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The Torah reading for this week’s Parasha, is entitled Vayrea meaning (And He approached). It’s taken from the book of Genesis 18:1-22:24.
Adonai came to visit Abraham, accompanied by two angels. They appeared to Abraham near the oak trees of Mamre. Abraham was sitting at the door of his tent. perhaps still recuperating from his circumcision, in chapter 17.
When Abraham noticed Adonai and the two angels, he quickly ran and approached them, then bowed before them.” and said, “Sirs, please stay a while with me, your servant. I will bring water to wash your feet.”
You can rest under the trees. I will get food for you, and you can eat as much as you want. Then you can continue your journey.” The three men said, “Do as you wish.”
“Abraham hurried and said to Sarah, “Quickly, prepare three loaves of bread.” “Then he ran to his cattle.
And took his best young calf and gave it to the servant and told him to quickly kill the calf and prepare it for food.” And when all was ready, in haste Abraham served his heavenly visitors.”
Abraham was told by Adonai of the promised son, Isaac. When Sarah overheard. She laughed to herself, saying, “After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”.
After showing his guests great hospitality, the patriarch courteously walks for a way down the road with his guests as they departed.
It was then that Abraham was informed about the situation in Sodom.
Adonai said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great, their sin so grievous “that I will see for myself.
“The men headed toward Sodom, as Abraham was standing before the Lord.
The Scriptures says that” He drew nearer to Adonai. This drawing near often implies worship, Abraham humbled himself and said, “Compared to you, Lord, I am only dust and ashes. Yet Abraham spoke with boldness.
“Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? He asked would you not spare the city if fifty righteous were found?
Abraham was persistent, with his insistence on the righteous being saved.
Abraham asked what if forty-five, then forty, then thirty, or twenty,” then he says suffer me Lord this last time, if ten, righteous people are found, would you destroy Sodom? The Lord replied, He would not.”
Chapter 19, “The two men arrived in Sodom it was evening. Lot was sitting in the gate. Lot saw the men and rose to meet them. He bowed himself with his face to the earth.”
And said, “Sirs, please come to my house, and I will serve you. There you can wash your feet and stay the night.
Then tomorrow you can continue your journey.”
The angels answered, “No, we will stay the night in the City Square.”
Lot presses the men, so they agreed and went with him.
Lot served them refreshments; and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. (If I could speculate here, I believe, it was at this point, that Lot understood that his guest were angels.)
There’s something about breaking bread and having fellowship that brings us closer to one another.
It is also notable, that unleavened bread is mentioned here in Scripture for the very first time.
That evening, just before bedtime, perverse and wicked men from every quarter of Sodom came to Lot’s house. They stood around the house and called to Lot.
Saying, “Where are the two men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us. We want to have intercourse a with them.”
“Lot went out by himself, closing the door behind him and attempted to reason with the sodomites,
“I have two daughters who have never known a man.” I will give my daughters to you. You can do anything you want with them.”
“But please don’t do anything to these men. They have come to my house, and I must protect them.”
Lot’s offer strikes us as unbelievable. But in his defense, it could be that he knew, the men were not interested in women.
Arnold Fruchtenbaum commentary says, “that Lot faced -awful, moral choices – whatever he does here will be wrong.
“He has the obligation to protect his home, including the sanctity of his daughters, who were made in God’s image.”
“On the other hand, Lot has an obligation to protect his guests who have come under the protection of his home they too are God’s image bearers.”
“Since the angels could have intervened before this, they forced Lot, to make the choice.”
“Had Lot handed the Angels over his entire family might not have been spared.”
“The Angels open the door and pull Lot back into the house, then locked the door, and struck the sodomites with blindness.”
Lot was told that Adonai had sent the angels to destroy Sodom. He was then instructed to gather all his family.
He went to his sons-in-law’s and told them of coming destruction, unfortunately they did not believe him.
“When morning came, the angels hurried Lot, saying, ” take your wife and your two daughters, and leave this place, and escape, run toward the mountains, without delay,
Also, they were commanded not to look back upon Sodom. Which proved to be fatal for lots wife. She looks back and was changed into a pillar of salt.
Lot was afraid to flee to the mountains, so he went instead to Zoar. But ironically, he left Zoar for the mountains and lived in a cave.
Thinking their chances for marrying and conceiving children were slim, the two daughters took turns getting their father drunk and having sex with him.
Their acts of incest show Sodom’s influence in them.
The firstborn daughter conceived and named her son, Moab, (which means, from father)
The younger daughter conceived and named her son, Ben- am-miy, (which means, the son of my people).
Moab and Ben-am-miy, whose descendants were the Moabites and Ammonites, became mortal enemies of Israel.
Chapter 20 records another great failure on the part of Abraham.
The first failure Abraham lied in Egypt about Sarah being his sister instead of his wife,
The second failure of Abraham was having a son with Hagar, Sarah’s hand maiden.
And now the third failure of Abraham is a repeat of the first failure. He again lies about Sarah’s relationship to him by saying she was his sister instead of his wife.
This entire chapter is about this great failure of Abraham.
Chapter 21, Isaac is born according to the promise
Isaac is circumcised when he is eight days old.
When Ishmael mocks on the occasion, Sarah requires that both he and his mother Hagar shall be dismissed.
Abraham, distressed because of this, nevertheless Adonai orders him to comply.
Adonai promise to make Ishmael a mighty nation.
Abraham dismisses Hagar and her son; the two go into the wilderness of Beer-Sheba,
Hagar and the child run out of water,
An angel of God appears and supplies water to them,
Ishmael prospers and is married,
Chapter 22, Abraham is commanded to sacrifice his son Isaac as a burnt offering.
Abraham is obedient, and journeys to the appointed place.
Observe, Isaac the promised son, bound on the altar, Abraham with knife in hand, arm raised, that fixed look in his eyes.
At that moment, an “angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven,
saying “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here am I,” he replied.
“Don’t lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Don’t do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God because you have not withheld from me your son.”
“Abraham looked and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of Isaac.”
Closing thoughts, this world will face God’s judgment, as did Sodom. We view lot’s decision pertaining to his daughters as hellish.
Today we allow the world to come in and take our children, and to do whatever they wish to do with them, by damnable movies and Tv programs, by despicable educational systems, by false religions, by violence even in the womb, and by straight-up worldliness.
All flesh will either be sacrificed the to the world, or on the altar of the cross. The example that we should follow in this Parasha is the example of Isaac, who was a foreshadow of Yesuha.
Family, the best place for any of us to be is on the altar of the Cross.
On the cross is where we learn to live, the crucified life and die to self.
Messiah said, “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.
And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.”
“And he who does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Matt 10:37-38,
Oh Lord, help us to decrease and allow you to increase.