Second Shabbat of the Year

Shabbat Shalom!

(Hey, just want to let you know that this post was extra long and I couldn't finish it all in one day, which is why I'm saying Shabbat Shalom and the post editor thingy is saying it was published on Sunday.)

Today's reading is Genesis (Beresheet) 24-28:9

Beresheet 24:1-4 "Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and Yahuah had blessed Abraham in all things. So Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, 'Please, put your hand under my thigh, and I will make you swear by Yahuah, the Elohim of heaven and the Elohim of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell; but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.'"

I don't know about you, but I'm asking two questions here. Why the hand under the thigh? That seems a little weird. Then again, think about it, if Abraham and his servant experienced today's culture, they might be wondering "Why the hooked pinkies?" when we pinkie promise, or why we have paper in our strangely shaped cookies, or why a lot of girls wear pants instead of traditional skirts most of the time. It's a culture thing, we live in one culture, they lived in a completely different one. Question number two is, why does Abraham want his son to marry a family member? Isn't that just a little bit... icky? Again, it's a culture thing. They had super duper tightly knit families and outsiders weren't always the best influence, what with bringing in their idols and all that stuff.

Beresheet 24:5 "And the servant said to him, 'Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came?'"

The servant isn't sure if the woman would want to come back, so he's thinking maybe if she met Isaac, she'd follow. *Shrugs* Maybe he was cute. After all, his mother was gorgeous.

Beresheet 24:6-9 "But Abraham said to him, 'Beware that you do not take my son back there. Yahuah Elohim of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my family, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, 'To your descendants I give this land; He will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. And if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be released from this oath; only do not take my son back there.' So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter."

Hmm... Have you ever been on a blind date? It's basically something where your friends set you up on a date with somebody you've never met before because they think you'll like each other. This is kinda like that, except it's more like a blind marriage. Dates can be a one-time only thing if it doesn't work out... Marriage is permanent. The girl this servant is looking for is going to have to have a lot of faith in order to follow him back. Maybe that's why Abraham didn't want Isaac going back to his hometown.

Beresheet 24:10-15 "Then the servant took ten of his master's camels and departed, for all his master's goods were in his hand. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor. And he made his camels kneel down outside the city by a well of water at evening time, the time when women go out to draw water. Then he said, 'Oh Yahuah Elohim of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. Behold, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, "Please let down your pitcher that I may drink," and she says, "Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink" - let her be the one You have appointed for your servant Isaac. And by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.'"

What do you suppose the chances are that a young woman will say that? Giving him a sip of water is easy enough, but camels are pretty thirsty animals, they drink a LOT of water. It would be quite a chore to do for some random stranger. And another thing; she's gotta be related. Come on, guess the chances. Ten to one? A hundred to one? A thousand to one? A million to one? ...They probably didn't have a million people in the city... Let's stick with a thousand to one as max. How long do you suppose he'll be standing by that well? Hours? Days? Weeks? Until a security guard moves him?

Beresheet 24:15-17 "And it happened, before he had finished speaking, that behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, came out with her pitcher on her shoulder. Now the young woman was very beautiful to behold, a virgin; no man had known her. And she went down to the well, filled her pitcher, and came up. And the servant ran to meet her and said, 'Please let me drink a little water from your pitcher.'"

Try number one: Will it work? Her genealogy is good, though I doubt the servant knows it.

Beresheet 24:18-21 "So she said, 'Drink, my lord.' Then she quickly let her pitcher down to her hand, and gave him a drink. And when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, 'I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.' Then she quickly emptied her pitcher into the trough, ran back to the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. And the man, wondering at her, remained silent so as to know whether Yahuah had made his journey prosperous or not."

The girl did everything that the servant prayed for. The first girl he saw. She gave him and ten thirsty camels water. If that man wasn't a complete and total believer already, he sure is now! So there he's standing, won't say a word, mouth probably agape, watching this woman with the perfect genealogy (though he doesn't know it yet) doing exactly what he prayed for. Ever hear that phrase, match made in heaven? I'm pretty sure you won't get a much more heavenly match than this.

Beresheet 24:22-23 "So it was, when the camels had finished drinking, that the man took a golden nose ring weighing half a shekel, and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels of gold, and said, 'Whose daughter are you? Tell me, please, is there room in your father's house for us to lodge?'"

He just needs to know who she's related to so he can bring the right girl back to Isaac. She's already done exactly what he hoped for, now she needs to be exactly who he hopes she is.

Beresheet 24:24-25 "So she said to him, 'I am the daughter of Bethuel, Milcah's son, whom she bore to Nahor.' Moreover she said to him, 'We have both straw and feed enough, and room to lodge.'"

Remember my post from last time? Both Lot and Abraham were exceptionally good hosts to people who may have been perfect strangers. As is Rebekah. I'm guessing it really was good manners.

Beresheet 24:26-28 "Then the man bowed down his head and worshiped Yahuah. And he said, 'Blessed be Yahuah Elohim of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His mercy and His truth toward my master. As for me, being on the way, Yahuah led me to the house of my master's brethren.' So the young woman ran and told her mother's household these things."

She has already passed two of four tests. The first and second being who she's related to and whether she'll give water to his camels. The third test is whether her parents will let her marry Isaac or not, and the fourth test will probably be whether she gets along with Isaac or not.

Beresheet 24:29-31 "Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban, and Laban ran out to the man by the well. So it came to pass, when he saw the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister's wrists, and when he heard the words of his sister Rebekah, saying, 'Thus the man spoke to man spoke to me,' that he went to the man. And there he stood by the camels at the well. And he said, 'Come in, O blessed of Yahuah! Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels.'"

So far it looks like the only thing Rebekah and her brother know so far is that Abraham sent a servant and he gave her some extravagant gifts. Yes, something is out of the ordinary, but no, they don't know what it is yet. At any rate, the hospitality level didn't change, they're still welcoming in the servant with open arms.

Beresheet 24:32-33 "Then the man came to the house. And he unloaded the camels, and provided straw and feed for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. Food was set before him to eat, but he said, 'I will not eat until I have told about my errand.' And he said, 'Speak on.'"

Here we have a man on a mission. He's playing matchmaker between two people who've never met and cutting straight to the chase, before even having dinner. Verses 34-48, he pretty much summarizes what he's been through thus far, so we'll pick up on verse 49.

Beresheet 24:49-53 "'Now if you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. And if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left.' Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, 'The thing comes from Yahuah; we cannot speak to you either bad or good. Here is Rebekah before you; take her and go, and let her be your master's son's wife, as Yahuah has spoken.' And it came to pass, when Abraham's servant heard their words, that he worshiped Yahuah, bowing himself to the earth. Then the servant brought out jewelry of silver, jewelry of gold, and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother."

He told them why he was there, and made his request, and they said yes. That's all there really is too it. He gave nice things to everyone, and it looks like they are to leave in the morning. I wonder, do you think girls were allowed to choose their husbands way back when? Does Rebekah get any say in this?

Beresheet 24:54-58 "And he and the men who were with him ate and drank and stayed all night. Then they arose in the morning, and he said, 'Send me away to my master.' But her brother and her mother said, 'Let the young woman stay with us a few days, at least ten; after that she may go.' And he said to them, 'Do not hinder me, since Yahuah has prospered my way; send me away so that I may go to my master.' So they said, 'We will call the young woman and ask her personally.' Then they called Rebekah and said to her, 'Will you go with this man?' And she said, 'I will go.'"

Tests three of four are complete, and Rebekah did get a say in it, whaddya know! Anyway, Rebekah's family wants her to stick around for a little while to prepare, but Abraham's servant wants to make haste. Rebekah gets a choice, and she chooses to meet her new fiance. Remember that blind marriage thing? Isaac is cool with it, and now Rebekah agrees, let's find out how it goes.

