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“‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?’” … “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’” (Matthew 25:38, 40 NASB)
Abraham and Lot offer the world concrete examples of radical hospitality. Both of them had an overflowing love for their fellow man that was stronger than the fear and “stranger danger” that holds most of us back from helping those in need.
Many focus on illicit behavior, but Sodom’s utter lack of hospitality and its culture of fear is why God wiped them off the map, destroying them so utterly that their lush valley is now an ocean of salt.
Torah reading וַיֵּרָא Vayera (“[and] he appeared,”) is a fair warning to us in our day. We must be careful when responding to the strangers in our midst with fear rather than love.
Vayera victuals
- This Bible reading is aptly named. It describes how the Creator of the heavens and Earth shows up big time “at the fullness of time.”
- The promised one — Yitskhak — and trust in God’s promise to keep Abraham and Yitskhak alive long enough to make that happen.
- Abraham’s lunch with the LORD and intercession for Sodom.
- Lesson: The LORD doesn’t send judgment without knowing the intricacies of what is going on. We need to be concerned about collateral damage when we call down “judgement” on wicked cities because there are righteous people who live in those cities.
- Lesson: Pray for mercy and deliverance for the righteous in cities.
- Deliverance of Lot amid judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah.
- Lesson: Sometimes, we are saved because of the prayers of the righteous.
- Abraham’s offering of his “only son,” the son of the promise and the appearance of God.
- Lesson: The LORD not only “shows up” at our time of need, the LORD has paid the “ultimate price” while we were “still sinners.”
How Abraham moves from fear to confidence
One of the lessons in all of this is that we are to look for opportunities to help. This is something to think about as we look to extend hospitality in a hostile world.
Rather than the ethos of “nature red in tooth and claw,” the Kingdom of Heaven teaches that the strong care for the weak of body and mind. We need to look for opportunities to help the weak, not to step on them or to step over them.
An immigrant from Ur, Abram was a stranger in Canaan, yet Heaven blessed him with power, wealth and a beautiful wife.
The 10th Commandment teaches us to trust the LORD’s provision and not covet other’s blessings, regardless of perceived “worthiness” of those who have been blessed with more than what God has given us.
Abraham is a role model for righteousness that comes through trust (faith) in God’s promises, but Vayera shows his growth from fear he wouldn’t live to see the promise to confidence it would happen.
Like the father of our trust in the LORD, we must learn how “perfect[ed] love casts out fear” (1John 4:18 NASB). Love is perfected in the trust which turns fear into confidence. It’s not a confidence based in arrogance but an acknowledgment of blessing.
How Lot practices radical hospitality
Lot in Sodom demonstrated hospitality by taking in the two travelers.
- Likewise, we demonstrate philoxenia (“affection for the stranger”) by watching for opportunities to help them. This is the word that is translated as “hospitality” in the Apostolic Scriptures (New Testament).
- Then as now, “stranger danger” results from a breakdown in faith in others.
- Then as now, the closer we get packed together and/or lose touch with each other, the faster the breakdown in faith in others. Moving from a rural society to an urban society usually entails a breakdown in trust.
Genesis 18:1–15: ‘Is anything too difficult for the LORD?’
“Sarah denied it however, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh.”” (Genesis 18:15 NASB)
“By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised. Therefore there was born even of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendants AS THE STARS OF HEAVEN IN NUMBER, AND INNUMERABLE AS THE SAND WHICH IS BY THE SEASHORE.” (Hebrews 11:8–12 NASB)
We will see the interplay between what we can see and what we fear. Animals calm down if you blindfold them. Weighted blankets also produced a psychosomatic feeling of security and comfort.
Genesis 18:16–33: ‘Shall I hide from Abraham what I’m about to do…?’
The the Dead Sea plain hasn’t always been totally dead. Common sense as well as the clear word of Torah tells us that Lot did not chose to emigrate to a salty, inhospitable area, but a lush, green valley.
However, Lot slowly emigrated away from the rural life to embrace the urban life. Lot and his family were exposed to the culture shock of Sodom’s “stranger, danger” that was completely unlike his experience in the fields of Hebron. This decision produced grave consequences for Lot and his family that Abraham also had to confront years later.
Abraham bargains for the lives of Sodom and Gomorrah, which are weighed in the balances but found wanting. God may delay His judgement for a time because of the prayers of the righteous (such as Abraham, Hezekiah, etc.) or the sincere repentance of a community (Nineveh in Jonah’s day), but His judgments always come to pass.
“The LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed? “For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.”” (Genesis 18:17–19 NASB)
In Vayera, we see an obvious growth in Abraham from a relationship with God based on fear to one based on absolute trust.
God chose Abraham not to be “picky” but to bless the entire world with the proper balance between mercy and righteousness v. fairness and justice.
Genesis 19:1–22: Lot goes the extra mile in extending hospitality to Sodom
What we read in Gen. 19:1-22 has some horrifying parallels to what we read later in Judges 19:15-25. Troubling parallel to Lot’s offer of his daughters to the Sodom mob: Levite and his “wayward” concubine.
Just as Sodom and Gomorrah were completely destroyed, the tribe of Benjamin were nearly completely destroyed as well. The moral rot and decay of Canaan that the children of Israel refused to properly deal with.
Both of these stories are examples of what the Day of the LORD will be like (Matt. 10:15; 11:24; 2Pet. 2:6; Jude 7). The society will descend to such chaos and evil that there will many who will be taken away and very few left behind by comparison.
“’Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.’” (John 13:20 NASB)
We are told, “Don’t shoot the messenger,” but the Bible is full of stories of messengers who were killed because their messages, which came from God, offended the cultures of their day.
“Let love of the brethren continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.” (Hebrews 13:1–2 NASB)
We learned a small lesson through the evacuations we endured during the Kincade Fire, that hospitality is a very important fruit of the spirit we need to exercise. We should be a beacon to others, not just flee as those around us are taken by the flames.
Summary: Tammy
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