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In the Torah section לֶךְ-לְךָ Lech Lecha (“get going,” Gen. 12:1-17:27), Abram was not given a destination. It’s a strange place to be when you don’t know where you’re going. It takes trust to make the first step. And this is the beginning of his journey to become Abraham, father of faith in God (Rom. 4:16-25).
We also learn through this Bible study why all cultures are not equal and what was truly the unforgivable problem in Sodom and Gomorrah.
A father and mother of many nations
“’No longer shall your name be called Abram, But your name shall be Abraham; For I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.‘ … Then God said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.’” (Genesis 17:5, 15-16 NASB)
The name Abram means “My father is Aram” This is referred to in Deut. 26:5 when the children of Israel are to bring the first fruits of their land to the priests at the tabernacle and later the temple, they were to recite a liturgy starting with the phrase, “My father was a wandering Aramean,…” but God is expanding Abram’s influence beyond Aram. God is going to use Abram to bless the entire world and God gives him a name worthy of that calling.
When God changed Abram’s name to Abraham, his new name means that he is still going to a father, but not of one nation, but of many nations.
Sarai’s name was also changed to Sarah. Sarai means “my princess,” while Sarah means “mother of nations.”
The Torah tells us that there’s one law for all people (Num. 15:16, 29). There’s no room for bigotry and racism in God’s house. The prophet Ezekiel says that even the inheritance is equal between the native born and the convert. That is profound.
The apostle Paul also stressed that there is no distinction made between Jew or Greek, male or female in regards to salvation and status as a member of God’s household (Rom. 10:12; Col. 3:11). Whether you are born in or grafted in, you are in.
The entire Muslim world does not trace their family lineage through Ishmael. Only the Arabs directly trace their family lineage through Ishmael (and later Esau). There is a strong current of racism in the Arab world. Non-Arab Muslim visitors to Mecca can tell you all sorts of stories about the racism they experienced during the Hajj. There’s also a lot of racism in African and Asian societies but it’s only the European societies and cultures who have been shamed for their racism while the racism of others is ignored or tolerated.
All cultures are not created equal
When we read later in the Torah about’s God’s command to Israel to wipe out groups such as a the Amalekites, that command was not made because of the Amalakite’s race but because their culture and their conduct (as well as the culture and conduct of the other Canaanite tribes) was so reprehensible, that they had to be wiped out.
There was no way to expunge their abhorrent cultural practices from the land. These teachings and practices were so engrained in the Canaanites that there was no way to separate them from their culture.
God cares about how we behave. The entire book of Deuteronomy, particularly its final chapters are all about God’s warnings that if the people behave badly, God will punish them severely but if they practice righteousness and justice, God will bless them.
Whether God wipes out a culture Himself in a super-natural manner (Sodom and Gomorrah) or He tells His people to do it (Hittites, Jebusites, Amalakites, etc.), the result is the same. All cultures are not equal.
And we are also told that some generations, particularly the witness who met and rejected Yeshua, will be judged more harshly than Sodom and Gomorrah were.
So, when we see God telling us that a particular group must be exterminated because they are too evil to be allowed to live, this is because their sin is too embedded in their culture. They are not open to repentance, they are not teachable.
But that’s not a judgement that humans can make, that’s a decision only God can make because only God sees the heart. He knows which people and which cultures are teachable and open to repentance and which are stone-hearted and irredeemable.
Homosexuality is not an unforgivable sin
When it comes to Sodom and Gomorrah, there are many who say those cities were punished because they condoned homosexuality. That’s an overly simplistic explanation of why God punished them so severely.
The Greco-Roman culture permitted and encouraged homosexual behavior on a large scale. They engaged in debauchery that would have made Sodom blush. Yet God didn’t smack them down in a conflagration like He did in Sodom and Gomorrah.
God doesn’t smite a people or a culture over a singular behavior. It is when the culture of a nation becomes so corrupt as a whole that it cannot be fixed that God either takes matters in His own hands or He moves another nation to wipe them out.
This is what He did during the Flood. The corruption was so severe and so prevalent, you can’t just teach it out of them, you actually have to wipe the slate and start over again.
Homosexuality is not an irredeemable corruption.