Beresheet 24:59-61 "So they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse, and Abraham's servant and his men. And they blessed Rebekah and said to her: 'Our sister, may you become The mother of thousands of ten thousands; And may your descendants possess The gates of those who hate them.' Then Rebekah and her maids arose, and they rode on the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed."

Well, that was the hard part, now the servant's just got to get Isaac and Rebekah to meet. Who knows, maybe this will all be for nothing, after all, Isaac's mom just died. That's not something you just get over. Here we have a man who might still be mourning for his mother and you want him to get married?

Beresheet 24:62-67 "Now Isaac came from the way of Beer Lahai Roi, for he dwelt in the South. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted his eyes and looked, and there, the camels were coming. Then Rebekah lifted her eyes and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from her camel; for she had said to the servant, 'Who is this man walking in the field to meet us?' The servant said, 'It is my master.' So she took a veil and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent; and he took Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother's death."

Test 4/4, passed. I dare you to find a better love story. One that spells out "match made in heaven" and "love at first sight" better than this. I highly doubt you'll find one. Chapter 25 starts out with more genealogies and gets interesting again at verse 21. Something important within that section I'm skipping is Abraham's death. He died at 175 and was buried with Sarah.

Beresheet 25:21-23 "Now Isaac pleaded with Yahuah for his wife, because she was barren; and Yahuah granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived. But the children struggled together within her; and she said, 'If all is well, why am I like this?' So she went to inquire of Yahuah. And Yahuah said to her: 'Two  nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger.'"

A mother with one kid might complain that her child was a soccer player because he or she kicked so much before being born, so imagine what a mother of twins would complain of! Another thing to note in this passage is this: since when does the older serve the younger? That just doesn't happen very often. What's up with that? Hmm... I guess we shall have to see.

Beresheet 25:24-28 "So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb. And the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name Esau. Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau's heel; so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them. So the boys grew. And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents. And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob."

Uh-Oh! Who else smells trouble brewing? Remember the last sibling rivalry we read about? That one didn't turn out very good. Is this one doomed to follow in the footsteps of the last one? Or shall the brothers manage to live in peace? It's especially hard to tell when the parents are playing favorites.

Beresheet 25:29-34 "Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. And Esau said to Jacob, 'Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.' Therefore his name was called Edom. But Jacob said, 'Sell me your birthright as of this day.' And Esau said, 'Look, I am about to die, so what is this birthright to me?' Then Jacob said, 'Swear to me as of this day.' So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright."

Anybody know what a birthright is? It's an inheritance. The eldest brother gets the largest portion of the father's inheritance. Esau just sold his inheritance to his brother for a bowl of stew and some bread. Once Esau realizes what he's done, what do you think he's going to do? Chapter 26 opens with Isaac moving over to where Abimelech still lives due to another famine. Guess what Isaac does with Rebekah. Just take a wild guess. He tells her to tell anyone who asks that she's his sister. Who here has been paying attention these past couple days? This has happened before and it's never gone over well with any kings. This time however, Isaac got caught "showing endearment" to Rebekah, so Abimelech pretty much asked him the same thing he asked his father; "What was going through your head?" and made it so that anyone who touched Isaac or Rebekah would be executed. There were some problems between Isaac's servants and Abimelech's people, so Isaac moved out again. Abimelech made a covenant that they would remain on good terms, and towards the end of the chapter, Esau married two women that "were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah."

Beresheet 27:1-4 "Now it came to pass, when Isaac was old and his eyes were so dim that he could not see, that he called Esau his older son and said to him, 'My son.' And he answered him, 'Here I am.' Then he said, 'Behold now, I am old. I do not know the day of my death. Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me. And make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.'"

Remember that business with the birthright? Isaac doesn't necessarily know about it, so he's getting ready to give Esau his inheritance and blessing.

Beresheet 27:5-10 "Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt game and to bring it. So Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, 'Indeed I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, "Bring me game and make savory food for me, that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of Yahuah before my death." Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to what I command you. Go now to the flock and bring me from there two choice kids of the goats, and I will make savory food from them for your father, such as he loves. Then you shall take it to your father, that he may eat it, and that he may bless you before his death.'"

Jacob was Rebekah's favorite, remember? He's got his mom on his side, that should cut the amount of time to prepare the food in half since he doesn't even have to hunt for it.

Beresheet 27:11-12 "And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, 'Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man. Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.'"

Excellent point. Too bad he won't just seem to be a deciever, he will be a deciever. His mom has an idea about that, though.

Beresheet 27:13-17 "But his mother said to him, 'Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.' And he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made savory food, such as his father loved. Then Rebekah took the choice clothes of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. And she put the skins of the kids of the goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. Then she gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob."

Things may be going well in the deception of the blind father part, but it looks like we'll have another set of older brother hating younger brother pretty soon.

Beresheet 27:18-20 "So he went to his father and said, 'My father.' And he said, 'Here I am. Who are you, my son?' Jacob said to his father, 'I am Esau your firstborn; I have done just as you told me; please arise, sit and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.' But Isaac said to his son, 'How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?' And he said, 'Because Yahuah your Elohim brought it to me.'"

Isaac is no fool. He knows his sons when he sees them, the problem is, he can't see them.

Beresheet 27:21-24 "Isaac said to Jacob, 'Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.' So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, 'The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.' And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau's hands; so he blessed him. Then he said, 'Are you really my son Esau?' He said, 'I am.'"

Isaac was probably pretty confused about Jacob right now, but he brought food and he felt like Esau and the only thing not like Esau was his voice, so he took the food and blessed him.

Beresheet 27:25-29 "He said, 'Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's game, so that my soul may bless you.' So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank. Then his father Isaac said to him, 'Come near now and kiss me, my son.' And he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him and said: 'Surely the smell of my son Is like the smell of a field Which Yahuah has blessed. Therefore may Elohim give you Of the dew of heaven, Of the fatness of the earth, And plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren, And let your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, And blessed be those who bless you!'"

How's that for a blessing? It's not often you hear one to rival that one. Unfortunately, without knowing it, Isaac just gave lots of power to the younger brother. That's not what he intended to do, so now Jacob gets Esau's blessing and his birthright. Esau is gonna be ticked.

Beresheet 27:30-32 "Now it happened, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. He also had made savory food, and brought it to his father, and said to his father, 'Let my father arise and eat of his son's game, that your soul may bless me.' And his father Isaac said to him, 'Who are you?' So he said, 'I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.'"

Cue the uh-oh! Isaac made a mistake! Jacob tricked him and now he knows it for sure! But it's too late. What's there to do for Esau?

Beresheet 27:33-37 "Then Isaac trembled exceedingly, and said, 'Who? Where is the one who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it before you came, and I have blessed him - and indeed he shall be blessed.' When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, 'Bless me - me also, O my father!' But he said, 'Your brother came with deceit and has taken away your blessing.' And Esau said, 'Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and now look, he has taken away my blessing!' And he said, 'Have you not reserved a blessing for me?' Then Isaac answered and said to Esau, 'Indeed I have made him your master, and all his brethren I have given to him as servants; with grain and wine I have sustained him. What shall I do now for you, my son?'"

This is probably about the time Isaac started wishing he had treated his boys more equally. Had he done so, Esau and Jacob would've had shares that are not quite so glaringly different. Jacob wasn't meant to get the special birthright, and a special blessing wasn't even prepared for him. What can be done for Esau now?

Beresheet 27:38-40 "And Esau said to his father, 'Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me - me also, O my father!' And Esau lifted up his voice and wept. Then Isaac his father answered and said to him: 'Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth, And of the dew of heaven from above. By the sword you shall live, And you shall serve your brother; and it shall come to pass, when you become restless, That you shall break his yoke from your neck.'"

