Abraham Intercedes
18: 22-33

Abraham intercedes DIG: Why is Abraham so bold when speaking with the Lord? Why is he so concerned about Sodom and Gomorrah? What part did Abraham have in this intercession? What part did the Lord have? In Avraham’s intercession, what do you admire enough to imitate? When God replies to Abraham, what do you find comforting? Discomforting?

REFLECT: Can righteous people make a difference in the world? For whom is the Lord calling you to intercede as Avraham did? Can you choose to believe in the righteousness of ADONAI even though your circumstances don’t seem to give evidence to your belief? How so?

When you read the Bible you are not reading for your pleasure. You need to read as if you were in a dialogue with the Writer. You are reading to argue and to try to understand. You are reading to ask questions and possibly to argue and dig deep into the text in order to answer the questions that the text opens up in your mind. Here with Abraham, we have a great example of this.

This is the first, and perhaps the most remarkable example of intercessory prayer in the entire Bible. Abraham was no doubt concerned about his nephew Lot and all the people he had rescued from the four kings who lived in Sodom (to see link click Ec – When Abram Heard Lot Had Been Taken Captive, He Went in Pursuit as far as Dan). Although he was well aware of their spiritual condition, he hoped that they would repent and turn to the Lord.

The subsequent verses reveal the dialogue of two friends deliberating with each other. In the end, we see that Abraham’s heart was one of compassion as he pleaded for the salvation of the righteous remnant in Sodom, if there were any to be found. We also see that Abraham understood God’s justice, since he did not argue with the fact that judgment needed to be carried out upon unrighteous Sodom. Abraham also passed this test with flying colors, for ADONAI considered Abraham His friend (Isaiah 41:8).

The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Avraham remained standing before the Lord in human form (18:22). Then Abraham intercedes for the righteous in Sodom. He approached the Lord and said to Him, “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked” (18:23)? Abraham’s great character is revealed by his intercession. It is striking that he does not mention Lot at all, but only prays for all the righteous in Sodom and on the plain. Earlier he had personally rescued these people, now he pleaded for them with the same boldness and urgency with which he had fought for them.

Avraham’s philosophical discussion with the Lord jars some readers. But his requests, though bold, were made with genuine humility and profound reverence.³¹⁰ He asked: What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it (18:24)?

The reason Abraham can appeal to the Lord’s righteousness is because he knows God’s character. He said: Far be it from You to do such a thing – to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from You! This was really bothering him, and he finally asks the question we all ask at some point in our lives: Will not the Judge of all the earth do right (18:25)?

We all know the Bible doesn’t answer every specific question in our lives. Should we buy this house? Whom should I marry? What occupation should I pursue? And our theology does not provide answers for every question. But where the Bible is silent and the logic of our theology fails us, we still have a choice. We can choose to believe in the righteousness of ADONAI. Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is righteous? Of course He will. That is where our faith begins, being certain of what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1b). We will never have all the information, and even if we did, we are not wise enough to apply it correctly to every situation. We need to believe, and let God be God.

Here, Abraham appeals to the Lord of righteousness, rather than His mercy. The Lord did not challenge the basis of His argument, but said to Abraham, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake” (18:26). If Messiah did indeed spare the city, it would only be for a time. The purpose for the delay would be to see if a righteous minority could have an impact in the city and turn it around. How small could the minority be and still have an impact? If Abraham is to be a channel of blessing to the world, could it not start here? The Lord agreed, “All right Abraham, you have made your point”. Six times Avraham intercedes for the wicked cities. He pleads again and again. Six times the Lord responded to His servant’s request.

But, can the righteous make a difference in the world? Some people say, “What can I do, I’m a nobody!” However, the fact is, righteous people have always been and will always be a minority. Still, individually and as the body of Christ, the Lord expects us to have an impact for righteousness in the world. There are plenty of examples. From Rabbi Sha’ul, to Martin Luther, to Mother Theresa, there are those who have refused to think they were too insignificant for God to use. Their impact came not because they were full of self-importance and thought themselves capable of big things, but because they humbly did what needed to be done. Understanding the task at hand, they boldly went about doing what the Lord led them to do. In most cases, an impact is not accomplished amidst great fanfare and does not necessarily enjoy popular support. Mother Teresa worked in virtual anonymity in the squalid conditions of the diseased and the destitute for decades before gaining the popular recognition and acclaim that she received in her last years. Martin Luther and other Reformers were met with official resistance that threatened their lives, their health and their welfare.³¹¹ But they continued on and made a difference and so can you.

ADONAI knows our needs before we ask. But He has set up the universe with this principle; we are to ask with the right motives and He will answer. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with the wrong motives (James 4:2-3a). He wants a relationship with us, and that includes our prayer life. Jesus said: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened (Mattityahu 7:7-8).

But Avraham suspects that there may not be fifty there so he spoke up again. He had a profound respect for ADONAI when he said: Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord. And even though he is God’s friend, he never allows himself to forget his true position of dependence on Him. Abraham acknowledges that he is nothing but dust and ashes (18:27). In Hebrew the phrase dust and ashes is a word play because they sound so much alike; dust is aphar, and ashes is epher.

Nowhere does Abraham challenge the Lord’s evaluation of Sodom’s moral filth. That was not up for debate. Nor at any time does he turn to Sodom to urge repentance.³¹² But he sure was persistent when he asked: What if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city because of five people? The preincarnate Christ replied: If I find forty-five there I will not destroy it (18:28).

Once again Avraham was very specific when he reduces the number further and said to Him, “What if only forty are found there?” The Lord responded and said: For the sake of forty, I will not do it (18:29).

Then Abraham, who really has some chutzpah, reduces the number by ten saying: May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there? Yeshua answered: I will not do it if I find thirty there (18:30).

Avraham, with a sense of earnestness, reduces the number again by ten and said to Him, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there.” Messiah replied to him, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it” (18:31).

Then Abraham made one last effort to reduce it by ten more and said: May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there? And the preincarnate Jesus answered positively: For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it (18:32). The rabbis teach that Abraham did not ask about a lesser number because, he argued, there were eight righteous persons at the Flood. It is important to remember that Avraham stopped asking before the Lord stopped giving.

Abraham thought he knew of at least ten righteous people in Sodom. There was Lot, his wife, their two sons (19:12), two married daughters and their husbands (19:14), and two unmarried daughters (19:8), a total of ten. Since these people were in only one city, perhaps Avraham reasoned that there would be the same number in each of the other four cities; so he interceded with the Lord to spare the cities if He could find fifty righteous people living in them. When He agreed, Abraham continued to pray, first for forty-five, then forty, then thirty, then twenty, then down to ten, the size of Lot’s family.

There is no way of knowing whether the Lord would have spared the city for, say, only four people, the number that actually was taken by the angels out of the city before fire fell from heaven. Abraham may not have been close enough in fellowship to Lot to realize that his own family members were largely unregenerate and were themselves part of the problem in Sodom. Or perhaps he did know this, and felt that his prayer would become totally selfish, focusing only on Lot himself if he carried it any further. At any rate, when the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, He left, and Abraham returned home (18:33). Abraham assuredly did know that the judge of all the earth would do right.³¹³

In the end, the Lord answered Avraham’s prayer, though not exactly as he had prayed it. He did destroy Sodom and the cities of the plain with the people in it. Ezeki’el was right: The soul who sins is the one who will die (Ezeki’el 18:4b). But the Lord remembered Abraham when he rescued Lot (19:29), and the reason He rescued Lot was because of Lot’s relationship to Avraham. So sometimes ADONAI will not respond to our specific prayer requests, but He will respond to the desires behind those prayer requests.

Three important principles of righteousness become clearly evident from Chapter 18. First, the righteous will practice and teach the righteousness of ADONAI (18:19). Secondly, the basis for the request was the righteous character of God, not selfish aggrandizement (18:25b). And thirdly, a small number of righteous believers can have great influence. Only ten people would have been necessary to save an entire city (18:32). Let no one think his or her ministry is useless, regardless of how small a number is reached.

The Outcry Against Sodom and Gomorrah
is Great and Their Sin is Grievous
18: 16-21

The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is grievous DIG: How had Sodom experienced the power of the Lord more than any city in Canaan? Why did the Lord want Abraham to know His intentions toward Sodom and the rest of the cities? What two reasons did He give? Why did Abraham stay behind?

REFLECT: How has God shown His patience with you? Do you think that patience will ever run out? How is your answer supported from this passage? What does this say about how we should regard our own impatience with others? Do you consider yourself God’s friend? Why or why not? When do the purposes of God become your purposes?

After the message was given to Sarah, it became obvious that the three men had another mission on their minds. When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom from the hill country of Judah (18:16a). The Dead Sea, eighteen miles to the south, could be seen on a clear day through gaps in the hills.³⁰⁷ There were four cities in the plain, but the sin of Sodom was probably the greatest. That is why it alone is mentioned. The long-suffering of the Lord had run its course and the time for judgment had come. Their sin was inexcusable because they had experienced the power of the Lord more than any city in Canaan. They had been rescued from the four kings of the east (14:1-12), and had heard the testimony of Melchizedek (14:17-24). Even Lot must have witnessed to them at some point, although his compromising lifestyle ruined his testimony. The Lord had given them every opportunity to know Him, yet they chose their sin instead. While homosexuality is a very great sin, their rejection of the Lord was even greater (Matthew 11:23-24).

And Avraham walked along with them to see them on their way down toward Sodom (18:16b). As they walked along, Abraham must have overheard the Lord speaking, as it were, to Himself, and yet no doubt intending that Abraham should overhear His words. The Lord wanted Abraham to know His intentions toward Sodom and the rest of the cities. After all, Lot and his family were there. Furthermore, as God’s friend (James 2:23), Abraham needed to know the reason for the terrible destruction the cities were about to experience. He would need to explain it to his children, and they to all their descendants. The desolate region of Sodom would, in the centuries to come, be a perpetual warning to Israel that although ADONAI is gracious, merciful and long-suffering, He is also a God of wrath and will not spare when the time of His judgment comes.³⁰⁸ In the future Jude would write that the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire (see my commentary on Jude, to see link click Al – Like Sodom and Gomorrah, They Gave Themselves Up to Sexual Immorality and Perversion).

It is at this point that we encounter Abraham’s second test. In the first test, ADONAI was helping Abraham see whether or not he would believe that He would do as He had said and give Abraham an heir through Sarah (see Eo – Your Wife Sarah Will Bear You a Son, and You Will Call Him Isaac). Closely associated with this test was another theological examination – could and/or would God perform a miracle in order to keep His promises to Abraham? As we have seen from Paul, Abraham got an A+ on his exam (see the commentary on Romans Bf – The Means of Justification)! But this second test was different.

Then the Lord wondered out loud if He should take Abraham into His confidence, saying: Shall I hide from Avraham what I AM about to do (18:17)? The thrust of this question is essentially, “Is Abraham My friend? I will see if this friend of Mine is truly one with Me in my grace and compassion, as well as in My justice.” Shall I hide from Avraham what I AM about to do is a rhetorical question and the construction in the Hebrew allows for no other answer than a negative reply. No, the Lord would not hide from Abraham what He was about to do. The reasons the Lord would not hide the destruction from him is told us in the next two verses.

The first reason is ADONAI’s covenant with Abraham. The Lord said: Avraham will surely become a great and powerful Jewish nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him (18:18). He would have a tremendous influence and become a channel of the Lord’s grace to all the nations on the earth.

The second reason was the spiritual status of Avraham. Once again, the Lord replied: For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right, which is an internal trait, and just, which is an external trait, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him in the Abrahamic Covenant (18:19). In fact, the Lord is about to destroy the cities of the plain (19:25) because of their unrighteousness and injustice.

Jesus Christ had deliberately communicated His purposes to Abraham (18:17-19), and this is true of us today. He has revealed His purposes in His word, and through His word believers in ADONAI become His hands and feet on this earth. In view of all these glorious privileges and solemn responsibilities of fellowship with Him, what kind of people ought we to be in holy conduct and godliness (Second Peter 3:11 NKJ)?

The Lord did not actually say in so many words that He was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. He simply said that the outcry from the plain was so great that He intended to investigate. Why this outcry? What was the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah? Their sin started with sexual corruption, self-centerdness, and the thought of getting what you want for yourself with total disregard for the needs of another. From there, it is a short journey to social corruption, an arrogant disregard of basic human rights, and a cynical coldness to the sufferings of others. This is exactly the picture of Sodom and Gomorrah’s sins given by Ezeki’el. Now this is the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy (Ezeki’el 16:49). Therefore, social immorality played as large a role in the judgment of Sodom as did the sexual immorality.³⁰⁹

There is a play on words here between two Hebrew words. The word meaning the outcry, is the Hebrew word zakah, meaning a cry, and the Hebrew word for righteousness, is tzedakh. The two words sound very much alike. Instead of tzedakh or righteousness, they get zakah or a cry. Why? Because the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached Me, if not, I will know (18:20-21). The Lord never does anything hurriedly or hastily; He decided to investigate for Himself. It is not as if His omniscience failed Him and He did not know these things. But the point was to show that the Lord had scrutinized every detail. A fair judge sees the evidence first hand.

As the Lord was talking with Avraham, the two angels departed from the hills of Hebron and walked down toward Sodom. However, Abraham, sensing what was about to happen, stayed behind on the road overlooking the Dead Sea plane to plead for those innocent people who had not participated in the wickedness below.

Abraham Pleads for Sodom
18: 16-33

Just as the previous section had a rhetorical question: Is anything too hard for the Lord, so does this section: Will not the Judge of all the earth do right? Therefore, the predominant theme in this section is justice. Surely ADONAI is able to do whatever He chooses to do, but will it be right? Will it be just? The answer is plain for all to see, as shown by His replies to Abraham’s pleadings.

