每週一妥拉 2013/10/6-10/12

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（10/6-10/12）稱為『你要離開』（Lech Lecha）： 

妥拉：創世記 12:1-17:27
先知書：以賽亞書 40:27-41:16

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12:2a.『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。

示劍似乎是一個可以安頓下來的好地方，但下一節經文亞伯拉罕就遷到伯特利。『遷移』這個字也有『轉移』之意（文學家奧爾特（Robert Alter）則將其翻譯成『將木樁拔起來，代表遷移、離開』）。正如我們在最近的住棚節所看見的，神造萬物，各按其時成為美好（傳道書3:11）。但當我們待在某地的季節已過，我們卻堅持要待在那邊，神就沒有義務使其成為美好。亞伯蘭採取行動遷移，在伯特利有更大的祝福等著他，一個他會一再返回之地，他的孫子雅各也回到那裡，發現天開了，天使仍在那裡上上下下。

*創世記14:5-6,17.『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。』 

亞伯拉罕殺敗了基大老瑪王，而這王自己則殺敗了利乏音人、蘇西人、以米人與何利人。奇妙的是在五百年之後發現在申命記2:10, 12, 20, 22; 3:11記載著這些人的後裔，他們的高度與殘酷名聲把四十年前十二位探子裡的十個嚇得魂飛喪膽，就在那世代的兒女要進入迦南以前，卻很快將這些敵人殺敗。或許約書亞與迦勒被教導，他們祖父亞伯拉罕的神如何讓他輕鬆勝過制伏這些可怕巨人的王。 

*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的穆斯林巴勒斯坦國的地方。我們也發現很有意義的是，在過去二年，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），特別與他們在此地的管家職分有關。上週歐洲議會理事會壓倒性地通過決議，稱男性割禮『違反孩童身體的完整性。』目前雖然是無法律約束力的決議，但這卻是一個不好的徵兆，抵擋猶太人持續遵行神與他們所立的約，此約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＆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（10/13-19）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 are called Lech Lecha-"Go Forth, Yourself!"

TORAH: Genesis 12:1-17:27
HAFTARAH: Isaiah 40:27-41:16

This week's portion hearkens back to the call of Abram in Ur (Genesis 12:1-3; Acts 7:2) and ends with the promise of Isaac and with Abram (his name now changed to "Abraham") with his household entering into the Covenant of Circumcision. 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 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).

*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 itself 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 (from which adam-human beings were formed). God saw and continues to see this people as an individual nation before him of the seed of Abraham.and his blessing through them is on behalf of all humankind.

*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 wo rds are clearly a command/imperative form. God isn't saying here that Abraham and his seed "will be" a blessing; rather, he is speaking a command into that seed, "BE!" Indeed, a blessing to all the children of Adam through that seed would be released in the coming of 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. As such, for those with eyes to see and ears to hear, she continues to "Be a Blessing". And as Israel returns to her fullness through recognizing and receiving her Messiah, her acceptance will be "life from the dead"! (Romans 11:15).

*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 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 had appeared to Abram while still in Ur (Acts 7:2). Now after a long and arduous journey, he appeared again! Look at the Scripture again.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"
• It seemed 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 the season for our being a certain place has passed and 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 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, a nd 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 himself had struck down the Rephaim, Zuzim, Emim, and the Horites. It is fascinating to discover how almost 500 years later in Deuteronomy 2:10, 12, 20, 22; 3:11, descendants of each of these peoples, whose height and cruel renown had paralyzed with fear ten of the twelve spies 40 years before, are dispatched quickly by the children of that generation before their advancement into Canaan. Perhaps Joshua and Caleb had been taught how the God of their father Abraham had easily given him victory over a king who had subdued all of these feared peoples.

*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 elelim. 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 cl ear how this "El" differed from all the other "el's" crowding the land. These 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 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 something of a far greater magnitude than anything of which 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. It is a grim coincidence that the present-day Arabic acronym for "Islamic Resistance Movement" happens to be spelled and pronounced the same way). 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 with hamas.

PLEASE PRAY: That Muslims will be freed from a power of cruel 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 who sheds 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 yo u 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 two 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 probably Hebron, Genesis 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 during the past two years, circumcision has come under fire in a number of places in the west-including certain areas of the United States and Europe. It must be remembered that although these efforts to ban circumcision are being made under the banner of protecting the rights of children-the ritual itself was given to the Hebrews as their part of a covenant by Almighty God (Genesis 17:1) specifically related their eternal stewardship of this same land. This past week the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling male ritual circumcision a "violation of the physical integrity of children." This is presently a "non-binding" resolution-but is nevertheless a troubling symptom of a rising sentiment against Jews continuing to practice the sign of God's covenant which eternally binds them to the land once called "Canaan", including the furiously contested areas of Judea and Samaria and all of Jerusalem.

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 shall indeed live before him-become a nation with "twelve princes"-a prophecy which is shown fulfilled in Genesis 25:16. But the important word here is "covenant" (vss. 19, 21). God's covenants are covenants of life for all humankind-and this one, on behalf of all humanity must come through Isaac. Here we see the departing of the 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 comes 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 was 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 yo u; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you7, 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 (13-19 October 2013) is called VaYera-"Was Seen": TORAH: Genesis 18:1-22:24; HAFTARAH: II Kings 4:1-37]