Is this the blessing Isaac intended for Jacob? Or did he just come up with it?

Beresheet 27:41 "So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, 'The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.'"

Another sibling rivalry run amuck. What's with the playing favorites? Esau and Jacob were twins, they could've split the big inheritance, couldn't they? But no. Now Jacob has it all and Esau hates him for it.

Beresheet 27:42-45 "And the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, 'Surely your brother Esau comforts himself concerning you by intending to kll you. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice: arise, flee to my brother Laban in Haran. And stay with him a few days, until your brother's fury turns away, until your brother's anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him; then I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereaved also of you both in one day?'"

Rebekah gives some sound advice, run for the hills. Well, maybe not the hills, but Haran, anyway. Family there will keep you safe. Come back when your brother calms down. She also instructs to choose a wife that isn't one of the daughters of Heth. Isaac agrees and has him choose one of Laban's daughters.

Beresheet 28:3-5 "May Yahuah Almighty bless you, And make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may be an assembly of peoples; And give you the blessing of Abraham, To you and your descendants with you, That you may inherit the land In which you are a stranger, Which Elohim gave to Abraham.'" So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Padan Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

Even after all this, Isaac still loves Jacob and sends him off with his blessing. The final part of this reading involves Esau marrying someone from within the family that he believes his parents will prefer, so maybe his wives won't be so vexing to them.

Stuff to do: Look up what the names Rebekah, Laban, Esau, Jacob, and the names of Esau's wives mean and see if they match up with who they are. Here's the link.

Tomorrow's reading is Genesis (Beresheet) 28:10-30

Abraham's Story Part 3 (Isaac's Story Part 1)

Today's reading is from Genesis (Beresheet) 21-23.

Beresheet 21:1-4 "And Yahuah visited Sarah as He had said, and Yahuah did for Sarah as He had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bore abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which Elohim had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him - whom Sarah bore to him - Isaac. Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as Elohim had commanded him."

Here we have Sarah, who finally had Isaac, and all is good, except for one thing... According to traditions of the land, the largest portion of a dad's inheritance goes to his firstborn son. Isaac isn't his firstborn. We know that Yahuah wants Isaac to be Abraham's heir, but what about Ishmael? I guess we'll have to find out in a minute.

Beresheet 21:5-7 "Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said, 'Elohim has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me.' She also said, 'Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.'"

To get a sense of just how old Abraham and Sarah were when they had Isaac, lets take a look at a normal family tree. You have you on the bottom, your parents above you, your grandparents above them, your great grandparents above them, and your great great grandparents above them. Let's say that there's a baby. Just born, brand new baby. Let's also say that everyone in the family has had kids at 25 for the past several generations. That would mean the baby's parents are 25, his grandparents are 50, great grandparents are 75, and great great grandparents are 100. Isaac being born is like if those great great grandparents had another kid at 100. Pretty much impossible. Now you see why everyone is so happy? He's not just a kid, he's an impossible kid.

Beresheet 21:8-11 "So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing. Therefore she said to Abraham, 'Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.' And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham's sight because of his son.

Ishmael may not know this, but so far it looks like Sarah usually gets what she wants.

Beresheet 21:12-13 "But Elohim said to Abraham, 'Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice, for in Isaac your seed shall be called. Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed.'"

It would appear that Hagar didn't tell Abraham what happened when she ran away.

Beresheet 21:14-16 "So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and sent her away. Then she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba. And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs. Then she went and sat down across from him at the distance of about a bowshot; for she said to herself, 'Let me not see the death of the boy.' So she sat opposite him and lifted her voice and wept."

It's hot. They're in a wilderness, maybe a desert. The sun is beating down. You begin to see mirages. You take a sip of water, except you get just a couple drops. You have this feeling that it's hopeless, you're going to die. The sand sifts between your sandals with every step, burning your feet. Ishmael falls. You drag him under a bush and can't look at him anymore. There's nothing left to do but cry. Aren't you beginning to wish you started walking towards a town? Maybe get a ride on a camel taxi? It's too late for that. Then you hear something...

Beresheet 21:17-21 "And Elohim heard the voice of the lad. Then the angel of Elohim called out to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, 'What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for Elohim has heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation.' Then Yahuah opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filed the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink. So Elohim was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. He dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran; and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt."

I'm sure Ishmael's promise was the last thing on his mind. He wanted water right now, not a country. But Yahuah gave him both. Just in time, too. The rest of the chapter switches back to Abraham. He's talking with Abimelech, and they agree to live in peace for a good, long time. Let's fast forward a bit to chapter 22.

Beresheet 22:1-2 "Now it came to pass after these things that Elohim tested Abraham, and said to him, 'Abraham!' And he said, 'Here I am.' Then He said, 'Take now our son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.'"

We know that Yahuah is just testing Abraham's faith, but Abraham doesn't know that. He's waited a century to have this boy, now he finally has him, and it's time to go kill him. Would you like to know what's most fascinating about this chapter (aside from the fact that Yahuah doesn't like human sacrifices)? It says nothing about Abraham whining, complaining, asking to prepare any other sacrifice, nothing. He didn't request a way out, he just packed up his things and went. If anything, he was probably very quiet.

Beresheet 22:3-5 "So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which Elohim had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said to his young men, 'Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.'"

I'm guessing that was one tense donkey ride. His young men may have been talking to each other, Isaac may have been running around looking for bugs, but I imagine that Abraham didn't say much, and when he did, it served to quiet everyone around him down.

Beresheet 22:6-8 "So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, 'My father!' And he said, 'Here I am, my son.' Then he said, 'Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?' And Abraham said, 'My son, Elohim will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.' So the two of them went together."

That's sort of like a kid and his dad walking along, the kid has wood for the fire they're gonna cook dinner on, the dad has the flint and steel, and it suddenly occurs to the kid that they don't have anything to cook.

Beresheet 22:9-11 "Then they came to the place of which Elohim had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the Angel of Yahuah called to him from heaven and said, 'Abraham, Abraham!' So he said, 'Here I am.'"

Isaac was about to be barbequed! Abraham was going to do it! He knew he had to do whatever Yahuah told him to do, and he was going to sacrifice Isaac. This man has his priorities in order, whether he likes it or not. If this was a movie, you'd have the scary music starting when he left the house and coming to its peak right around here. The suspense has been building up, it's getting scarier by the minute, when suddenly it stops.

Beresheet 22:12-14 "And He said, 'Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear Elohim, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.' Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of the place, Yahuah-Will-Provide, as it is said to this day, 'In the Mount of Yahuah it shall be provided.'"

I was reading another book by the people who made my Bible. The book is called Extreme Faith, and one of the chapters is about Isaac. It brought to light something I had never really thought of before in this passage; what was going through Isaac's head? He let himself be bound and put on the altar, it doesn't say he squirmed or anything, he was letting it happen. Either the guy has no sense of self preservation, or he had the same level of faith as his father, and that is really something.

Beresheet 22:15-19 "Then the Angel of Yahuah called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: 'By Myself I have sworn, says Yahuah, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son- blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.' So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba."

If it was a tense ride there, can you imagine how tense it was on the way back? Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac, and there's Isaac, still standing, near Abraham. The rest of the chapter has Abraham getting a report of his extended family having grown, and yes, that means there's more genealogies.

Beresheet 23:1-6 "Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years, these were the years of the life of Sarah. So Sarah died in Kirjath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Cannan, and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. Then Abraham stood up from before his dead and spoke to the sons of Heth, saying, 'I am a foreigner and a visitor among you. Give me property for a burial place among you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.' And the sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, 'Hear us, my lord: You are a mighty prince among us; bury your dead in the choicest of our burial places. None of us will withhold from you his burial place, that you may bury your dead.'"

