Parsha Short Talks - Lech Lecha
Parsha Short Talks - Lech Lecha
A person who does great things can become a great person. The people of the person’s day will know that the person was great and will go down in history.
Why was Abraham such a great person? Perhaps it was because Abraham could identify the Lord God, the creator of the universe. Abraham’s name will always be linked with the desire to become godly.
In Abraham’s day, there were many gods to worship. In addition to that, idols were made for each of the gods. Nations believed that they had their God who took care of them. They also believed that when the gods in heaven were fighting, it was reflected on earth by the people of the nation fighting against other countries. The idea of a God who created everything was not known. Abraham introduced the idea that one God was the creator of everything.
Many people like to think that Abraham was the creator of monotheism. In many ways, he was the creator of that idea. However, it would take several more centuries until the concept of polytheism would disappear from the near East. The people of Israel believed that the Lord resided on earth within the boundaries of their country and especially at the temple in Jerusalem. The story of Jonah is one of the first writings that tell us that God lives outside Israel’s borders. Jonah ran away from God by getting on a boat, and he thought that God would not be able to see him; of course, God did see him and sent a large fish to swallow him to teach a lesson.
So the concept of a God as the creator of heaven and earth starts with the man whose name changed from Abram to Abraham.
Abraham was determined to free his nephew, who was captured in a battle. Lot had not taken part in the war, but unfortunately, the war came to him. So Abraham, a man of faith in God, was ready to go up against seasoned warriors to free his nephew lot. When someone goes to battle when he is impaired, he is usually at a disadvantage and loses the battle. Abraham did not enter the battle using war tactics at that time. Instead, he entered the battle with his faith in God, knowing that what he was about to do was correct. Abraham fought despite the disadvantage of strength and even logistics. Abraham’s faith allowed him to come out victorious.
The lesson is that faith in the LORD is more powerful than any human strength.
Og was a giant who came to Abraham and informed him that his orphaned nephew Lot was captured in a war. The question that comes up from that sentence is, who was Og? There is a midrash that says Og was the king of the Giants, who were the offspring of the watchers, which you can find back in Genesis Chapter 6. How did the Giants survive if the flood was to kill all living creatures except those that were in the Ark or swimming in the sea? The Midrash says Og begged Noah to allow him to sit on one of the beams that protruded from the Ark. To balance the Ark Og’s wife was placed on the other side. So when the Ark hit dryland and Noah opened the door, the two Giants went on their way.
Abraham felt compelled to do something for his nephew Lot. Abraham was a man of God and peace, but circumstances threw him into war. He joined the five kings of Canaan and went into battle. Even though the odds were against him, Abraham emerged victorious, and Lot was returned to his family. The five kings were so grateful that they wanted to give Abraham some of the spoils of war. However, Abraham declined and refused to take any personal compensation from the war.
The blessing here is the redeeming of his own blood. Abraham went to war to redeem his own blood, Lot, and his family. By not accepting any of the spoils of war, Abraham shows us that compensation of the monetary value should not be placed on the blessings that the Lord God gives us. Therefore, remember that the good deeds you do in the name of God should be done without expecting any compensation.
Live to Eternity #20
In Genesis chapter fifteen, verse five, we learned that the Lord God challenged Abraham, his loyal follower, will the most difficult task. Abraham went outside his tent and gazed up at the heavens, and God said if you can count all the stars, that will be the number of children you will have. At this time, Abraham and Sarah had no children. So how was God going to allow Abraham to have all these children when Sarah was old and barren?
How do we interpret what God was saying to Abraham and thus to us? To the Jewish people, it is not the number of stars that matters but rather the attempt to count them. In other words, God said to Abraham that his descendants would always be on earth. Throughout the history of the Jewish people, many nations have tried to eliminate them. Even today, some anti-Semitic people want to eliminate the Jews from the earth. It is an exciting history to try to understand why people hate Jews.
The words thus shall be your children, which is a heavenly guarantee that the Jewish people will never be eliminated from the earth. The Christians know that Paul said that all gentiles are grafted into the promise God made with Abraham. Thus, Christianity will also survive all of the attacks against it. The difference here is that being a Jew is today ancestral. Christianity is a religion of choice. Thus it is up to the current generation of Christians to tell the stories to pass the religion from one generation to the next.
Both Jews and Gentiles share in the promise God made to Abraham. The kingdom of heaven is available to all of us.
Theologically speaking, we are all descendants of a man named Noah.
Historians will tell you that the first world war was fought between 1914 and 1917. The first world war occurred in biblical days with our father, Abram. Abram joined forces with the five kings to battle against several powerful kings. Abram’s nephew Lot was taken captive, and Abram had to do something about it. He gathered 318 men and joined the battle to win back his nephew. Miraculously, or perhaps we should say with God’s help, Abraham was successful, and he brought Lot home.
What is interesting about the story is that the story is found in chapter 14 of Genesis but in chapter 15 of Genesis, verse one, the Lord God assured Abram that he would always have a victory. The verse reads Abram, I am a shield for you. Your reward is very great. So why did the Lord God’s assurance come after Abram’s victory? Shouldn’t God have assured Abram before he went on this battle that he would be successful?
Rabbi Levin explained that Abram needed protection not only when he entered into battle but more so when he was in a victorious battle. It was unknown if the kings who lost the struggle might have decided to take revenge on Abram and attack him. One of the things we can learn from this story is that one must never become smug in thinking one doesn’t need God’s protection. You always need the Lord God’s assurance and assistance in wartime and victory time. During peace, do not forget that God is with you and assuring you that peace.
At the beginning of chapter 15 of the book of Genesis, God told Abram that his descendants would outnumber the stars he could see at night. The next part of that chapter tells us the story of Abram's dream. God told him to bring a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon. God then told Abram to cut them in half and lay them in a waddi. A waddi is a dried-out creek bed in the Near East. After doing this Abram had to chase away the vultures that wanted to have a feast on the dead bodies.
The Bible then says that Abram fell into a deep sleep. It also says that this deep sleep terrified him. When the Bible mentions someone going into a deep sleep, usually, a vision occurs. The vision Abram had was first God speaking to him, and then he saw what appeared to be a flaming torch that passed through the pieces of the animals. The Lord also told him as the torch passed through the animals that the land that he was sitting on would be given to his descendants from the river of Egypt up to the river of the Euphrates and territories from the Mediterranean Sea to the territory of the Amorites.
Before the flaming torch went between the animals God gave Abram some good and bad news. God said that Abram's descendants would grow to prosper, but he also told him they would spend some time in slavery in Egypt. As any good father would say to you, it is great to hear that your offspring will do beautiful things and be well taken care of. It is also frightening to hear that your children would have to suffer, so they become prosperous.
Sometimes in our lives, we have to go through the dark, before we can find the light. A lot of times we fall into the dark because of inexperience and lack the wisdom necessary to avoid complications. Wisdom comes from knowledge and experience. Throughout Israel's history, the nation learned from times of prosperity and from dark times. By following the ways of the Lord as given to us in the Torah, one can gain wisdom to avoid dark times.