin & Norma Sarvis
於耶路撒冷

 

THIS WEEK’S TORAH PORTION
 
From ancient times there has been a weekly portion (Parashah) from the first five books of Moses (The Torah) and an ending (Haftarah) from the Prophets read on the Sabbath in synagogues around the world.  This portion is given a Hebrew name drawn from the opening words of the Torah passage. An illustration of this practice appears to have been recorded in Luke 4:16 where Yeshua (Jesus) arrived in the synagogue in Nazareth and was asked to read the portion (Isaiah 61) from the Prophets.  We have found that in perusing these weekly readings, not only are we provided opportunity to identify in the context of God’s Word with millions of Jewish people around the world, but very often the Holy Spirit will illumine specific passages pertinent that week in our intercession for the Land and people of Israel.  All texts are those of English translations of the Scriptures.
 
The readings for this week 14-20 October 2018 are called Lekh Lekha—“Go Forth, Yourself”: 
TORAH:  Genesis 12:1—17:27
HAFTARAH:  Isaiah 40:27—41:16
 
ABRAHAM
 
This week’s portion begins with a hearkening-back to the call of Abram in Ur, and ends with the promise of Isaac, and with Abram (his name now changed to “Abraham”) entering into the Covenant of Circumcision with his household.  In the course of these chapters he will travel from Ur and Haran (12:4) to Canaan, passing through the land to Shechem, Bethel, the Negev (dry southland), Egypt, back to the Negev, back to Bethel, walking the land “northward, southward, eastward, and westward (13:14), to Hebron, to war north of Damascus, back to Hebron. We cannot hope here to discuss all that takes place in the course of these travels; but ask the LORD to attend you as you travel through these pages with the Father of our Faith,
 
“‘Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, who seek the LORD:  Look to the rock from which you were hewn and to the quarry from which you were dug.  Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain; When he was but one I called him, then I blessed him and multiplied him.’  Indeed, the LORD will comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places…”
(Isaiah 51:1-3a).
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*Genesis 12:1-   “Now the LORD said to Abram: ‘Go you forth out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.  I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great. Be a Blessing!  I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
 
a. “Now the LORD said to Abram: ‘Go you forth out of your country…” 
 
Some rabbinic traditions hold that this command was given in Haran (in modern-day S/E Turkey) where Abram’s father Terah had taken Abram, his wife Sarai and Terah’s grandson Lot (Genesis 11:31).  But at least one passage in the New Covenant asserts that this is not true:
 
Acts 7:2-4:  Stephen is preaching to Jewish leaders in Jerusalem:  “Brothers and sisters, hear me.  The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia [the city of Ur was in this region], before he lived in Haran, and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran.  And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living.”  There is nothing in the account to suggest that the religious Jewish leaders to whom Stephen was preaching, were in disagreement with this.
 
*From this passage we see that God appeared to Abraham, and again in Genesis 12:7 below.  One of the difficulties for many Jews in believing in the deity of Yeshua/Jesus is the insistence of their teachers that God would never take on a human form and be seen.  Yet these passages show us that God is capable of taking on just such a form—he “appeared to” Abraham.  We will see this “appearing” occurring again at the beginning of next week’s Parashah, and indeed throughout the Torah.
 
*He appeared while Abraham was still in Ur and commanded him to leave his family and follow Him.  This was a new experience for Abraham.  There were many ‘gods’ worshipped in Ur.  Now he would have to learn to know and trust this new God.  He would make mistakes, but he would nevertheless exercise faith in trusting through the light he had. We have no way of knowing for certain if he erred in even informing his father what God had commanded, rather than just obeying and going,  But evidently he did tell his father—who then decided to go along.  Terah in fact took control—and led them as far as Haran.  In doing so, Terah probably took along his own house-hold gods.  As we shall see, these would reappear years later (Genesis 31:19), creating big problems for Abraham’s descendants.  For now, God allowed Terah to go along, though not to the ultimate destination.  And so they waited in Haran until Abraham’s father died, then God moved Abram, his wife and Lot on to Canaan. 
 
*Genesis 12:2a.  “I will make you a great nation…and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  Hebrew for “nation” is goy; “Great Nation” is goy gadol.  In Modern Hebrew slang, goy and goyim (plural) are often used in reference to individuals or peoples who are non-Jews (Gentiles).  Scripture, however, most often uses goyim to refer to nations other than Israel.  However, here God is speaking to an individual human being drawn from one of the nations, who in his descendants would become a great nation in which families throughout the earth would be blessed.  It may be significant that “earth” here is adamah—soil.  Adam was formed from adamah.  Today, all his descendants are in Hebrew called bnei-adam—“children of Adam”.  God saw and continues to see the physical seed of Abraham (Israel) as an individual nation before him …and his blessing through them is on behalf of all of Adam’s children.
 