The rest of the chapter has Abraham shopping for a burial spot. He eventually buys one for four hundred shekels of silver that was probably large enough for everyone in his family to be buried there eventually; at least for a few generations. To get an idea of how much he paid, today a shekel is worth about a third of a dollar. Four hundred divided by three is about 133 and a third. He paid roughly $133.33 for that land. If you take into account the inflation of the past few thousand years... Hmm... Let's just say he paid a good price for it.

Tomorrow's reading is Genesis (Beresheet) 24-28:9.

Abraham's Story Part 2

Today's reading is from Genesis (Beresheet) 18-20.

 Beresheet 18:1-5 "Then Yahuah appeared to him by the terbinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground, and said, 'My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant. Please let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. And I will bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh your hearts. After that you may pass by, inasmuch as you have come to your servant.' They said, 'Do as you have said.'"

I know that's a pretty long section, but it's all on one subject and it's kinda hard to find a good breaking point when the verses run together like that. Anyways, it looks like Abraham is just kinda chilling out in the tent door because outside is hot and inside is probably stuffy, so the spot in between is better, when he sees three men near him. What happens next is a little bit puzzling, I mean, it doesn't look like he knows who they are, but yet he's going to great lengths to make sure that three apparently perfect strangers are comfortable. I guess it just goes to show you how much culture has changed since then. Nowadays, if three strange men came up to a door, the owner of the house is probably more likely to lock it and call the police rather than open it. Throughout verses 6-8, Abraham gets Sarah to make the men some cakes, and one of his men to cook a calf, and then serves it to the men.

Beresheet 18:9 "Then they said to him, 'Where is Sarah your wife?' So he said, 'Here, in the tent.'"

This implies that the men know Abraham, but whether he knows them or not is another matter entirely.

Beresheet 18:10-12 "And He said, 'I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.' (Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.) Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, 'After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?'"

There she goes laughing. Apparently Abraham hasn't told Sarah about Isaac yet. Anybody remember what Isaac's name means? Come on, you were supposed to research it yesterday.

Beresheet 18:13-15 "And Yahuah said to Abraham, 'Why did Sarah laugh, saying, "Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?" Is anything too hard for Yahuah? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.' But Sarah denied it, saying, 'I did not laugh,' for she was afraid. And He said, 'No, but you did laugh!'"

I'm pretty sure we know who the travelers are now. One of them, anyway. And it looks like Sarah got caught eavesdropping! She may not have actually laughed, as it says she laughed within herself, but you have to remember that Yahuah sees not only your actions, but also what's in your heart. If she laughed within her heart, He would know, so it doesn't really matter if she laughed out loud or stifled a giggle.

Beresheet 18:16-18 "Then the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send them on the way. And Yahuah said, 'Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?'"

Do you remember that little set of parentheses a couple chapters back? The one that is not foreshadowing? They put that in there to show what would happen to Sodom and Gommorah in the near future, but it hasn't happened yet. Lot lives in Sodom, if I recall correctly. The men are looking towards Sodom and Yahuah isn't sure if he wants to tell Abraham what he's planning on doing. What do you suppose is going to happen?

Beresheet 18:20-21 "And Yahuah said, 'Because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me, and if not, I will know.'"

This is a confusing part. The way it's phrased doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but I think what He's saying here is that He's going to go check on Sodom and see if they tried to make the conditions there better; because from my understanding, not only do you not want to hang out in a dark alley in Sodom, you just don't want to go there at all.

Beresheet 18:22 "Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before Yahuah. And Abraham came near and said, 'Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?'"

I'm sure Abraham really did care about the possibility of there being a few good people in the terrible city, but most likely the thing at the front of his mind was Lot's safety. Think about it, if your family or friends were living in a city that was condemned, you'd do everything in your power to keep them safe, wouldn't you? The next several verses involve Abraham talking Yahuah into lowering the number of righteous people living in Sodom necessary for it to not be obliterated. Yahuah agrees not to destroy it for the sake of forty-five, fourty, thirty, twenty, and finally ten. Which begs the question, how many people are in Lot's family, and of them, how many are righteous?

Beresheet 19:1 "Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. And he said, 'Here now, my lords, please turn in to your servant's house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.' And they said, 'No, but we will spend the night in the open square.'"

It would appear that extending such great courtesy to strangers was good manners, since now we've seen instances of two different men doing that, and perhaps neither knew who they were talking to until later. Also, remember how I said Sodom was one of those places where you just don't go? Not only did the angels go there, but they wanted to sleep outside in the open square. That's not the safest thing in the world to do, I don't think. Anyway, Lot insisted upon the angels staying at his house, and they had dinner when all the men of the entire city of Sodom came up to Lot's house and said they wanted the angels outside right now. Lot didn't let them in. Instead...

Beresheet 19:9-11 "And they said, 'Stand back!' Then they said, 'This one came in to stay here, and he keeps acting as a judge; now we will deal worse with you than with them.' So they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near to break down the door. But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. And they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they became weary trying to find the door."

I'm guessing there aren't ten righteous people in that city. The angels pulled Lot back inside the house, shut the door, and blinded everyone outside, but the men still tried to find that door.

Beresheet 19:12-13 "Then the men said to Lot, 'Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city - take them out of this place! For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of Yahuah and Yahuah has sent us to destroy it.'"

That's pretty straightforward. If you don't leave, you'll be killed. That's all there really is to it. But there are his sons-in-law...

Beresheet 19:14 "So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, 'Get up, get out of this place; for Yahuah will destroy this city!' But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking."

...Joking? Really? Who jokes about that?

Beresheet 19:15 "When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, 'Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.' And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife's hand, and the hands of his two daughters, Yahuah being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, 'Escape for your life! Do not look behind you  nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.'"

Again, the angel's directions are pretty straight forward. Get out. Take your family. Leave now. Run for your life. Don't look back. Escape to the mountains. Instead of running directly to the mountains, instead he requests that he be allowed to live in a small city called Zoar that is close enough to run to but not so close as to be destroyed along with Sodom. He's given permission and away he goes. As you'll soon learn, when you're given a direct order, like, don't look back, you had better not look back!

Beresheet 19:23-26 "The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar. Then Yahuah rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from Yahuah out of the heavens. So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But his wife looked back behind him and she became a pillar of salt."

A pillar of salt. That's why you don't look back when you're told not to look back lest ye be destroyed. Because you'll be destroyed! She looked back! It was probably hard not to! But she did! And now Lot doesn't have a wife anymore! A little rule that should be pretty obvious: when angels give you a direct order, you follow it. Period.

Beresheet 19:27-28 "And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before Yahuah. Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace."

The smoke of a furnace. Visible from who knows how far away. You can probably imagine that travelers and people living in the neighboring cities from all around put two and two together and figured that Sodom and Gomorrah got what was coming to them. I mean, it's not every day you go to sleep and there are two awful cities, and you wake up and there's a huge cloud of smoke. Later on, Lot got scared and moved his daughters and himself up into the mountains where they were told to go in the first place. His daughters wanted to continue the family name and there weren't any other guys around so... Yeah. Um, what they did, that's not cool. Why they didn't just leave the cave, get remarried, and bring their new husbands back, I don't know.

Beresheet 20:1-2 "And Abraham journeyed from there to the South, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur and stayed in Gerar. Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, 'She is my sister.' And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah."

...I have a feeling this moment has happened before. Anybody else have that feeling? I seem to recall that something a lot like this happened just a few chapters ago with Pharaoh. How did that go over, again? Hmm...

