# 3 - Torah Parashah Lech Lecha (Go, go for yourself) - Abraham the first Called-Out Believer!

[Music] you [Music] this morning's Torah portion is lake lacar it is a play on the same word twice God in essence is telling Abraham go go for yourself we're gonna see that God is telling Abraham not to just go because he's telling him to go but there's a blessing in it for Abraham and for his descendants and so you can see the LA mid and the COFF London and the COFF but this little Komatsu on the end is the context that is the suffix that puts the you're into it lick instead of just being like again go go it's go go for yourself and so we're gonna see what God had intended in calling out Abraham from the land of Earth from the land of idol worship because Abraham was the first called out believer the scripture specifically says that not only was he called out but he was a believer so there's a great model in Abraham for us today and you can find it in Genesis 12 1 through 17 27 and I'll give you a little breakdown of the tour portion that we're gonna look at today by chapter by chapter chapter 12 Abraham is 75 okay so we begin our tour portion with him at 75 we ended with him being 99 so we've got a span of 24 years in this tour portion Abraham is called out of idolatry of Irv he goes to her on which is up in Lebanon then he comes down into the land of Canaan but there's a famine in Canaan so he goes on to Egypt and then he comes back to Canaan so we see this progression of his route in the first chapter chapter 13 Abraham shows God's selflessness faith in God in giving lot the first choice of the land before they part ways because now they're servants and their livestock have reached a point where they are too large to be in close proximity to one another chapter 14 we see the story of four kings from the north coming down against five Kings that were over the cities around Sodom and Amura and there was three other towns and how they take lot and how Abraham goes and with his 318 men commenced war against them and recover a lot saves lot and bring him back and then we see Mulkey's ad this king of righteousness introduced in for chapter 14 also chapter 15 we see the promise to Abraham due to his righteousness by faith it's a faith that works obedience and we're gonna look at that concept and principle and it leads to God entering into covenant with Abraham and then in chapter 16 we see the story of Hagar and Ishmael and then in chapter 17 we see Abraham's name changed we're gonna talk about what it means to have a hey added to your name because the name is indicative of character it's a reflection of our character so when your character changes God changes your name and we're gonna see what that means in our parties we're gonna break down the plain meaning of Abraham as the first called out believer and we're gonna ask the scriptures unlock them we're gonna write down some character traits of Abraham but in the Ramez just beyond the literal we're gonna see God's character as not only an exalted father who's focused on blessing others but we see that Abraham's kindness is just a reflection of God's kindness and we also see that just as God is faithful to us when we are tested that Abraham was faithful when he's tested we're gonna talk about 10 tests of Abraham and relate them to different aspects in our life I think we can all relate how we're tested in different ways and how we need to be an overcomer and follow the pattern of Abraham then what's amazing is we are going to go even a deeper and we're gonna see hidden glimpses of the future Messiah in Abraham we also see him in a lot and we also see Messiah hinted at in Marquez Dec and so then we have to ask ourselves how do we apply it to our lives what does this mean to us and like Abraham we need to have a faith that works not only righteousness but righteousness is right doing so it's obedience it's a faith that works we're gonna see some anomalies in the Hebrew there's a little food dot over Sarah's description of something that's come between her and Abraham and we're gonna talk about what that means and then some Kamat Rhea so we've got a lot to go into this morning and if you have your Bibles turn with me to Genesis chapter 12 where God is telling Abraham lake lake hah go go for yourself go to be blessed and go to be a blessing out of your country away from your kinsmen and away from your father's house so in essence where is God calling him out of and where is he calling him - he's calling him out of idol worship right he's calling him out of his own father's house and he's calling him to his true father's house because where is he leading him ultimately to not just Israel but to the Temple Mount to Mount Moriah to the place where God has placed his name so he's taking him and saying go from your father's house to God's house there's very interesting description a little bit later as to where he when and built an altar and this is on the the Mount of Moriah he says to go out of your country that seemingly is easy we're gonna see a progression of tests you know it's one thing to leave your country but then a little bit harder to leave your kinsman right then he says and away from your father's house see the test how they're progressively getting more difficult and you know that Abraham was tested in ten different ways throughout his lifetime that the angels were observing and seeing how he would respond to these tests and you can find that description in Jubilees chapter 17 verses 16 and 17 and I will read it for you and we will break them down it says the prince mastema this is another name for satan he came and said before elohim behold abraham loves you talk his son and he delights in him above all things I want you to test him to ask him to offer Isaac has a burnt offering see if he loves his only son more than he loves you this is a test and you will see if he will do this command and you will know if he's faithful and everything wherein you try him and God knew that Abraham was faithful in all his afflictions for he had already tested him through and then it mentions a country ok what we're reading right here in the beginning of this Torah portion this was the very first test leave your country it seemingly easy if you are faithful with a few things what did God say I will make you ruler of mini right so the first thing he did was overcome this test he left his country and he left he went away from his kinsmen and away from his father's house when he reached the land of Israel the second test came here God had promised him blessings in this land and what's the first thing he sees famine and he's responsible for so many other lives he had 318 men with him and their wives and their children so he was feeling a great responsibility to care for and provide for these people is he going to grumble the angels are watching they're watching us when we go through times of hardship where we're called away from our families were called to maybe go back to the land of Israel where we are called to overcome diet and hunger are we gonna grumble are we gonna complain so famine was the second test and then he tried him with the wealth of kings remember when he left her a lot of times people will be faithful when they're fasting and praying right but you give them wealth and what do they do with it do they spin it on themselves or do they spend it for the kingdom work this is a test he left with great wealth from Nimrod from a comes down because of the famine God takes him to Egypt and Farrell ends up sending him away with great wealth and then he comes and Abimelech finds her to be beautiful takes her and when he realizes that she he's married to Sarah he sent Sarah back to Abraham with great wealth from Marah which is the early place of the Philistines this was another Kingdom north of Egypt and so three different kings three different great displace of wealth given to Abraham how does Abraham use it this is a test it's a test in our life - how are we gonna use our finances how are we stewards of what God has entrusted us so wealth is the third test of Abraham he tried him again through his woman when she was torn from him how she torn from him Pharaoh in Egypt right and when Pharaoh realized that she was Abraham's woman and God prevented her from any harm any defilement he sent Sarah back to Abraham with great wealth and then Abraham went through the country still proclaiming that she's my sister because she was a nice to Abraham and in those countries in the East we call our cousins and our nieces sisters and Abimelech also thought well if she's not taken and she's so beautiful then I will take her so two times she was torn from him in Egypt and in Guerard in the land of the Philistines so we could put that as four and five pharaoh takes sarah and Abimelech takes Sarah then God tested Abraham at ninety nine years old with circumcision this was a difficult thing and Ishmael was 13 and not only Abraham I want you to circumcise yourself but everyone in your household who's going to be in covenant with me so he circumcised all of the men of his household which includes those 318 men so this is the sixth test of Abraham that he was faithful in are we gonna be faithful to be in the Covenant of circumcision a circumcised on the eighth day and a circumcision of the heart are we gonna circumcise our sons according to the commandment the Brittany law and are we going to fulfill what it ultimately means and having a sensitive heart to observing all that God instructs us in or are we gonna pick and choose what's convenient for us vii tests he tried him through the loss of Yishmael look at how loss is a common reoccurring theme many times in our life we've all gone through great loss haven't we sometimes we lose a spouse sometimes we lose a son or a daughter sometimes we lose our wealth God's testing us with all this loss why because when we are selfless the selfless reflection of God's Spirit we don't have any expectations we don't hold on to anything we don't have any attachments we trust God in all things whatever he asks us to do when you're reactionary and you fight to keep hold of something or you speak negative when something is taken away from you this proves that you're not worthy for it in the first place so the angels were watching and each one of these tests what's amazing is at the end of this when we see all ten tests you're gonna see how the Angels described him so he had to give up his son and then he had to give up one of his wives Hagar his maidservant when he sent them away and in everything we're in is a God allowed him to be tried he was found faithful and his soul was not impatient this is a good lesson for us today so I want to write this even as we see characteristics of Abraham first thing it said in everything he was tested he was faithful are we being faithful with what God has entrusted us and it says he was not impatient so we could use patience worse as a characteristics to