VaYERA (and he appeared) GEN 18:1-22:24

SHABBAT SHALOM L'ATEM (Shabbat Shalom to all)

PARASHA: " VaYera" (and he appeared)


GEN 18:1-22:24.....2 KINGS :1-37......2 PETER 2:4-11

There are several topics in this Parasha, first, the appearance of YHVH in the form of an Angel, together with two other "malachim" . One might wonder why "3" angels?. "3" represents the entity of "Elohim". Soon there will be "three" members of the family of Abraham and Sarah, namely "Yitzchak" YHVH is there to give a blessing to Abraham, but we see first, that Abraham first blesses the angels, He gives them comfort, food, drink, and they sit and rest for a while, after that, YHVH gives Abraham and Sarah the blessing
"Sarah your wife will have a son"

This can be considered a "miracle birth" since Sarah was past the age of child bearing. BUT even though Abraham was old, his seed was still potent, since when Sarah died, he married "Keturah" and had children with her, so, the problem was in Sarah, and not in Abraham, "Is anything too hard for the LORD?" If YHVH created the Heavens and the earth in 6 literal days, and divided the sea so that the Children of Israel could cross, and the countless of other miracles, could he not make the womb of Sarah fertile?

Sometimes we "laugh" inside like Sarah did, we just can't fathom miracles, do they still exist today? Yes, they do. the LORD hears our "laughter and sighs of unbelief" yet He still works miracles in our lives. I didn't think it possible to have my left ear healed, always having to clean it out, sometimes, going for days with hearing in only one ear, then, in Tiberias, laying on my bed in Tiberias Hostel, the ear just "opened" in a matter of one second, all of a sudden, I could hear again, in "both" ears, and both ears are still good, hearing out of both of them, that happened in July of this year. So, the LORD is still in the miracle business, it is just a matter of HIS perfect timing.
Many times, when we bless the LORD through serving HIM in different ways, HE responds with blessings for us, it kinda works both ways, when we help around the house, doing chores, (when we were kids in our parents' house) did not mom and dad do some special things for us? sometimes, without us expecting anything.

Then there is the case for LOT, Abraham intercedes for Sodom before YHVH since he knows Lot , his nephew and his family are there. First Lot pitches his tent "toward" Sodom, and then he is "inside" Sodom! What ever happened to his tent? He exchanged it for a house....and a job. Be careful as believers when we get TOO comfortable with the things of the world, just an example, One can look at a pig pen from afar, but then, we start to get closer, we get to the fence that separates the pig pen from the rest of the
world , but once you get into the pig pen, and start rolling around in the mud with the pig, you come out smelling like a pig,

The LORD has called us to be "separate" from the world, yet not to ignore the world, but to intervene and be a witness to the lost world. We can have lost friends, have a worldly job, but NOT to participate in the ACTIVITIES of the world, meaning the activities which are against what God teaches us in the Torah. Lot comes out, more unwillingly, they escape, Mrs. Lot looks back and is "Saltified" He ends up in a cave, allows himself to become drunk, his own daughters have sex with him, and he becomes the father of the people of MOAB and AMMON, two of Israel's worse enemies, One never knows what negative influence can come with becoming "too close" with the pagan activities of the world.

We can see something else: Abraham interceded for Sodom, yet it was destroyed yet Lot and his daughters saved. Moshe interceded for Israel on various occasions, and Israel was saved from destruction.

Noah NEVER interceded for the world, (as far as we know) and we know the rest.

We see that Abraham was tested, "Go offer up Yitzchak, your only son, as a burnt offering" Abraham knew that YHVH detested human sacrifices, yet he still obeyed, God did not say "sacrifice Isaac" he said "offer him" Maybe Abraham thought, "If I bring down the knife on Isaac my son, God will raise him up from the dead" this could be a thought, we can ask Abraham if that went through his mind when we meet him one day in heaven. we can see these things,

1. As Abraham offered up Isaac as a sacrifice, we should offer up our own selves as LIVING sacrifices, in service to YHVH

2. God was not willing that Abraham should bring down the knife on Isaac, his only son, but YHVH was not willing that the world perish in sin, and spared not HIS ONLY SON Yeshua, who died in our place

3. Isaac was taken OFF the altar and replaced by a RAM, WE were spared and in our place, YESHUA was sacrificed.

Isaac = all of humankind Ram = Yeshua

The ram was laid on an altar of stone, on top of wood, Yeshua was nailed to a wooden cross and laid in a tomb of stone.
______________________________________________________________________________________2 KINGS 4:1-37

We see the case of more miracles, this time, through Elisha the prophet. The widow owed money to a creditor, (probably her dead husband's debts) Elisha did not make the creditor "disappear" he wanted the widow to "honor" the debt, but gave her the ability to pay off the debt, through the sale of olive oil, BUT she had to express faith first, in getting as many jars as possible, and the miracle was done, She was blessed through her obedience, "She asked" "she obeyed" "She was blessed"

The Shunamite woman was also like Sarah, without a child, but she showed kindness to the prophet first, She blessed the prophet with kindness, and the prophet blessed her and her husband in return. When the child got sick and died, he even resurrected him from the dead. We were also DEAD in our sins, yet were resurrected to LIFE when God breathed INTO US the RUACH HA KODESH

(The Holy Spirit)
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2 PETER 2:4-11


The Apostle Peter mentions Lot as a "righteous person" yes, he was, yet he was tormented by the lawlessness of Sodom, Remember it was HIS choice to live there, He did not stop being righteous, yet he was affected by the conduct of the other city dwellers. As believers, we also suffer when we put ourselves in different situations, we can lose blessings, be affected emotionally, even physically, yet we are still children of the KING, and HE will always love us, and what ever the lost, will get us out of situations that are wrecking havoc on our lives, as he did with Lot

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Jacob Ben Avraham