As the Apostle Paul said,
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” (1Corinthians 6:9–11 NASB)
Paul is reminding the Corinthians that some of them were once homosexuals or many of these other things. They learned that homosexual behavior is wrong and stopped doing it. They repented of their sin and didn’t justify it or explain it away. They gave it up for the sake of the Kingdom of God.
Paul tells us that homosexuality is not hard-wired into us. If they are teachable and seeking after the kingdom of God, they can learn not to act that way anymore. Homosexuality is not an unpardonable sin.
Let’s go!
Now back to Lech Lecha, there is a Jewish tradition that states that Abraham’s brother Haran died saving Abraham’s life. I don’t know if this story is true. I personally don’t believe it’s true, but it’s been handed down as an explanation as to why Abraham had such a close bond with his nephew Lot.
I personally believe that God called both Abraham and Lot out of Ur. Lot was not just a tag-a-long.
When you are called to move, what is your first question? Where do I go? That is your first concern. Do I move to the next town, next state, across the country or to a foreign land? We usually want to know our exact destination before we move.
We also prefer to plan how we will transport ourselves? Will we go by car, train, bus or plane?
Abram was not given a destination. It’s a strange place to be when you don’t know where you’re going.
God told Abram to travel in a particular direction and to simply keep on going until He said “Stop.”
Abram grew up in a family steeped in idol worship, in a culture in which one prayed to multiple gods every day. We learn this in the book of Joshua.
“Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the River, namely, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods. ‘Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him through all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants and gave him Isaac.” (Joshua 24:2–3 NAS95)
With that kind of upbringing, how did Abram know which God was speaking to him? I don’t know exactly how God spoke to Abram. We know that God spoke to Moses face to face. God and Moses had conversations, but to all others, He would speak to them in dreams and visions. Because of this, it seems that God spoke to Abram in visions and dreams, too.
So idolatry and worshipping many gods is the tradition of his family tradition. That was their way of life, and Abram has to discern which one is calling him to go.
Here’s something to think about. How responsible are you and I to understand our God to know when He speaking to us versus when something evil is speaking to us. That’s an important question.
So if you or I have a vision or a dream, we know from the Torah that it says that we are to challenge that vision or dream. We are to challenge it. We are to “test the spirits” to find out if it is from God or somewhere else.
So if Abram is going to follow this deity that he doesn’t fully understand or know, he had to have faith that this deity wanted what was best for him.
We know that the Torah later testifies that God is pleased with Abraham’s worldview and God is pleased that Abram will teach his children what is right and what is wrong continuously. Abram knew right and wrong inherently and also knew how to teach it to others.
The Bible doesn’t tell us what Abraham asked or what he said, but what would you do? According to the Torah, our job is to challenge it. We must ask God, “Is this for you, God or not?”
So what do you think Abraham did? Most likely asked? “Who are you?” He challenged it, because that is what we are taught to do.
I believe Abram asked God to identify Himself and give Abram some kind of verification of His promise. That’s my opinion because that’s what our job is.
If you start hearing voices whether it’s a dream or a vision, challenge it first. Don’t just obey and accept whatever you are hearing.
God does not take this kind of questioning as an angry insult. This is what He taught us to do.
Someone may answer back, “Well, what about Zachariah, John the Baptist’s father? He challenged God and God said ‘Don’t speak.’”
God’s striking Zachariah with muteness was not a rebuke or a punishment but a miracle. What did it do? It aroused curiosity. His ability to not speak was actually a blessing to those around him. Because they saw the evidence of God’s intimate interaction with Zachariah while he was performing his priestly duties. Even though it might seem like a bad thing, it was actually a good thing.
There are a couple more points in this reading I want to bring out and discuss before I run out of time today.
There is a chaism in Gen. 12:8-13:4 that I want to discuss briefly. The punchline of that chaism is in Gen. 12:14-17 which says,
“It came about when Abram came into Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. Therefore he treated Abram well for her sake; and gave him sheep and oxen and donkeys and male and female servants and female donkeys and camels. But the LORD struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.” (Genesis 12:14–17 NAS95)
You have to ask yourself, “Why? Who cares? So what that Sarai was beautiful and Abram got a lot of loot? And then God struck Pharaoh’s household with plagues?” So what?
Let me rephrase this:
- Sarai was desirable.
- She was taken to Pharaoh’s house in his ownership, in his possession.
- Abram receives a bunch of stuff from Egypt.
- Pharaoh’s house was struck with plagues.
- Pharaohs household escorted them out.