emulate as called out believers let's go on we've only gone to eight what do you think the ninth and the tenth tests of Abraham were what's at it we call it the dogs The Binding of Isaac to sacrifice his beloved son and then the death of Sarah was the tenth test of Abraham and in everything where he was tried he was found faithful and his soul was not impatient and he was not slow to act for he was a faithful lover of yah-ha-ha in that beautiful description in chapter 19 of Jubilees verse 3 it goes on it says when Abraham went to mourn over Sarah and bury her it says the angels are speaking we tried him to see if his spirit was patient even then and he was not indignant in the words of his mouth and he was found patient even in this and not disturbed so even his words he was faithful with his words it was a good lesson for us our tongue is a double-edged sword it brings either life or death by how we use it and in verse 5 of chapter 19 it says and yahuveh gave him grace before all who saw him and he'd be sought in gentleness so here's grace and gentleness these are good things for us to meditate upon we applying these characteristics in our life these are really fruits of the spirit that are made I should put over here only good what's that Archie yes very good that's gonna come out a little bit later but we'll put it right now since you mentioned it amen obedience and we know that Abraham was known also for his kindness right this was the main characteristic that he's known for and as we read the tour portion if we missed anything or if there's any new ones that come out we will yes kindness and hospitality you shall love him as thyself in Deuteronomy Kennedy because to love the stranger and do one of the 31 12 it says sprang Thurman here that they may learn and fear the Lord our God yes thank you my brother it's a blessing to serve in that way so what would be the word that we could use for that Abraham he was known for teaching the Oracles of God because it says he not only observed all of the Torah and at this point the Torah wasn't written was it it was only given orally so God gave Abraham knowledge that he was responsible to pass on to others and what would we call that what's a good word for that sharing the truth okay character traits sharing the truth I love it the truth it's not subjective is it it's not our truth it's not our feelings it's not our speculation it is the truth of God ok let's go on and see some other elements he says go go for yourself away from your kinsmen from your father's house and go to the land that I will show you I will make a view a great nation I will bless you and I will make your name great what was his name at this time Avram right aram to composite words in Hebrew off means father Rahm means exalted who is God revealing himself to I mean as to Abraham as the exalted father so this is a play even on the name of God and when Melchizedek comes to Abraham he introduces he says blessed be Abraham by El Elyon basically the exalted God God Most High he introduces him with a new title el elyon so we see god's character in this torah portion reflected by AA Fromme the exalted father is being reflected by the exalted father you know what's interesting in hebrews 11:8 it speaks of abraham and this faith that he had to have when god calls us and we are all the descendants of israel right in exile we're in the diaspora right now the prophecy say that God is going to gather back his elect his exile is back to the land and so what's happening in Abraham's life is very similar to what's happening to us we need to return not only in teshuva but return physically back to the place where God has placed his name and it takes an immense amount of faith by faith Abraham when he was called out isn't it cool to know that the name of our Assembly is taken from Scripture Abraham was the first called out believer he was called out to go into a place which he should after receive for inheritance and we have an inheritance in the land only to be received if we will step out in faith and return there and he obeyed and he went out not knowing whether he went so God didn't even tell him what the in destination was just go and sometimes that is the way with us there's been many times in my mission work where I've been called to go and I didn't even know what the end result would be didn't necessarily even know if the finances would be provided to accomplish the goal that God had set before us but he God always comes through when we step out in faith and I've seen it time and time again in my life and it's very exciting and I want to encourage you and that step out in faith he says in verse 3 but not only am I gonna make your name Gregory but you are to be a blessing I will bless those who bless you and curse anyone who curses you and through you all the families of the earth will be blessed now this reminds me of Galatians chapter 3 verse 8 if you have your Bibles with you turn to Galatians three eight because it says also the Tanakh foreseeing that God would consider the Gentiles righteous when they live by trusting and being faithful like Abraham told the good news to Abraham in advance by saying in connection with you all the nations all the will be blessed so then those who rely on trusting and being faithful are blessed along with Abraham who trusted and are faithful then God says I will bless those who bless you but I will curse anyone who curses you and by you all the families of the earth will be blessed so what is he saying through you Abraham all of the nations are gonna be blessed what is God doing prophetically he's looking down through the loins and lineage of Abraham and seeing how the nations are gonna be specifically blessed not only by Israel who is from Abraham's loins but from mashiac specifically so we see a hidden messianic prophecy here and let's see did I not write it on the board I'm gonna put it up here we're gonna see Messiah hinted at in many different places okay the first one is right here in verse 3 he's going to bless all of the families of the earth through Abraham because mashiac is destined to come through the lineage of Abraham so Abraham went as Abraham had said to him and lot went with him now did God tell Abraham to take lot we don't see that do we so why did Abraham take lot you know what's amazing I found an amazing quote from our sages who carried down the knowledge that Abraham prophetically saw in lot the future Messiah now even if you didn't recognize himself as being the progenitor of the future Messiah what's beautiful is he's not only taking care of his brother's son and daughter and his other brother married herranz other daughter Milka so the whole family was taken care of basically her on had two daughters and a son Sarah Milka and lot one brother marries Milka Abraham they offer him marries Sarai and takes a lot under his wing like his own son but specifically what's amazing is in the Zohar Kadosh it explains by Rabbi Shmuel two thousand years ago that the Jews understood that Messiah would come through lot now we know yahushua came through lot right because he had two sons from his ancestral relationship with his daughter moab and ammon who came from Moab Ruth Ruth married Boaz they had OVA no VAT had Jesse and Jesse had David so there are only four generations from King David Abraham leaving her looked at the son lot and not only showed his kindness in taking him under his wing but prophetically saw that Messiah would come through his lineage and King David would too so this is beautiful here we have to find a messiah who comes through Abraham's lineage who comes through Lots lineage and in the next couple chapters we're gonna see even comes through Melchizedek who could this be who comes through all these lineage we know that of course through Abraham Yitzhak and Yakov and then through judah yahushua was born right of the line of Judah but he also had a grandmother from Moab through lot and so we can see that Messiah is fulfilled in Yeshua twice yes Stephen yes very good Abram was 75 years old when he left her on Abram took his wife Sarai his brother's son lot and all their possessions which they had accumulated as well as all the souls they had acquired this is really interesting in the Hebrew it's not just people it's like he's entrusted with people's souls because when you are leading people and you're given responsibility their souls whether they follow God or whether they turn away are dependent on you teaching them correctly right Abraham was leading all 318 people to the truth out of her out of idolatry and these people followed him out of her and basically became like his adopted family and we're gonna you know what's interesting about that number 318 and we'll see it specifically mentioned a little bit later in the tour portion but the one that he thought would receive his inheritance like his own son was his servant Eliezer and Eliezer his name has a gamut riah of 318 so this is telling us that Abraham treated each of those 318 men who had their own wives and children and families as if they were all his own personal sons that was the same way he treated Eliezer yes aren't you yes the kinsman redeemer that we see even exemplified in Boaz to Ruth beautiful so he acquired these people in earthy souls and took them to her on this is where his father died while her aunt while his father was alive he came down into Canaan went back to his father and then when he passed away he set out to the land of Canaan permanently and Abraham passed through the land to the place called Shechem to the oak of Moray now those of you that went with me to the hillside overlooking Shechem we went up to the oak of Moray we found the cave of Abraham and the place where God made covenant with him and the Cain and I were there in the land at that time and this is where ad and I appeared this word period is Vieira Vieira is the name of next week's Torah portion because God is going to appear again and that's the main theme but here's the first place that God appeared physically to him in the land was up there at the oka Moray from this hilltop where we went and he said to Abraham to your descendants Lazar aha specifically there is a seed so when we say lay there AHA we're saying Abraham to your very seed to your DNA descendants I will give this land so he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him he left that place and he went to the heel east of Battelle this hill is called Mount Moriah and there he pitched his tent with they fell to the west and I to the east he built an altar there and he called on the name this is why God has placed his name there because just like I placed God's name on you this morning Abraham called upon the name of the Lord there at this place and we see that Mount Moriah this was the same place where he took Isaac to be sacrificed as well if he was truly going to start to have to sacrifice his son he was gonna do it on the place where God placed his