Parashah 3: Lekh L'kha

Parashah 3: Lekh L'kha (Get yourself out)
Genesis 12:1-17:27

This portion is all about the patriarch of Israel, Abraham. I love this portion! It contains all of the promises for Israel, as well as some pretty sweet accounts of Abraham, including his run-in with Melchizadek, who some people think was the pre-incarnate Messiah.

Chapter 15 has another awesome encounter, where God comes to him in a vision. Don't take that lightly... when is the last time God came to you in a vision? Do you know what that's like? And even if you do, I doubt yours was like this. As far as visions go, this one is a good one.

God starts it out by saying, "Don't be afraid." He probably had to say that, because whatever it was like to see God in a vision was pretty startling, and he wanted Abraham to catch what he was about to say. He then said, "I am your protector, your reward will be very great."God goes on to tell him of his promises towards him, that he will have a child in his old age, and that he will become a mighty nation.

Later that day, after he sacrificed to God, he had another encounter. He fell into a deep sleep, and in this sleep he experienced horror and great darkness. God created a scene for him, and told him of the future of his people. He says that they will be in captivity for a while, until it is the right time for them to possess the land. The right time will be when the Amorites are ripe for punishment. God could give them the land right now, but because he is just, he cannot wipe out the Amorites until they are wicked enough to deserve it. Interesting...

Another part that I love is in 17:1. He's 99 years old, and God shows up again. He actually appears to him, whatever that means, and says to him, "I am El Shaddai! [God Almighty] Walk in my presence and be pure-hearted!"

Sounds good to me!

Haftarah:

Isaiah 40:27 - 41:16

Parashah 2: Noach (Noah)

Parashah 2: Noach (Noah)
Genesis 6:9 - 11:32

From last time:

The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the LORD said, I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them. But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
(Genesis 6:5–8 ESV)

I love the Bible. The account of Noah is one that is told to children, because it is so exciting and grandiose. It's got drama, miracles, and a hero. It's got a huge boat made of gofer-wood, a world-wide flood, and a sweet rainbow.

But what if it's not just a child's story, but actually happened? It's an amazing story that captivates, and evokes emotions, way better than Titanic... But what's so cool about this is that it's an amazing story, which is part of a larger story called "History" that we get to take part in.

Let's take another look at Noah, as if it actually happened. (which it actually did)

The earth, and mankind, was still pretty new at this point. The population was booming, but only a small number (one family line) were faithful to God. This line was the line which Noah came from. (Enoch, Methuselah, Lamek, Noah)

Everyone else was completely turning from God, and fully pursuing the depths of sin. God describes their thoughts and desires being "only evil, all the time." Imagine this... a large community, probably in a small geographic area, ONLY doing evil. Imagine the violence, and the danger of living there.

I take comfort in Genesis 6:8, "Noah found grace in the sight of the Lord." Noah was not perfect, but his heart was not evil. He loved the Lord with his heart. Noah was still a sinner, but God loved him, and gave Noah grace to live.

I'm going to fast forward through the building of the ark, the gathering of the animals, and the flood, and look at what happens after.

After, Noah made a sacrifice of the few animals he had, and sacrificed them to God. This part I love. God smelled it. God smells things... Haha! And it pleased him. This might be weird, but I like to think that God has a greater ability to smell than we do. He smells not just the barbecue going on, but also the heart behind the sacrifice. I could bring in a whole bunch of scriptures about aroma's here, but I'll leave it to you to go search it out.

Because of this sacrifice and this pleasing smell, God makes a promise, that he will never again destroy everything, as long as the earth exists. He gives a sign of this promise, which is his rainbow. It's the same rainbow that we see in God's throne room (Revelation 4:3). It symbolizes his promise of mercy and protection and love for living things.

I love how God's personality is shown through this passage, and his way of weaving a dramatic story to save mankind.

See also Matthew 24:36-44.

Parashah #1 Part 2

100th Post! WOO!

Genesis 4

When Eve (or “Havah”) gave birth to her first child, fulfilling God’s word to man to be fruitful and multiply (1:28), she must have been amazed. From what I’ve heard, having a child is amazing, but how amazing it must have been to have the first child ever! Nobody to tell you what’s going on, to walk you through the process. Maybe they had learned from the other creatures what birth was about, but even still it would not have been easy.

It’s interesting that she names him Cain (or “Kayin”), which means acquisition, gotten, or received, saying, “I have acquired a man from Adonai.” The first mother recognized that her child was from God. She was probably amazed, and said, “Look what God has given me, look what I got!” and then named him “got.”

On a personal note, my friends, the Dan and Elisa Jacobson had their first child, Caleb. I got to hold him while he was only one day old! There is definitely something about holding a newborn that is amazing. Maybe it’s the smell... maybe it’s the way they squirm and move on their own... maybe it’s the warmth of their body... in any case, it’s awe inspiring.

Continuing on...

Cain & Abel. We all know the basic story, but as I read it again (and in the CJB) there are a few things that stick out to me.

