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This study on the Torah reading לֶךְ-לְךָ Lech Lecha (Genesis 12–17) explores the spiritual lineage of Abraham and how it emphasizes God’s faithfulness and love, irrespective of human failings. This faithfulness and love reaches its fullness in Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus the Christ).
Being a true descendant of the covenant the Creator of Heaven and Earth made with him means embodying the trust — faith — he had in Heaven’s promises, not just sharing his DNA. We explore the importance of spiritual commitment over rituals such as circumcision, biblical criticism toward religious figures’ service without sincerity, and the necessity for total devotion for a covenantal relationship with God.
Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.”
John 8:58 NASB 1995
Abraham was promised a great nation and a great name, or a great reputation. In Romans 4:16, apostle Paul called Abraham “the Father of us all,” and in Matthew 3:9, prophet–herald Yokhanan (John the Baptist) tells his audience that God can make sons of Abraham from the rocks.
Their point is that having the right family tree or the right DNA does not make you a true son or daughter of Abraham. Don’t claim genetics as your ticket into the Kingdom of Heaven. You’re not going to get in there just because of what your DNA report says or what your genealogy is. God cares more about your trust, and trust is a heart issue. God loves those born in Israel and those who trust in Him like Abraham did. Heaven called Abraham to “get going” from his homeland to a then unknown destination.
Abraham had to learn to trust God, that He would sustain his life until the promise was fulfilled, and not through his half-truths. Sarah also had to learn to trust Heaven would bring the Seed of Chavah (Eve, Gen. 3:15) through them and would be a blessing to the world, crushing the head of the Serpent. This special “seed” would not come through Eliezer or Hagar, but through Abraham and Sarah together. God changed their names, elevating their reputation. אַבְרָם Avram (“exalted father”1) became אַבְרָהָם Avraham (“father of a multitude”2). Sarah’s name (שָׂרָה) is the feminine form3 of the Hebrew verb שָׂרַר sarar, which means to “rule, reign, act as a prince, govern.”4 Sarah means princess or queen.5
God said in Gen. 12:1–3 that anyone who “curses” Abraham would be “cursed.” The first Hebrew word for curse is in the piel stem of קָלַל qalal, meaning “to designate as too lightweight, contemptible.”6 The word for cursed is in the qal stem of אָרַר arar, “to bind with a curse.”7 Thus, whoever belittles Abraham, God would bring them low.
We see in the next Torah reading (Vayera) that Ishmael belittled or scorned Isaac, and he was disowned from the family because of it. God did make Ishmael a great nation for the sake of Abraham’s plea, but Ishmael would not be the family through whom Abraham’s blessing — Messiah — would come to all nations.
The book of Ezekiel shows us how utterly corrupt the priesthood were in the years leading up to the exile, but God reassures Ezekiel and his audience that even though the priests were corrupt, that those who were reaching out to Him earnestly, even though these disloyal priests, that God heard their prayers and would not leave them. Heaven’s open sign is always on.
This is what Abraham’s visit with Melchizedek and the priesthood of Melchizedek (Psa. 110:4; Hebrews 5–7) shows us. We trust in God. He calls us to come to where He put his name, regardless of who is in charge at the time. When we do what God says, God remembers that, even if the leadership are not doing what God says. The people are not blocked from God just because the priests and teachers have failed in their duty.
Genesis 12–14: Fluctuations between faith and fear
When we were called to go from where God found us to where God is taking us, our journey will have its ups and downs, with vacillations between faith and fear. The same was true for Abraham and Sarah. Abraham thought it was all on him to preserve his own life. Sarah also thought it was all on her to make sure that Abraham had a son anyway possible. Both of them forgot that it wasn’t their job to “help God” that God already had the plan and it was in His hands to bring it about, not theirs.
The apostle Paul’s teachings on circumcision and uncircumcision seem contradictory (Gal. 3:15–18; 4:21–31; 5:1–6; Col. 2:11–15; 1Cor. 7:19), but he still abides by the Torah and recognizes its holiness. The apostle Paul said that the most important thing is to follow the commandments of God, more important than whether one is circumcised or not. It seems nonsensical, and contradictory since a crucial part of the of the covenant is that men are to be circumcised, but Paul is simply pointing out that joining God’s family is based on God’s promises, not based on man’s works.