name do you know why because abraham believed in the power of god that if he was going to test him with the life of his son he would prove his faithfulness to God first believing that God could raise dead he had a concept of the resurrection of the dead even in that time so he wants to make sure that he's going to sacrifice his son at the place where God placed his name and what's amazing is Maura Maura Moriah comes from the word that we get there same root former this was known as the heel of myrrh and frankincense it's a sweet aroma to the Lord and you can see this in Song of Solomon chapter 4 verse 6 says when the days cool breeze comes up when does that happen when does the day's breeze always happens when the Sun starts to go down and there's a change in temperature right this is the time of the evening sacrifice so this is hinted at in the Song of Solomon he's he's speaking to his beloved bride and he says when the day's cool breeze comes up this is what I'm gonna meet you basically and this is why we have the morning sacrifice in the evening sacrifice that after the temple was destroyed we were replaced with prayer in the morning and in the evening and at the noon day this is why Daniel prayed faithfully three times a day saying the the the benediction when the day's cool breeze comes up and the shadows lengthen I will get myself to the mountain of myrrh to the heel of frankincense where are we supposed to take our sacrifices in the evening specifically at the Temple Mount right this is the mountain of myrrh everything about you is beautiful my love you are without a flaw this is how God is looking at you his bride veiled in the robes of messiahs righteousness as perfect without a flaw and he wants to meet you at his appointed times even within the day there's a point at times within the year there's a point at times within the week there's a point at times within the month the New Moon's are pointed times God wants to meet us so there we see it's called the mountain of myrrh and it's also the place where we know body and soul came from Isaiah 51 1 and to talk about how this is the origins of the place that God actually took the dust to form Adam before he breathed into his nostrils his breath of life Isaiah 51 first two verses says listen to me you pursuers of Zadok this is righteousness you who see out and I consider the rock from which you were cut isn't this an interesting play on words the rock of our salvation cut from Jerusalem the quarry from which you were dug consider Abraham your father and Sara who gave birth to you in that I called them out when he was only one person then I blessed him and made him many so he's likening your origins and Abraham as children of Abraham also you're all from one place and Adam from the place where you were cut out of the rock right there on the mountain of myrrh this is the place where God is calling Abraham back to to make covenant with him then Abraham traveled on continuing toward the Negev the Negev is the southern desert of Israel but there was a famine in the land now at the north of the Negev scene the negative is quite a large part of Israel in the south right as you're starting to guess he's coming down from the north when you first reached the Negev you come to that area that he loved to reside in Isaac loved to reside called bear Sheva the place of the oath or the wells so this is why he was seeking to stay there he loved that area but there was no food in the land so he had to travel down to Egypt so he went down there to stay because the famine was so severe and when he came close to Egypt he was about to enter he said to Sarai his wife here now I know that you are a very beautiful woman so that when the Egyptians see you they will say this is his wife let's take her by force and kill him but keep you alive so please say that you are my sister so that it will go well with me for your sake and so that I will stay alive because of you Sara throughout her life honored Abraham she even called him Lord my Adonai and there's only one time where she had spoke up against her husband's because he didn't see the wedge that Hagar was driving between them and we're gonna look at that and a little bit later but for the most part this is a good example for all ladies and we're gonna look at a text even in the Brit hadashah that confirms this Sarah's righteousness just like Abraham's faithfulness and obedience to God was accounted to him as righteousness Sarah's faith in obedience to Abraham was accounted to her as righteousness so ladies wives as you honor your husband as you're covering God will bless you and account it to you for righteousness verse 14 says when Abraham entered Egypt the Egyptians did notice that the woman was very beautiful Pharaoh's princes saw her and commented commended her to Pharaoh so that the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house he treated him well for her sake giving him sheep cattle male and female donkeys male and female servants and camels but out and I inflicted a great plague on farrell when he brought Sarah into his harem and upon his household Pharaoh called Abram and said what is this that you have done to me why didn't you tell me that she was your wife why did you say she is my sister so that I took her to be my own wife you know this plague that fell on the land is what prevented Pharaoh from consummating or defiling Sarah in any way and so this was a temporary act of protection that God had over Sarah anytime Pharaoh would start to go towards the harem you know and start to think about Sarah oh he's afflicted with this so God was really protecting her she was being obedient to her husband and God honored that and he brought about the protection that Abraham's faith and Sarah's faith together in their unity brought down it's really beautiful yes gives it some cold perspective into cold water if they wanted to have a medium and I think it is always think you know people take advantage of hmm it's true carnal me yeah no carnal man in the world will use Dominion in the wrong way God intends for man to show the same selfless love and blessings that God has shown him and to serve his family take care of them and to honor them and then the wife's heartfelt response is to honor the husband it's a natural result it's not learning over in the wrong sense of the word just like Adam was given dominion over in the garden what did that really mean this is a great example for marriage it's like a garden men are to tend the garden right we take care of it we gently weave the vines around we don't just hacking up the garden and destroy the garden trample over the roses so to speak we're very gentle to let everything bloom in its proper time to give it fertilizer when it needs fertilizer to give it water when it needs water and so the reason that women have rebelled is because men have not been reflecting the character of God and abusing the dominion yeah princesses queens that's right the heavy word and sometimes you know it's part of the culture in my country or any ecstatic place and they think that we are just lady we have to do everything in house it is true in part remember when Abraham asked Sarah to go kill the fatted calf and to bring a meal for the guests you know he was out there entertaining the guests she could have easily grumbled in her heart and said why do I have to do this you always get to be visiting with them I'm working behind the scenes but she didn't she didn't even crumble so don't let your heart grumble even if something is seemingly taxing on us or trying this is our test women have their test men have their test we're all tested but may we be faithful like Abraham pharaoh called Abraham and he asked him why is this stuff happening to me now therefore I think she's your wife when Abraham admitted that she was Pharaoh said take her and go away so Pharaoh gave orders concerning him to his men and they sent him on his way not only with his wife but with all the gifts that Pharaoh had given for her so he left there with great wealth chapter 13 Abraham now this is going to be about him going up from Egypt and going back into the land of Canaan and parting ways with lot he and his wife and everything he had and lot with him went back into the Negev from Egypt Abraham became very wealthy with much cattle silver and gold as he went on his travels from the Negev he came to Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning between Bethel and I where he had first built the altar and there Abraham calls on the name of out and I again where Adonai has placed his name he's back on the Temple Mount lot who was traveling with Avram also had flocks herds and tents but the land could not support their living together because their possessions were too great for them to remain together moreover core lien arose between abraham's our autumns servants and lots herdsmen the Kane and I in the press I were then living in the land and Abraham said to lot please let's not have any quarreling between you and me so we see him here as a peacemaker this is another characteristic right [Music] this is very important for our lives you know what Paul says in the Brit hadashah as far as possible be at peace with who just those who like you with all men right a peacemaker yes but what's getting provoked in you Ava what's called what's coming out see it's something that God wants you to allow to be burned away anyways right so that's it's it's all good a peacemaker may we all be peacemakers like Abraham and he said let us not have any quarreling this would be what we should say to one another whenever there's dissension whenever there's even if I have to remain quiet let's say somebody it's coming against me with all kinds of attacks and I haven't done anything against them it's unwarranted in the flesh you feel like defending yourself but in the spirit you just feel like being quiet because you know that's the only way that it's gonna really stop the quarrel that it's gonna create peace right so the wisdom comes along with being a peacemaker and he said let's have peace between us and between our kinsmen and our herdsmen isn't this whole land here in front of you so imagine they're in Jerusalem and they're facing east and what happens in Jerusalem is the land starts descending very rapidly down into the fertile valley of the Jordan and so they're up on this hill and they're looking out eastward and he says to my left or to my right this whole land there's enough for both of us you choose what part you want and what did lot choose this well we're gonna find out isn't the whole land here in front of you please separate yourself from me if you go to the left I will go to the right if you go to the right I'll go to the left lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered everywhere see if he had listened to Abraham and taken either the left or the right the Jordan runs north and south so could have had part of the fertile valleys for their