Beresheet 20:3-7 "But Elohim came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, 'Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife.' But Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, 'Lord, will you slay a righteous nation also? Did he not say to me, "She is my sister"? And she, even she herself said, "He is my brother." In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this.' And Elohim said to him in a dream, 'Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her. Now therefore, restore the man's wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.'"

Talk about scary dreams! I'm beginning to think that maybe Abraham and Sarah should avoid going places, since it looks like every time they go anywhere, the local king decides she's gorgeous. She must've aged really, really well.

Beresheet 20:8-10 "So Abimelech rose early in the morning, called all his servants, and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were very much afraid. And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, 'What have you done to use? How have I offended you, that you have brought on me and my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done.' Then Abimelech said to Abraham, 'What did you have in view, that you have done this thing?'" 

To paraphrase, Abimelech is saying "What on earth were you thinking?!" Which is an excellent question, you'd think Abraham would've learned from his experience with Egypt that kings don't like it when married men say their wives are their sisters.

Beresheet 20:11-13 "And Abraham said, 'Because I thought, surely the fear of Elohim is not in this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife. But indeed she is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. And it came to pass, when Elohim caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said to her, "This is your kindness that you should do for me: in every place, wherever we go, say of me, 'He is my brother.'"'"

I still think Abraham needs to rethink his strategy. If having Yahuah on his side isn't enough to assure him that Sarah will be safe with him no matter where they go, then maybe he should have some of his trained bodyguard/soldier/servants follow him and Sarah around so if trouble comes up, they can take care of it. Implying that you're not married to the person that you're married to isn't right, no matter how beautiful they may be.

Beresheet 20:14-18 "Then Abimelech took sheep, oxen, and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham; and he restored Sarah his wife to him. And Abimelech said, 'See, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.' Then to Sarah he said, 'Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver; indeed this vindicates you before all who are with you and before everybody.' Thus she was rebuked. So Abraham prayed to Elohim, and Elohim healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children; for Yahuah had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham's wife."

A difference between Abimelech and the Pharaoh:
Pharaoh pretty much kicked Abraham and Sarah out. Abimelech let them move in wherever they wanted.
Some things they had in common:
They were both kings, they both gave Sarah and Abraham servants and animals, they both took Sarah, neither married her, and they were both plagued until they gave her up. Abimelech's plague was that none of his household could have kids and they were all going to die. Pharaoh's plague was vague (foreshadowing?).

Tomorrow we'll be reading Genesis (Beresheet) 21-23.

Abraham's Story (Abram's Story Part 2)

Yesterday we left off with Abram taking his army of servants and winning Lot back. Today we wrap up Abram's Story and begin that of Abraham.

Genesis (Beresheet) 15-17

Beresheet 15:1 "After these things the word of Yahuah came to Abram in a vision, saying, 'Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.'"

I have one question; who could ask for a better shield than that? There is no stronger shield on the planet. Right there, Yahuah is saying that He'll take care of Abram, and that's all there is to it.

Beresheet 15:2-3 "But Abram said, 'Yahuah Elohim, what will you give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?' Then Abram said, 'Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!'"

Abram was in a bit of a pickle here. He's been married for who knows how long, put together an inheritance large enough that his heir should never need anything, and is ready to have his sons become great nations except... He has no sons. No daughters either.

Beresheet 15:4-6 "And behold, the word of Yahuah came to him, saying, 'This one shall not be your heir; but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.' Then He brought him outside and said, 'Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.' And He said to him, 'So shall your descendants be.' And he believed in Yahuah, and He accounted it to him for righteousness"

I look up at the stars once in awhile, they're lovely little twinkling lights. At least from this distance, anyway. I bet Abram probably went outside after dark all the time, just to look at those stars. Maybe try and count them, maybe find shapes in them like one finds shapes in clouds. Maybe just to better remember that promise.

Beresheet 15:7-9 "Then He said to him, 'I am Yahuah, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.' And he said, 'Yahuah Elohim, how shall I know that I will inherit it?' So He said to him, 'Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.'"

I wonder about Abram sometimes. I mean, isn't Yahuah's word that something will happen good enough? Anyway, Abram brought all those animals, cut each in half (except for the birds) and put each piece opposite the other. He also chased the vultures away for awhile.

15:12 "Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. Then He said to Abram: 'Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.'"

Let's see... Being servants and slaves in a foreign land, and then coming out 400 years later with great possessions... Sound familiar to you guys? I'm thinking that Yahuah's telling Abram about what will happen in Egypt. Abram's son's son's sons headed over to Egypt to get food during a famine and moved their entire family there because their brother turned out to be alive. Oh, but I don't want to give away too many spoilers... Let's just say that Abram's vision is going to happen and it will be within this book and the next.

15:17-21 "And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. On the same day Yahuah made a covenant with Abram, saying: 'To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates- the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.'"

I'm not sure what's up with the torch and oven that passed between the halves of the animals, but this is an important promise to remember. If you'll take a look at the Promised Land, Israel, on any map, you'll find that it's just a teeny tiny little piece of land. If you take a look at the space between the Nile and the Euphrates though, you'll find that it's a pretty big piece of land! Also, you notice the Kenites, Kenezzites and all those other nations right there? Those guys are going to be popping up a lot in these next books. They're a near constant thorn in the Israelite's side.

Beresheet 16:1 "Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian maid-servant whose name was Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, 'See now, Yahuah has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.' And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai. Then Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Cannan."

Abram is now 80-something years old, at least, and things are looking pretty bleak in the having a kid department. He most likely wanted one when he was 20 or 30, so he'd be able to chase the munchkin around the yard and play with him, but it doesn't look like that's gonna happen. Anyway, Sarai gave her servant to Abram so maybe Abram could still have a kid. Even if it isn't Sarai's, it would be better than none at all. In the next couple verses, Hagar gets pregnant and decides she doesn't much like Sarai. Sarai is not happy about that and got after Hagar for it. Sarai's probably trying to put the status quo back together in Hagar's eyes, but Hagar runs away.

Beresheet 16:7-10 "Now the Angel of Yahuah found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. And He said, 'Hagar, Sarai's maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?' She said, 'I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.' The Angel of Yahuah said to her, 'Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand.' Then the Angel of Yahuah said to her, 'I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.'"

Well this promise sounds familiar.

Beresheet 16:11-12 "And the Angel of Yahuah said to her: 'Behold, you are with child, And you shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, Because Yahuah has heard your affliction. He shall be a wild man; His hand shall be against every man, And every man's hand against him. And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.'"

Little fun fact for ya, the Israelite people trace their lineage back to Isaac, the Islamic people trace theirs to Ishmael. Both go back to Abram.

Beresheet 16:13 "Then she called the name of Yahuah who spoke to her, You-Are-The-El-Who-Sees; for she said, 'Have I also here seen Him who sees me?' Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; observe, it is between Kadesh and Bered. So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram."

Beer Lahai Roi means "Well of the One Who Lives and Sees Me" according to my Bible.

Beresheet 17:1-4 "When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahuah appeared to Abram and said to him, 'I am Almighty Elohim; walk before Me and be blameless. And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.' Then Abram fell on his face, and Elohim talked with him, saying: 'As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations."

Names were really important back then. They were supposed to reveal an important characteristic of the person given the name. Abram means "father." Abraham means "father of many." You can check my facts here.

Beresheet 17:9-11 "And Elohim said to Abraham: 'As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. This is My covenant which you shall keep, betweeen Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you."

Yahuah didn't need the physical reminder of the covenant, the people did.

Beresheet 17:15-16 "Then Yahuah said to Abraham, 'As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her.'"

The link to the name website is still up there near where Abram got his name changed, check it out again. It says Sarai means contentious, while Sarah means princess. It's pretty interesting how big a difference just one little syllable in a name makes.