*Genesis 12:2.  “I will make a great nation of you and will give-you-blessing and will make your name great.  Be a blessing!”  (Everett Fox translation; emphases ours).  In the Hebrew, the last three words are clearly a command/imperative form of the verb.  God isn’t saying here that Abraham and his seed “will be” or “become” a blessing; rather, he is speaking a command into that seed, “BE!”  A blessing to all the children of Adam through that seed would indeed be released in the person of the Savior, Yeshua Messiah.  But this holy command has never been annulled!  The workings of God for all humankind continue to be mirrored in his workings in this People.  For those with eyes to see and ears to hear, Israel continues to “Be a Blessing”.  And as Israel, through recognizing and receiving her Messiah, returns to her fullness, her acceptance will be “life from the dead”! (Romans 11:15).
 
*Genesis 12:3b.  “I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”  Every family in the world would find blessing in blessing the descendants of Abraham—ultimately realized in the One who would come forth as Savior of the World. At a later time in Abraham’s life, after he had in faith obeyed God presenting his first-born as a sacrifice (a picture of a later descendant who would be sacrificed on behalf of the world), God would repeat this blessing over him—but this time, “in your seed all the nations of the earth shall fine blessing.” (Genesis 22:18).” Today, nations continue to find blessing, by blessing the descendants of Abraham.  Those which revile the seed of Abraham, bring themselves under God’s curse.
 
*Genesis 12:7-8.  “Then YHVH (The LORD) appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your seed I will give this land.’  And there he built [there in Shechem]an altar to YHVH, who had appeared to him.  And he moved/shifted from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent…where he built an altar to YHVH and called on the name of YHVH.”
 
Wonderful things happened in Shechem (modern-day Nablus).  The God of Glory, Who had appeared to him while still in Ur, now, after a long and arduous journey, appeared to Abram again!  Look once more at the verse 7.  Shechem certainly appeared to be:
 
            A legitimate destination of God’s leading.
            A place of God’s revealed Presence.
            A place of the releasing of God’s prophetic Word.
            A place of established worship to “the One who reveals Himself.”
 
The ideal place to settle down! 
 
Yet one verse later Abraham moves to Bethel.  The word translated “moved” also means to “take a shift” (Robert Alter translates it “pulled up his stakes”).  As we saw during the recent Sukkot festival,  God “makes everything beautiful in its time or season (Ecclesiastes 3:11).  But, he is under no obligation to beautify if, after the season for our being in a certain place has passed, we insist on staying there.  Abram took his “shift,” and a much greater blessing awaited him at Bethel, a place he would return to time and time again…and to which his grandson Jacob many years later would return to find an open heavens with the angels still ascending and descending.
 
*Genesis 14:5.  “In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him came and attacked the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim, and the Horites in their mountain of seir, as far as El Paran, which is by the wilderness…And the king of Sodom went out to meet him [i.e. Abraham] after his striking down Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him…”.   
 
Abraham pursued and struck down this king who had himself defeated the Rephaim, Zuzim, Emim, and the Horites.  It is fascinating to discover how almost 500 years later, descendants of each of these peoples (Deuteronomy 2:10, 12, 20, 22; 3:11), whose height and cruel renown had paralyzed with fear their parents 40 years previously, are dispatched quickly by the young new generation of Israelis shortly before their advancement into Canaan.
 
Perhaps Joshua and Caleb had been taught from childhood how the God of their father Abraham had given him easy victory over Chedorlaomer, who had himself subdued all of these feared peoples.  In faith, after being sent in to spy out the land, they brought back a good report.
 
*Genesis 14:19.    “Then Melchizedek king of Shalem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of El Elyon (God Most-High). Just as English god comes from an old Anglo-Saxon expression for deity, the Canaanites word for god was el, and they had many elilim. Soon after Abram entered Canaan, the One who had appeared to him in Ur and Shechem began to reveal aspects of His nature which made clear how this “El” differed from all the other “el’s” crowding the land.  His attributes are reflected in a number of descriptive names which began to be used by Abraham and his descendants…El Elyon is the El (or God) who is “most High”—El Roii (16:13) is El who “Sees”—El Shaddai (17:1) is El who is “Almighty and sustains all life”.  By verse 22, Abram realizes that the God who had appeared to him as YHVH in Ur and Shechem (12:1; 12:7-8) and this El Elyon are One and the same, “I raise my hand to YHVH El Elyon, the possessor of Heaven and earth…”
 
*Genesis 15:6.  “And he believed in YHVH, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.”
 
*Genesis 15:12.  “Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram: and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him.  God said to Abram, ‘Know for ce4rtain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years.  But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions.  As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age.  Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.’
 