flock but he looked up he's looking right at the whole of the valley and he doesn't just take the north half or the South half he says I want that greenest area right down there well that happened to be where Sodom was yes any of you that have been there with me realized that it would be quite a distance to see but when you're on that you know when you come out of Jerusalem a little ways and you stand on that final bluff before the big ravine starts carving its way down and all the water starts carving there you can clearly see the lush valley and I'm sure it was even more lush then than it is now it's very dry what we think yeah that's right we focus on the materialism and we lose the blessing in trusting God or seeking God's will that's exactly right so may we not focus on the materialistic world and may we prayerfully seek to live after your shoe's example of humbleness of self-denial of you know he didn't have a house he didn't acquire wealth he lived so humbly that God could use him and he could travel from place to place very easily this is a great model for us yes our chief but when water is the main commodity then you understand why he chose that area it says in verse 10 lot looked up and saw the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered everywhere before out and I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah this is what's caused a lot of a lot of the destruction there things are not growing in the sulfur after Sodom and Gomorrah was burned and it was like the Garden of Eden at that time if you look at the end of verse 10 it says it describes it like the Garden of Adonai like the land of Egypt in the direction of Zohar that's watered by the Fertile Crescent of the Nile so lot chose all the plain of the Jordan for himself he chose the whole valley that was not even the original offer take to the left or take to the right there's enough for both of us I'll take that whole strip right there where the water is up now the men of oh so Abraham lived in the land of Canaan they separated themselves from each other and lot lived in the cities down in the plain setting up his tent near Sodom now the men of Sodom were evil committing great sins against out an eye and you often hear it discussed about the homosexuality of Sodom but the greater sin more than the homosexuality was there in hospitality to the foreigners passing through they were so unkind just the opposite of Abraham's character they were so self-centered that they would rob the poor travelers coming through and they had judges that were in place that would even support them robbing so if the people actually did make it to a court and they say judge this is what happened to me the judge would throw him in prison take the rest of his stuff and divide it with the people who had originally stole him here it sounds like they're so corrupt verse 14 out and I said to Avram after law had moved away from him look all around you from where you are to the north to the south to the east and to the west all the land you see I will give to you in your descendants in the Hebrew this is all there aha once again we see the reward Zaire seed he's talking about his descendants you and me this is ultimately going to be fulfilled in the Messianic age when we returned to the land he's giving us the land as our inheritance forever it says in verse 15 and I will make your descendants as numerous as the specks of dust on the earth so that if a person could count the specks of dust on the earth then your descendants could be counted get up and walk through the length and breadth of the land because I will give it to you you know this is one of the reasons for the exile God has actually blessed us in the exile we've been prolific we have multiplied and there's been a lot of resources to support Israel hidden amongst the nations it's kind of exciting to think of how God has turned Satan's curse intended curse back into a blessing and he constantly does that so God tells Abraham get up and walk through the length of the breadth of and the breadth of the land because I'm gonna give it to you I want you to know it in essence like the back of your hand I'll removed his tent and came to live by the Oaks of Mamre which are in Hebron Hebron is also a very special place this is where Adam and Eve were buried he knew there was something special about this place and this was the double cave the Cave of Machpelah that he bought for such a great price for him and his wife Sarah and there he built an altar to Adonai chapter 14 first one when um Raphael was king of shinar an REO koi king of ellasar and kado larmor king of elam and tidal king of they made war together against bera king of saddam and against bersia king of amaura and shin of king of admah and shem ever king of zeboiim and the king of bela which is also the same as za war they all join forces so you have five kings down in the valley around sodom and gomorrah there was actually five cities originally now most likely those are either underneath the sulfur or underneath the northern part of but there was five cities so we often just think of Sodom and Gomorrah being two cities down there there was five of them each of them had their ruler these four kings are coming out of the north basically the land of Shinar is where Nimrods dwelling these are mighty men they have big armies they're coming down and and taking everything in their wake all the way down to Egypt and plundering these different cities and then going back and taking all this wealth back to their homeland in the north so you've got four kings more powerful destroying everybody and it being they took over even these five kings in this valley it was totally destroyed sodom and gomorrah by fire and brimstone that area is full of sulfur and you can still find the sulfur there to this day so after it's destroyed there's sulfur from the north part of the Dead Sea all the way going down into the north part of the Dead Sea so this is historically where these cities were located is at the north part of the Dead Sea and you see that in the next verse here it says all the latter kings join forces in the cinema Valley where the Dead Sea is so there's your proof text they had served K to Lamar 12 years but in the thirteenth year if they rebelled what does this mean if you serve somebody they allow you to stay as a king like a serf almost right you have to pay tithe to them and they allow you to have your peace and your Dominion as long as you're sending money gold and silver back up to the north to their land how do you repel by stop paying ty I mean not tithe but I stopped paying taxes just like just like I'm early America right what was the rebel forces against the high taxation of King George was it the fourth I think at those days yeah yeah yes yeah on the Akkadian tablets that's right the Bible is constantly being confirmed by archaeology it's so beautiful so they basically rebelled by stopping to send up their taxes and in the fourteenth year kado law Oh mer and the Kings with him came and defeated the ref am now the ref am remember this is the area of giants so as they're coming down they're plundering even the Giants in the land but God is using that because pretty soon he's gonna send Israel into the land and there's a lot less Giants in Osh throat car Nahum and the zoo's e m-- in Homme and the e meme in Sheva curiata ìiím and the Hori at seer so all these areas were different Giants were residing they were taking them out as they're coming down all the way to El Perron by the desert next they turned back came to a mish pot which is the same as Kadesh and defeated all the country of the amalaka and this is good because we are told to wipe out the Amalekites right so in essence God is even using them to destroy all the future enemies of Israel in advance and also the MRI who lived in huts on Zone Tamar then the kings of Sodom amaura odd ma Zev om Anza or that's the five Kings came out and arrayed themselves for battle in the cinema Valley against Kate hola amor king of elam title king of Guim I'm Raphael king of admah and ro king of a lesser four kings against the five now the sin of value was full of clay pits and when the kings of Sodom and more fled some of them fell into them or very well could be another name for Nimrod because they're coming down from that same area shanaar and when these Kings fled maybe as you go and you travel around the Dead Sea you'll see these sunken areas and they're either used for salt or they're clay pits but basically it makes for travel especially if you're traveling on a horse or a chariot impossible so they fell into these while the rest fled to the hills the victors took all the possessions of sodom and gomorrah and all their food supply and then they left but as they left they took lot Abrams brothers son and his possessions since he was living in Sodom someone who escaped came and told off from the Hebrew the Eve Reid who was living by the Oaks of Mamre in Emery brother of Eshcol and the brother of n are all of them allies of Avram when Avram heard that his nephew had been taken captive he led out his trained men who had been born in his house 318 of them here's the number specifically so they had been raised up trained in Abraham's house this is the same Kamat riah outs Eliezer he's treating them all like his own children with his kindness and they went with him in pursuit as far as Dan in the north of the Israel this is all the way to the Lebanon border during the night he and his servants divided his forces against them then they attacked and pursued them all the way to Hova north of Damascus in Syria he recovered all the goods and brought back his nephew law with his goods together with the women and the other people after his return from slaughtering Kate a lot more and the Kings with him the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the shava Valley also known as the Kings Valley Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine also this is like an offering to Abraham and Abraham's God monkey Zedeck is coming down the hill from Salem the early name for Jerusalem monkey means righteous because he was known as the king of righteousness who sited and as adi the second part of that name is the word for righteous so you literally have righteous king he was also known as a king of peace he is a type of the future mashiac who reigns in righteousness but is also a high priest in peace and intercessor so the word for peace is Shalom and this is the early name for Jerusalem this is where we say he was McKissack king of salem the root of Shalem is shalom so he's the king of righteousness and peace there and who is this mysterious man yes Archie okay yeah it's very possible that he or he sent a servant somewhere from his area because they basically had escaped the four kings of the north right it's in seed form once again that's why Zaire keeps coming up and the Hebrew it means seed it's not that he lived before the flood