Brian Somers Torah: Genesis 18:1 – 22:24
Haftarah: 2 Kings 4:1-37
New Testament/Brit Chadassah: Luke 1:26-38; 24:36-53
We closed the previous parashah last week with the circumcision of Abraham and all of his household on the same day that he received the instruction or law of circumcision. Chapter eighteen opens a few hours later, during the same day, when Abraham was resting in his tent doorway in the heat of the day.
He looked up and to his surprise, three men appeared to him. By his quick scramble to bow down to them and urging them to accept his hospitality, he clearly recognized them. Going back to chapter seventeen, we read:
Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him,“I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless.
Genesis 17:1
Let’s dissect this by looking at the Hebrew words.
- God is the translation of `el (H#410).
- Almighty is the translation of shadday (H#7706).
- Walk is the translation of halak (H#1980).
- Before is the translation of paniym (H#6440).
- Blameless is the translation of tamiym (H#8549 – we discussed this word in Noach.
- God is the translation of “elohim” (H#0430).
| Strong’s Number: 410 Original Word אל shortened from (H#0352) Transliterated Word. ‘el Definition god, god-like one, mighty one mighty men, men of rank, mighty heroes angels god, false god, (demons, imaginations) God, the one true God, Jehovah mighty things in nature strength, power |
| Strong’s Number: 7706 Original Word שדדי from (H#07703) Transliterated Word Shadday Definition almighty, most powerful Shaddai, the Almighty (of God) |
| Strong’s Number: 1980 Original Word הלך akin to (H#03212), a primitive root Transliterated Word halak Definition to go, walk, come (Qal)to go, walk, come, depart, proceed, move, go away to die, live, manner of life (fig.) (Piel)to walk to walk (fig.) (Hithpael)to traverse to walk about (Niphal) to lead, bring, lead away, carry, cause to walk |
| Strong’s Number: 6440 Original Word פנים from (H#06437) Transliterated Word paniym Definition face, faces presence, person face (of seraphim or cherubim) face (of animals) face, surface (of ground) as adv of loc/temp before and behind, toward, in front of, forward, formerly, from beforetime, before with prep in front of, before, to the front of, in the presence of, in the face of, at the face or front of, from the presence of, from before, from before the face of |
| Strong’s Number: 8549 Original Word תמים from (H#08552) Transliterated Word tamiym Definition complete, whole, entire, sound complete, whole, entire whole, sound, healthful complete, entire (of time) sound, wholesome, unimpaired, innocent, having integrity what is complete or entirely in accord with truth and fact (neuter adj/subst) |
| Strong’s Number: 430 Original Word אלהים plural of (H#0433) Transliterated Word ‘elohiym Definition (plural)rulers, judges divine ones angels gods (plural intensive – singular meaning) god, goddess godlike one works or special possessions of God the (true) God God |
As Abraham is our father in the faith (Romans 4:11-12), what he models for us is walking by faith and being blameless. Because Abraham was told to walk before His face, he would learn to recognize Him.
Genesis 17:21-22
21 But I will establish My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.” 22 When He finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.
In verse 22, God is the translation of the Hebrew word “elohim” (H#0430).
This brings us back to chapter eighteen. Abraham is resting in the heat of the day after having spent some time getting circumcised and making sure the males of his house were also circumcised. Such prompt obedience demonstrated that he was blameless in his walk.
The word Lord in 18:1 is YHVH which is H#3068.
| Strong’s Number: 3068 Original Word יהוה from (H#01961) Transliterated Word Yehovah Definition Jehovah = “the existing One” the proper name of the one true God unpronounced except with the vowel pointings of 0136 |
He was then rewarded with another visit from God, this time with two more men. Abraham obviously recognized one of them at least, and after pressing his hospitality upon them, the identity of one of the men was confirmed by the statement
10 He said, “I will certainly return to you at this time next year; and behold, your wife Sarah will have a son.”
Genesis 18:10
Here, we have the promise of a son through Sarah (17:21) and after circumcision, the promise is confirmed. That tells us how important obedience is for us. To be blameless, if we are told something, we are to be prompt in our obedience, and then the reward is confirmed. In addition, we learn how important circumcision is, and we have to be diligent in circumcising newborn babies on the eighth day. Once new converts who have not been physically circumcised learn about this command and have been sufficiently instructed, they should also be circumcised. While Ishmael was circumcised by his father Abraham, Isaac as the child of promise is uniquely identified with circumcision, and also judgment.
16 Then the men rose up from there, and looked down toward Sodom; and Abraham was walking with them to send them off. 17 The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18 since Abraham will certainly become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed? 19 For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.” 20 And the Lord said, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave. 21 I will go down now and see whether they have done entirely as the outcry, which has come to Me indicates; and if not, I will know.” 22 Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before the Lord. 23 Abraham approached and said, “Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 Suppose there are fifty righteous people within the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? 25 Far be it from You to do such a thing, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?”
Genesis 18:16-25
There is much to unpack here. But the essential point is that the Child of Promise can not live side by side with evil. For YHVH to bring about what He had spoken about Abraham, judgment on the wicked has to take place. Moreover, Abraham himself has to instruct his child and other children to “keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice.” Abraham and his descendants have to do righteousness and justice within their families, certainly. On the one hand, they model to a fallen world what it means to practice righteousness and judgment; on the other hand, they themselves avoid judgment. YHVH has the responsibility to judge an entire group of sinners. In a very real sense, it is a partnership between the two parties.
