"And He appeared"
B'reisheet (Genesis) 18:1-22:24; 2 Kings 4:1-37; 2 Peter 2:4-11
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Gen 18:1-5 And the LORD appeared unto him by the terebinths of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood over against him; and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed down to the earth, and said: 'My lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant. Let now a little water be fetched, and wash your feet, and recline yourselves under the tree. And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and stay ye your heart; after that ye shall pass on; forasmuch as ye are come to your servant.' And they said: 'So do, as thou hast said.'
These verses establish a concept among followers of G-D which is something that we today need to pay more attention to. Within the text we find Abraham speaking to G-D, and as Abraham speaks he asks G-D to stay and have a morsel of bread and a footwashing. Then, instead of providing the minimum that was required to fulfill his obligation. Abraham instead has an entire meal prepared to serve and goes above and beyond what was required. This is a lesson for all of us. As we serve G-D we should not look for the minimum requirement in whatever we are doing; insteads we should look to go above and beyond. We should desire to do our best in all things. The Scriptures tell us that whatever we do we should do as unto the L-RD. This means we should do everything with all that we have. We should walk in a way that no one questions our commitment to G-D with all our hearts, souls and might.
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In Shemot (Exodus) chapter six and verses six and seven, we find the words below:
“Therefore say to the people of Isra’el: I am Adonai. I will free you from the forced labor of the Egyptians, rescue you from their oppression and redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you as my people, and I will be your G-D. Then you will know that I am Adonai your G-D, who freed you from the forced labor of the Egyptian.
As we read these words this week and each time we study from this book I hope we will notice more than the mighty acts promised by G-D to the children of Israel. G-D speaks of His outstretch arm and great judgments. He also speaks of taking the Israelites as His people and that He would be their G-D. These words are very interesting for many reasons. One reason is that He is already their G-D and they are already His people. These promises were made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The reason Moshe is here speaking with G-D is because these are G-D’s people and He has heard their cries and seen their pain. So let’s look at this section of scripture again. Instead of focusing on the middle of these verses let’s look at the beginning and ending of them. G-D spoke to Moshe, commanding him to tell the people of Israel these words, and when they hear these words and see them fulfilled then they would know that He is their G-D. Another way to say this is that G-D was their G-D but because of their suffering and slavery, because their situation seemed so bleak, they had forgotten these promises of G-D. They had forgotten that they were a special people, and they had forgotten that they had a G-D who loved them. Moshe’s job here was to speak to them and remind them that they truly did have a G-D who loved them, to remind them of the promises made by their G-D to Abraham and the other patriarchs. By speaking and reminding them of these promises with the actions of G-D in fulfilling them, they would once again remember their place as the Children of Israel. They were called the Children of Israel because Jacob was their father and because Jacob wrestled with G-D and prevailed. Jacob’s prevailing was not against G-D but against his own failures, and by winning the battle against his own failures he was able to choose to make G-D his G-D. This did not make G-D any more “G-D”; it made Jacob a follower of the one who was already his G-D. When we find ourselves in a position or struggle we need to remember two things. First, G-D is already our G-D and Savior; we don’t need to look for another way out. Second, we need to remind those around us that He is our G-D and that He will rescue us.
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As we read this week's Parsha we find Avraham being visited by G-D himself. While reading, I found something that I had not noticed before: Avraham was ready for a visit from G-D. When G-D appeared to Avraham. Avraham did not have to ask G-D to wait while he got his home in order. He was already prepared to entertain the Creator of the Universe. As believers, we need to realize that G-D is not waiting to appear at our home. He lives in our hearts. We need to make sure not only our homes are prepared to host The King of All Kings but also make sure our hearts are prepared to Host the King of Kings.
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This week's Parsha is Parsha Vayeira found in B'reisheet (Genesis) 18, beginning with verse one. In English it begins with the words, "HaShem appeared to Him in the plains of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance of the tent in the heat of the day." I would like to talk about a few things tonight that I hope will bless those watching. I believe that in order for anyone to find HaShem, He has to reveal Himself to him or her. Another way to say that is that nobody comes to faith in G-D unless G-D calls him or her. Here we have a nugget of truth in these verses that if, we, as believers, can grasp hold of, we will have much more success in sharing the truths of G-D's Word with others: both Jewish and non-Jewish. It is important for us to notice the wording used in this Parsha.