I Will Surely Return This Time Next Year
and Sarah Your Wife Will Have a Son
18: 9-15

I will surely return this time next year and Sarah your wife will have a son DIG: What is the point of the LORD’s visit with Abraham? How did ADONAI’s silence impact Sarah? Why does Sarah laugh? Lie? Disbelieve? How does Sarah’s laughter differ from Avraham’s, or does it?

REFLECT: Describe a time in your life when you felt the Lord’s silence in your life. How did you interpret His silence? What did you think about Him? About yourself? When we’re living in ADONAI’s silence, how do we get side tracked from our true mission? Where in your life is God telling you, “Is anything too hard for Me?” Or, “I could change this trial you are going through, but it would be better if you grew through it so you can learn what I’m trying to teach you.”

Sarah’s day finally came. This time ADONAI appeared as a man with two other angels who also appeared as men. Following custom, Avraham hosted the three men as guests. If Abraham had been thinking of the Lord’s promise of a son for Sarah and him, and somehow sensed that the three angels were associated with His promise, he was correct.

The LORD chose to use a different way than with Abraham (to see link click Eo – Your Wife Will Bear You a Son, and You Will Call Him Isaac) of breaking the news of her upcoming pregnancy to Sarah. This may possibly be because Sarah and Abraham may have been in two slightly different places in their spiritual lives. As a married woman, Sarah remained out of sight, secluded in the tent, but within earshot of their conversation. As soon as the men had finished eating, they immediately asked the whereabouts of Sarah, who was still inside the tent. It was not proper for the wife to come out and entertain, especially with three male guests. But now they asked about her: Where is your wife Sarah? Abraham answered: There in the tent (18:9). Although they all asked about her at first, the Lord Himself would do the talking.

Then the Lord, who knew Sarah was listening, spoke to her by talking to Abraham. He declared: I will surely return to you about this time next year when the promise is fulfilled. The promise was that Sarah your wife will have a son. Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind Him (18:10). Before the conversation was over, the Lord Himself was talking directly to Sarah. The narrator merely states the biological facts. Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years and Sarah was past the age of childbearing (18:11). She had been barren since she was young and had already entered menopause. From a human perspective, it was impossible for her to bear a child. No mere angel could deliver on such a miraculous promise. Only the LORD Himself could bring about this miracle.

The purpose of the divine visit was to draw Sarah into full ownership of the covenant promises. In the previous chapter, God had been very specific; it was Sarah who would give birth to the son of promise (17:16, 19, 21). Avraham’s response, like Sarah’s here, had been laughter (17:17). And as a reminder of their laughter, the proud new parents would name the child Isaac (Hebrew: Yitz’hak), or he laughs.

We are not told if Abraham had informed Sarah that God intended to give her a son after all those years (17:19). If He had not, her reaction to this news was certainly understandable. But even if Abraham had prepared her, she could hardly bring herself to believe that after years of barrenness, and long past the age of childbearing at ninety, that ADONAI would now grant her the gift of a son.³⁰²

So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “This is utterly ridiculous, after I am worn out and my husband is old, will I now have this pleasure of having a son (18:12)?” Now what kind of laughter is this? Was this a mocking laughter? No, I think this is the laughter, which says: This is just too good to be true. I’m sure most of us have had experiences like this. The LORD has been so good to us on a certain occasion that we have just laughed. Something happened that was just too good to be true, and that was the way Sarah laughed.³⁰³

However, the One on the other side of the tent door knew she laughed, He knew her skepticism, but He also knew all about her sorrow and her unbelief. Sarah was so defeated by her circumstances that she had forgotten about the power of El Shaddai. He had brought her to the end of her hopes, to bring her to Himself. Strangely enough, the one thing that helped strengthen her faith was the Lord’s question: Why did Sarah laugh and say, “Will I really have a child, now that I am old” (18:13)? This man could neither see her nor hear her because she had only laughed silently within herself.  She must have quickly realized that this was the Lord Himself, in order for Him to know these things. That being the case, maybe she would be able to fulfill this miraculous promise after all.³⁰⁴  The B’rit Chadashah rightly honors Sarah. By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised (Hebrews 11:11 NASB).

The problem was that Sarah had put her life on hold, somewhere between faith and despair. That’s were a lot of us spend our time. Stuck somewhere in the middle, longing to see the LORD’s hand in our lives, trying to find our place in His purposes, struggling to put one foot in front of the other and keep moving. Daily confronted with our helplessness to change those things that trouble us the most, there’s no escaping the fact that while nothing is too hard for ADONAI, He’s not adverse to keep us waiting.

Carolyn James, in her book Lost Women of the Bible offers these insights. What are we to make of this? How do we go on when some major piece of our lives is missing or broken? Are we to put our lives on hold and wait for Him finally to come through for us? Is that how we’re to live? How much of our lives do we let slip away while we drum our fingers restlessly waiting to graduate, get married, have a baby, buy a house or get that job that we’ve always wanted? What do we do in those long stretches when life comes to a standstill because of the LORD’s silence, when day after day we’re looking at the same problems, and same unchanged heart, the same unhealed body?

Sarah made a lot of mistakes. She put her life on hold. She watched a lot of precious years slip away believing she had failed as a woman. After all, in her culture a real woman gave her husband sons. A slave girl even usurped her identity as a wife. ADONAI didn’t seem to want her life. She didn’t see a place for herself in the big things the LORD was doing for Abraham. Until then.

Then Sarah’s laughter brought forth one of the great statements of Scripture. God declared: Is anything too hard for the Lord (18:14a)? The Hebrew word for too hard is pele and means wonderful or extraordinary. It is one of those Hebrew words that is only used of ADONAI, never used of mankind (Judges 13:18; Psalm 139:6; Isaiah 9:6, 28:29). So literally the Lord is asking: Is there anything too wonderful for Me to do? Jesus would say it this way: With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible (Mt 19:26). This is a difficult passage for the Jews because they do not believe that one of the three angels was the Lord. Therefore, the rabbis teach that one of the angels did not simply give his blessing to Abraham, but also brought his greetings to Sarah.

God wasn’t laughing. But rather than rebuking Sarah for her unbelief, the Lord gently reminded her that the One who knew her name and heard her innermost thoughts was able to bring it to pass. Her long years of disappointment and sorrow were about to end, because nothing is too hard for the Lord. Why did she laugh? She was completely off-guard while God was in the middle of teaching her a lesson. She needed to know about the greatness of God. Abraham was in the process of learning it. But, as we shall see, he was already much further down the road in his knowledge of God’s miraculous abilities (see the commentary on Romans Bf – The Means of Justification). Now it was time for her to go down that road with him. It was time for her to claim her role in the covenant promises, and to prepare herself to become the mother of nations (17:16).³⁰⁵  Then ADONAI reaffirms His promise: I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son (18:14b).

Sarah was afraid, knowing that the Lord had correctly discerned her silent laugh and thoughts of unbelief. But she added to her problem when she said, “I did not laugh.” But the Lord, standing in front of her, said, “Yes, you did laugh” (18:15). The conversation ends quickly. Abraham listens, but does not get involved. Did the Lord name their son he laughs as a penalty because they laughed? Not at all! It would be a constant reminder that nothing was too hard for the Lord. What a joy little Laughter would be to them.

Is anything too hard for the Lord? This rhetorical question does not present us with a promise to claim, but an attribute to embrace, a faith to aspire to, and a hope to sustain us. When we face difficult circumstances, we cannot claim this verse as a promise that Christ will change our circumstances. He is capable of doing that, but perhaps the hard thing to do is to help us to accept our circumstances and grow through them.

In 1967, teenager Joni Eareckson took a dive that changed her life forever. Her story has been told many times, but there is an important point that is not often made; one that gives us a vital insight into how Jesus works in our circumstances. Her broken body at first brought denial and bitterness. When Joni began to confront her paralysis, she was encouraged by some friends to have the faith that Messiah could miraculously heal her. After all, nothing is too hard for the Lord. As she explored this faith, she struggled with the difference between faith that He could heal her and faith that He would heal her. Would it take just as much faith to believe that the Lord would heal her spirit without healing her body and use her in His service regardless of her limitations? Doesn’t Yeshua do a hard thing when He uses any of us despite our limitations?

If you told Joni then that thirty years in the future she would be an internationally known mouth artist, author of more than twenty-five books (translated into thirty-three languages), and an inspirational speaker whose radio broadcasts are presently aired by some eight hundred stations daily, she may have considered that doing that would be a much more difficult accomplishment for the Lord than healing her paralysis. If you had told her that, in addition, she would have produced a number of albums and videotapes and founded a ministry to and for the disabled that put her in the national and international spotlight as their spokesperson, she may have thought that healing was the easy way out for the Lord. As it turns out, Joni’s faith that she could be transformed was of far more use to Yeshua than her faith that she could be healed.

We must be cautious that as we accept by faith that nothing is too hard for the Lord, we do not begin to dictate to Him which hard thing He must do. He tends to have things in mind that go far beyond what we are able to ask for or even think of.³⁰⁶

Abraham’s Three Visitors
18: 1-8

Abraham’s three visitors DIG: Who were the three visitors? How do we know? How can angels appear as men? Even with hospitality of strangers being mandatory in the Near East, how does Abraham go the extra mile for his three visitors? Why is he in such a hurry?

REFLECT: Whom can you serve in the name of Messiah this week? Do you have a sense of urgency about your ministry? What evidence is there of it? How eager are you to hear what the Lord has to say to you? Are you standing close enough to ADONAI that you can hear His gentle whisper (First Kings 19:12)?

Parashah 4: vaYera (He appeared) 18:1-22:24
(see my commentary on Deuteronomy, to see link click Af – Parashah)

The Key People include three angels, Abraham, Sarah, Lot, Abimelech, Isaac, Hagar, Ishmael, and the descendants of Nahor.

The Scenes include the trees of Mamre in Hebron, Sodom and Gomorrah, Zoar, the Negev, Gerar, Beersheba, the desert of Paran, and Moriah.

The Main Events include the angels’ visit, the promise of a son, Sarah’s laugh, Sodom destroyed, the sister deception part two, Isaac born, Hagar and Ishmael cast out, treaty, the binding of Isaac, and God’s provision of a ram.

It is test time for Abraham. By now he has acquired a well-deserved reputation for being a man of faith. But how faithful is he, especially when it gets really tough? We will find out in this parashah. For, in it, we will see the LORD giving Abraham a battery of tests concerning his faith. However, the tests were not designed so that ADONAI would discover something new about Abraham, for He already knew everything about him! The tests were designed for Abraham – to show him how much he had learned about God and in which areas he still needed to grow.

This Torah portion is also written for us, so that we can get a glimpse into the extraordinary quality and depth of Abraham’s faith. As we examine this portion, we will also learn that our tests are like our father Abraham’s. They, too, are custom-made for us by our loving heavenly Abba. They will teach us how to grow in our trust in the Holy One just as we observe how Abraham, the man of faith, walked through his trials.

ADONAI appeared to Avraham. The rabbis teach that God came to visit him as he was recovering from circumcision (17:9-14). The place was near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting, apparently praying and meditating, at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day, or early in the afternoon (18:1). This opening statement already has a great impact. Up until now YHVH had talked to and had revealed Himself to Avraham in a dream, in a vision, and in a conversation, but this is so much more than any previous occasion in which the LORD had communicated with him. For a king, for Ha’Shem, the creator of the universe, just to drop in without fanfare, or to at least have hundreds of angels preceding the entourage of the King of kings and welcome with flowers and a red carpet, is highly unusual, and I would say shocking!

Abraham looked up (18:2a). There are three places in Genesis where Avraham looked up or lifted up his eyes. They are some of the most important moments of his life. The first is when the LORD told him: Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east, and west. All the Land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever (13:14b-15). The second is here where Abraham looked up and saw the Lord and two angels. And the third will be when ADONAI will provide a ram caught in a thicket (22:13-14). Each time these words are very significant.

To his surprise, he saw three men standing nearby (18:2a). The reader knows that one of these three men is really the preincarnate Jesus Christ, and the other two men will later be identified as angels (19:1). The rabbis teach these were merely three angels. They teach that one was to bring news that Sarah would give birth to a son, the second to overthrow Sodom, and the third to heal Abraham. Although there was nothing in the outward appearance of the three strangers to suggest they had come from heaven, Avraham somehow sensed that they were very special visitors, to be used by ADONAI in some way to answer his prayers.²⁹⁸

When Abraham saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground (18:2b). The phrase bowed low is actually the Hebrew word shachath, the usual word for worship. In fact, this is the first time it is used in the Scriptures. His whole manner suggests a sense of urgency. Although it was the custom to be very hospitable toward guests, this was clearly more than normal hospitality. Avraham was really treating these men like royalty.

Avraham said to the leader: If I have found favor in your eyes Adonai (or my Lord), do not pass your servant by (18:3). Now Adonai, which is one of the names of God, means the One who claims obedience and service. But the same name is used as a title of respect for men, so this does not necessarily prove Abraham recognized Him as the Lord. However, he might have suspected that this stranger was the Lord because of the way he acted. So the name Adonai, would have been proper in either case. However, if Abraham did have suspicions about this being the Lord, they would vanish very soon.

Because the rabbis do not believe that one of these three was ADONAI they have come up with three options to get around the obvious. Their first option is that Abraham is merely addressing the leader of the three angels, so the word does not imply deity. The second option is that Abraham was really praying to God Himself before attending to his guests. The third option was that Avraham recognized that they were angels, and therefore, called them by their Master’s name, O Lord.

Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way – now that you have come to your servant. It would not be fitting that they would leave without partaking of his hospitality. As Hebrews 13:2 reminds us: Don’t forget to be friendly to outsiders; for in so doing, some people, without knowing it, have entertained angels. Very well, they said: Do as you say (18:4-5). You get the sense that Abraham is in a hurry to get these courtesies taken care of so he could learn what the visitors had to say.

So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. Quick, he whispered: Get three seahs of fine flour and knead it and bake some bread (18:6). This is the beginning of a tradition in both Jewish and Arabic cultures that three seahs of fine flour make up a fellowship offering. In the Jewish tradition it is to be unleavened. First Samuel 25:18 tells us Abigail made sufficient provisions for David and his band of outlaws with five seahs of parched grain. The trench Elijah dug around the base of the altar at Mt. Carmel, which was then filled with twelve jars of water, was large enough to hold two seahs of seed (First Kings 18:32).²⁹⁹ These two references suggest that Sarah’s three seahs was a very large quantity for only three men. Then he ran to the herd and personally selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who again hurried to prepare it (18:7). This shows that Abraham was going well beyond the bare minimum of hospitality.

He then brought some butter and milk (side dishes to bring out the taste of the meat and to diminish their thirst).³⁰⁰ and the choicest calf that had been prepared, and set these before them (18:8a). Because this was before the commandments of the Torah, Abraham served both milk and meat together (Deuteronomy 14:21). Today this is forbidden by rabbinic law because Jews must separate dairy from meat products, but because the rabbis teach that the Torah always existed they have to come up with an explanation here. They say that Abraham served both butter and milk as soon as it was prepared, then he served the meat from the calf later. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree (18:8b). This is one of the most human-like appearances of the Lord in the entire TaNaKh. He did not appear in the form of a vision, as in Chapter 15, nor was it in the form of a spoken word, as in Chapter 17. It was a divine appearance as a Guest, thus making this a time of friendship and fellowship with the Lord for Abraham.

It might seem strange that angels would eat human food. They don’t have to, but evidently it is possible for them to do so. In order to communicate with mankind, they frequently appear in the Scriptures as men. This appearance is not a ghostlike, unsubstantial appearance, but in every way physical and real. There is no way of explaining how this happens. Angels are spirits (Hebrews 1:14), but evidently ADONAI allows them to appear in human form when necessary. It is probably something like the appearance of Yeshua to His apostles when He took broiled fish and ate it in their presence (Luke 24:42-43). The Lord Himself taught that, in the resurrection, we ourselves will be like the angels in heaven (Matthew 22:30); and there is an indication that the activities in the New Jerusalem will include eating (Revelation 22:2 and 14).³⁰¹

As Abraham stood by these three visitors, he was very eager to know why they had come. He had been thinking about ADONAI’s promise of a son for him and Sarah, and somehow sensed that they had something to do with His promise.

Angels Unawares
18: 1-15

Do not forget to show hospitality, for by this some have entertained angels unawares (Hebrews 13:2 NASB/KJV). We are not to be hospitable because on some occasion we might find ourselves ministering to angels. This should not be our motivation for our hospitality. We are to minister out of love, for the sake of those we help and for God’s glory. The point here is that we can never know how important and far reaching a simple act of kindness may be. We minister out of need, not because of any consequences we are able to foresee. Abraham went out of his way to help three men who were passing by his tent. He did not wait to be asked for help but volunteered. It was an opportunity more than a duty. In fact, he considered the greater service to himself, saying: If I have found favor in your eyes, my masters, do not pass your servant by (18:3). At the time he had no idea that two of the men were angels and that the third was the Lord Himself. And if he had known they were, it would have been no less right for him to be hospitable.

In a sense, we always minister to the Lord when we are hospitable, especially to fellow believers. I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me (Matthew 25:40). To feed the hungry, take in the stranger, clothe the naked, and visit the imprisoned in Jesus’ name is to serve Him. To turn our backs on those in need of such things is to turn our backs on Him. I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me (Matthew 25:45).²⁹⁷

The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
18:1 to 19:38

Soon after the marvelous theophany and covenant described in Genesis 17, Abraham had another visit from the Lord. This, however, was not an appearance of the Lord in His glory, but rather was in the form of a man and his two friends traveling through Hebron in the heat of the day. The context of these two chapters makes it clear that the other two men were angels, who later were sent to Sodom and Gomorrah to bring God’s judgment on those wicked cities. The leader of the three men could have been none other than the Lord Himself and, therefore, Messiah in His preincarnate state (John 1:18).²⁹⁶

In general, the emphasis changes in this section from Elohim, the God of creation and destruction, to the Lord, or the preincarnate Yeshua Messiah. The only exception is in 19:29, where we are told that God destroyed the cities of the plain. It is appropriate that Elohim, the God of righteousness, be used there. But otherwise the Lord is used throughout these chapters. Therefore, the Lord chooses to focus on the mercy He gives to Lot, rather than the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

The progression of these two chapters is written in typical Hebrew narrative style. At first, the writer describes what has happened from the author’s point of view. Then he proceeds to narrate how the person involved in the story made the discovery. For example, as in the case of Job, the author and the reader both know why Job was suffering, but Job does not. Through the narrative, however, he eventually learns.

This is the fifth of seven times that Avraham receives direct revelation from ADONAI (12:1-7, 13:14-17, 15:1-21, 17:1-21, here, 21:12-13 and 22:1-18).

Abraham and His Son Ishmael
Were Both Circumcised on That Same Day
17: 23-27

Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that same day DIG: How does Abraham eventually respond? Why? How much faith would it take to voluntarily be circumcised at ninety-nine years old? Do you think that all those in his household were circumcised voluntarily because of their belief in Abraham and their faith in ADONAI, or do you think that he coerced them? How old was Ishmael when he was circumcised?

REFLECT: When you know what the will of the LORD is in your life, how do you respond? Do you respond immediately? Or do you question and drag your feet? How do you obtain the favor of God?

Biblical faith is seen in action . . . in obedience. Abraham was immediately obedient to God’s command (17:11), because on that very day he took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or slaves bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him (17:23).

Avraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised. This is true leadership. Abraham did not tell those in his household to be circumcised without he himself doing so. When leaders turn around, they have people following them and Abraham was a leader. And his son Ishmael was thirteen (17:24-25). The mention of his age at this point in the narrative is important later on.

Even though Ishmael was not to be the son of promise, Abraham rightly desired to have him obey God’s blood covenant; therefore, he and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that same day (17:26). Because Ishmael is the father of all Muslims, they remain faithful even today to this covenant of circumcision. In their prayers at least five times a day the Muslims include the praise of Abraham and his descendants with the praise of Muhammad and his descendants. The fact that Ishmael and all those in his household were circumcised is evidence that Abraham is to be the father of many nations.

One can only imagine the questions asked of Abraham that day, maybe he even encountered some resistance, but every male in Avraham’s household, including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him (17:27). By this time, everyone knew that Abraham had favor with ADONAI, and if this is what God asked of them, they, along with Avraham, would obey.²⁹⁴

God’s will for us, as it was for Abraham, is loyal obedience. And as the little child said of the angels in heaven who do God’s will there, “They obeyed without asking any questions.” This, and this alone, is the power of daily living.²⁹⁵

Haftarah Lech l’Cha: Yesha’yahu (Isaiah) 40:27-41:16
(see my commentary on Deuteronomy Af – Parashah)

Isra’el wallows in worm-like despair, cursed with few numbers, fear of her enemies, and exile. Nevertheless, YHVH tells her, “Have no fear” (Isaiah 41:14). Abram defeated the Gentile kings with very few numbers (Genesis 14:1-16), but his seed had not been obedient to the Covenant, and the sons of Isra’el were weak. But then, God anointed Cyrus, king of the Persian super-power, to work on Isra’el’s behalf (Isaiah 41:2-3, 45:1-2). The other nations faced Cyrus with bigger and stronger idols, but their efforts were hollow (Isaiah 41:5-7 and 11-12). YHVH has not cast away His covenant people, nor the seed of His friend Abraham (Isaiah 41:8-9; Second Chronicles 20:7; James 2:23; John 15:15). ADONAI will strengthen Isra’el as a threshing-sledge. Isra’el grinds up her enemies and scatters them like chaff to the wind (Isaiah 41:14-15). Finally, with her strength renewed, Isra’el will rejoice in the LORD.

B’rit Chadashah suggested readings for Parashah Lech l’Cha:
Acts 7:1-8; Romans 3:19-5:5; Galatians 3:15-18, 5:1-6;
Colossians 2:11-15; Messianic Jews (Hebrews) 7:1-19, 11:8-12

Saving faith trusts in God as the One who gives life to the dead and calls nonexistent things into existence (Romans 4:17b). God the Father brought Yeshua back to life (Romans 4:24b-25, 6:4, 8:11; Acts 3:15, 4:10; Galatians 1:1; Colossians 2:12; First Corinthians 6:14; Second Corinthians 4:14). God the Father also gave life to the deadness of Abraham’s seed and Sarah’s loins for the purpose of reproduction (Romans 4:17, which quotes Genesis 17:5). The circle of life is evident. Isaac fathered a line that gives life to Yeshua, and Yeshua offers His life as the human substitute for the ram that Abraham offered for Isaac. Saving faith trusts solely in the life-giving power of God the Father to provide for us. ADONAI provides for our sins and justifies us by linking Messiah’s death to His resurrection. True faith requires us to walk in those beliefs.

Your Wife Sarah Will Bear You a Son,
and You Will Call Him Isaac
17: 15-22

Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac DIG: In what special way did God let Sarai know that she was still an important part of His promise? How does Avraham respond initially?

REFLECT: From what trouble would you like to be rescued? When was the last time the Lord overruled your mistake and brought blessing out of trouble?

ADONAI had brought Abraham and Sarai to the end of themselves to show them that His promises rested on Him and on Him alone. Most of God’s communication had been with Abraham, but his wife would not be ignored. It seems that the LORD wasn’t through with Sarai yet. She was part of His plan right from the start. God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai or my princess; her name will be Sarah or the princess” (17:15).

Elohim said: I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. For the first time, it was announced that Sarah was to be the mother of the son of promise. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her (17:16). As the mother of nations it would be entirely proper for her to be called the princess. The rabbis teach that she gave birth and rose up from her child without pain. Three nations did come from her, Judah, Isra’el, and Edom. God had promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations, and kings will come from him (17:5-6); now those same promises were made to Sarah (art by Sarah Beth Baca: see more information on Links and Resources).

All the mothers of the nation of Isra’el were not able to conceive and have children naturally. All were barren. Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Hannah all had to have a miracle to give birth to their children. But why? ADONAI wanted to be clearly seen in the births of the major historical heroes in the path to our salvation. Of course, the most out of the ordinary was the birth of Yeshua our Messiah that is not a birth given by a barren woman, but a birth given by a woman who knew no man!

Up to this point in his life, Abraham had an amazing knowledge of his God. This can be seen by the different names that he used in referring to Him – God (Elohim), LORD (YHVH), The Almighty (El Shaddai), and the Most High God (El Elyon). Each different name represents a large degree of knowledge about the Person, but also the nature of God. But Elohim was not willing to let Abraham remain even at that significant depth of knowledge. Consequently, El Elyon had wonderful lessons planned for both Abraham and his wife. I am referring to lessons on God’s supernatural abilities, His grace, His justice, and yes, even His sense of humor.

Abraham fell face down when he heard the incredible announcement and laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old (he would be a hundred when the child was born)? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety” (17:17)? They were both well past childbearing years. Abraham’s laugh was not a laugh of unbelief, but of faith which he, while taking God at His word, considers it almost too good to be true.²⁹² The rabbis teach that Abraham laughed with joy, whereas Sarah’s laughter (18:12) was in derision; therefore, God was angry with Sarah but not so with Abraham. 

But there was still a shadow hanging over the scene. Abraham loved his growing son Ishmael and he pleaded with the LORD, “If only Ishmael might live under Your blessing” (17:18)! After all, the boy’s name meant God hears. But not even Abraham’s intense appeal could stand before the purposes of God. Earlier Abraham was prepared to suggest that his servant Eliezer serve as a surrogate son and be his heir. Now he is suggesting that Ishmael be his heir. God had spoken to Abraham and it was a possibility that he did not mention the birth of the coming son to Sarah. She had been through enough. Why raise her hopes that the sorrow and shame of childlessness might end at this late date in her life? God knew better than Abraham and gave His answer at once: Yes, He would bless Ishmael, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac.

Let’s not lose the full impact of this. Picture one-hundred-year-old Abraham learning that his ninety-year-old wife will have a baby. Then imagine the head of gray hair falling on the floor of his tent laughing hysterically at what the LORD had told him. I think ADONAI was having a lot of fun with His aged friend. This seems especially evident since the Bible doesn’t show any sense of rebuke coming from YHVH. In fact, God seems to play right along with this moment of divine humor and tells Abraham in so many words, “Your laughed?! OK, Sarah will have a son and you will name him he laughs (The English translation for the name Isaac)! I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him (17:19). God is very clear in this passage that Isaac will be the son of promise, not Ishmael. I am of the opinion that Abraham thought many, many times, “I made a mistake in taking Hagar.” You see, that was a sin that not only plagued him, but there has also been trouble in the Land from the beginning because of it. Don’t tell me that sin is a little thing or that sin is something you can get by with. Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows (Galatians 6:7).²⁹³

Even though he would not be the son of promise, Ishmael would not be forgotten. For God said that he would have many descendants also: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. And we see the great Arab population today. He will be the father of twelve rulers (25:12-18), and I will make him into a great nation (17:20). He would receive promises, but he would not be the son of promise.