It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold—a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces.  On that day YHVH made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates…’”
 
“By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.  By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God—all these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.  For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own.  And indeed, if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return.  But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.  Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.  (Hebrews 11:8—16).
 
*Genesis 16:4b-5a.  “And when she [Hagar] saw that she had conceived, her mistress [Sarai] became despised in her eyes.  Then Sarai said to Abram, ‘May the wrong done me be upon you!”
We must realize that the struggle reflected in Hagar’s actions and Sarai’s response is over an issue of far greater magnitude than either of these women could have been aware. Far from being merely a domestic squabble (although, so it may have seemed to them), a cosmic spiritual battle was raging over God’s covenant on behalf not only of Abraham’s descendants but of the whole Human Race!  When Sarai speaks wildly to Abram of the “wrong” being done her, she uses the word hamas—a word used other places in the Hebrew Bible for “cruel violence” (Genesis 49:5; Psalm 25:19; 27:12).  A great Enemy was seeking to divert the line of Covenant which God had determined to come through Sarai’s womb (Genesis 17:21); this covenant-hating Power of “cruel violence” was trying to tear her apart. This same battle is still raging!  The Muslim religion teaches that a divine covenant went through Ishmael, not Isaac.  The power behind this falsehood hates Life, and the God of Life, and rules those presently under its dominion through cruel violence, hamas (a word which coincidentally is spelled and pronounced the same as the acronym for the present-day terrorist Islamic Resistant Movement).   
 
PLEASE PRAY: That Muslims will be freed from a power of violence which has sought to keep them outside the covenant of God Most High.  Pray for dreams and visions…for a powerful working of the Holy Spirit of God, to shed abroad in hearts the Love that the Father has for them.  Pray that perfect love from the Most High God will be discovered to come through knowledge of Jesus…and that that perfect Love will cast out fear.
 
Genesis 17:4-12.   “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations…I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your seed after you.  Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God…This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you:  Every male child among you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.  He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations….
 
It is significant that the first three locations where God promised to give “this land” to Abraham’s seed Shechem (modern day Nablus), Genesis 12:7; Bethel, Genesis 13:14-15, and  HebronGenesis 15:18, 17:1-14 are located in the area of the “Mountains of Israel”, currently known to much of the world as the “West Bank”.  It is this same area which Israel is being constantly pressured to surrender for establishment of a permanent Muslim Palestinian state. 
 
We also find it significant that in recent years, circumcision has come under fire in a number of places in the west—including certain areas of the United States and Europe. These efforts to ban circumcision are being made under the guise of protecting the rights of children.  However, we suspect there to be a deeper spiritual motive behind it-- this ritual was given by God to the Hebrews as sign of a covenant, eternally binding the physical seed of Abraham to the land once called “Canaan,” including, of course, these same furiously contested modern-day areas of Judea,  Samaria and all of Jerusalem.  Ezekiel 36 promises an awakening and change of heart in the Children of Israel in these mountains…an awakening which Paul equates with “life from the dead!” (Romans 11:15).
 
Genesis 17:18-22.  “And Abraham said to God, ‘Oh that Ishmael might live before You!’  Then God said, But Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.  And as for Ishmael, I have heard you.  Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly.  He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.  But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.’  Then he finished talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.” 
 
After Abraham asks God that Ishmael may “live before Him”, God does not answer “No” (as many English versions translate), nor “Yes” (as the NIV translates).  The Hebrew simply says, But, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son…”  Ishmael will indeed live before Him, becoming a nation with “twelve princes” (a prophecy which is shown fulfilled in Genesis 25:16).  But the important word here is “covenant” (vs. 19, 21).  God’s covenants are covenants of life for all humankind—and this one must come through Isaac.  Here we see a parting of ways between Judaism and Christianity and Islam.  As mentioned above, Islam teaches that Ishmael was the chosen vessel, not Isaac—that it was he who yielded himself to sacrifice.  Any covenant which is in opposition to God’s covenant cannot be a covenant of Life.   Please Pray for revelation amongst Muslims, that God’s covenant through Isaac led to the birth of Yeshua (Arabic: Yasua) who is the Way, the Truth and the Life for all children of Adam!
 
*Isaiah 41:8-13.  “But you, Israel, My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, Descendant of Abraham My beloved…You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called from its remotest parts and said to you, ‘You are My servant, I have chosen you and not rejected you.  Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’  Behold, all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored; Those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish.  You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them, those who war with you will be as nothing and non-existent.  For I am the YHVH your God, who upholds your right hand, Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’” 

Martin & Norma Sarvis
Jerusalem 

 [The readings for next week (14-20 October 2018) are called VaYera—“And [The LORD] Appeared to Him”.  TORAH: Genesis 18:1—22:24;  HAFTARAH: II Kings 4:1-37.]