Now, think about it this way:
- Pharaoh desired a people
- He took possession of them and denied them their freedom.
- Later pharoah’s house was struck with plages
- The people he posessed left with a lot of stuff
- They were banished from Pharoah’s house.
What historical event does Sarai’s sojourn bring to mind? The Exodus. What she experienced was a foreshadowing of the Exodus. Pharaoh takes Sarai captive but then his house experiences plagues and great suffering. Then he kicks Abram and Sarai out of his house with a high hand, but guess what. They also plunder Egypt, on a small scale, along the way.
If this was a foreshadow of the Exodus, we see Abraham and Sarah do the same thing again, later with Philistine king.
If the story of the Exodus is foreshadowed in the interaction between Abram, Sarai and Pharaoh, then what does their interaction with Abimelech foreshadow? What do the Philistines represent in the Tanak? They represent Gentiles, who are uncircumcised, lawless, barbarians.
And does Abraham and Sarah’s departure from Philistia represent? It may be a foreshadow of the Greater Exodus, when God’s people will be pulled out from all the nations, not just Egypt. This is the Greater Exodus that we are still anticipating.
Although Abimelech did not drive Abram and Sarai out like Pharaoh did, we see that happened later with Isaac and Rebecca, but that’s in a later parashat.
Who gave the tithe to who?
“He brought back all the goods, and also brought back his relative Lot with his possessions, and also the women, and the people.
Then after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High.
He blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth;
And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” He gave him a tenth of all. The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give the people to me and take the goods for yourself.” Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have sworn to the LORD God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take a thread or a sandal thong or anything that is yours, for fear you would say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ “I will take nothing except what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their share.”” (Genesis 14:16–24 NAS95)
Who is the “he” and “him” in Gen. 14:20? We don’t really know who is the “he” and who is the “him” from a plain reading of the text. Both Jews and Christians have assumed who the “he” and “him” are based on 2300+ years of interpretation.
The Book of Hebrews when recalls this story metaphorically to reveal a priesthood loyal to God which is independent of, parallel to and established before the Levitical priesthood. The author of Hebrews is revealing how these two parallel priesthoods work.
However, when one reads this verse in the Hebrew, the plain reading, the grammatically correct version would state that it was Melchizedek who gave a tithe to Abram, not the other way around.
However, we have been taught that only priests can receive the 10th or the tithe so we flip it around.
I’m not saying that switching them around is wrong. You can’t prove one way or the other. But if you read it, the Hebrew text teaches a profound difference than what’s being taught to us.
There’s a different lesson we can glean from the very plain reading that differs from what the Rabbis and the Apostles taught, but it doesn’t make the Rabbis or the Apostles wrong. It’s just different. Both lessons are true.
That is what is beautiful about the Tanak. It’s a living text.
Think of it as a comparison between the King of Salem and the King of Sodom and their behavior. We see a profound difference between how Abram treats the King of Salem v. the King of Sodom.
In the plain Hebrew of the text, we see the King of Salem/Melchizedek offering Abram a tithe and Abram accepts it graciously.
The King of Sodom tries to out-give the King of Salem by offering Abram everything except the people. Abram responds by saying “I won’t even accept a shoe strap from you.”
What does this teach us about the characters of these two kings? Both are generous, but one is wicked and one is righteous.
Sodom was trying to bribe Abram to gain favor with him, but it didn’t work. Just as we can’t bribe God to gain His favor, Abram couldn’t be bribed either.
No matter how bad you are or how good you are, it doesn’t change what God asks of you. God accepts what He asks of us. If we try to give more in an effort to bribe Him, it will not work. It will not gain us favor with God.
If we are righteous, giving a 10th is sufficient. If we are unrighteous, giving 100% is not sufficient. If you are wicked, giving 100% of all you own won’t make you righteous. It doesn’t matter how much you pay, it doesn’t fix who you are or what you do.
You can’t pay your way out of your sins. That’s the lesson we glean when reading the strictly Hebrew text alone. That’s a good lesson to learn, isn’t that?
I’m not saying that the book of Hebrews analysis was incorrect. My point is that reading the text two different ways gives you two different correct lessons, doesn’t it? It’s the same words, but two different lessons.
Righteousness outweighs all the possessions I can possibly give to God. I cannot make up for my unrighteous behavior with money.
Summary: Tammy