Because Muslims twist the Bible to suit their own purposes, today they teach, “The first Muslim on earth was not Muhammad but Abraham who submitted totally to Allah. Their belief is that Islam, as a way of life, had been revealed to other prophets like Adam and Noah prior to Abraham.” They teach that because Abraham was born in Ur of the Chaldeans, in Mesopotamia that is now part of Iraq, he was really an Arab. But however confused the Muslims are, God is very clear. He says: But My covenant I will establish with Isaac (Hebrew: Yitz’chak) whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year (17:21). This would give Abraham time to heal from his circumcision before Sarah would become pregnant. During this three-month period, the stories of Sodom and Gomorrah, and Abraham and Abimelech will take place in Chapters 18 to 20.

When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him (17:22). God had made up His mind about this and Abraham was not going to change it. ADONAI was going to hear and answer other prayers of Abraham, but this issue was closed. Isaac, not Ishmael, would be the son of promise.

Thus the LORD overrides the mistakes of His children, and in loving fellowship and tender mercy, brings blessing out of trouble.

For Generations to Come
Every Male Who is Eight Days Old Must be Circumcised
17: 9-14

For generations to come every male who is eight days old must be circumcised DIG: Why do you think ADONAI chose circumcision to ratify his covenant with Abraham? What does circumcision demonstrate (15:6, 17:1 see Romans 4:9-12)?

REFLECT: If circumcision is no longer required of God’s people, what is required of us today (see Galatians 5:6)? Circumcision did not confer salvation any more in that day than baptism does today, yet that truth is often missed in both Jewish and Gentile circles. Why? What does circumcision of the heart mean to you?

Then God said to Avraham, “As for you, you must keep My covenant.” This is the loving response to the seven I wills in 17:1-8. The LORD is not saying His promises are conditional; they are not, but the principle is that unconditional promises of God demand a response from us. It is the same principle as our salvation. We are saved unconditionally. We are saved by grace through faith, and not by works (Ephesians 2:8-9). In response to ADONAI’s love for us we should keep His commandments. Jesus said: Whoever has My commandments and obeys them, they are the ones who love Me (John 14:21); whether we obey them or not, our salvation is secure (John 6:37-40, 10:27:30), but, Elohim still expects us to act in loving response to His gift of salvation (James 2:18-26), and that is the principle that is at work here.

The recipients of the covenant would be Abraham and his descendants for the generations to come. His new name pointed ahead to his descendants. As long as Jewish history continued, this would be a practice that must be performed. The LORD had pledged to do His part in the covenant. Now He gave Abraham a means by which he and his descendants would keep their part of the covenant.²⁸⁹ God said: This is My covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep; every male among you shall be circumcised (17:9-10).

You are to undergo circumcision or cutting around, and it will be the sign of the covenant between Me and you (17:11). This was a permanent decision. There was no going back. Like ADONAI’s covenant with Noah, His covenant with Avraham would have a sign. In God’s covenant with Noah the sign was the rainbow, and in His covenant with Abraham the sign was circumcision. This sign would require the shedding of blood. This would be a perpetual reminder to walk in His ways, it being, as it were, the master’s seal on his servant. There would be a constant reminder that it is a blood covenant (15:7-21). The rabbis teach that the angels take this blood and store it in a special place. When the LORD is angry with Isra’el, He looks at this blood and has mercy upon them. Circumcision was not particularly unique in the ancient world no more than it is particularly unique in the present world. There is something else that makes it unique.

What makes Jewish circumcision unique is the timing. For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised even if it is on the Sabbath (17:12a). The rabbis teach that God swore to Abraham that all of his descendants who were circumcised would not be sent into hell. They teach that Abraham stands before ADONAI guarding the way to sh’ol so that none of his descendants, bearing the mark of circumcision, would enter the place of divine punishment. However, if a Jew died without repentance, special angels would come and reattach his foreskin. He would therefore be uncircumcised and would go into hell. Abraham would not help him because he would be uncircumcised.

Every Jew was to be circumcised, including those servants born in your household or slaves bought with money from a foreigner after they were born – those who are not your offspring. Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised (17:12b-13a).

Circumcision was practiced elsewhere in the ancient Near East, but, here it achieved a new meaning: My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant (17:13b). Prominent Jews in the New Covenant like John the Baptist (Luke 1:59-60), Jesus (Luke 2:21), Paul (Philippians 3:5) and Timothy were all circumcised (Acts 16:1-3).

If anyone did not identify himself or his boys with that physical sign, he would be cut off from the LORD’s covenant.²⁹⁰ Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant (17:14). The phrase, cut off, signifies a premature death. There is a play on words here and it goes like this: If the foreskin is not cut off, he will be cut off. An example of this would be where God struck Moses with a deadly illness of plague because he had failed to circumcise his second son. Only when his wife Zipporah intervenes and has her son circumcised is the life of Moses spared (see my commentary on Exodus, to see link click Az – Surely You are a Bridegroom of Blood to Me). So, the failure of circumcision required a cutting off.

On the other hand, circumcision of the flesh did not and cannot guarantee salvation. For in Christ neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love (Galatians 5:6). People in the TaNaKh were saved exactly like people today are saved, by faith. Important as it was, circumcision was only an outward symbol for the Jews. It was not proof of salvation. The Jerusalem Counsel ended all debate by removing circumcision as a requirement for Gentile believers (Acts 15:1-29). Therefore, circumcision is circumcision of the heart (Romans 2:28-29). The true mark of a child of God is not an outward symbol, such as circumcision, but, the condition of the heart.²⁹¹

This is what is called progressive revelation: from here in Genesis, to Deuteronomy (see the commentary on Deuteronomy Fp – From Restoration to Repentance), to Jeremiah (see the commentary on Jeremiah (see the commentary on Jeremiah Eo – The Days are Coming, declares the LORD, When I Will Make a New Covenant with the People of Isra’el), and then to Colossians 2:1-3. In each step along the way ADONAI gives us more and more clarity about what it means to circumcise our hearts.

Avraham and all those of his household did not circumcise themselves to become members of the blood covenant. They did it because they already were members of the blood covenant. Circumcision for them represented the same thing that good works represent for us today. Good works are not necessary for salvation; they are a result of salvation (James 2:14-26). Therefore, both Gentiles who believe without being circumcised, as well as those Jews who are circumcised both physically and spiritually, may claim Abraham as their father in the faith (Romans 4:9-12, 16-17).

Your Name Will Be Abraham,
For I Have Made You a Father of Many Nations
17: 1-8

Your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations DIG: After thirteen years of God’s silence, Abram must think Ishmael is the promised heir. How does ADONAI show him otherwise? With His covenant cut with Abram (15:9-21), how does the LORD now confirm it? In what way is this promise an everlasting covenant? In the ancient world, a name conveyed the essence of a person, and giving a name conveyed rule or ownership. What then do you make of Abram and Sarai’s name change? Why do you think God referred to Himself as El Shaddai?

REFLECT: Who will receive a new name? If you could change your name, what name would you choose? Why? When was the last time you fell face down in the presence of the LORD? Is He able in your life? How can you be sure that God will fulfill His covenant promises to you?

Twenty-four years since the covenant was sealed with blood (15:9-21) and thirteen years since the birth of Ishmael (16:15), ADONAI once again spoke to Abram. His appearance was not to criticize Abram for taking matters into his own hands by fathering Ishmael, but to strengthen Abram’s faith in the blood covenant that God had with him. After this long absence, the LORD assured Abram that He was still at work and the covenant promises were sure.²⁷⁹

When Abram was ninety-nine and Sarai was eighty-nine yeas old, ADONAI appeared to him in a theophany, or a visible appearance of God.²⁸⁰  This is the fourth of seven times that Abraham receives direct revelation from Elohim (12:1-7, 13:14-17, 15:1-21, here, 18:1-33, 21:12-13 and 22:1-18). The LORD said to him, “I am El Shaddai,” or “God Almighty” (17:1a). The name comes from the idea that all might and power is expressed in the term God or El. The word Almighty comes from the root word meaning strong, powerful or to do violence, especially in the sense of one who is so powerful as to be able to set aside the laws of nature. As God Almighty, He was able. He was wholly capable of fulfilling all the promises that He had made to Abram.

Who holds the universe together? No one but God, who is infinitely superior in strength and power, knows all things, sustains the universe. That’s mighty!

El Shaddai said to him, “Walk before Me.” There are other passages that also describe our walk with God. The children of Isra’el were encouraged to walk after the LORD (Deuteronomy 13:4). To walk after becomes a servant following his master. Of Enoch and Noah it was written that they walked with God, which indicates fellowship and friendship. (5:24, 6:9). But those who are members of the body of Christ are told to walk in Him (Colossians 2:6). To walk before is suggestive of a child running ahead and playing in the presence of her father, conscious of her perfect security because He is just behind. But to walk in expresses union or being a member of His body. This is a concept of progressive revelation that is developed throughout the Scriptures.²⁸¹

Not only was Abraham to walk before El Shaddai, he was to be blameless (17:1b). All through the Bible, the standard of perfection is set before us. The Torah required that Isra’el should love ADONAI her God with all her heart (Deuteronomy 6:5). The Psalmist said that the Torah of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul (Psalm 19:7). It was an impossible standard, and it was meant to be such. Rabbi Sha’ul taught that the Torah became a tutor to lead Jews to the Messiah to be justified by faith (NASB Galatians 3:24). A paidagogos or a tutor was a slave employed by Greek or Roman families, whose duty was to supervise young boys on behalf of their parents. The role was never permanent, and it was a great day of deliverance when a boy finally gained freedom from his paidagogos. His purpose was to take care of the child only until he grew into adulthood, then he was free.²⁸²

Sha’ul tells us that this was the purpose of the Torah. ADONAI purposed that when the Messiah came on the scene and offered salvation by faith alone, the Jews, who should have been tired of butting their heads up against the standard of perfection, would embrace Him. They would finally be set free from the perfect standard of the Torah. Unfortunately, by the time Yeshua came, the Jews had pulled God’s high standard down to something they could do and instead embraced the Oral Law of the Pharisees (see my commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Ei – The Oral Law), by which they nullified the Word of God for the sake of their tradition (Matthew 15:2 and 6) and enslaved themselves even further. However, when we believe in, have faith in, or trust in Christ, we become blameless. The righteousness and perfection of Christ is transferred to our account, and we are justified and accepted in His sight. But now, apart from the Torah, God’s way of making people righteous in His sight has been made clear – although the Torah and the Prophets give their witness as well – and it is a righteousness that comes from God, through the faithfulness of Yeshua the Messiah, to all who continue trusting. For it makes no difference whether one is a Jew or Gentile, since all have sinned and come short of earning God’s praise. By God’s grace, without earning it, all are granted the status of being considered righteous before Him, through the act of redeeming us from our enslavement to sin that was accomplished by the Messiah Yeshua (Romans 3:21-24 CJB).

There are seven I will’s in these verses. El Shaddai said: (1) I will confirm My covenant between Me and you and (2) I will greatly increase your numbers (17:2). This is the fourth confirmation of God’s covenant with Abraham (12:1-3, 13:14-17, 15:7-21, here, and 22:15-18). The LORD had promised to make Abram a great nation (12:1-3), to make his descendants as numerous as the dust of the earth (13:14-17), and like the stars of heaven without number. Then we are told that Abram believed God, who credited it to him as righteousness (15:5-6). But the years passed, and Abram had no child. He was getting to be an old man and Sarai an old woman. Still there was no seed. They had Ishmael, but he did not bring the fulfillment of the promise and Abram was now ninety-nine years old. But is anything too hard for ADONAI? Nothing is impossible with Him! And it is precisely at this point that the promise of a seed is confirmed, and the name of Abram is changed to Abraham by the revelation of El Shaddai.²⁸³

Sarai’s womb was a tomb – it was a place of death. And out of death came life. Isaac was born.²⁸⁴ Rabbi Sha’ul tells us that without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old) and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God being fully persuaded that God had the power to do what He had promised (Romans 4:19-21). Here the promise of the TaNaKh gives way to the reality of the B’rit Chadashah. Life out of death was the promise El Shaddai made to Abraham. Moreover, Paul takes this promise of life out of death and applies it to us through Christ, “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (Romans 4:25).

Then Abram fell on his face (17:2b). This is the natural position of those who are in the presence of God. We see this throughout the Bible. Abraham would fall on his face again in 17:17 when he heard that Sarah would bear a son. Moses and Aaron fell on their faces continually in the desert (Numbers 14:5, 16:4, 22 and 45, 20:6). When Balaam saw the Angel of the LORD standing in the road with His sword drawn, he fell facedown (Numbers 22:31). Joshua fell on his face when confronted by the Commander of the army of ADONAI before the fall of Jericho (Joshua 5:14). David and the elders of Isra’el fell on their faces when they saw the Angel of the LORD standing between heaven and earth with a drawn sword in His hand extended over Jerusalem (First Chronicles 21:16). Even as the evil spirits saw Christ, they fell down before Him and cried out, “You are the Son of God” (Mark 3:11). Lastly, in the book of Revelation, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fall down before the Lamb (Revelation 5:8, 14). From Genesis to Revelation, we see men and women falling face down in the presence of El Shaddai. Consequently, Abraham was in good company.