Genesis 15–17: From covenant to circumcision
In both Isaiah and Ezekiel, God is highly critical of how the people and the priests would go through the motions of the covenant but not keeping it in their hearts. For example, Eli the priest refused to correct his sons who were desecrating the tabernacle by their harassment of those who came to worship there. God gave Eli plenty of time to rebuke and correct his sons but once it became obvious that Eli did not want to do so because he did not listen to GOd’s warnings through Samuel, God cleaned His house, removing Eli’s family from the high priesthood and allowing the ark of the covenant to be kidnapped by the Philesitines.
If you don’t listen to those who God sends, you will pay for your own disobedience. When we read God’s words, how do we respond? Do we think, “blah, blah, blah” (Isa. 28:7-13)? or do we eagerly engage and learn to understand how God wants to connect with us and with the world. Paul teaches that disobeying God’s law makes us slaves, while obeying the Torah in Yeshua sets us free.
We have these visual reminders of the covenant such as tzitzitot (“tassles,” Num. 15:38-40; Deut. 22:12), circumcision (a private witness), etc. But if we don’t care to honor these visual reminders, why bother doing them in the first place? Why put yourself through the pain and inconvenience of these things if the covenant that they symbolize is unimportant to you?
Piece of the action: Learning when to let God work
Avraham had this vision (Genesis 15) of the pieces of the animals cut in half and then the flame, the torch walked between them while Avraham was asleep. Before the sun went down, Avraham was trying to drive away the birds of prey, fending them off and trying to help God out. He was so diligent in fending off all these wild animals. He was so scared they would pick apart the offering God asked him to bring. As Abraham was getting more and more worked up and worried, Heaven came down and put Avraham to sleep.
The LORD’s promise to create a mighty people through Avraham is significant in the ancient world, where covenants often involved both parties going through a ritual together, but the Lord went through alone, emphasizing the complete conversion process required for covenant relationship with Him.
The issue is always about circumcision of the heart (Deut. 10:16; 30:6; Jer. 4:4). When you are bringing your son to be circumcised on the eighth day, your heart should be completely tuned into keeping the covenant. If your heart isn’t in the covenant, then circumcising yourself or your son merely mutilation and an act of physical abuse.
Each of us are called out from our “hometown” and calls us out to go to a new place. As we walk out, we should keep walking towards the final place God has prepared for us. Even when we stop for a time, we should quickly start walking again and keep our eye on the path God set for us until we reach the home He has made for us.
In days of the earthly ministry of Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus), there were several variations of Judaism, with a wide difference in practice and beliefs: P’rushim (Pharisees, with “schools” of Hillel, Shimmei, etc.), Zaddokim (Sadducees), Essenes, Zealots. One of the groups, whose manuals were left in Qumran, had a detailed list of rules that one must keep to be considered a part of the covenant, and that included circumcision and keeping of Shabbat (Sabbath).
Some of these gatekeepers (Pharisees, Saducees, Essenes, etc.) took it upon themselves to nitpick and critique how others keep the new moons, the sabbaths, feasts, circumcision, etc. They took their sectarian interpretations and placed them above the plain word of Torah. They took it upon themselves to decide, based on their sectarian views, who was in the kingdom and who was out of the kingdom. Only God can decide who is in His Kingdom and who is not in the Kingdom.
We don’t have to do anything to earn God’s love. His love is based on His promises. Even when we fail, even when we are faithless, He is faithful. He promises that we will see those who we have lost because of death. He will bring them with Him. He was faithful then. He is faithful now. He will be faithful forever.
Summary: Tammy
- Robert L. Thomas, ed. Hebrew-Aramaic Dictionary of the New American Standard Exhaustive Concordance. Accordance electronic edition, version 2.6. La Habra: Lockman Foundation, 1981. ↩︎
- J. Barton Payne. R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer, and Bruce K. Waltke, eds. Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (TWOT). Accordance electronic edition, version 2.8. Chicago: Moody Press, 1980. ↩︎
- Gary G. Cohen. TWOT. ↩︎
- Cohen, TWOT. ↩︎
- “מַלְכָּה malkah is another world for queen (Robert D. Culver, TWOT).
↩︎ - Ludwig Koehler, Walter Baumgartner, and M. E. J. Richardson, eds. The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (HALOT). Accordance electronic edition, version 3.7. 5 vols. Leiden: Brill, 2000. ↩︎
- HALOT. ↩︎