“Adonai said to Kayin, “Why are you angry? Why are you downcast? If you are doing what is good, shouldn’t you hold your head high? And if you don’t do what is good, sin is crouching at the door - it wants you, but you can rule over it.”
Genesis 4:6-7 CJB

These are God’s words to him after God had rejected Cain’s sacrifice, and accepted Abel’s. Cain had become angry about this, and God gave him a warning. The upcoming sin of Cain was visible in his demeanor. But God gave him hope, saying, “you can rule over it! You can be free!” God gave him the authority to overcome sin.

Chapter 5.

Genealogies, don’t you just love them? Interesting note, did you know that Noah (or “Noach”) means “restful,” because his father said, “This one will comfort us in our labor, in the hard work on the ground that Adonai cursed.”

Chapter 6 (up to verse 8)

After the earth became populated, wickedness abounded. Because of this, God said, “My Spirit will not live in human beings forever, for they too are flesh; therefore their life span is to be 120 years.” God had a plan, in which his Spirit will live in humans forever, but only those who would put their own flesh to death and become righteous through a connection with the spirit of the Messiah. Those that take part in this plan that Paul calls “a mystery,” will live forever with His Spirit.

Noah is a forerunner of this.

“But Noah found grace in the sight of Adonai.”
Genesis 6:8 CJB

I pray that we also will find grace in his sight. Amen.

Parashah #1 Part 1

It's a new year! Rosh Hashanah! The Jewish New Year!

This also means I start over in my Parashah (weekly portion) readings.

I use my Complete Jewish Bible (CJB) for all my casual bible reading, and it's really convenient how it has the Jewish Parashah clearly marked for reading so I can have a good bible reading plan and also read exactly what many Jewish people hear in synagogue every week.

I plan to post as many of these as I can, but I may break them up for a slightly easier read.

So without further ado...

Parashah 1: B'resheet (In the beginning) Part 1.
Genesis 1:1 - 3:24

Chapter 1

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

Creation is one of the most spectacular events that will ever take place, and it is only the beginning of a beautiful story. The first chapter of Genesis leaves so much up to the imagination. God could have written volumes to describe every part of this process, from spiritual to physical, and from ecosystems to atomic levels, and still not cover it. Yet he only gave us one chapter focusing on it, and with a few other verses that hint at it.

I often wish that I could see it, either with the special effects of Hollywood, or preferably, in a vision from God. I guess that I will have to be patient and when I am with the Lord He can show it to me.

Only a dim image of God's beauty is revealed through creation, yet it is awe inspiring to say the least. And what does God say of this process?

"Eh, it's good..." Just kidding God. "It's very good," says God, verse 31.

Chapter 2

On the seventh day, God rested. Verse 3 is interesting in the CJB, a phrase appears in it that I have not seen in any other translation. It says, "God rested... so that it [creation] itself could produce."

I'm don't know Hebrew to know what that phrase could be based upon, or whether it's a translation error or correction. But what are the implications? God enabled creation itself to produce. It's not exactly the same as creation, but think of a crop producing fruit. God of course created the crop, but the crop produced the fruit. That's not to say that it is independent of God, but that God gave it an ability of it's own to produce.

This is how everything works, in righteousness. God plants the seed, and then in partnership with Him and in agreement with his design, the seed produces fruit. Mistranslation or not, it's a biblical thought.

In conjunction with that thought, it is interesting to see how God gives Adam the responsibility to name each creature in verse 19. It is in total partnership with God. God brings the animal that He created to Adam, and gives him the privilege of naming it. He even gets to name his own wife! That's a unique experience!

Chapter 3

The fall. Ouch. Conflict. God is such a good story teller. Or maybe story-creator would be a better term. Well, both, of course.

It's specifically interesting to note how God sets up the story to unfold after the fall:

[To the serpent] "I will put animosity between you and the woman, and between your descendant and her descendant; he will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel."

[To the woman] "I will greatly increase your pain in childbirth. You will bring forth children in pain. Your desire will be toward your husband, but he will rule over you."

[To Adam] The ground is cursed on your account; for you will work hard to eat it as long as you live. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat field plants. You will eat bread by the sweat of your forehead till you return to the ground - for you were taken out of it; you are dust, and you will return to dust."

God here establishes that there will be a struggle. He tells the serpent, "They're gonna be your enemy now. You better watch out, because one of these days..." Which of course points to Jesus, and eventually to his demise in the lake of fire. He makes it clear to Satan that this is not a permanent victory. Oh no, this is a battle that mankind will win through the incarnation of the Son of Man.

God establishes to the woman that she will struggle because of her weakness she will desire a husband who will protect her. This guardianship was not placed on Adam before the fall (although it could probably be said that it was implied), but now, women will be placed under the authority of men, and men will be responsible for their women.

This sets up what comes next, the repercussions for Adam not being responsible for his woman. Man will have to work hard... ARGH!