And God Almighty said to him, “As for Me, this is My covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations” (17:3-4). This is a new promise. Up to now the LORD had said he would father one nation, the nation of Israel. But now he would be the father of many nations. I suppose it could be said that Abraham has probably had more children than any other man that has ever lived on the earth. Just think of it. For four thousand years there have been two great lines, the line of Ishmael and the line of Isaac, and there have been millions of people in each line. What a family! What a homecoming! Added to that, there are spiritual descendants because Gentile believers are also called children of Abraham by faith in Messiah. When God promised that Abraham would be the father of many nations, El Shaddai certainly made good on His promise!²⁸⁵

“No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many Gentile nations” (17:5). Abram means exalted father. All his life this childless man had to go around with the name exalted father. What an embarrassment for someone who had no children! But now he would be called Abraham, which means the father of many. The person changing the name of another would be claiming ownership of that person.

Later, God would change Jacob’s name to Isra’el, in commemoration of his prayer (32:28. 35:10). The king of Egypt changed the name of Joseph to Zaphnath-paaneah, because of his ability to reveal secrets (41:45). Another king of Egypt subsequently changed the name of Eliakim the son of Josiah to Jehoiakim, when he made him king of Judah (Second Kings 23:34). When the king of Babylon made Mattaniah king he changed his name to Zedekiah (Second Kings 24:17). So, also, when Nebuchadnezzar wished to have a few of the young Jewish prisoners taught in the Chaldean language and customs, he changed their names from Dani’el or God is my judge, Hananiah or beloved of the Lord, and Azariah, or the Lord is my help, and Mishael or who is as God, to Belteshazzar, or prince of Baal, Shadrach, or the command of Aku, the Babylonian god of the moon, Meshach, or who is as Aku is, and Abed-nego, or servant of Nebo, the Babylonian god of wisdom, because he was their earthly master (Dani’el 1:6-7).²⁸⁶ Jesus also changed the name of Simon to Kefa (Matthew 16:17-18).

The Bible tells us that one day believers will receive a new name. Jesus says: To those who overcome, I will give them a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to them who receive it (Revelation 2:17). We will not know what the new name is until we receive it (Deuteronomy 29:29). New does not mean in contrast to what is old in time, but new in the sense of being completely different. The new name will serve as each believer’s admission into heaven. It will uniquely reflect God’s special love for and adoption of every one of His true children. He will give us a new name because He is our Master and Savior.²⁸⁷

After naming Abraham, ADONAI continued to prophesy and said: (3) I will make you very fruitful; (4) I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you (17:6). The fact that both Jewish and Gentile kings would come from Abraham was also a new promise.

Then God Almighty reaffirmed the covenant that He had made with Abraham. (5) I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you (17:7). The Hebrew word everlasting, or oran, does not carry the concept of eternity, but means up to the end of a certain time period, in this case, the whole duration of human history. It does not have the same concept as the English word. Therefore, the covenant would be established with and through only one specific seed, Abraham’s seed. The LORD would make many nations through Abraham; it would be sustained through only one nation, the nation of Isra’el.

Then God said: The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, (6) I will give as an everlasting possession to you, Abraham, and your descendants after you (17:8a). However, even though Abraham owned almost nothing of the Promised Land, and while his descendants would own much more of the Promised Land, never in Jewish history have the Jews owned all of the Promised Land. This will only be fulfilled in the messianic Kingdom and will be an everlasting possession until the creation of a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21:1).

And (7) I will be their God (17:8b). Though many have gone astray, and the history of Abraham’s descendants has been long and sad, there has always been at least a remnant in every generation that continues to worship and obey the God of Abraham. ADONAI is, of course, the Savior of all mankind, whether they acknowledge Him or not; but He undertook here to be in a special and unique way the God of Abraham’s descendants.²⁸⁸  This is the fourth confirmation of God’s covenant with Abraham (12:1-3, 13:14-17,15:7-21, here, and 22:15-18).

El Shaddai made an everlasting covenant with Abraham. Is it good today? It certainly is. The LORD promised everlasting life for whoever believes in Him (John 3:16). If God Almighty is not going to make good on His covenant with Abraham, then you had better read the fine print on your covenant again. But I have some good news for you. He is going to make good on Abraham’s covenant good and He is going to make good on your covenant. Jesus Himself said: The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that you may have life and have it to the full (John 10:10).

God’s Covenant of Circumcision with Abraham
17: 1-27

We have reached another crisis in the life of our patriarch Abraham and are to witness again the unparalleled grace of El Shaddai in His dealings with the father of all who believe. The whole chapter is full of grace. It was grace that prompted, planned and provided these blessings for Abraham. It was grace that condescended to Abraham’s weaknesses, limitations and faults. It was grace that persisted with Abraham in spite of every check and drawback, and it was grace that perfected everything concerning him. ADONAI is still the God of all grace (First Peter 5:10), and it is the believer’s joy to experience redemption through His blood, and the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding (Ephesians 1:7-8).²⁷⁸

So Hagar Bore Abram a Son
and Abram Named Him Ishmael
16: 15-16

So Hagar bore Abram a son and Abram named him Ishmael DIG: What does this chapter tell you about ADONAI? About human nature? What lessons could Sarai, Abram and Hagar have learned from this experience?

REFLECT: What has been your experience when you have had to “help” the LORD discover His plan for your life?

So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had born (16:15). After this experience, Hagar did return to Hebron, to Abram and Sarai, no doubt telling them about her experience with ADONAI. Without question there was a time of repentance and thanksgiving on the part of all three of them, and they apparently resolved to live together as amicably as they could with the LORD’s help. When the child was born, Abram, in obedience to the revelation received by Hagar, named him Ishmael and raised him as his son. For the next thirteen years Abram, Sarai, Hagar and, as he grew up, Ishmael, all believed he was the son of promise. It was only some fourteen years later that God appeared to Abram and told him Ishmael was the son of the flesh, and not the son of promise (15:5).

Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael (16:16). Moses notes important dates in the life of Abram under the direction of the Holy Spirit. This date will be important to identify the difference in the ages of Abram’s two sons.

As far as the Scriptures go, the next thirteen years would pass by in silence. It would have been easy to forget the LORD’s promise to Abram. He prospered financially, Ishmael grew into manhood and the Land was at peace. Abram had apparently given up all hope that he and Sarai would have a son of their own. One can only imagine how difficult those years were for Sarai. Had God forgotten her suffering? However, ADONAI had not forgotten. And in the fullness of time, He would bring Sarai a son.²⁷⁷

Hagar and the Angel of the LORD
16: 7-14

Hagar and the Angel of the LORD DIG: How does the LORD comfort the oppressed Hagar? Why does He insist that she submit to Sarai’s authority? What do His dealings with Hagar teach us about Him? Why do you think ADONAI’s treatment of Hagar gave her the courage to return to Sarai? Did God’s love stop for Ishmael after his descendants had become a great people, or would He continue to love them?

REFLECT: From what are you tempted to run? Where have you seen the LORD lately? As a result of that encounter, what name would you give to God or to the place where you met Him?

Eventually the mistreatment at the hands of Sarai became so unbearable that Hagar ran away. She was so desperate that she ran out into the desert. This would have most likely meant death to her and certainly to the child she was carrying.²⁷³

The Angel of the LORD, or Malach ADONAI, found Hagar near a spring in the desert (16:7a). This is the first appearance of the Angel of the LORD in the TaNaKh. This is a unique Person. He is called the Angel of the LORD 58 times and He is called the Angel of God 11 times. This is never a common angel, but the second Person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ. This is always a reference to the pre-incarnate Messiah. Significantly, the rabbis teach that the phrase the Angel of the LORD is sometimes used to denote God Himself. Indeed, when this phrase appears He may be referred to as an angel, but somewhere else in that context, He is referred to as ADONAI Himself. We see the same thing here.

He found her near a spring in the Negev desert. It was the spring that is beside the road to Shur (16:7b). The road to Shur was a major highway between Egypt and the land of Canaan (20:1, 25:18; Exodus 15:22; First Samuel 15:7, 27:8), so this shows that Hagar had fled and she was now in the border area between the Sinai and the Negev desert. There was Hagar, who had fled from her master and mistress. She was sitting there, without anything left. As she had fled, she had not received a donkey, sheep or goat. Probably not even any food or drink. She had nothing. Rejected, mistreated (16:6), a slave, a nobody. Several months pregnant and without hope, in a lonely, forgotten place.

But ADONAI saw her and had compassion on this nobody, who represents millions of nobodies, dressed in black today, slaves to their husbands, and told that they will be like wood for the fire of hell. And God called out to her, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” Hagar most likely had no personal relationship with the LORD. She may have heard about Him from Abram, but she didn’t cry out to Him. So God, in His mercy, made the first move and reached out to her.

He didn’t merely send an ordinary angel to comfort her. He sent His Son, Yeshua Messiah. The Angel of the LORD would appear later in the Bible, often in unique times. He can be seen when Abraham offered Isaac on Mount Moriah (22:13), in the burning bush on Mount Sinai (Exodus 3:2), sitting down with Gideon under the oak in Ophrah (Judges 6:11-22), appearing to Samson’s parents (Judges 13:1-24), and when He put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand Assyrian soldiers getting ready to invade Jerusalem in the days of Hezekiah (Isaiah 37:36). Hagar was privileged to be the first person to be honored with His visit. He must have loved her dearly. Jesus Christ continues to reveal Himself to many of Ishmael’s descendants today. He also loves them very much and wants to call them by name so they can know Him personally.

She answers the first question: I am running away from my mistress Sarai, she answered (16:8). But she doesn’t answer the second question because she seems to be wandering aimlessly far from home, not sure of her future at all. One of the great characteristics of God is that He is always out looking for the lost.

Then the Angel of the LORD told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her” (16:9). The divine presence called for obedience to His divine will. She returned to her mistress and accepted her position. It had not been ADONAI’s will for this union between Abram and Hagar to take place; but now that it had, He would make a gracious promise to their descendants.²⁷⁴

The Angel makes a specific prophecy and speaks as God Himself when He says: I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count (16:10). ADONAI had promised Abram to make his descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky (15:5). The Patriarchs received such a promise, but Hagar is the only woman to receive such a promise. And even though Ishmael was not the child of promise, the LORD graciously promised Hagar to also bless the fruit of her womb. The Bible tells us that Ishmael would be the father of twelve tribes (25:12-18). Later, Abram would pray a blessing for Ishmael (17:18). God told him that He would indeed bless Ishmael, just as He had promised his mother Hagar at the well. As a result, ADONAI honored the child that was born from unbelief and chose to bless him greatly also.

In fact, one person can only become a great people when God blesses the womb of the mothers, protects them from sickness, their enemies and bless them with food and drink. The descendants of Ishmael lived in some of the harshest places on earth, the edges of deserts where there was little food and water. No wonder Ishmael became an archer, hardly anything would grow there. But evidently God blessed Ishmael’s descendants as He did when the Israelites traveled through the desert. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him. I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation (17:20). God loves Ishmael and his descendants.

The pre-incarnate Messiah also said to her, “You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, which in Hebrew means God hears, for the LORD has heard of your affliction (Hebrew: aneyech)” (16:11). God has named very few people. Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (Isaiah 8:3) was given his name after his birth, and Jesus changed the name of Simon to Kefa (Matthew 16:17-18). Isaac (17:19), Jesus (Matthew 1:21; Luke 1:31), and John the Baptist (Luke 1:13) were named before their births. Ishmael, however, was the first unborn child named by ADONAI Himself.

But the name itself had to be a great encouragement to Hagar. In the midst of her distress and weeping ADONAI was saying to her, “I hear you.” By naming the child Ishmael, which means God hears, every time Hagar thought of her son or looked at her son, she would be reminded that God had heard her at the lowest point of her life. The LORD had heard her misery. What a comfort to know that God hears of and sees our misery today. He is concerned and will act on our behalf if we believe in Him (see my commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Bw – What God Does For Us at the Moment of Faith).

Today, the descendants of Ishmael cry out five times a day, “Merciful God, show us the straight way.” God hears. So many live in misery, under the yoke of government corruption and harsh religious regulations. But God hears. ADONAI has placed His Son, Jesus (or Esa) within the pages of the Koran. The citations below are all listed from The Meaning of the Glorious Koran, translated by Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall: A mentor Religious Classic, The New American Library, New York, New York, fifth printing, 1956.

(1) Esa was sent by Allah, who supported Him with the Holy Spirit to tell the world of Allah’s will (2:87; 5:110-117);

(2) Allah gave Esa to the world, exalted Him above all others, and supported Him with the Holy Spirit as proof of His sovereignty (2:253);

(3) Allah caused the miracle birth of John the Baptist to the aged Zechariah and his barren wife so John could be the messenger to announce Jesus as the Messiah (3:33-41);

(4) Allah appointed Mary to be the virgin mother of Esa, the Messiah (3:42-45, 19:12-22, 21:90);

(5) Yeshua would be righteous [sinless] all His life (3:46, 6:86, 19:19);

(6) Esa would be raised from the dead (19:33-34);

(7) Esa, the Messiah and son of Mary, crucified, appeared dead, He did not appear to be alive because He was dead (4:157-158, 3:55);

(8) Yeshua was a messenger of Allah, who is to be believed (4:171);

(9) Allah taught Jesus His religion and commanded Him to establish it (42:13, 43:63);

(10) Allah caused Esa, son of Mary, to follow [the prophets], gave Him the Gospel, and placed compassion and mercy in the hearts of those who follow Him (57:27);

(11) Allah strengthened the group of Jews who believed Esa and His message, so they overcame those who disbelieved (61:14);

(12) the true message of Jesus and the prophets was perverted by religious leaders who were condemned by Allah (9:31);

(13) long before the Prophet Muhammad, Allah revealed the Torah and the Gospel for the guidance of mankind (3:3-4, 48, 65);

(14) Allah taught Jesus the Scriptures and wisdom, and the Torah and the Gospel. Allah would do miracles through Esa and make Him a messenger to Isra’el (3:48-49);

(15) Allah gathered Yeshua and caused Him to be resurrected and ascended to Allah himself (3:55, 4:158);

(16) Allah bestowed the Gospel on Esa to be the light of the world (5:46);

(17) observing the Torah and the Gospel brings nourishment from above (5:66);

(18) those who went astray from Allah’s commands were cursed by both David and Yeshua (5:78);

(19) Allah inspired Esa’s disciples to believe in Him and His message (5:78);

(20) Esa and His disciples were Allah’s helpers (61:6 and 14);

(21) followers of Muhammad are commanded to believe in all that was revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and that which Moses and Jesus received (2:136)

(22) the surrender, al-Islam – means that Islam and Muslims are to be surrendered to Allah’s will and guidance as had been revealed to Abraham by God and explained by Esa (3:19).

