Shabbat Midrash (Teaching) Outlines

• At the beginning of this portion, we find Avraham with his tent pitched near the oaks of Mamre.
• He is seated in the door of his tent in the heat of the day poised to offer whatever comfort he could to any traveler who passed by. This mitzvot is known as Hachnasat Orchim (hospitality).
• This was the third day after his circumcision when he was in great pain and yet he put the needs of others before his own.
• Yahweh (G-d) decides to pay a visit to Avraham. This mitzvot is known as Bikur Cholim (visiting the sick).
• Yah (G-d) sees how Avraham yearn for guests, so he sends three malachim (angels) dressed in shepherd’s clothing to pass by his tent.
• Avraham gets really excited at the prospect of guests and invites the three “men” to stay for a meal.
• Avraham sends one of his servants to fetch water for the visitors to wash their feet (Jewish custom).
• While his guests are resting under a tree, Avraham instructs Sarai to prepare and serve them a meal.
• The three malachim (angels) each have a mission:

1) Malach Raphael, the healer, has been sent to take away Avraham’s pain. As soon as he drew near to Avraham, the pain from his circumcision was a mere memory.

2) Malach Michoel’s mission was to deliver the news to Avraham that he has waited to hear most of his life; next year, at this time, Sarai will give birth to a son. Avraham received the news with solemn faith. (When Yah sends a messenger to do his will, the messenger literally manifests HIS presence. In John 8:39, 40, the scripture tells us that Avraham received the messengers and showed them respect and received their word from G-D.)

Sarai, on the other hand, couldn’t help but give a little chuckle when she overhears the announcement. Her response is based strictly in the natural. After all, she is 90 years old, well past child bearing age. Yahweh is displeased because Sarai should have based her reaction in the spiritual; realizing that the G-d of all creation was certainly capable of making good on His promise. Contrast Sarai’s reaction to the Shunammite woman in 2 Kings 4:16 when Elisha foretells the birth of her son, only to have him die in her lap a few years later. The Shunammite woman responded by going immediately to Elisha because she reasoned that if Yahweh defied His rules of nature to bless her with a son, He could likewise defy them and return her son to life by way of another miracle. When her sudden tragedy occurred, she saw in it the perfect opportunity to put her faith into practice. We should learn from this story that we should not have to wait for a tragedy in our lives to practice our faith in our daily lives.

3) Malach Gavriel’s mission was to destroy the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, but not before Malach Raphael rescues Lot and his family from certain death.

Yitzchak and Yisma’el

• The two sons of Avraham teach us a great deal about how Yah’s covenants work;

( Just a reminder: Israel became a nation in 1948. Avraham was born 1,948 years from the Day of Creation. Yitzchak , the Son of Promise, was born 2,048 years from the Day of Creation).

• Although not the child of promise, Yishma’el is Avraham’s son also.
• According to Jewish custom, he was circumcised on the eighth day after his birth. From a physical standpoint, the clotting factor for a male child is very high on this day. From a spiritual standpoint, the eighth day represents new beginnings.
• So why wasn’t Yishma’el able to stand before Yahweh as Avraham asked in B’resheet (Genesis) 17:18?
• Because Yishma’el, on every level, represents the striving of the flesh and the works of man.
• When Yah promised Avraham and Sarai a son, His intention was for Sarai to be the mother.
• Avraham and Sarai; however, tried to bring the promise of Yah into fruition on their own.
• Even though Yishma’el was circumcised, this did not keep him from being turned out of Avraham’s house. Yeshua makes reference to this in Matthew 7:21 when He says that not everyone that calls him L-rd, L-rd will enter the Kingdom. The works of the flesh do not earn you salvation, only trusting in Yeshua as your Savior.
• Another example is when Sha’ul (Paul) quotes Sarai in Galatians when she says that a slave’s son will not inherit along with her own son. Sha’ul goes on to build on the idea that circumcision as a means of righteousness is a purely human endeavor that does not grant salvation.
• Sha’ul’s whole point here, using Yishma’el as an example, is that the striving of the flesh cannot earn one’s salvation, only Yahweh can give that gift through Yeshua Ha-Meshiach.