but that through homs wife this dormant DNA survived good point so Melchizedek is actually Shem son of Noah and he has this antediluvian blood and he's living much longer than each generation so Abraham remember is the 20th generation from Adam Noah was the tenth generation from Adam so you've got ten generations after the flood that Shem is living this means the people thought my father knew him my father's father knew him my father's father's father's father all you know 10 generations back who is this man that has neither father nor mother because he just keeps living right this is why Melchizedek was known as the one who had neither father and her mother he was the son of Noah the king of righteousness and he came out and brought bread and wine which is what we do to to sanctify the Covenant and it says he was a priest of El Elyon which means God Most High and Melchizedek blessed Abraham with these words blessed be Abram by El Elyon maker of heaven and earth and blessed be El Elyon how can God be blessed how can we bless God blessed be El Elyon who handed your enemies over to you so isn't it interesting may Abraham be blessed by El Elyon in may ll yon be blessed by Abraham it's through our faithfulness that we bless Abraham in that we bless God and we recognize God as the source of all blessings so when we say broke apart my eloheynu melech ha'olam we are saying blessed be you for being the source of all blessings we're acknowledging that God is the source of all blessing and this is the origins of that kind of blessing from Melchizedek no go ahead yeah generally people had children before the flood about 65 years old so the generation before the flood would be considered 65 70 years after the flood you see them starting to have children about 40 years and I remember Jacob and Esau they were even 70 years old before they even got the blessing on their father and so they were much older once again you see that 70 number being significant so it varies from as you get further away from the flood but 70 was the original generation yes well it varies because he's starting from Adam and going down and those generations were much longer and then they get shorter as you get down through history now we're having children at 20 years old you know and so it goes from 72 for a period of time 40 and then down to 20 and what he's doing is the establishing the lineage of Yeshua in Matthew something interesting to understand that makes this phrase unique in that Melchizedek was the colon of El Elyon is that all the other priests of the nations they serve angels do you know all of the mythology and all of the folklore of false gods whether you're looking at Egypt or you're looking at Babylon or you're looking in other places who are the earliest entities being worshipped they're either angels or the angel offspring with man right and they're given different names throughout the ages so you see Nimrod and Semiramis and Tammuz his name being changed when Persia takes over Babylon and then changing when Greece takes over Babylon and then changed when Rome takes over Greece and we see that Melchizedek is the only one who is a priest to God Most High everyone else is really engaging in pagan false worship of worshipping that created rather than the Creator they're worshipping these angels these Watchers that have had to on the earth so this is something interesting where Melchizedek has served Hashem alone and Abraham recognized him of course Abraham had studied underneath him for thirty nine forty years right so Abraham knew him very well it's not like this is the first time Abraham's meeting him Abraham studied under Melchizedek from the time he was 10 years old to the time that he was 50 and it was then that God did some things in ur where he went back and destroyed the idols and Abraham tithes to God because the priest is just a conduit of God right so Abraham is tithing 1/10 of everything he brought back from the spoils of war to Melchizedek and who's the true priesthood going to go through through Melchizedek we see Messiah through Melchizedek because when Judah took a wife for his sons whose house did he go to to make sure that it was a righteous sadiq the only woman that was called a Tzadik in Scripture is Tamar Tamar was a granddaughter of Melchizedek of shims household and God preserved her like he preserved Sarah in that he didn't allow even the sons to defile her the first son died and he gave him to the second son second son died she was undefiled never had consummated the marriage when she goes back to her father's household and then Judah passes through the land he thinks that she's out there in her mourning garb and with the veil over her face at the city gate and he thinks that she's a prostitute and he goes in and sleeps with her and she knows who he is but he doesn't know who she is and this is how mashiac comes through both the Lion of Judah and through Melchizedek and through Abraham and through lot all at the same time now for a little bit of the rest of the story in advance but we won't go into it today because it's a whole nother study in your own time look at how my SIA also comes through Levi and the originals attic priesthood this brings it all together only one man can fulfill all of these criteria and this is the man Yehoshua son of God future Messiah who will come back and reign after the order of Melchizedek as king of righteousness and High Priest in Salem in Jerusalem yes Barbara okay that's some good stuff okay we'll make it fun he had whoops PAH now hoots paws with that head it's kind of a Yiddish term good spot tell them what the hoots boldness yeah ball that's funny so let's look at some scriptures here of the Melchizedek Priesthood Hebrews 7 verse 9 if you have your Bibles let's turn there Hebrews 7 verse 9 says one might go even further and say that Levi who himself receives tithes of tents from all of Israel paid a tenth through Abraham because Levi was in Abraham's wombs so if the Levitical priesthood is paying tied to Melchizedek who's superior Levitical or the Melchizedek Priesthood the Melchizedek because the priests of Israel are paying a tide through Abraham to Melchizedek this is why yahushua reigns after the order of Melchizedek it says blessed is Abraham let's go a little bit further back let's go to 6 4 5 now the descendants of Levi who became priests have a commandment in the Torah to take a tenth of the income of the people that is from their own brothers despite the fact that they too are descended from Abraham but Malka sadiq even though he was not descended from Levi took a tenth from Abraham also he blessed Abraham the man who received God's promises and it is beyond all dispute that the one who blesses has higher status than the one who receives the blessing so whose blessing here Melchizedek is blessing Abraham whose superior Melchizedek Abraham recognizes this and humbly submits a tenth a tithe to Melchizedek Priesthood moreover in the case of the Coen eehm the priest the tenth is received by men who died while in the case of Melchizedek it is received by someone who is testified to be still alive like Yeshua one might even go further and say that Levi who himself receives tithes paid a tenth through Abraham in as much as he was still in his ancestor Abraham's body when Melchizedek met him beautiful so it goes on if you are interested therefore if it had been possible to reach the goal through the system of the priest derived from the Levites still in connection with it the people who were given the Torah what need would there have been for another a different kind of priest the one spoken of as to be compared with Melchizedek isn't this beautiful so prophetic and not to be compared with Aaron for if the system of priests is transformed there must be a necessity occurring the transformation of Torah the one about whom these things are said belongs to another tribe from whom no one has ever served at the altar for everyone knows that our Lord arose out of Judah and that Moshe said nothing about this tribe when he spoke about the priest it becomes even clearer if a different kind of priest one like Melchizedek arises one who became a Cohen see the Jewish people always knew that the Messiah would reign as king and High Priest but there in their minds that means that somebody has to be a king from Judah but somebody from Levi also but somebody superior to Levi Melchizedek Yeshua can reign has both high priests and King at the same time in the same person than this beautiful the king of Sodom said to Abraham give me the souls of the people and keep the goods for yourself look at this demonic focus I want this people it's like the resources you know that keep paying for the taxes he wants the souls of the people to be brought back to Sodom and he says you keep the goods for yourself Abraham answered the king of Sodom and said I have raised my hand in an oath to Adonai El Elyon maker of heaven and earth that I will not take so much as a thread or a sandal or a thong of anything that came from Sodom that was yours originally he's bringing it all back and restoring it but he doesn't want it to ever be said that this wicked King made Abraham rich so he's not taking even a penny so that you won't be able to say I made Abraham rich I will take only what my troops have eaten my 318 men and the share of the spoil belonging to the men who came with me an air ash call and mamrie let them have their share so by giving the spoils of war abraham has proven really praiseworthy and trustworthy right he's not self-centered he's willing to give back everything that was Sodom's but some think that Abraham possibly erred in returning the people these souls to him so he gave all the wealth back to Sodom and he returned the people back to Sodom and some people say but they could have been taught like we said here they could have stayed in Abraham's household they could have joined Abraham's families and been taught the truth so why did Abraham return the people to Sodom did he err some have I even question whether Abraham erred in this area and what do you think that's the thing very good I knew you can come up with it if you bring somebody into your home that's gonna corrupt those that you've taught from their birth you're bringing in the world and it's going to have an insidious effect on dividing and destroying your household Abraham must have had the wisdom to recognize that these people were going to return to their wicked ways which they did and this is why he allowed the king to take back the souls of the people who were originally from Sodom yes what Sara yeah it's a very good question it has to be revealed by God what is worthy see the gifts that were given to Abraham were not taken by force Abraham took these things back but they weren't given by the king now this King is saying you take the wealth after he brings it back but Abraham doesn't want anything to do with that wickedness the king of Egypt actually