It is impossible for Muhammad to replace Jesus. There can be only one Messiah. Jesus did Messiah’s work (opening heaven) 550 years before Islam’s prophet was born. Only belief in the resurrected Christ can make it possible for a person to enter the Kingdom.

With regards to Ishmael, the NIV and most translations are biased against him. Some words used below have a wide semantic range and can be taken either positively or negatively. Because many translators have this bias, they translate these verses negatively. Let’s take a closer look at Genesis 16:12 – this most controversial verse.

He will be a wild donkey of a man (16:12a). Bible interpreters have taken this to point out the wildness and aggressiveness of the Arabs. However, donkeys are social animals who are herbivores and do not have the capacity to kill other animals. What does ADONAI Himself say about the wild donkey? When speaking to Job about His ability to control the universe, ADONAI said to him: Who let the wild donkey go free? Who untied his ropes (Job 39:5)? Even the mere act of releasing wild donkeys out in the desert where they roamed free was beyond Job’s ability. Thus, when the Bible points us to wild donkey’s, it is a picture of them being free animals, unlike domesticated ones who are bound. The footnote in the NIV merely says that a wild donkey means away from human settlements. Therefore, we must conclude that God told Hagar, a slave herself, that her son would be a free man.

Today we see most of Ishmael’s descendants living as slaves, bound by the regulations of Islam. Yet Isaiah prophesied that the people of the Arabian Peninsula would worship the Messiah one day (see my commentary on Isaiah Jv – The Attraction of the Gentiles). This means that multitudes of Ishmael’s descendants are yet to enter into the freedom that comes from following the Way (Acts 9:2), and being freed by Jesus from the slavery of religious systems that started in Babylon and are perpetuated by Satan today.

His hand will be upon everyone (16:12b). The NIV translates this in a negative sense: His hand will be against everyone. Another valid translation of the Hebrew preposition are on, is upon. This means his influence will be (on) upon everyone (First Samuel 5:6; Second Samuel 24:17; Second Kings 3:15; Nehemiah 2:8; Job 9:33; Psalm 139:5; Isaiah 8:11; Ezeki’el 21:3), and indeed it has been. It is important to note that the preposition used by the Jewish scholars when translating the Hebrew into Greek used the verb to lay on. The B’rit Chadashah expression is to lay hands on. Such as: Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you (First Timothy 4:14; also see Acts 13:3; First Timothy 5:22 and Hebrews 6:1-3).

And live to the east of (16:12c). Once again the NIV negatively translates and everyone’s hand against him. However, the NIV footnote says that the Hebrew could also be translated live to the east of. Again, in a literal sense this is quite true of the sons and daughters of Ishmael.

And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren (16:12d NKJV). The NIV translates this verse: And he will live in hostility toward all his brothers because of the negative interpretation of the wild donkey.²⁷⁵  When we look at this verse in a new light, we can see that it is God’s plan to save millions of Arabs (see my commentary on Revelation Fk – Gentiles in the Messianic Kingdom). Although the Bible speaks very little about the rest of Ishmael’s life there are two short scriptures that speak volumes.

First, Abraham’s sons, Isaac and Ishmael, buried their father together in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, the field Abraham had bought from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah (25:9-10). This leads us to believe that the two brothers had a good relationship with each other. It is true that after Isaac was born, Hagar was furious over her treatment by Sarah. She influenced Ishmael, who ended up mocking his younger brother resulting in both Hagar and Ishmael being sent away by Abraham (21:8-10). However, it was very unlikely that the toddler Isaac had any memory of the mocking that infuriated Sarah so much.

Secondly, years later, Isaac’s son Esau married a daughter of Ishmael (28:9). Marriages only took place with the consent of both fathers. If the father was incapable or dead, the oldest son would take his place. Ishmael had died at least fifteen years before Esau approached his family. Had Ishmael’s son Nebaioth been resentful that Isaac was the son of promise and full heir to Abraham’s wealth, even though his father was the firstborn, he would not have given his sister to Esau. Instead, he did not object and the marriage took place. It seems that Ishmael had experienced healing through the blessing of his twelve sons as God had promised (17:20).

Therefore, we can see that the Israelites and the Ishmaelites had very few problems (aside from the Midianites), with each other before the Messiah came. After the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD, many Jews went to live in Arabia. To date there are Jewish communities in the Arabian Peninsula. In the sixth century, a Jewish king even reigned over South Arabia. Only with the coming of Islam did the hostility toward the Jews surface. But the Jews, secular or messianic did not, and still do not, accept Muhammad as a prophet of God. Gentile believers didn’t either. The biggest sin that a Muslim can commit is to confess that God has a partner. Every day during the call to prayer, the muezzin proclaims that God has no son. The Muslims have learned to hate those who worship the Meshiach because, according to them, all Jewish and Gentile believers commit the greatest sin. But Muhammad will not have the final word, the Psalmist says: The desert tribes will bow down before Him and His enemies will be like the dust (Psalm 72:9).

She gave this name to ADONAI who spoke to her: El Ro’i “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me” (16:13). She was overwhelmed by the fact that the LORD personally took an interest in her while she was in misery. God sees everything that happens in our lives. In the midst of suffering, God sees us. He does not merely watch us struggle from far away; He comes to us, touches our spirits, and gives us strength to endure the trials of life.

That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi,which means the well of the Living One who sees me, it is still there, between Kadesh Barnea (Numbers 20:1) and Bered (16:14). May the LORD Himself find us at the well as He did Hagar of old, and may it be ours, as it was hers, to hear Him and see Him.²⁷⁶ As He Himself said: If anyone is thirsty, let them come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within them (John 7:37).

Sarai Took Hagar and Gave Her to Abram to be His Wife
16: 1-6

Sarai took Hagar and gave her to Abram to be his wife DIG: Of the three main characters in this story, Abram, Sarai and Hagar, which do you like the most? The least? Why? Why would Sarai come up with such a plan? Why did the LORD reject it? How did Abram deal with the conflict between Sarai and Hagar? Was he wise? Why or why not?

REFLECT: Where have you been waiting “ten years” for the LORD to fulfill a promise? How do you cope with such delays? Can you follow the laws of the land and get yourself in serious trouble with ADONAI? How can you prevent this from happening? When is your self-will more present than God’s will?

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. Sarai was still barren despite God’s promise of a son to Abram (15:4). But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar (16:1) that Abram received from Pharaoh while in Egypt (12:16). The rabbis teach that Hagar was Pharaoh’s daughter. They teach that when she saw the miracles that were brought on behalf of Abram and Sarai, she said, “I would rather be a servant in their house than a mistress in my own house.” Her name is Hebrew and means to flee or to be a fugitive. That means that her name was given to her either by Abram or Sarai, because they had to flee from Egypt. Unable to bear children herself, Sarai follows the common practice of the day. Notice that she never addresses or talks of Hagar by name, but only by label or role (art by Sarah Beth Baca: see more information on Links and Resources).

So she said to Abram, “ADONAI has kept me from having children (11:30). Go sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her” (16:2a). Literally it reads: I shall be built up. This arrangement was in keeping with the laws of that day. If a wife was barren, she was obligated to provide to her husband a maidservant through whom he could have children. Legally, the child born of that union was regarded as the wife’s. In this way his seed would not die out. Abram came to the conclusion that God could use a little help. We laugh at Abram, but at some time or another, we all do that. At any rate, Abram listened to, and agreed to what Sarai had said (16:2b). This was also a lack of faith on Abram’s part. This is similar language to 3:17 where Adam listened to his wife and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (2:17, 3:17). Both ended up with negative consequences, but more importantly, ADONAI did not approve of this at all.

Most people reading the Bible today are sure to experience culture shock sooner or later. Repeatedly, the ancient culture presents us with customs that were acceptable at the time, but seem bizarre and immoral today. In the ancient Near East, polygamy was a legitimate way to prevent childlessness. The Bible offers numerous examples where a man added a second wife to overcome his wife’s barrenness. From a biological standpoint, this solution often worked. But the human dynamics within a polygamous family were predictably disastrous. One only has to read about Jacob’s life with Rachel and Leah to see how dysfunctional a family can get (29:15 to31:55). What a mess!

Outside of the book of Genesis, seven men are said to have had concubines. The first of these was Caleb, who followed the LORD wholeheartedly (First Chronicles 2:46 and 48). Second, there was the courageous warrior Gideon (Judges 8:31). Third, there was the unnamed Levite (Judges 19 and20). Fourth, we have Saul (Second Samuel 3:7 and 21:11). Fifth, even King David had concubines (Second Samuel 5:13, 15:16, 16:21-22, 19:5, 20:3, and First Chronicles 3:9). The sixth person, Solomon, had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines (First Kings 11:3). I guess he was quite the busy guy. And the seventh person was Rehoboam (Second Chronicles 11:21). In all of these instances, with the exception of the unnamed Levite, reference is made to wives. So there is a clear distinction between wives and concubines. Wives were legal spouses who were to produce children, and concubines were for sex.

But here, Hagar was used to produce children because Sarai was unable to do so. Although this was in keeping with the laws of that day, but it was contrary to God’s way of doing things. We get the wrong impression if we think that just because something is written in the Bible, ADONAI approves of it. The Bible is inspired in that it is an accurate record, but there are many things God does not approve of that are written in His Word.²⁷⁰

Abram and Sarai had been living in Canaan ten years. That meant that ten years had passed between Chapters 12and 16. The rabbis taught that when a woman has been childless for ten years, her husband must marry another woman. They had been married far more than ten years, but it had been ten years since the LORD had promised a son to Abram. It was during those many years that Abram and Sarai evidently began to lose hope that God would fulfill His promise. We can all say that they did not really trust ADONAI as they should have, but have you ever waited ten years for something? Didn’t it seem like it would never come? So we can all relate to their impatience. At that time Abram was eighty-five years old and Sarai is seventy-five years old. So they took matters into their own hands, with devastating results.

So Sarai, Abram’s wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife (16:3). Clearly this was Sarai’s frantic last-ditch effort to salvage her honor as a woman and maintain a foothold to the promises of God (15:4). But just as Abram gave Sarai to Pharaoh because of their circumstances, now Sarai gives Abram to Hagar because of their circumstances. The moral implications that you and I read into this are not quite here in the biblical record. Abram and Sarai were brought up in Ur of the Chaldeans where this was a common practice, and it seemed an appropriate thing to do under the circumstances. But the wrong that they committed by Abram taking Sarai’s maidservant Hagar was a sin, and ADONAI treated it as a sin. But the real root of the sin was unbelief.²⁷¹

Tragically, without seeking God’s direction, the same as Adam followed Eve (to see link click Bf – Your Desire Will Be For Your Husband and He Will Rule Over You), so Abram followed Sarai’s plan and slept with Hagar, and she conceived. Hagar became a disposable pawn in the scheme, and Sarai’s faith hit an all-time low. The outcome was a disaster for Sarai and literally spread her pain to others. This is the third of four tests where Abram failed miserably. First, he stayed in Haran when he should have gone to the Promised Land (11:31b). Secondly, once there, he left the land of Canaan and went to Egypt. Thirdly, there, Abram listened to his wife instead of waiting on the LORD, which resulted in the birth of Ishmael and untold problems (16:1-16). And fourthly, his lapse of faith continued as he refused to trust ADONAI for his and his wife’s safekeeping when he lied again to Abimelech (20:1-18).

Sometimes the brutal honesty of the Bible can be very troubling. These dark chapters from Sarah’s life can make us uncomfortable. It is difficult to see people like Sarah and Abraham, whom we consider to be giants of the faith, topple like giant oaks by the winds of desperation, anxiety and fear. Yet how disheartening would it be for us if we only read about their successes? Would we ever understand how important the hard parts of life really are? Sarah, who in the New Covenant is pictured as a woman of great faith, reminds us here of how hard it is to trust ADONAI when everything seems to be going wrong and hope is drained from us. Walking with the LORD doesn’t spare us from hard choices, nor does it guarantee we will always make the right choice. The devil continues to stalk like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (First Peter 5:8 CJB). But in the end, Sarah’s faith will be stronger and have deeper roots because of all she suffered. Hopefully, ours will also.

Sarai could have left us with a powerful example of a woman guided by her faith in ADONAI, even though it meant taking a hard stand or letting go of her personal hopes and dreams. But she didn’t. Both Sarai’s strategy to produce and heir by Hagar and Abram’s plot to protect himself from Pharaoh (12:10-20) and King Abimelech (20:1-18) were pragmatic and faithless. God did not approve and the results were predictable.

