LECH L'cha (Go for Yourself)
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LECH L’CHA (Go For Yourself) GENESIS (B’RESHIYT 12:1 – 17:27) INTRODUCTION: 1. This portion contains a new beginning – with Abraham, God begins to call forth a people. a. Tradition states that Abraham was born 1948 years after Creation; b. In the year 2000 he began making disciples. c. This is what we, the “seed of Abraham,” are called to do. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” – Matthew 28:19 2. Abraham is the first person on record to call God “master” (Heb. Adon). a. Which would infer that he saw himself as “servant.” b. This, also, is what we are called to do – to be servants (eved). 3. Abraham’s journeys demonstrate his desire to draw closer to the Creator. a. Willingness to leave all and travel to a strange land demonstrates his commitment. b. He determined to be “set apart” – he didn’t mingle with the culture surrounding him. 4. He is called “the Hebrew” ( ha’ivri) from the verb avar. a. Meaning is “to cross over” or “on other side.” b. Spiritually speaking, Abraham was on the “other side” compared to others. c. He was heeding call to be “set apart” – to come out from among them. 5. The various trials he endured demonstrated his commitment to overcome. a. The first trial recorded is the call to leave country, kin and his father’s house. b. The ultimate trial is the call to offer Isaac as a burnt offering (Gen. 22). 6. It is this devotion to God in spite of all that his seed – Israel – is to emulate. a. Y’shua alludes to this: “If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham.” – John 8:39 7. His journeys and trials also portend what is to occur to his descendants; rabbinical belief that: “Everything that happened to the Patriarchs is a portent for the children.” 8. The first place that Abraham would stop in the land was Shechem; it was here that: His great-grand-daughter was abducted and violated. Where Simeon and Levi waged war to free her and punish her abductors. Israel first came into the land after wandering the Wilderness. 9. After entering the land, Abraham was forced into Egypt because of a famine. a. While in Egypt, Sarah was “abducted” by Pharaoh. b. In the end, Abraham, with Sarah, was sent out with riches. 10. Israel was forced into Egypt by a famine, “abducted” and then sent out with riches. 1 11. Abraham’s first permanent residence in the land was Hebron (13:18). a. This is where he lived when God said, “Kings will descend from you” (17:6). b. Hebron is where King David – prototype of the Messiah – would assume his throne. 12. Thus, these details given in beginning concerning Abraham teach us the future for his seed. CHAPTER 12: ABRAM IS CALLED 1. Verse 1: “Go for yourself” – Lech l’cha; some translations say “Get out.” a. Abraham was born in Ur Kasdim in ancient Babylonia, a very powerful nation. b. If this is where he was when command came, he was told to come out of Babylon. c. This was for his benefit and for his heirs. d. Footnote: numerical value of is 100 – Abraham’s age when Isaac was born. 2. Some believe that Abraham was in Haran when the call came. a. Tradition that Abram fled Ur to escape Nimrod’s persecution (fiery furnace). b. He may have left Ur when the nations were dispersed in Genesis 11. c. The command is not spoken to Terah but to Abram; thus Abram is to leave Haran. 3. So, he first leaves Ur and travels to Haran; but he is to move further away. a. Not enough to “come out of her” but needful to be separate that he may be a blessing. b. Sinking ship scenario: not enough to get in lifeboat but must separate in order to help. 4. Verse 1: “Get out of your country, and from your kindred and from your father’s house.” a. These are the main influences in someone’s life which shapes that person. b. Abram was to sever himself from every association that would impede his calling. c. He was to abandon his country, inferring he was not to consider returning. 5. In Babylon, the idolatry and heathen customs would be detrimental to his spiritual maturity. a. To leave one’s country would be very difficult if attached to one’s country. b. Perhaps, Abram has already come to consider himself a stranger in strange land. c. This is to also be required of his descendants – to be a set apart people. 6. He was to separate from his relatives and from closest relationship – parents. a. We must conclude that even that relationship would have held him back. b. When considering command, “honor father and mother” this seems problematic. c. Must also consider Terah’s spiritual condition – would it have tainted Abram? 7. If what happened to patriarchs portends what will happen to children, will we be called upon to leave, country, relatives and our father’s house in order to be a blessing? a. This was a great trial for Abraham; might it be a trial for Abraham’s seed? 8. Verse 1: “To a land that I will show you” – not specified as Canaan here. 9. It would seem that his “trial” is complicated by not knowing exactly where he was to go. a. To know for sure would lessen the hardship. 10. One translation interprets it as “the land I will appear to you.” a. This is interesting considering that later, in Gen. 22, he calls the place YHVH Yireh. b. Writer of Hebrews says that: “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, 2 the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” – Hebrews 11:8-10 11. Verse 2: “I will make of you a great nation…will bless you…will make your name great.” a. At first he would be an unknown, a stranger. b. But from him would come the nation destined to be the “head” not the tail. 12. “You will be a blessing” – a blessing to all humanity by his example of trust and obedience. a. Word for blessing closely related to word translated as “spring of water.” b. Indicating Abram’s example would be source of blessing for all people. c. Through him, teaching how one should live life – in service to the one and only God. d. Should note that a spring of water purifies what is defiled; brings life to dry ground. 13. Verse 3: “I will bless them that bless you…and curse them that curse you.” a. Nations and individuals have attempted to curse Israel but have been cursed. b. Those that have treated Israel well have prospered and those who didn’t have suffered. c. Bila’am tried to curse but couldn’t: I contend that can’t curse what God has blessed. 14. “In you shall all the families of the earth be blessed” – Israel is to be “light to the nations.” 15. According to rabbinic commentary, the phrase translated as “and in you shall be blessed” has other connotations. 16. Verb - v’niv’rechu) is related to Mishnaic term meaning to “intermingle, graft.” 17. As verb appears here, it is more likely to denote: “All the families of the earth will be grafted into you.” a. Exemplified by wife Sarah (from Shem), Hagar (Ham) and Keturah (Japheth). b. Of course this is emphasis of Romans 11 and our being grafted in because of Messiah. c. Messiah is seed of Abraham (Gal. 3:16) and we, also, are seed of Abraham (Gal. 3:29). 18. Verse 4: “So Abram went … and Abram was 75 years old when he departed Haran.” a. With nephew Lot with him, Abram embarks upon life as a pilgrim and sojourner. b. He does this and endures trials that he might be a blessing to the nations. c. Israel sojourns and endures trials in order to be a light to the nations. 19. Verse 5: He took all his worldly goods and “the souls they had gotten in Haran.” a. Some interpret as their servants and dependents. b. Some interpret as those they had converted to belief in the one and only God. c. The term “gotten” is literally “made” which strengthens the latter interpretation. CHAPTER 12: ABRAM ENTERS THE LAND 1. Verse 6: Abram enters the land and travels to Shechem (Nablus), “to the terebinth of Moreh.” a. This is the place that Israel will enter the land centuries later. b. He tours the land awaiting God’s direction of where to go until he arrived at Shechem. c. Shechem will be in the territory given to Joseph’s sons; where Joseph is buried. 2. “Terebinth of Moreh” (alt. “plain of Moreh”) believed to be oracular tree sacred to Canaanites. a. Hebrew moreh literally means “teacher” or “instructor.” b. Perhaps God directed Abram to this landmark to teach inhabitants of God. 3. Verse 7: “The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “Unto your seed will I give this land.” a.