did the right thing in pain for Sarah blessing Abraham as her brother it was almost like a dowry and then when he found out that Sarah was not his sister but his wife then he gave her back but he a lot he told Abraham to keep all the wealth and so if there's a difference from taking it from a wicked person or a righteous person now there is a text that says God will take the riches from the wicked and give them to the righteous but we have to make sure that it's God doing this for whatever reason God inspired Abraham at that time not to allow this King to yes yes mark in the course of that event he had talked with yes regarding because they had a problem with their state hundred so Abraham showed them that a variety of ena has solved their situation yes ah very good point yeah because wherever Abraham went he was a blessing to that country and to those people and so he's in this way but Mark is bringing out is that he actually solved a lot of the problems that Egypt was having while he was residing down there and so this was also kind of a gift thanking Abraham for being a blessing to the land good point now we're in chapter 15 sometime later the word about and I came to offer um in a vision don't be afraid of room I am your protector your reward will be very great Abraham replied Adonai Elohim God what good will your gifts be to me if I continue childless and Eliezer from Damascus inherits my possessions you haven't given me a physical child Avram continued so someone born in my house will end up being my heir to my inheritance but the word of out and I came to him this man will not be your heir no your heir will be a child from your own body then he brought him outside and said look up at the sky and count the Stars if you can count them your descendants will be that many so before he told them they'd be like the dust of the ground now they're gonna be like the stars of the heavens and it says that he believed what God said he had faith and God credited that faith to him as righteousness in James - James original name was Yaakov this is brother of Yeshua he relates to this story he says the scripture was fulfilled which said abraham believed god this is right here in chapter 15 verse 6 and it was imputed to him for righteousness so our faith what does it do it inspires us when we believe to follow God's instruction faith never is separate from works a faith a true faith is always a faith that works obedience and this is why it's accounted to us as righteousness even in its infancy even before the works are seen the faith that we have and what God is doing even in how he saved us his plan of salvation is accounted as righteousness and he was called the friend of God now do you see that in this passage does it say that Abraham is friend of God anywhere in this Torah portion does it say Abraham was friend of God so where was Yoko getting this from he's getting it from the sages do you know where this comes from if you look at our Torah portion the sages from what God has told Moses and how to divide up the Torah portions and then later how to attach a portion of the prophets with the Torah portion right God told Joshua Joshua told the 70 elders the elders told the great assembly the great assembly carried it down through the ages right and we observe it by faith today that this was given of God from the beginning what Torah portion is for today right here our haftorah is Isaiah 40 verse 27 that's the end of the chapter through the first 16 verses of Isaiah 41 if you turn with me to Isaiah 41 you will find what Yakko brother of Yeshua this is proof that he's keeping the tour portions as the sages instructed this is amazing thing that God just revealed to me this week and it hit me like a ton of bricks because it's really proof look at Isaiah 41 and verse 8 but you Israel my servant Yakov whom I have chosen so in Abraham's loins God sees all of Israel right and he's calling us his servants we are his servants as descendants of Israel descendants of Abraham my friend do you see it there this is the tour portion only for this week in Lake Lake ah we only read it once a year this shows that Yeshua and his brothers were following what the sages said and we're studying the profit portion along with the Torah that was only instructed by the sages passed down orally through the ages so this is really beautiful here it's being quoted in the New Testament and we find it in the haftorah which we will look at I'm gonna bring out a couple points right in closing in the haftorah but this is a beautiful depiction abraham believed God and it was imputed to him as righteousness and he was called the friend of God in Genesis 26 verse 5 we see Abraham kept the law before it was even written down while I was still in oral form this is because of Melchisedec instruction this is the beautiful thing Melchizedek trained him imagine being trained for forty years he knew all the Oracles of God even before Moses ever wrote them verse seven then he said to him I am yo-dee-hey Vevey who brought you out from has Dean to give you this land is your possession he replied I deny God how am I to know that I will possess it he answered him bring me a three-year-old cow a three-year-old female goat a three-year-old Ram a dove and a young pigeon and he brought him all these cut the animals into and place the pieces opposite each other but he didn't cut the birds in half the birds of prey swooped down on the carcasses but Abraham drove them away as the Sun was about to set a deep sleep fell on Abraham horror and great darkness came over him notice how this covenant that God is about to establish with Abraham begins in darkness but is pointing to the light even the cut halves of all of these sacrifices represent the Exile prophetically in the future how the house of Israel would be divided but God is passing through the divided halves and he's the only one that can make them whole again God says to Abram know this for certain your descendants will be foreigners in a land not theirs see how he's even hinting at the Exile yes it's the part and parcel if their exile twice they're gonna be exiled down in Egypt but they're also gonna be exiled throughout the nations later on so it's a dual prophecy they're gonna be foreigners in a land that is not theirs are we foreigners in a land that it's not ours yes where's our inheritance back in the Land of Israel they will be slaves and held in oppression for hundred years so he's specifically talking about Egypt in this case but I will also judge that nation the one that makes them slaves afterward I they will leave with many more possessions so that's gonna bless them again as for you you will join your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age so what he's establishing is a model of when God allows us to go into exile there's two things that happens when we're in exile or intended to happen one is we're supposed to teach the nations around us so he sends us out to the so that we can be a blessing of truth to those nations whether we're in Egypt or in Europe or in America we are to take the Oracles of God with us don't become like the nations convert the nations this is what the the whole diaspora is that its purpose is and then when you return to the land and you return to covenant you take with you all the riches from these nations back to Israel to bless God's people so it's twofold actually the Exile can be a blessing if we look at it in the right form but we're not to remain here forever he says you're going to pass on join your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age only in the fourth generation well your descendants come back here because only then the MRI will be right for punishment and sure enough four generations later is when Moses was born and took them out of Egypt and back into the land after the Sun had set and there was thick darkness a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared which passed between these animal parts that day at and I made a covenant with Arum I have given this land to your descendants from the wadi of egypt which is the mouth of the Nile to the great Euphrates in the north this is the original land grant the territory of the kenai and the keynesian the CAD Moni and the hip tie and the prizeo and the roughing and the MRI and the Cana knee the gurga she and the Yahoo she now Sarai Abrams wife had not borne him a child but she had an Egyptian slave girl named Hagar ha is the hey and prefix before a Hebrew word it means the GAR means foreigner that's the Hebrew word for foreigners literally they're calling her a foreigner because she came from Egypt after Pharaoh's in Abraham and Sarah away with great wealth he also blessed them with servants remember it said one of these servants was a servant to Sarah to attend her as a princess but who's worthy too excuse me attend the princess only another princess he basically gave her one of his own daughters from one of his harem and this is who Hagar was but she was referred to as the foreigner the Egyptian a servant to Sarah and gave her to off from as to be his wife I'm sorry Sarah said to Avram I jumped ahead a little bit here now I don't know has kept me from having children so go in and sleep with my servant girl maybe I'll be able to have children through her album listen to what Sarah said it was after autumn had lived ten years in the land of canine at Sarah Abraham's wife took Hagar the stranger the Egyptian her servant girl and gave her to offer him to be his wife offer him had relations with Hagar and she did conceive but when she became aware that she was pregnant she began to look upon her mistress Sarai with contempt Sarah said to offer him this outrage done to me is your fault true I gave my servant girl to you to sleep with but when she saw that she was pregnant she began holding me in contempt and this word contempt in the Hebrew has a connotation of she's oppressing her in some way she's not treating her with the same respect any longer may a Danite judge who is right I are you now this place in the Hebrew it's called you Vanessa and it has the first dot you know how we see in large letters in Hebrew anomalies some letters are shrunk in size we've seen two of those already in the first Torah portion Bereshit this is the first dot a dot is what we call a nakute in Hebrew and it's placed above this word Vanessa because it's to bring to our mind that this is the only time Sarah spoke out against her husband Abraham and it's only because somebody had come in between her and her husband's relationship and it's a lesson for us never to come between a man and his wife's relationship and this is why the stages put a dot above it because it's the single time it's a single dot it's the single time that Sarah spoke against Abraham may God judge between me and you who is right I'm telling you this girl is coming between us she's creating a rift where there was never a rift before that's the essence of this message