Sarai’s plan to gain a child through Hagar backfired horribly. Instead of a baby, she received Hagar’s scorn. When she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress (16:4). In biblical days, few women were more despised than a barren woman (First Samuel 1:6-7). Here, Hagar did not want to share Abram or her child with Sarai, so she despised her. The Hebrew word for despise, is the same word that is used for cursed in 12:3. One of the authors of Proverbs understood this concept very well. He wrote: Under three things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear up (30:21). The fourth thing was a maidservant who displaces her mistress (30:23b). In the final analysis, Hagar ended up cursing her mistress and exalting herself over Sarai, who exploded with years of pent up outrage and pain.

Sarai blamed Abram and said to him, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering; I put my servant in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May ADONAI judge between you and me” (16:5). Human nature being what it is, in the garden of Eden the man blamed the woman, but here the woman blames the man. Sarai’s sinful plan backfired on her and resulted in bad spiritual fruit (Galatians 5:19-21).

Abram didn’t act like the head of his family, and stayed clear of those two angry women. “Your servant is in your hands,” Abram said, “Do with her whatever you think best.” Hagar was still officially Sarai’s possession and she could legally return her to slave status any time she wanted to. Then Sarai, who wanted to make life miserable for Hagar, mistreated her. She was so abusive to Hagar that the young slave girl literally feared for her life. The Hebrew word that is translated mistreated here, is the same word used of the Egyptian oppression of Isra’el in Exodus 1:11-12. The irony here is that the Jewish woman is oppressing the Egyptian. In the book of Exodus the tables will be turned. But the final result was that Hagar fled to the desert from her mistress Sarai (16:6). Perhaps it was to this scene that Solomon wrote: Better to live in the desert than with a quarrelsome and ill-tempered wife (Proverbs 21:19).

However worthy and unselfish may have been the motives of Abram and Sarai, and perhaps even of Hagar, in carrying out this plan, it was bound to create problems. God’s creative purpose included only monogamous marriage, and anything else was bound to fail. There are many instances recorded of polygamous marriages in the Bible, which The LORD allowed because of mitigating circumstances at the time (Jacob, Moses and David for example), but none of a happy and peaceful polygamous marriage.²⁷²

When the child was born everything came unraveled. He was described as Abram’s son, not Sarai’s. Abram accepted Ishmael as the child of promise, and the door of hope slammed shut in Sarai’s face.

Hagar and the Birth of Ishmael
16: 1-16

It is difficult to imagine a greater contrast between the last chapter and this one. In Genesis 15 Abram was seen as a man of faith. Abram had believed ADONAI, and it was credited to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6 and Romans 4:3). But in Genesis 16 he is seen as a man of unbelief. As we read about Abram’s life we will find that God appeared to him seven times, each time to develop faith in his life. But this does not mean he was faultless. The fact of the matter is that he failed many times. The LORD gave him seven tests and he fell flat on his face on four of them. First, he stayed in Haran when he should have gone to the Promised Land (11:31b). Secondly, he left Palestine, went to Egypt, lied to Pharaoh, and picked up an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar (12:10-20). Abram turned down riches from the King of Sodom and passed that test; if he was going to be rich, it would be from God and not from man. Thirdly, he listened to his wife instead of waiting on ADONAI, which resulted in the birth of Ishmael and untold problems (16:1-16). And fourthly, his lapse of faith continued as he refused to trust Elohim for his and Sarah’s safekeeping when he lied to Abimelech (20:1-18). Abraham’s last two successful tests occur at the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the offering of his son Isaac. But he still failed four times. However, like Simon Peter, he got up, brushed himself off, learned from his mistakes, and started to follow the LORD again in faith.

Was Ishmael a mistake? Will the next thirteen years be a waste? No. With ADONAI there are no dead ends, only training grounds. May I say to you, if God has touched your heart and life, you also may fall, but, like Abraham, you are surely going to get up and start all over again.²⁶⁹

I am the LORD,
Who Brought You Out of Ur of the Chaldeans
to Give You This Land
15: 7-21

I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land DIG: What do the cut animals signify? The blazing torch? The fire passing between the cut pieces? In the dream (15:12-16) and after cutting the covenant (15:18-20)? What news is comforting? Discomforting? Why does the LORD initiate such legal contracts with His people? And why a land grant without any obedience required of Abram? Why the almost 700 year delay in its fulfillment (see 15:16 and Hebrews 11:13-16 and 20-22)?

REFLECT: ADONAI spoke to Abram. How is He speaking to you today? To encourage Abram, the LORD repeated His promises and even made them clearer. How does God encourage you in your walk of faith? How are you connected to Abram today? How did Abram’s part in the LORD’s covenant compare to your part in His covenant of salvation? Do you have an eye of faith?

Then God renewed His promise to also give Abram the Land. He said to him, “I am ADONAI,” the promise keeper, “who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it?” But this time Abram requested a sign and said to his Owner and Master, Adonai, God, how can I know that I will gain possession of it (15:7-8)? Thus, ADONAI, by His grace, granted Abram’s request. What would follow would be a most remarkable ritual of a blood covenant, an authenticating seal to God’s promise.

So ADONAI said to Abram: Bring Me, for the covenant belonged to Him, a heifer, a female goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon (15:9).

Abram brought all these to Him, and obeying His instructions, he cut them in two, which required the shedding of blood, and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half (15:10). This was to be a blood covenant, which differed from other covenants. The nature of blood covenants is spelled out in Jeremiah 34:8-11 and 17-20. A blood covenant pledged the lives of the ones making the covenant to the covenant. The men who have violated My covenant and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before Me, I will treat like the calf they cut in two and then walked between its pieces (Jeremiah 34:18). Consequently, if one failed to keep the terms of the covenant, his blood was to be shed like one of the animals. It would be like saying, “May I become like these slain animals if I break my part of the agreement.” The animals were sacrificed as substitutes for the two making the covenant. Once the covenant was made and the two parties walked between the dead animals, the terms of the covenant could not be changed.

Another kind of covenant is called a hand covenant, which was merely the shaking of hands in agreement (Ezra 10:19; Ezeki’el 17:18). Another covenant was the shoe covenant. Two parties exchanged sandals and the covenant was enforced until they were exchanged again (Ruth 4:7-12). Another kind of covenant was a salt covenant. In this covenant, one would take a pinch of salt from the salt pouch of the other and put it into his own salt pouch. Therefore, the original pinch of salt could never be retrieved (Leviticus 2:13; Numbers 18:19 and Second Chronicles 13:5).

An unusual covenant took place when Abraham sent his chief servant, Eliezer, back to Mesopotamia to find a wife for his son Isaac. The old patriarch wanted to make sure that Eliezer didn’t choose a wife from among the cursed line of the Canaanites. She needed to come from the blessed line of Shem. So Abraham said to him: Put your hand under my thigh (24:2b). This is a euphemism for the holding of the genitals, which are the source of life. It is a solemn sign that if the oath were not carried out, the children who would be born to Abraham would avenge the servant’s unfaithfulness. This oath is also seen in 47:29. But of these five types of covenants, the blood covenant was by far the most serious.

To his horror, unclean birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away (15:11). This was obviously an evil omen that would be explained momentarily.

Then the actual blood covenant took place. An entire day had elapsed since ADONAI had taken Abram outside to look at the stars (15:5). The entire vision will take place from night to day, and into a second night, as the sun was setting. Abram fell into a deep sleep. The Hebrew word is tardeimah, and is a supernatural deep sleep that also fell on Adam in preparation of the creation of Eve (2:21). It also fell upon Saul (First Samuel 26:12). This is a visionary sleep (also see Job 4:13, 33:15 and Dani’el 8:18, 10:9).

Abram was fully conscious in the midst of this vision but a thick and dreadful darkness came over him (15:12). ADONAI then stated the seven provisions of the Covenant.

First, Abram’s descendants were to be strangers in a country not their own.

Second, they will be enslaved and mistreated there.

Third, they were to be mistreated for four hundred years (15:13). The word mistreated (anah) is the same word used in Exodus 1:11-12 to describe Egypt’s oppression of Israel. Egypt, like the birds of prey, opposed the covenant, but ultimately the covenant would be fulfilled.²⁶² Initially Abram did not know where they would be enslaved, but by the time we get to the book of Exodus, it becomes clear that their masters would live in Egypt. This verse foreshadows the book of Exodus and the outworking of the cursing aspect of ADONAI’s covenant with Abram (12:3).

Fourth, God would punish the nation they served as slaves with ten plagues (Psalm 105:27-36).

Fifth, and after the plagues are completed (15:14), they would come out with great possessions (Exodus 3:21-22 and 12:35-36).

Sixth, Abram himself would die of old age in peace, and would not live long enough to see his people enslaved. God said to him, “You, however, will go to Sheol (in the center of the earth) with your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age” (15:15). This would come to pass. He would be buried in the Land (25:7-10) and he would live to a good old age of a hundred and seventy five years old.

Seventh, in the fourth generation Abram’s descendants would return to Canaan. The Bible gives us two different time periods regarding Israel’s stay in Egypt. First, in Genesis 15:13 and Acts 7:6 we are told that they would be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years. Then, in Exodus 12:40-41 and Galatians 3:17 we are told that the Israelite people lived in Egypt for four hundred and thirty years. The reason for the difference in years is that the enslavement began thirty years after the Israelites arrived in Egypt. Their mistreatment began with a new king, who did not know about Joseph (Exodus 1:8).

ADONAI is a promise keeper. When we look at Exodus 6:16-26 we find that it was exactly in the fourth generation that the children of Isra’el left Egypt and returned to Canaan. The first generation was Levi, the son of Jacob, who entered Egypt at the time his father and brothers did (Exodus 6:16). The second generation was Kohath (Exodus 6:16), who was a son of Levi. The third generation was Amram, son of Kohath (Exodus 6:18). And the fourth generation brings us to Moses and Aaron, who were the sons of Amram (Exodus 6:20), and these were the ones who led Isra’el out of Egypt!²⁶³ Each generation was one hundred years.

The reason that the LORD delayed four hundred years to have the Israelites inherit the Land, was to permit the sin of the Amorites (Leviticus 18:24-30, 20:22-27 and Deuteronomy 18:9-14) to be full before He would judge them (15:16). Elohim does not punish a nation until its measure of sin is full. The Amorites represents all the Canaanite peoples, and is mentioned because it was the most powerful of all. ADONAI would tolerate their sins until Isra’el, under Joshua, conquered Palestine. Then the fulfillment of the promises to Abram would involve a judgment on the Canaanites that would be an eye for an eye (Leviticus 24:20). Abram’s seed would get the Land – but not one hour before absolute justice required it. God had much to do before fulfilling His promise – including disciplining His nation to be fit for receiving the promise. Abram’s seeing this in advance was horrible – like watching birds of prey (see 15:11).²⁶⁴

After ADONAI stated the seven provisions the glory of the LORD, or the Sh’khinah glory (see my commentary on Isaiah, to see link click Ju – The Glory of the LORD Rises Upon You) would seal the covenant. When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, Abram saw the Sh’khinah glory, or the visible manifestation of God’s presence. The Sh’khinah appeared as a light, as a fire, as a cloud, or some combination of these three things. Like several other places in the Bible, when humans saw supernatural manifestations of God’s presence, they use words and references that they are familiar with to try to describe what they are seeing. Ezeki’el had difficultly describing the four living creatures (Ezeki’el 1:4-28), and John had trouble describing someone like a Son of Man (Revelation 1:12-18). And here, when Abram sees the Sh’khinah glory for the first time, the only words that he knows to describe what he sees is a smoking firepot with a blazing torch. But in fact, it is the Sh’khinah glory that passed between the pieces of slaughtered animals (15:17).

There were two things that were not normal about this blood covenant. First, it was normally done with one animal and here it was done with five animals. Secondly, normally both parties making the blood covenant walked between the pieces of the divided animal, making the terms of the covenant binding on both parties. But here, ADONAI and Abram did not walk between the pieces of the five animals; only the Sh’khinah glory would pass between the pieces. This showed that the blood covenant was unconditional. God would fulfill the promises of the covenant and it was dependent on Him and not Abram. Abram has no part in making the covenant, so nothing Abram would do could cause it to be canceled. You and I contributed nothing to our salvation: Yeshua did it all. All we must do, all we can do, is put our faith, trust and belief in Christ. He is the one who will save us.²⁶⁵

Then the blood covenant was sealed. On that day the LORD came down and made, literally cut, a covenant with Abram (15:18a). So what was promised verbally in Chapters 12 and 13, is now visibly sealed. Whatever may be added cannot change the original terms of the covenant. Additions can be made and will be made, but none of these additions change the original terms.²⁶⁶ This is the third confirmation of God’s Covenant with Abraham (12:1-3, 13:14-17, here, 17:1-8 and 22:15-18).

In this chapter there are two major elements of God’s Covenant with Abram. The first is the fact that a son would be born to Abram as seen in verse 4, and the second, seen here, concerns the Land. The LORD described in detail the geographical boundaries of Isra’el’s land. He said: To your descendants I give this Land, from the most eastern branch of the river of Egypt (Wadi el-Arish, not the Nile River) to the great river, the Euphrates (15:18b). Isra’el has never possessed this land in its entirety, but she will when the Messiah returns to set up His Kingdom (see my commentary on Revelation Fj – My Chosen People Will Inherit My Mountains).²⁶⁷

The rabbis teach that the promise, to your descendants I give this Land, was made several times to Abram and each was necessary. When he entered the Land, God told him: To your offspring I will give this Land (12:7), which denoted only as far as he had gone, in other words, to Shechem. When his good works in the Land had increased, God went further and said: All the Land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever (13:15). This was both more comprehensive and also had the addition of: and to your offspring forever. Here in 15:18-21 God defined the boundaries and the nations that would be dispossessed, and further made a covenant that He would not lose it through sin. Finally, when the promise is repeated when Abraham is circumcised, God will add that it would be an everlasting possession (17:8), which meant that even if his offspring should be exiled, they would return.