Abraham points out that it is not right to give the righteous and sinner the same fate. It is righteous to intercede for other righteous people. Equally, if Abraham’s descendants become wicked and sin just like the Gentiles, YHVH’s perfect justice would fall on them (see Matthew 10:15; 11:23-24; Luke 10:12; Romans 9:29; Jude 1:7).
Centuries later, Peter would comment on this very point.
6 and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example of what is coming for the ungodly; 7 and if He rescued righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the perverted conduct of unscrupulous people 8 (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds), 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from a trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt passion, and despise authority.
II Peter 2:6-10
Abraham does acknowledge that YHVH has the right to judge all the Earth. Abraham himself wasn’t going around wishing hellfire and brimstone on the people Sodom and Gomorrah like the brothers James and John, sons of Zebedee, did against the Samaritans, which earned them the names of Sons of Thunder during Yeshua’s rebuke (see Mark 3:17, Luke 9:54-56).
As a result of Abraham’s bargaining for the righteous, and he was surely thinking of Lot and his family, the Jews like to pray in a minyan of ten people because Abraham secured an agreement not to destroy Sodom if ten righteous people could be found within the city. Another way to look at the ten righteous would be that they could be viewed as a remnant. In Sodom’s case, there weren’t even ten righteous, but the angels were able to extract Lot, his wife who disobeyed and died, and his two daughters. But we are getting a bit ahead of ourselves.
When the angels arrived at Sodom, Lot recognized them for who they were and bowed down to them and also insisted on providing hospitality to them. I wonder, in these days, would we recognize angels if we saw them?
After accepting Lot’s hospitality, like his uncle Abraham’s, trouble started.
3 Yet he strongly urged them, so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. 4 Before they lay down, the men of the city—the men of Sodom—surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter; 5 and they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have relations with them.” 6 But Lot went out to them at the doorway, and shut the door behind him, 7 and said, “Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly. 8 Now look, I have two daughters who have not had relations with any man; please let me bring them out to you, and do to them whatever you like; only do not do anything to these men, because they have come under the shelter of my roof.” 9 But they said, “Get out of the way!” They also said, “This one came in as a foreigner, and already he is acting like a judge; now we will treat you worse than them!” So they pressed hard against Lot and moved forward to break the door. 10 But the men reached out their [i]hands and brought Lot into the house [j]with them, and shut the door. 11 Then they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, from the small to the great, so that they became weary of trying to find the doorway.
Genesis 19:3-11
When Lot prepared the feast for his guests, he baked unleavened bread, which is a hint towards Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. In short, by extending hospitality, he was performing righteousness.
When word got around of the guests in Lot’s house, a mob formed and demanded the men be handed over to be sexually assaulted.
Lot, not lacking in courage, went alone outside to face the mob. He pushed back against their demand, calling it wickedness. Hospitality in the Middle East during those days was taken much more seriously than in the present day in 21st century America. Instead of allowing his guests to be violated, Lot proposed that he hand over two of his virgin daughters to the men to satisfy their lust. From this we see that some things are considered more wicked than others.
The response of the mob shows what they thought of Lot’s pushback and his solution. They called him a foreigner (true) and said he was acting as a judge. This is interesting because he wasn’t hearing a case at the city gates, but was simply saying “no” to wickedness. That is taken as being judgmental.
While he was defending his guests and offering his virgin daughters to the mob, the messengers had other ideas. They pulled him back inside the house and struck the mob with blindness. Then they asked who else was in the house.
12 Then the two men said to Lot, “Whom else do you have here? A son-in-law and your sons and daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place; 13 for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the Lord that the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” 14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, and said, “Up, get out of this place, for the Lord is destroying the city.” But he appeared to his sons-in-law to be joking.
Genesis 19:12-14
In one night, things can change in a hurry. Lot got a message of destruction and tried to warn his family. His daughters were betrothed to men of Sodom, and they were considered as being married, though the marriages were not yet consummated. Yet, Lot’s sudden warnings fell on “deaf ears”. The only ones that left Sodom before the destruction were Lot, his wife, and two daughters.
The destruction of Sodom must have been terrible enough that the daughters thought the world had ended. Even though they had stayed briefly in the city of Zoar before heading to the mountains, they did not seem to be thinking clearly. They only remembered the command “be fruitful and multiply” which is the most important command of all. What does that say about the evils of abortion?
The daughters took it on themselves to get their father drunk two nights in a row, and both laid with their father and became pregnant. Did Lot know what was going on? There are arguments on both sides of this question. Yet, there was no condemnation recorded for this strange episode. Lot’s (grand)sons became Moab and Ammon, nations related to Israel, but not always friendly to them in the future. It seems that the destruction of the cities of the valley cleared the way for Moab and Ammon to become nations.
The promise of Isaac was a blessing and a reward to Abraham and Sarah for their righteousness. Yet the promise was associated with judgment. On the one hand, laughter and joy, but on the other hand, fiery judgment from earth and sky. These are bound up in Yeshua, who is the Lamb (joy), but also the Lion of Judah, whose sword shall go out of His mouth and the battlefield run red with blood.