and so there's a little hidden anomaly there and it teaches us that we should never interfere between a husband and a wife however Avraham answered Sarah look she's your servant girl deal with her as you think fit so he allowed her to make the decision then Sarah I treated her so harshly that she ran away but it wasn't time for her to stay away God met her where she was at and encouraged her to come back and to Humble herself and to serve Abraham until Abraham sent her away the angel of out and I found her by a spring in the desert the spring on the road to shore and said Hagar Sarah's servant girl he's reminding her who she is foreigner basically serving girl of Sarah this is your identity you don't have the right to run away basically on your own where have you come from and where are you going she answered I'm running away from my mistress Sarah the angel of out and I answered her I want you to go back to your mistress and submit to her authority this is a huge lesson a huge principle all of us have to submit to Authority all of us have a covering man's covering is mushy on mushy ox covering is God woman's covering is her father or her husband and a servant's covering is their master mistress and so we see God establishing submission to authority the angel of ad and I said to her I will greatly increase your descendants there will be so many that will be impossible to count them so the blessing that he promised Abraham even though Abraham went outside of God's original design Ishmael is going to be blessed just like Abraham's descendants are gonna be blessed Ishmael ended up having 10 sons who all became princes of Arabia Jacob had 12 sons so see the parallel there's all blessings because they all come from Abraham I will greatly increase your descendants as well that there will be so many that it would be impossible to count them and this is the Arab nation there are people the angel about and I said to her look you are pregnant you will give birth to a son you are to call him yes my Elle which means God hears or pays attention because that and I has paid attention to your misery your son will be a wild donkey of a man and do you know this is prophesied at in the Book of Enoch chapter 88 God shows Abraham and Isaac like white cows and Jacob Jacob's son become like white sheep this is the origins of Peters dream when he's meditating on Enoch but he likens Ishmael to a donkey and he saw to a wolf I believe it's a wolf I could be wrong but these two animals are not clean animals they're not like white cows or white sheep so what is he doing in essence but prophesying what these men's choices will be so he's even telling the mother he's gonna be like a wild donkey of a man with his hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him living his life at odds with all his kinsmen so she named I deny who had spoken with her with a new title elroy which means god of scene like because he revealed it he could see the future of even her son's descendants because she said have I really seen the one who sees me and I've stayed alive le roi ye so this is another name of God we have El Elyon in this tour portion and over oh ye this is why the well has been called the air hi Roy the well of the one who lives and sees it lies between kadesh and bur ed Hagar or Audra Hamas on an album called the son whom Hagar had born Ishmael he's now 86 years old when Ishmael is born so he's 13 your male is gonna be 13 years older than youth sac when you had sac is born now our final chapter in the Torah portion jumps ahead another 13 years okay so this we go from Ishmael's birth to the birth of Isaac and Ishmael is 13 and Algrim is 99 years old and Adonai appears to him again and says to him I am here's a third title el shaddai god almighty so we see God Most High God who sees and God Almighty three titles in this Torah portion walk in my presence and be pure hearted okay we've got a new characteristic for us to emulate be so important we should really put this one first because everything else good comes from being pure hearted [Music] are we being faithful to what God has called us to are we being patient we don't want to go ahead of the Lord we don't want to fall behind him if he's calling us to do something we have to be patiently perfectly in his timing is our tongue only producing good works to life and to unity are we showing grace to those remember what grace means grace is giving you that's mercy remember what the definition of grace is yes it's your middle name it's giving you more than you deserve gentleness obedience kindness let's internalize these this is the true application in the Ramez sharing the truth always making converts a peacemaker having hooks bow when we need it not our own from the flesh but in the spirit we say it jokingly and being pure hearted I think that's so important peer heartedness it can be under or overstated God tells him walk in my presence that's called holic ha this is to walk in his statutes and be pure hearted purity is so important I will make my covenant between me and you and I will increase your numbers greatly Abram fell on his face and prostrating himself and God continued speaking as for me this is my covenant with you you will be the father of many nations right now your name means exalted father but I'm gonna change your name you will no longer be exalted father of ROM but your name will be father of many Avraham and what he does is the word for father is the olive and the bait right and before his name then had a rash which means exalted this is like the princely head and the mem right so what God does instead of off rom exalted father he puts a hay right in the middle of his name this is saying that something in his core essence needs to be revealed but he moves the race over and he puts the hay down here over Homme this is a window it means there's something to be revealed and mem is always waters of the womb and waters and prophecy represent people's nations and tongues in Abraham's descendants are destined to become peoples nations and tongues dispersed among all the nations so he's revealing something more in this exalted father he's not just the exalted father of one the promised seed the Yaqui but he's the promised of God's people his bride throughout all generations so we see this beautiful example of The Hague revealing something more in Abraham's character and what is this revelation of character that he's worthy to enter into this covenant he's walking in God's statutes and he is pure hearted what an example for us if we want to enter into covenant with God and receive his promised blessings let's walk in the Holika that God has given us and be pure hearted he doesn't stop there he and of course Genesis 26 3 God reiterates this blessing that he gave to Abraham to Isaac but in the end of this chapter we're gonna see he changes Sarah's name also and he also gives her a hey now in God's name there's the yode there's the hay right the vol and the hay there's two haze in God's name and it is understood it's kind of Kabbalistic but it's understood that these haze balance the positive and the negative that giving and the contraction the male and the female in the divine essence of God and so he gives each one of his haze to Abraham and to Sarah who are our father and mother whether or not you can trace your lineage do you know that when you convert you are considered a daughter of Abraham or a son of Abraham or a daughter of Abraham and Sarah and that's the name that you're given like right now my Hebrew name is you talk of in Devine but let's say somebody that's a Gentile comes and they want to convert they're given a Hebrew name you get your own to pick your own Hebrew name whoever you associate with their characteristics and then you are bought if you're a daughter or bin if your son of Abraham they Sarah and this is the way it's been for thousands of years you're actually adopted into the family of God a son or daughter of Abraham and Sarah verse seven says I'm establishing my covenant between me and you along with your descendants after you generation after generation as an everlasting covenant to be God for you and for your descendants after you I will give you and your descendants after you the land in which you are now foreigners all the land of Canaan has a permanent possession and I will be their God he's talking about us Abraham's descendants there's only one true God and if people want to come into the true faith if they want to be grafted into Israel and receive the inheritance and the promises God has given Israel then they need to start there with God being the only true God one true God Torah is another pillar of our faith you know it said that the world stands on three things you know what that is the study of Torah prayer and acts of kindness without these three things from the family of God preserving them the world would be destroyed it would destroy itself in essence study of Torah prayer and acts of kindness and I tell people when they're coming into being grafted into Israel and they're coming into a knowledge of Torah there's three things that you really need to adopt in your to change your paradigm and that is there is the Torah we need to return to the Torah right we need to return to the one true God we need to return to the land these are three other things that complement the three pillars that support the world these are three foundational things because uh whether you're adopted or whether you're born into a family what happens you live where the father lives right where does the father live Jerusalem you study the rules of the house so that you can have the blessings and know how to carry on the inheritance that the father is going to give you that's Torah and you don't go a whoring if you're a wife and you don't go and go into somebody else's house to somebody else's father there's only one true father so this is so important for us to return to an understanding of Hashem is the one true God God said to Abraham you were to keep my covenant you and your descendants after you from generation to generation here's my covenant which you are to keep between me and you along with your descendants after you every male among you is to be circumcised you are to be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin this will be the sign the physical outward sign of the Covenant of the inward sign basically the outward sign is I believe and trust God so much that no matter what he tells me to do I'm gonna do it this requires a sensitive heart a heart right now as stony and rebellious and we're rejecting so much of what God has desired to give us the our display of circumcision is just a reflection of the inward state of our heart that we want to have such a sensitive heart that it's like baby skin that whatever God asks us we have the faithfulness of Abraham trusting him and we will follow his ways by faith you are to be circumcised it will be the sign of the Covenant between