These Canaanite tribes, the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites were dispossessed later by Joshua (15:19-21). This is the most complete list of the people of Canaan in the Bible.

What distinguished Abram was his eye of faith. He could see beyond the here-and-now to what lay ahead in life with Elohim after his body died.²⁶⁸ By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the Promised Land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God (Hebrews 11:8-10). We would do well to develop our own eye of faith.

Abram Believed the LORD 
and He Credited It to Him as Righteousness
15: 1-6

Abram believed the LORD and He credited it to him as righteousness DIG: What does Abram fear the most (see 15:1-3 and 8)? What’s wrong with wanting reassurance? In adopting a servant heir, is Abram faithless or faithful? What does ADONAI think (see 15:4-7 and 9-21)? If the LORD said it once (12:2-3 and 7), even twice (13:14-17), why remind Abram again? How had God already been Abram’s shield and great reward? How is faith/trust/belief related to righteousness (see Romans 4:18-22 and Galatians 3:6-9)? Which comes first? Which comes from the LORD? Which is indispensable to a right relationship with Him?

REFLECT: Where in your life do you need ADONAI to say: Do not be afraid. I am your shield, your very great reward? The LORD credited Abram as righteous. What affirming word might God use to describe or credit you today?

Abram was a hero, but he was also a human. Perhaps, after the great battle and victory of the four kings of the east and the marvelous experience with Melchizedek, he began to be depressed. The reality was that he still did not have a son to become a great nation (12:2) and he was still in the middle of a dangerous and wicked country. Abram became doubtful and afraid of what the future might hold for him. At that time the spoken word of Adonai, YHWH came to Abram in a vision. The Hebrew for vision is machveh and is found only three other times in the Hebrew Scriptures in reference to a vision from the LORD, here, Numbers 24:4 and 16, and Ezeki’el 13:7. In Hebrew this literally means in the vision and this is the first time it is mentioned in the Scriptures. It is a specific vision, not a dream, which will finalize God’s covenant with Abram. He was awake and the vision would continue all day and into the night (15:17).

Knowing Abram’s greatest fears, ADONAI said to him, “Do not be afraid, Abram.” This is the first mention of the phrase do not be afraid in the Scriptures. He will say this again to Isaac in 26:23, and Jacob in 46:3. So, at some point all three patriarchs will receive the same message The LORD continued by giving Abram two reasons for not being fearful. First, He said: I am your shield, mentioned for the first time here, reminding him that He had protected Abram from the four eastern kings (In fact the verb delivered in 14:20 is a play on words since in Hebrew, it sounds very similar to the word shield here). The second reason was a very great reward (15:1).

Perhaps it would have sounded more pious to simply thank the LORD for this vision, with its assurances of safety and compensation. But Abram was a man on a mission. He could not forget, nor did he want to forget, the original promise that he would have a son (12:2). But at his age, and with a barren wife, it seemed impossible.²⁵⁹ Abram hints at the real problem when he said: Adonai, God, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer, which means God helps or God comforts, of Damascus (15:2)? This is the first time in the TaNaKh where Adonai, and God’s four-lettered name YHWH are combined together. It is used twice in this chapter, and in the hamishshah humshe he-Torah, or the five books of Moses, it is used only two other times (Deuteronomy 3:24 and 9:26). Adonai is translated a number of times by the word owner or master. By using this name, Abram was acknowledging that Adonai was also his Master. Certainly Abram understood what this relationship meant; perhaps better than we do today, for those were days of slavery. Lordship meant complete possession on the one hand, and complete submission on the other. As we have already seen, Abram himself sustained the relationship of master and lord over a very considerable number of people. Therefore, by addressing YHWH as Adonai he acknowledged His complete possession of and perfect right to all that he was and had.²⁶⁰

Nevertheless, Abram expressed his real fear when he said: You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir (15:3). What is implied here is that a very great reward that could not be transmitted to his family is of little value. The only person who could inherit his estate was Eliezer of Damascus (Proverbs 17:2), who was his chief servant because he had no natural son. How many times have we felt the same way that Abram did? We get to the point of hopelessness and then the LORD blesses us in ways we could not imagine.

As he was speaking, the word of ADONAI came to Abram, “This man,” not even using Eliezer’s name, “will not be your heir.” The Hebrew literally reads, not your heir this one. “But a son coming from your own body will be your heir” (15:4). Then Elohim gives Abram an illustration at during the night.

To make His promise even clearer, the LORD went far beyond Abram’s concern for a single son when He took Abram outside his tent at night, under the open sky and said to him, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars, if indeed you can count them.” Of course Abram could not count all the stars that he saw. Then Adonai, YHVH said to him, “So shall your offspring be” (15:5). Back in 13:16 the illustration was that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. He also uses a third illustration of the sand on the seashore (22:17). All three illustrations point to the fact that his offspring could not be counted.

Then Abram’s heart responded and he believed in, had trust in, or had faith in ADONAI. This is the first mention of the word believed in the Scriptures. In the B’rit Chadashah this is the Greek word pisteo, and occurs ninety-nine times in the book of John alone. The particular form used here implies continuous action, meaning that Abram’s normal response to God was that he believed Him. But what did he trust in? Did Abram have faith in the coming of the Messiah? No. Did he believe that the Messiah would die for his sins? No. Abram trusted in the LORD and His promises. And in this context, what Abram had faith in was that Adonai, YHWH would make him into a great nation, make his name great and that he would be a blessing. Elohim would bless those who blessed him, and curse those who cursed him; and that all the peoples of the earth would be blessed through him (12:2-3). The Hebrew word for believed is the hypo-stem of the Hebrew word aman, which will be used two more times in 42:20 and 45:26. As we progress through the Scripture, the light of the gospel becomes clearer and clearer.

And as a result of Abram’s trust, ADONAI credited or imputed (the Hebrew word chashad) His belief to him as righteousness (Hebrew: tzedekah in 15:6, also read Romans 4:1-25). This is the first occurrence of imputed in the Bible. When Yochanan says the Spirit gives life (John 6:63a), he means that all the righteousness of Christ is transferred into our spiritual account at the moment of faith (see my commentary on The Life of Christ Bw – What God Does For Us at the Moment of Faith). The theological name for this is imputation. The Bible teaches us that we have all inherited Adam’s sin nature. Just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 5:12 and 3:23). In the TaNaKh, there had to be a sacrifice for sin to be temporarily atoned for. Blood had to be shed, and a death had to occur; therefore, because of the death of the Meshiach on the cross we have the perfect, absolute, righteousness that God the Father imputes to us through His Son. Because of our faith, we have passed ADONAI’s final exam of the universe with a hundred percent. When Ha’Shem sees us, He doesn’t see our sin, He sees the righteousness of His Son (Romans 1:17). We are in the Holy One, and He is in us. The only way we get to heaven is a result of the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ.

So salvation, whether in the TaNaKh or in the B’rit Chadashah, was, and is, by grace through faith. In fact the rabbis teach that Abram, having received God’s assurance, believed that the prophecy would certainly be fulfilled, and that he need not fear that he might forfeit it through sin. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). That doesn’t change. But what does change is the content of that trust. In other words, what is it that one needs to believe to be saved? And that changes from dispensation to dispensation, depending on what Elohim has revealed up to that point.

This verse is one of the most important verses, in the entire Bible, for it tells for the first time how sinful man or woman may become right with God. In ourselves we are not right with Him. We are alienated from Him by our sinful natures and by deliberate sinful choices. We are under ADONAI’s wrath, and apart from Him we are destined to perish miserably. If it is possible that we can become right with God once again – as this verse says we can – thereby passing from sin to holiness and from wrath to blessing, this is clearly great news, and the verse that tells us how this can happen is of supreme importance.²⁶¹ The influence of this verse on the B’rit Chadashah cannot be overstated. It is quoted three times (Romans 4:3; Galatians 3:6; James 2:23) and in each case it is emphasized that salvation comes by faith, and that Abram was a type of all who would believe.

God’s Covenant With Abram
15: 1-21

Looking at Abram, one would not judge him as a likely candidate to receive great promises from ADONAI. Abram came from a family of idol worshipers (Joshua 24:2). As he pursued his journey, he wasted time at Haran (11:31). He was seventy-five years old when he left Haran (12:4), hardly the typical age for making a major life change. Although the LORD had promised to make a great nation from Abram, he had no son. In fact, his wife Sarai had not been able to bear him any children (11:30). And he was sidetracked in Egypt when he picked up a slave girl named Hagar (12:10-20). This is the third of seven times that Abraham receives direct revelation from God (12:1-7, 13:14-17, here, 17:1-21, 18:1-33, 21:12-13 and 22:1-18). It would seem that Abram’s new beginning was off to a rough start – except for one all-important factor: Abram believed ADONAI. He had faith and was willing to obey even though he had no idea where the LORD was directing him.²⁵⁸

Melchizedek:
King of Salem and a Priest of God Most High
14: 17-24

Melchizedek: king of Salem and a priest of God Most High DIG: Why does Abram accept Melchizedek’s blessing and tithe to him? Given the different way that Abram treats the king of Salem and the king of Sodom, what does that tell you about the character and faith of each? How does their contrast sharpen the contrast made between Abram and Lot?

REFLECT: Are your influential friends more like the king of Sodom or the king of Salem? Who is blessing you today? Who might you bless? What can we learn from Abram about giving the LORD credit for His goodness to us?

Abram had a stunning victory over the enemy kings. As he returned to his home near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron (13:18), a weary warrior, thankful that his pursuit of the enemy had been so successful, he could not have guessed what God had in store for him. Abram had an unexpected encounter with Melchizedek, king of Salem (later called Jerusalem) who was also the priest of El Elyon, or the God Most High. This title is very rare in the TaNaKh, but it is found four times in this section. The idea underlying it is that of ADONAI as the Supreme Being who is above all local deities. Its New Covenant equivalent is the Most High (Luke 1:32 and 35) and the Most High God (Acts 16:17).²⁵⁴ Abram may not have been acquainted with Melchizedek, but Melchizedek knew Abram.²⁵⁵

The true test of character comes when we have success. How we act at the moment of success often reveals our true character and spiritual maturity. This will be true in the case of Abram as we read about his interaction with the two kings. The two of them could not possibly have been more different.

The first king is the king of Sodom. Abram was a real hero. After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh, that is, the King’s Valley (14:17). Today this is known as the Valley of Jehoshaphat (Joel 3:2 and 14) in the Kidron Valley. It was the main valley outside Jerusalem in that day. Later, it will be the exact place that Absalom would build a monument to himself (Second Samuel 18:18).

The second king is Melchizedek king of Salem, who brought out bread and wine for Abram. Chapters 12 to 22 are the only chapters where the LORD does not speak. But He is represented by Melchizedek, who was a real human being that served as a type of Christ (see my commentary on Hebrews, to see link click Bd – The Priesthood of Melchizedek). He was king of Salem, which is a shortened form of Jerusalem (Psalm 76:2). In addition, he was a priest of God Most High (Psalm 78:35) and his name means king of righteousness (14:18). This is the first biblical mention of a priest in the Scriptures. In the Jewish society, the priest was to represent the people to ADONAI, as the prophets were to represent ADONAI to the people. Melchizedek seems to be one of the faithful few; one of those who put his trust in the one true God. Thus, he was a believing link to the line of Shem, amidst the impurity of the line of Canaan. The rabbis teach that Melchizedek was the same person as Shem, the son of Noah. And he blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by El Elyon, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth” (14:19). Melchizedek recognized Abram as a fellow believer and a servant of the LORD.

There is none like You, O LORD, among the gods. There is nothing higher or greater than You in all the earth. May we confess with our mouths, and acknowledge before all people, that You alone are El Elyon, God Most High.

Melchizedek has the proper point of view. He knows that the true source of Abram’s success was ADONAI, as stated: And blessed be El Elyon, this was the work of God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand, and Abram was His servant. Then words gave way to action and Abram gave him a tenth of everything he possessed (14:20). Progressive revelation gives us additional information like on this subject in the B’rit Chadashah (see my commentary on The Life of Christ Do – When You Give to the Needy, Do Not Do It to be Honored by Others: seven principles of scriptural giving).

Now we go back to the first king who makes a tempting offer. According to the Code of Hammurabi of that day, Abram had a perfect right to the spoils of war, and even to the captives. But the king of Sodom was clever and said to Abram, “Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself” (14:21). That was tempting to Abram. But if he had accepted the goods, from that time on people would say, “That man Abram is certainly a wealthy man. The LORD has blessed him.” I think that the king of Sodom would have said, “Blessed him? No way! God didn’t bless him; I gave it to him. I’m the one who made him rich.” Abram knew that the king of Sodom would boast, so he refused.²⁵⁶

Abram said to the king of Sodom: “I have promised”, or raised my hand to ADONAI, El Elyon, Creator of heaven and earth, and have taken an oath, “that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the string of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ (14:22-23).” All Abram was willing to accept was the food his 318 men had already eaten in their pursuit of Kedorlaomer and his army. If Abram was going to be rich, it would be from God and not from man.

But the Amorite men, Abner, Eschol and Mamre that went with him were under no such obligation, and Abram acknowledged that they had a right to their share in the spoils of war (14:24). But as for him, the King of Sodom could give him nothing because the LORD continued to bless those who blessed Abram, and curse those who cursed Abram (12:3).

This tremendous test of faith, courage, generosity, and love was passed with flying colors by Abram. Accordingly, it set the stage for the greatest revelation from ADONAI that the childless Abram, whose name means exalted father, had yet received.²⁵⁷