First, G-D appears to Avraham. Then it says Avraham lifted his eyes and saw. When G-D appears to people they still have to lift their eyes to see him, G-D has shown Himself throughout Torah, Tanakh, and B'rit Chadasha. But unless people raise their eyes to look, they will not see Him. It doesn't matter how clearly G-D has appeared. If people are not willing to look honestly they won't see Him.
I have spoken to people many times and shown them what seems so very clear to me in the Scriptures. I show Prophesy about Y'shua, and they seem not to see it. I show history about Messiah and the early believers, and they seem not to see it. I realized that it is not my job to see for these people after a time of doing this and being discouraged. Not everyone that I showed these things to saw the words as I did. It is my job to let G-D appear to them. I have to let G-d do what He has done ever since man existed. When G-D appears to men they can choose to lift up their eyes and truly SEE Him and when they do choose to see Him they will believe.
Avraham lifted his eyes and saw. The next word says, "Behold." There is a difference between seeing something and BEHOLDING something. I watch young people in my congregation all the time. I watch a young man and a young lady grow up together. Somehow, someway, this young man that has seen this young lady for years one day lifts his eyes and beholds her not as the girl he grew up with but somehow she changes in an instant. He has beheld her and sees her as a woman; he sees her totally different from any other time he has looked at her previously.
That is what happens with Scripture. People can read Scripture for years, and one day they stop just looking at the text and behold G-D in the text. Not only do they behold G-D in the text but also they behold G-D AS THE TEXT...not just the author but also the TEXT ITSELF. It changed the perspective of everything forever. Never again can they look at the text and see just words. They stop seeing just words and behold the Word made flesh, just as the young man can never look at that young lady and see the little girl he grew up with.
The next thing we see is that after Avraham lifted His eyes and saw and then he beheld. He goes one more step and PERCEIVES. When he perceives it was no longer within Avraham to just sit in the door of his tent. He could no longer remain still. He had to run toward G-D, and that is exactly what happens to those people that lift up their eyes and behold G-D. That is, they run toward G-D. They don't just stand there waiting for G-D to get to where they are; they don't walk slowly. THEY RUN! They forget anything else around them, not worrying what other people might think about them...but perceiving Who G-D is and that G-D loved them enough to Appear to them. Think about that.
Everyone of us that know G-D, know Him only because G-D loved us so much He appeared to us. He didn't wait until we searched for Him. Avraham was not searching for G-D this day. He was relaxing in the door of his tent, cooling in the breeze. Then G-D appeared to him. We don't have to search for G-D; we don't have to do anything other than lift our eyes and be willing to see when G-D appears to us, and we see HIM. We will behold His Love, Grace, Mercy, Truth, Peace, Hope and Joy...and we will RUN to Him, not worrying about the details of what is required of us but instead we run to Him. Nothing but getting near Him is important, and it wouldn't matter if we had to swim the sea, climb a mountain. We will behold His Love. Nothing could stop us from getting as close to HIM as we can get as fast as we can get there.
When Avraham got to where G-D was, he first bowed to Him. Then his first words to G-D were, "Please don't leave." The actual words were, "My L-RD if I have found favor in Your Eyes, please pass not away from your servant." Then Avraham begins to get busy. "Let me get some water and food. Let me wash your feet," etc. He was not concerned with what he HAD to do to keep G-D there. He wasn't looking for the line he could go to and still be safe. He was willing to do anything asked of him no matter what if G-d would just not leave. The people that want to find out how little G-D will accept from their service to Him always amaze me. We should not be concerned with how little we can do for G-D. Instead, we should look for anything we can do to please Him. When G-D appears to us and we lift our eyes and see and behold and perceive we will run to serve Him in anyway we can not to earn His Love because we already have His Love but rather BECAUSE OF His Love.
Avraham - Hebrew name for "Abraham".