Beresheet 17:17-18 "Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, 'Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?' And Abraham said to Elohim, 'Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!'"

He laughed. He just laughed. He had been waiting for this for one hundred years. By now, his great great grandkids should be running around playing. To hear that Yahuah is finally going to fulfill His promise must've felt so good, what else is there to do but laugh? But yet, he's worried that Sarah might have problems. She's not the youngest either, having a kid could really mess up her system.

Beresheet 17:19 "Then Elohim said: 'No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.' Then he finished talking with him, and Elohim went up from Abraham."

When Abraham first heard that he'd have a son with Sarah, he laughed. Later on, you'll find that the first thing Sarah does when she finds out is laughs too. Can anybody guess what Isaac's name means? Come on, don't look it up just yet, guess! After Yahuah went up from Abraham, Abraham made sure that every man of Abraham's house, eight days old and above, was circumcised that day, including himself.

Stuff to do:
Now that you know what Abram, Abraham, Sarah, and Sarai mean, look up Hagar, Ishmael, and Isaac. Also, you might try looking up what your name means and see if it matches your personality too.

Tomorrow's reading:
Genesis (Beresheet) 18-20

Abram's Story

We left off yesterday with everybody scattering after they suddenly changed languages, and then we started focusing on one family. It's Terah's family, but we narrow it down further as we get into chapter 12.

Today's reading: Genesis (Beresheet) 12-14

Beresheet 12:1-3 "Now Yahuah had said to Abram: 'Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great, And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.'"

How bout that? Up until now we're not really sure who Abram is, aside from his family tree. Sure, that stuff is important, but who is Abram? Whoever he was, he must have done something important to get a blessing like that! Maybe he was always faithful to Yahuah. Maybe he was just a good guy. Probably both. At any rate, Yahuah was clearly happy with him and wanted him to be great.

Beresheet 12:4 "So Abram departed as Yahuah had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Cannanites were then in the land."

It's pretty simple, Yahuah told Abram to move, so Abram moved. Abram is demonstrating a strong faith in Yahuah by leaving his family, remember how tightly knit those family units were? Also, lifespans were shortening, so 75 isn't very young anymore. So here we have an guy in... probably his late middle ages, his wife, and his nephew packing all their stuff (they may have had their servants do that part) and leaving. If my Bible atlas is anywhere near accurate (it's... not the best one they've got on the market, let's leave it at that), that means they traveled about 300 miles, just because Yahuah told them to. How's that for faith?

Beresheet 12:7-9 "Then Yahuah appeared to Abram and said, 'To your descendants I will give this land.' And there he built an altar to Yahuah, who had appeared to him. And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to Yahuah and called on the name of Yahuah. So Abram journeyed, going on still toward the South."

So Abram went and found the place where Yahuah wanted his descendants to live. That sounds pretty normal (kinda) except for one thing. Did anyone miss this? Abram doesn't have any descendants yet. Not even a son to carry on the family name. ...If they had family names back then. So far everybody's going on a first name basis, so I can't tell. Sarai can't have kids. Don't worry too much though, as you'll soon find out, when Yahuah says something is going to happen, it happens. And then they continued on south. They traveled 300 miles and yet they continue.

Beresheet 12:10 "Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land."

Now after Yah told Abram all about Canaan, why have there be a famine there that is so big that Abram has to bring Sarai and Lot to Egypt? Well, it's all part of His plan for Abram, believe it or not.

Beresheet 12:11-13 "And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, 'Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance. Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, this is his wife'; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you.'"

Sarai must've been truly beautiful, despite being in her mid-60's. I've a feeling though, that Yah is up to something even as Abram spoke. Since when is he scared when he knows Yahuah is on his side? He's so full of faith, and yet he worries that Sarai is too beautiful? He's preparing to lie to an entire country. That doesn't sound very faithful. But wait, Yahuah made a promise to Abram, perhaps He's just getting everything ready to fulfill it.

Beresheet 12:14-16 "So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh's house. He treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels."

Ah-ha! Abram came into that land with nothing of particular interest except for Sarai, Lot, and his life's savings, and now he's being given a lot of animals and servants because the Pharaoh likes his "sister." It's probably kinda hard to gain respect and become a great nation when you left your father's house and didn't bring much, but now his status is being lifted by the king of Egypt. You don't give just anybody free animals and servants, but Pharaoh did.

Beresheet 12:17-20 "But Yahuah plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. And Pharaoh called Abram and said, 'What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? Why did you say, "She is my sister"? I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife, take her and go your way.' So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had."

Pharaoh had a point. It's not right to marry somebody else's wife. But to drive that point home, Yah plagued Pharaoh until he gave Sarai back. Not quite sure what kind of plagues they were. They could've been like the plagues in Exodus, or they could've been like the chickenpox. Either way, Pharaoh had had enough. He kicked Abram and Sarai out of Egypt and let them keep their gifts.

Beresheet 13:1-4 "Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South. Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of Yahuah."

Backtracking! Rewind! Back out of Egypt he went. Looks like he kept all the stuff Pharaoh gave him, and when added to what he already had, he became the ancient equivalent of a millionare.

Beresheet 13:5-7 "Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and ther herdsmen of Lot's livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land."

There's only so much grass for the animals to share. Only so much space for the servants to share. At this point, Abram practically had his own country that followed him around everywhere, and Lot was doing pretty good too. Unfortunately, they needed their space. Their servants had problems getting along because the animals all had to share the same space, and they were both just too rich to stay together without problems.

Beresheet 13:8-9 "So Abram said to Lot, 'Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren. Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.'"

Abram did the responsible thing. It may have hurt, after all, they were family, but it was the right thing. They can probably still visit each other, but they won't be in close enough proximity for their servants to bother one another.

Beresheet 13:10-13 "And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before Yahuah destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of Yahuah, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar. Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other. Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against Yahuah."

Sometimes when writing a book, an author will add little hints here and there pertaining to what will be happening in a character's future. That technique is called foreshadowing. The trick is to be very very subtle. Sometimes readers will catch it, sometimes they won't. What was done here in verse 10 is not foreshadowing.

Beresheet 13:14 "And Yahuah said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: 'Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are - northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.'"

When I was little, my favorite Disney movie was The Lion King. There's a scene in the movie that reminds me of this passage. In it, the sun is shining over the entire savannah. Simba and Mufasa are sitting on top of Pride Rock, and Mufasa's telling Simba about his responsibilities as king. One line in particular is embedded into my memory: "Everything the light touches, that's our kingdom." "Everything the light touches? Woah." I imagine Abram probably felt like Simba did right there. Simply in awe.

Beresheet 13:18 "Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to Yahuah."

If you've noticed, thus far altars are used for worship and for thanks.

In Beresheet 14:1-12, you read of an epic battle between kings, and how Lot was taken captive.

Beresheet 14:14 "Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. He divided his forces against them by night, and he and his servants attacked them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. So he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the people."

Can you imagine? You're a king, and you've just won this battle between yourself and a bunch of other kings. You've taken prisoners and spoils, and you're just kinda relaxing after a lot of fighting. Then, out of nowhere, in the cover of nightfall, another army who wasn't even involved in your battle comes and chases you away. Didn't see that one coming, did ya?

He then met with the kings of Salem and Sodom.

Beresheet 14:18-20 "Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of Elohim Most High. And he blessed him and said 'Blessed be Abram of Elohim Most High, Possessor or heaven and earth; And blessed be Elohim Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.' And he gave him a tithe of all."

Not only did Abram receive a blessing from a righteous king, but also a tithe. Next we hear from the king of Sodom.

Beresheet 14:21 "Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, 'Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself.' But Abram said to the king of Sodom, 'I have raised my hand to Yahuah, Elohim Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, "I have made Abram rich" - except only what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.'"