Servant vs. Son

• Sha’ul goes on to compare the Covenant at Sinai, which makes one a servant of Yah, to the Renewed Covenant, which makes one a son of Yah.
• Isn’t it a good thing to want to be a servant of Yah?
• A servant who serves his master out of fear or only because he wants a reward should be considered inferior to the Good Son (Yeshua), who is not only the seed of His Father, but also a servant to His Father. The Good Son serves out of love and respect.
• What about Yitzchak (Isaac)? We need to understand that Yitzchak is symbolic of Yeshua on a deep level and his sacrifice foreshadows the sacrifice of Yeshua

Foreshadowing the Father

• Avraham often foreshadows Yahweh in the role of The Father; and, in this portion of scripture Avraham’s household represents Yah’s children.
• A great example of the role of the Father is found in the rite of circumcision mentioned previously and found in B’resheet (Genesis 17:9-14).
• The obligation to fulfill the commandment to be circumcised falls on the father ( no pun intended!).
• He must make sure that his children are circumcised on the eighth day.
• The eighth day in Hebrew thought represents new beginnings, starting over.
• How does this show us Avraham in the role of the Father in Heaven?
• Just as Yah tells Avraham that he is personally responsible for making sure that his house has been circumcised, Yah tells us in D’varim (Deuteronomy) 30:6 that He will circumcise our hearts Himself.
• In other words, The Father of the House makes sure that this commandment gets done for all His children, meaning us! Hallelujah!
• This point should remind us of Yeshua’s words when He urges us to turn and become as little children.
• Also, Avraham represents the Father circumcising children who are helpless babes before Him.
• The circumcision of the flesh represents the circumcision of the heart, which is a spiritual alteration where the worldly desires are cut away.
• In summation, Avraham foreshadows G-d the Father who circumcises His children in their helplessness, bringing them into new beginnings!

Now let’s look at the interaction between Avraham and Yitzchak to see how they foreshadow Yeshua’s death and resurrection.

Foreshadowing the Son of Promise

• The 22nd chapter of B’resheet (Genesis) is often referred to as the “Binding of Isaac” (called Agedah in Hebrew).
• Isaac is bound on the altar, and his own father is raising the knife to slaughter him when the messenger of Yah (a malach (angel) stops him pointing out that Avraham has proven himself and that he should now sacrifice the ram, which he now sees caught in the thorn bushes by its horns).
• There is much more going on here than Avraham proving his faithfulness to Yah’s will, no matter the price.
• First, there is the location. It is known that this is the same mountain where, centuries later, the Altar would be built by King David and the Temple by his son Solomon.
• Second, Avraham mentions in verse 8 that Yah will provide a lamb and yet a ram is eventually offered up. What happened to the lamb?
• Yitzchak represented that lamb, but the ram was given in his place.
• The Lamb was Yeshua, and for a very long time the people of Yah were waiting for the Lamb to appear to them, when finally, in John 1:29, Yochanan The Immerser (John the Baptist) exclaimed: “Look! G-d’s Lamb! The One who is taking away the sins of the world!”
• Avraham and Yitzchak walked in union when they ascended onto the mountain to worship, just as Yeshua repeatedly says that He and the Father are One.
• The scripture says twice in Genesis 22:6 and 22:8 that “the two walked together”.
• The prophet Amos asked “Do two walk together unless they are in agreement?”
• Yitzchak knew and understood that he was to be the sacrifice, yet he went on in union with his father.
• Avraham believed that Yah would fulfill His promise that through the son Sarai bore would come kings and nations even though Yah’s request of Avraham to sacrifice Yitzchak seemed to contradict the promise.
• In other words, if Yitzchak died, then Yah would bring him back to life.

This foreshadowed the death and resurrection of Yeshua.

• When Avraham says in Genesis 22:5, “I and the boy will go there, worship, and return”, Avraham was merely stating his belief in Yahweh.
• These events are a type and shadow of the Father sacrificing His Son Yeshua. Our Messiah always walked in union with His Father, even to the point of his own death, much as Yitzchak walked with his father because he knew that He would be raised.
• We learn from this the principle that “obedience is better that sacrifice”.
• Avraham trusted and was faithful to something he hadn’t seen with his own eyes, and Yah blessed him for this. John 20:29 tells us “How blessed are those who have not seen and trust anyway.”

posted by Chris Phillips, Congregational Leader  # 11/18/2005