me and you for generation after generation every male after among you who is 8 days old because remember circumcision of the heart represents entering into infinity 8 number the eighth day the study on the eighth day it represents eternity this is why you're to be circumcised on the eighth day including your servants born within your household and those also from a foreign nation so when you're in the exile and you're converting people to a knowledge of Torah even those who say hey I'm not from Israel that's not for me God is saying yes it is if you truly have faith in what covenant I made with Abraham you're gonna adopt that covenant for your life either you're with us or you're against us there's only one family there's only one bride right there's no separate bride what's that woman called who tries to gain access to the husband who's not really part of the bride a harlot so God says here's the symbol of my covenant on the eighth day every male child in your house shall be circumcised in the flesh as an eternal everlasting covenant verse 14 any uncircumcised male who will not let himself be circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin that person will be cut off from his people because he's broken the Covenant God said to Avram as for Sara your wife you're not to call her Sara anymore which means mockery her name is to be called Sara so now Sarai she gets the hay ended added to the end of her name I will bless her moreover I will give you a son by her truly I will bless her she will be the mother of Nations kings of people will come from her at this abraham fell on his face and laughed and he thought to himself will the child be born to a man a hundred years old and will Sara give birth at ninety Abraham said to God if only ishmael could live in your presence god answered no but sara your wife will bear a son and you are to call him Yitzhak which means laughter because first Sara laughed when she heard it from the servants and Abraham laughs they both laughed at different times now look at what the Scriptures through Yaakov brother of Yeshua says about Sarah remember we're looking at righteousness by faith that works right it's not faith alone it's faith that warrants obedience in Abraham we see that he believed God and it was imputed unto him for righteousness and he was called a friend of God what's not Abraham our Father justified by works so we only talk about justification by faith but here the New Testament is talking about because they understood the importance of obedience righteousness or justification by works when that faith causes you to work out what God is instructing you in and in Abraham's case it was the most difficult of things to obey it defied the character of God and defied logic but God Abraham trust in God if you asked me to do this if it's a test I know you can raise him back up and still fulfill the promise through him so when he what had been asked to offer Isaac his son upon the altar he was justified by works now look at Sarah first Peter 3:6 even as Sara obeyed Abraham calling him Lord this is in the next chapter next week's Torah portion chapter 18 where she does this whose daughters you are ladies okay we're sons and daughters of Abraham and Sarah right she's our example as long as you do well and are not afraid with any amazement so it's likening sarah's righteousness to obedience but now instead of it being Abraham's obedience to God it's the wife's obedience to the husband that is bringing about righteousness and justification in that beautiful fits so perfectly within our core portion God tells him that Sarah is the chosen one to bear the promised child and you're to name him it yet sac I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him but as for you sh mail as I have heard you I have blessed him also and making him fruitful and will give him many descendants he will father twelve princes and I will make him a great nation but I will establish my covenant with yet sac whom Sara will bear to you at this time next year with that God finished speaking with Abraham and went up from him Abraham took Ishmael his son all the servants born in his house and all who had been brought with his money every male among the people in Abraham's household and guess what at ninety nine years old Abraham circumcised them all including himself the flesh of their foreskin that day just as God had said to them now when a man is circumcised later in life if he hasn't been circumcised on the eighth day there's a process of pain that goes on that pretty much the abilities you for about three days okay so this gives you a little more understanding when God appears in the next tour portion next week we're gonna talk about how the two angels and Adonai Himself appeared to Hashem on the third day very symbolic because this is when he's in the most pain and also we're looking forward to the third day that Hosea speaks of yes Mark is increased I love it God knows when it's easiest and quickest to heal that's beautiful so Abraham was 99 years old when he circumsized in the flesh of his foreskin and yesh mail was 13 when he was circumcised in the flesh so Islam will actually say our Father is greater than your father yet sac because our Father in toward more pain you know he was circumcised when he is 13 and I've heard this funny contention between the two Abraham and Ishmael his sons were circumcised on the same day and all the men of the household both servants and all males and all foreigners in the household were circumcised with him so now in closing let's just look a little bit more at our heart or ax in Isaiah 41 at the significance relating to Abraham Isaiah 41 verse 2 says who raised up the righteous man from the east another hidden dual prophecy because Messiah is also likened to coming from Basra from Edom remember Isaiah 63 says what is that blood on your clothing and he's coming back arrayed in battle to protect us from those persecuting our brothers and sisters in Israel so Messiah is like in - coming from the east but Abraham also came from the east her of the casdim is of the Chaldeans so I see a dual prophecy here that I thought you might enjoy who raised up the righteous man Abraham was a Sadiq Messiah is a Tzadik from the east called him to his service both Israel is called his servant and mashiac is called God's servant who gave the nation's before him and made him rule over Kings God did this for Abraham as well as Israel and he's doing it gonna do it from a shiok the reason that people that don't recognize me yet is because he hasn't reigned as king yet he hasn't returned the Exile yet he hasn't rebuild the temple but we by faith the same faith that our father Abraham had we know that this prophet like unto Moshe and the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 yahushua who came 2,000 years ago by faith has gone to the right hand of God and will return and fulfill being the righteous Saudi King in Salem like Melchizedek and rayna's both high priest and king so this is an issue of faith for us he's gonna rule over the kings of the nations and who God gave them as the dust to his sword and as the driven stubble to his bow so beautiful another place in verses 8 through 10 and then we'll close with prayer says but you Israel you are my servant so if Abraham was called God's servant and friend and he exhibited this characteristics then how much more do we need to if we're really going to be God's servant to the world exemplify those characteristics you Israel are my servant Yaakov whom I have chosen the seed of Abraham my friend this is what James was quoting from you whom I've taken from the ends of the earth this has to be speaking specifically of you the descendants who are in the diaspora Israel the lost ten tribes I'm gonna take you from the ends of the earth I've called you out the Assembly have called out believers from the most distant parts of the world and I've said to you you are my servant I've chosen you I'm not gonna cast you away let me give you a little promise of encouragement to know not only your true identity but your purpose and your destiny if you're not okay times you're gonna get worse before they get better but don't have any fear perfect love casts out fear God is with you neither be dismayed for I am thy God I will strengthen you yes I'm gonna help you yes I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness who's at the right hand of God Yahshua he is the right hand of God's righteousness he's going to strengthen you and preserve you and protect you through the days to come so that you can be his servant and you can fulfill the prophecies that he's put in place for you to be a light to the nation's and to receive your inheritance when Messiah comes and to return to the land is the good news this is exciting all hinted at in the parsha of Lake Lake ah so with that let's stand and pray Abba Father you are so good to reveal the deep hidden things in your word the things that Kings longed to see and yet did not see you have revealed to your servants the prophets and to your servants the dispersed of Israel we love you Father and we choose to be believers like Abraham by faith trusting in all of your plans from the foundation of the world that you have had for us and for the restoration of all things and father we ask that through the empowering work of your ruach ha'qodesh that we might live as righteous sadhaks as Melchizedek did as Auber ham did as enoch of old did and that we can glorify you and that we could holla ha walk in the ways of your selfless love has revealed through your torah instruction father we thank you for redeeming us as your slave girl as your servant and we just pray that we would be worthy as a brides found without spot or blemish father purify us make us pure hearted like Abraham so that our eyes are stayed on you and that we can be a part of this great work that you have intended from us for us where we truly live in a privileged time at the end of Earth's history and we want to be faithful servants like our father Abraham we love you Father and we thank you for bringing us together for this purpose and we ask your blessing upon our work and upon our unity here at the Assembly of called out believers upon the Greater Assembly of the dispersed throughout the world father and anyone listening to these messages on the Internet we ask a special blessing upon them and their return to Torah and following your ways father we love you and we thank you for these things in your holy name we pray man you

Channel: Assembly of Called-Out Believers

Views: 35,993

Rating: 4.927928 out of 5

Keywords: Torah, Parsha, Parashah, Parashah Lech Lecha, Lech L'kha, Abram, Abraham, Melchizedek, Abraham and Sarah, Lot, Called Out Believers, Assembly of Called-Out Believers, Torah Study, Pastor Isaac, Rabbi Yitzchak, Learn Truth, Torah Truth

Id: An98fHOi4w0

Length: 109min 24sec (6564 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 29 2017