It looks like the king of Sodom is grateful to Abram, and offers him all the spoils, except for the people. Abram knows he doesn't need it, and he made a promise to Yah that he wouldn't take anything, so he didn't. Instead, he let his men take what they wanted. In the end, Abram had already gotten what he wanted, and that was Lot's safety.

Next reading is Genesis (Beresheet) 15-17.

I'm working on finding good music and other stuff for you guys to look at, but I haven't found anything for this passage. Don't worry though, there will be music and stuff coming up, just not right now.

The Tower of Babel

We're reading today from Genesis (Beresheet) 10-11.

There's not a whole lot that's interesting in chapter 10, short of a couple verses, so that's why that section in here is so short. I can try to make genealogies interesting... But it rarely works because people tend to get more caught up in pronouncing the names than the section near some names that explains what that person did. I could get into what these people's names mean, and that might be pretty cool, but I'm saving that project for later books when there are a LOT of genealogies. However, when you get to take a look at these genealogies, make sure you  notice the general area where each of these families settled. They're all related, but in future years there are some conflicts between them and the Israelites.

Beresheet 10:25 "To Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother's name was Joktan."

Have you ever looked at a globe? Of course you probably have, that's a silly question... But wait, have you ever really seen one? If you take a good look at any globe, you just might notice that a lot of the continents look like puzzle pieces, like maybe they fit together at some point. Maybe they did fit together once, and when Peleg was born (or around that time, at least), perhaps that's when the land separated into a bunch of different continents instead of only one. Hey, it could've happened. By the way, Peleg means "Division" according to http://www.behindthename.com/

Beresheet 11:1-2 "Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there."


If you're wondering who "they" are, you may want to check out the genealogies. Maybe they were one huge nomadic tribe that hadn't separated yet at this point, but it looks like they had a lot of people in the area, just enough to take on a gigantic project.

Beresheet 11:3 "Then they said to one another, 'Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.' they had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar."

Seems an innocent enough undertaking. They just wanna build stuff, right? Maybe a nice city, a few houses, a giant tower... Nothing out of the ordinary. Right. Now what was that recurring theme again?

Beresheet 11:4 "And they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.'"

It still sounds fairly innocent, but if you happen to take a look at this Wikipedia listing, you'll find that there are a couple different theories about this. First is that Yah was angry because the people weren't glorifying Him, they were glorifying themselves. And second is that they were building a ziggurat; a temple to a different god or set of gods. Maybe it was both. Anyways, they're in for some bitter irony.

11:5 "But Yahuah came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. And Yahuah said, 'Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.'"

Ok, let's say... You and your siblings work together to do something for the first time ever, except rather than doing something like helping your mom garden or working on the car with your dad, you're filling water balloons. It seems innocent enough... Until you wind up hitting your grandpa with one. Big trouble. Your grandpa takes it in stride, even tossing a couple back at you, but you and your siblings get sent to different rooms not to come out until later. That evening when your dad is talking to your mom and you happen to be listening at the door, you hear "They are finally working together and they do this?" Your mom says "How in the world am I supposed to teach them how to behave when they act up like this? How do I know that next week they won't be spray painting buildings?" "Dear, that's an awfully big jump, it was just a water balloon." She sighs and said "I know... I just... Never know what they're going to do next. They need limits." Then you hear footsteps coming up to the door and you run back to your room before they catch you listening.

Beresheet 11:7 "'Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.'"

Anybody else ever wonder who He's talking to when He's saying "Us"? Hmm... Angels, maybe?

Beresheet 11:8 "So Yahuah scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth and they ceased building the city."

There's some irony for you. They started building specifically so as not to get scattered, and what happens? They scatter.

Beresheet 11:9 "Therefore its name is called Babel, because there Yahuah confused the language of all the earth; and from there Yahuah scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth."

Interesting play on names there; the place where there was probably more confusion than ever before or since gets called Babel? What modern word does that sound kinda like? Babble, right? Hmm...

You'll notice during the rest of chapter 11, that there is yet another interesting thing going on during the genealogy bits. Shem lived to be 600. Arphaxad lived to be 438. Salah lived to be 433. Eber lived to be 464. Peleg lived to be 239. Reu lived to be 239. Serug lived to be 230. Nahor lived to be 148. Terah lived to be 205. Did you notice that their lifespans are steadily decreasing over the passage of time? That brings us back to Beresheet 6:3 "And Yahuah said, 'My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.'" We're getting closer and closer to a new lifespan of 120 years rather than the old ones of over 900.

Next reading is from Genesis (Beresheet) 12-14

In the meantime, look up pictures of the towers in Dubai. How's that for tall?

Noah's Ark

Today's reading is Genesis (Beresheet) 6-9.

Noah's Ark.

We've all heard this story a million times... God gets mad at the world, but Noah was faithful to Him, so He tells Noah to build a huge boat, and animals come in, two by two. Cue the rain. 40 days later, the boat lands and the animals file out. A rainbow shows up in the sky and all is good again. Why have we heard this story so often? It's pretty much plastered all over baby and kid stuff. That doesn't mean it's a baby and kid story though. Just about the only kid friendly part is the fuzzy animals. And not all the animals in the ark were cute and fuzzy! The other parts involve a very precise way of building this ark, the flood which killed everybody and everything (short of who was in the ark, and the fish) and having to start all over.

Let's start with Beresheet 6:5 "Then Yahuah saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."

Let this go to show that He can see not only your actions, but your heart. If you do good deeds with a bad heart, He will know, even if no one else does. It's important to make sure that your heart is good. You may have to wrestle with your subconscious, but it's worth it in the end.

Beresheet 6:6 "And Yahuah was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So Yahuah said, 'I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.' But Noah found grace in the eyes of Yahuah."

When we mess up, the very worst thing for our parents to think is that they're sorry they had us. That's what Yah was thinking right then. Yahuah wasn't mad, He was sad. Grieved in His heart. He probably couldn't bear to look at us. Then Noah showed Him that even when the world is full of evil, there's still someone with a good heart.

Beresheet 6:14-15a "Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. And this is how you shall make it:..."

Did you know that the word "ark" means box? Not boat? Think about it... What do you suppose the ark of the covenant is? A boat, or a box? Pretty sure it's a box. Yahuah was having Noah build a giant box. A container, if you will. To hold particular things of utmost importance. Things like... Noah's family and a bunch of animals. Why just them? Quite simply, in the long run, nothing else really matters.

Beresheet 6:17-19 "And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark - you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female."

Here, Yah is doing two things. First, he's cleaning up the mess the people made, and second, he's saving Noah, his family, and two of each kind of animal. Preparing to repopulate the earth after the clean-sweep. He also tells Noah to pack a lot of food for his family and for the animals. It'll be awhile and we can't have species dying out because the lions got hungry.

Beresheet 7:2-3 "You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two of animals that are unclean, a male and his female; also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep the species alive on the face of all the earth."

With the clean and unclean business comes the laws of kosher food. To be kosher, a fish has to have fins and scales (but I don't think we're too worried about fish here in this context), an animal has to have split hooves and chew its cud (which means it eats some grass or other green stuff, it goes through one of it's stomachs, comes back up, gets eaten again, and the cycle continues), and a bird... There are some very specific laws about birds that I don't recall off the top of my head. Main rule of thumb though, if it lives on land and eats meat, it's not kosher.

Beresheet 7:5-6 "And Noah did according to all that Yahuah had commanded him. Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the earth."

Can you imagine? Nowadays, we're lucky to make it to 100, but Noah was living in an ark at 600. Not only that, but he was building a giant box during his late 500s. I can imagine his neighbors thought he was some crazy old coot. I mean, if he told them it was going to rain, they'd have no idea what he's talking about. It says earlier in Genesis that it didn't rain, instead a mist came up from the earth and watered everything. So if he says there's gonna be a sudden downpour out of the sky, and he's building the ark to save his family and all the animals, what do you think the other people would say?

