Vayera….And He Appeared.
- The Lord appearing to Abraham, them dining together, and the Lord promising Abraham and Sarah a child,
- Sarah laughing and then lying about it,
- The negotiation between Abraham and the Lord regarding the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah,
- The image of how far Sodom and Gomorrah had fallen,
- How Lot, his wife, his daughters, and his future son-in-laws each responded to the attack from the people of Sodom and ultimately the warning of the angels,
- The seduction of Lot by his two daughters leading to the establishment of the Moabites and the Ammonites,
- Abraham representing Sarah as his sister AGAIN, this time to Abimelech king of Gerar,
- Abraham interceding in behalf of Abimelech’s wife and maids resulting not only in their barrenness being removed but also the barrenness of Sarah being removed as well,
- Abraham sending out Hagar and Ishmael, and ultimately,
- God seeking Isaac as a sacrifice, Abraham listening, and God sending an angel to tell Abraham that because Abraham feared God, was willing to sacrifice Isaac, and listened to His voice, God was NOW willing to fulfill all the promises that were previously based on the crediting of Abraham with righteousness.
Through all of this I am seeing a common thread…..Abraham growing in his understanding of who God is. In the story of Job, the ultimate understanding comes in verses 42:1-6. In these verses we discover what the entire journey of this aspect of Job’s life is all about……verse 42:4 sums it up when Job says “I have heard of You be the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees you”
This same concept comes into play in the story of Jacob. In chapter 32 of Genesis we are given a record of Jacob wrestling with God and God touching Jacob’s thigh socket and dislocating the thigh bone. After this intense wrestling match with God, in verse 32:30, we find Jacob saying “I have seen God face to face”.
The title of this week’s parsha is “and He appeared”. In the general context the title is taking the first line of the parsha which is describing a physical presence of the Lord appearing before Abraham. However, the overarching theme of this parsha is the journey of Abraham coming to know God in the same way that Job and Jacob came to know Him. Simply put, to see God’s face, takes some wrestling.
In verse 18:17 we read about God
considering if it was time to take Abraham through this spiritual wrestling
match. We read “The Lord said, “shall I
hide from Abraham what I am about to do”.
In verse 18:25 we see Abraham’s response “Far be it from You to do such a
thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the
wicked are treated alike. Far be it from
You! Shall not the Judge of all the
earth deal justly?”
Abraham’s language is very reminiscent of that of Job and ultimately the very thing that comes into question so often when looking at the sovereignty of God in the midst of a painful, corrupt, and evil world.
Ultimately the journey of Abraham leads him through the process of witnessing the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. He sees the path of sin and death that emerge from the decedents of Lot and his two daughters who God let escape the destruction. He sees the curse that comes to the family of Abimelech that resulted from his own deception over Sarah. He is forced to look at himself and weigh out his responsibility in this curse as God requires him to pray for Abimelech and his family. He is forced to deal with his own sin, lack of faith, and trusting in his own ways when he is required to send Hagar and Ishmael out into the desert.
Ultimately, Abraham has to wrestle with God’s demand of Isaac’s life. By this point Abraham is at the end of a long journey. God has used the circumstances of life to refine Abraham. At this point Abraham is ready to trust God and obey Him in whatever direction God askes him to go. Even to the point of sacrificing his own son.
I believe that by this point in the story, Abraham could share the same words that we hear from Job and that we hear from Jacob……”before this journey I had heard of God with my ears, but now, I have seen Him face to face.” I believe that this is what God desires for all of us. That we truly come to know Him.
Throughout the bible there is a recurring theme that reminds us that wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord. To fully walk in this fear, we have to really know Him, know what He is willing to do to bring His plan of salvation into full fruition, and to create the greatest opportunity for each of us to be a part of it.
In 1 Corinthians chapter 11 we are given an image of the nature of God in this respect in a New Testament context. Paul, a man who gazed upon the face of God, was willing to share the realities of the sovereignty of God with a church that may not have been ready to deal with the hard truth of who He really is. In this section of scripture Paul clearly tells the church that many of them are weak and sick, and a number even dead at the direct hand of God. Paul explains to them how God works in these matters and how they should view this as an expression of His LOVE because it is all about them, for them, and in their best spiritual interest.
Ultimately, this is the journey that Job went through, that Jacob went through, and that I believe each and every human being must go through if they truly desire an intimate relationship with Him. We simply can not be in an intimae relationship with one that we do not accept for who He is, we cannot embrace the one that we would judge if He let us see Himself for who He really is, and we cannot understand the love that He has for us if we put parameters on how that love can and cannot be extended.
If you have not wrestled with God
over these things, I pray that you allow Him the latitude to lead you into that
wrestling match, I pray that you lean on His strength through the journey, and
I pray that as countless others who have come before you have, that you
prevail. In that day you will surely
say, “an in that day, God appeared to me”.
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