Beresheet 7:11-12 "In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights."

So much for what his neighbors said. Main thing here is, when you're doing a good deed, don't worry about what people say about you. Worry more that you finish the job on time.

7:23-24 "So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive. And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days."

Can you imagine being stuck in a giant boat/box for five months? But don't worry, you're not alone, you've got your entire family with you, as well as more animals than you've ever seen in any park. It's a good thing families were really tight knit back then, but even so, they must've wanted space once in awhile. It was probably pretty interesting, but on those days when it got really frustrating and you needed time alone, you just gotta remind yourself, hanging out in a floating zoo is better than the alternative.

8:1 "Then Elohim remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And Elohim made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided."
8:4 "Then the ark rested in the seventh month, the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat."

It doesn't say it rested near the mountains, not next to or in, but on the mountains. That was a really deep flood to land a boat/box on top of a mountain range! If you watch the Discovery Channel (or maybe it's the History Channel), every once in a blue moon, you may find that a batch of explorers went looking for the ark. Some people have found wood where wood might not naturally be, but no one's actually found an ark yet. Do you think the ark would last this long? Or do you think it would have rotted away a long time ago? Either way, it's been the dream of more than a couple explorers and archaeologists to find it.

8:6-8 "So it came to pass, at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made. Then he sent out a raven, which kept going to and fro until the waters had dried up from the earth. He also sent out from hinself a dove, to see if the waters had receded from the face of the ground."

At this point, Noah's about ready to leave the ark, but he wants to make sure that when he leaves, the first step out won't be into the giant ocean that the world became. Birds like ravens and doves naturally don't care to fly too much over open water because they catch their food and rest on land. That's probably why he didn't send out a pelican!

8:9-12 "But the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, and she returned into the ark to him, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her, and drew her into the ark to himself. And he waited yet another seven days, and again he sent the dove out from the ark. Then the dove came to him in the evening, and behold, a freshly plucked olive leaf was in her mouth; and Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth. So he waited yet another seven days and sent out the dove, which did not return again to him anymore."

Noah was essentially sending the dove out to be his scout. If the dove hadn't flown back with the olive leaf, when do you suppose Noah would've come out? Also, we probably had some either really happy or really unhappy plant life at that time; being completely covered in water isn't exactly something most plants and trees are used to.

8:13-17 "And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, that the waters were dried up from the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and indeed the surface of the ground was dry. And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dried. Then Yah spoke to Noah, saying, 'Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you. Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you: birds and cattle and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.'"

You know that feeling... When you first get home after a long camping trip, or when you go to see a relative that loves you dearly, or when you finally see your best friend whom you haven't seen in what seems like forever? That feeling of... relief, of joy, of an anticipated moment finally taking place. That's probably what Noah and his family felt like when they first stepped out of that ark.

8:20 "Then Noah built an altar to Yahuah, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And Yahuah smelled a soothing aroma. Then Yahuah said in His heart, 'I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease.'"

Noah gave Yah a "thank you for keeping us alive" sacrifice and Yahuah made a promise that we remember to this day via an important symbol that is coming up in just a moment.

9:12-13 "And Yah said: 'This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth."

Even to this day, the rainbow signifies that Yahuah will never kill everyone and everything with a flood again. It's more of a reminder to us than to Him, since He probably remembers it like it was yesterday.

Read on:
Tomorrow we're reading from Genesis (Beresheet) 10-11. I'd have stopped at the end of 8 today like I was supposed to, except it kinda tore the story in half.

Listen up:
"Starting Over" by Audio Adrenaline

Our First Shabbat of the Year

Shalom!

Well, now that you know what I'm up to, let's cut to the chase, shall we?

Vocab:
Shabbat = Sabbath
Shalom = Peace, hello, goodbye
Shabbat Shalom = May you have a peaceful sabbath

Genesis 4-5

 Beresheet 4:3-5 "And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to Yahuah. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And Yahuah respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell."

How about a game of What's Wrong With This Picture? In order to do that, we'd better make a more vivid image for you. Ok, so Cain and Abel both decided to make a sacrifice to Yahuah. We don't hear of their parents doing this, so maybe Cain and Abel were trying harder to get on better terms with Yahuah than them. Anyway, "Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground." So he was probably tilling the land and he may have come up with some food that he didn't necessarily want, so he offered that, rather than the best that he had. Abel on the other hand, "brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat." He brought his very first lamb. He was probably pretty proud of that lamb, seeing as it meant that his flock was happy, but he gave it up. He was a shepherd, shepherds don't just give lambs up, but he did. Yahuah was happy with Abel, but unhappy with Cain. Cain was ticked. Abel may have been oblivious to his brother's unhappiness, it's hard to say. At any rate, the very first sibling rivalry was well on it's course and ready to spill blood.

Beresheet 4:6-7 "So Yahuah said to Cain, 'Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.'"

Yahuah is trying to explain to Cain that the way to be accepted and praised by Him is to do a good job. Easy enough. But he's also showing that if he doesn't do a good job, sin and temptation will reach for him, even though he should be able to conquer it. After all, all Cain wanted in the first place was to be accepted and praised again, right? ...Or was he trying to one-up his brother?

Beresheet 4:8 "Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him."

Do you suppose Cain was tricking Abel into following him into the field? That he knew what he was going to do, despite being the trusted big brother? Yet another question; did he know that whatever he planned on doing to Abel would kill him? It doesn't look like anyone else has died up to this point, maybe he didn't know that by doing what he did, he'd lose his brother forever.

Beresheet 4:9 "Then Yahuah said to Cain, 'Where is Abel your brother?' He said, 'I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?'"

Just for future reference, Yahuah asked a rhetorical question. He knew where Abel was, as you'll soon find out. Oh, and another thing, siblings are always each other's keepers. If you're a big brother or sister, part of your job is to help watch over your siblings. You know the rules, maybe better than they do, so you can keep them out of trouble and take care of them. You may find this surprising, but they just might be more willing to listen to what you have to say than to what your parents have to say. That sort of depends on how much trust you've built up over the years, though.

Beresheet 4:10-12 "And He said, 'What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.'"

Cain just got demoted. He can't really farm anymore because the ground won't grow the best anymore. He's doomed to be on the run.

Beresheet 4:13-14 "And Cain said to Yahuah, 'My punishment is greater than I can bear! Surely you have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.'"

Maybe he did know what death was originally. He's afraid that he's going to die by the hand of the next person who sees him.

Beresheet 4:15 "And Yahuah said to him, 'Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.' And Yahuah set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him."

He understood Cain's fear and made it so no one who finds him will kill him. What that mark looked like, I'll probably never know, but it must have been something to really drum it into the other people's heads that if you find this guy, you don't want to mess with him because something a lot worse is gonna happen to you.

Beresheet 4:25-26 "And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, 'For Elohim has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.' And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of Yahuah."

I've got one question; When did men stop calling on His name? You'd think that since Yahuah was still very present on the earth, they wouldn't stop. Would they? Once again comes that recurring theme, people like breaking rules. But fortunately, they started up again on calling on His name at about the time of Seth and Enosh. How long do you suppose it's going to last?

Beresheet 5:21-24 "Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with Yah three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with Yah; and he was not, for Elohim took him."

What do you suppose that last sentence means? I take it to mean that Yahuah loved Enoch and his company so much that he didn't let Enoch die like all the rest, instead, he took him to a place where he would never die. I could be wrong, of course, but still.

Next reading is Genesis (Beresheet) 6-9

Shabbat Shalom!