"Lech Lecha: Get Yourself Out.."

What exactly is the faith of Abraham?

Was Abraham a Torah obedient individual? Or was Abraham a sinful man, full of rebellion and disobedience towards G-d who somehow found favor with G-d because of his faith apart from works?
Or was Abraham a man of faith because he believed the Word of G-d to be truth, and showed his faith through his obedience to Torah?
How was this different from Lot his nephew?
What does it say to us today?

Genesis 17:1-5
1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. 2I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers." 3Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4“As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.”

Genesis 17:6-9
6I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God." 9Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come.”

Background

YHVH is going to make his covenant with Avraham, and through this covenant YHVH promised to make Avraham the “father of many nations.”
Why does the word "nations" have an “s” on the end and what does this indicate?
The covenant is not just for Ephraim and Judah, but for every nation that wishes to be grafted into Israel. (Romans 11)
What is foundational to this covenant that would bless the “nations/gentiles?”

Genesis 26:1-5. 1Now there was a famine in the land-besides the earlier famine of Abraham's time-and Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines in Gerar. 2The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. 3Stay in this land for a while and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. 4I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, 5because Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees and my laws."

What? Abraham had the Torah? What will my theologian say about that!

Even thought the modern theologians of our day, our versions of Pharisees and Sadducees, have told us for years that the law of G-d did not come for 430 years after the promise made to Abraham they misquote Rabbi Sha’ul.
Yet we see in this passage very clearly that all nations on earth will be blessed, 5“because Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees and my laws."

'Peat, 'peat and repeat- Mt. Sinai

Abraham knew G-d's Torah, his Teaching and Instructions long before the Israelites reached Mt. Sinai.
This may come as a shock to our religious system, but Mt. Sinai is a retelling of the Torah by the time Moses gets there.
You good talmadin may ask “how can this be?”
Mt. Sinai was a reintroduction to the Teaching and Instructions of G-d that was lost when the Israelites were in slavery in pagan Egypt!

How?
Up to the day of Joseph and his brothers, your ancestors, Torah was passed on from father to son, mother to daughter by word of mouth!
This “oral” hibachi, or telling of the Torah, was lost when they became slaves following the death of Joseph, victims of cultural assimilation.

Why? There are two primary reasons:

One, because when the people of a nation become slaves to another nation, they are stripped of their identities, their heritage, their customs and their culture and are forced to adopt the customs and religious practices of their masters.
Just think how much America has changed in your lifetime with no slavery, culturally forced assimilation, no printing presses, just image over 400 years!
Secondly, when Joseph’s brothers went into Egypt they were only 70, after slavery there were over 500 thousand men, and adding women and children there were over 3 million when they left.

Oral traditions are better kept in small group, hunter gatherer (roughly 25-30 people), or “big man” (up to 1000 people) social structures.
Add to this the identity destruction that results from slavery and it is easy to understand and you will come to see more clearly how conditions of the covenant made with Abraham are the same ones made with Moshe (Moses) and the children of Israel.

So what is different?

Though there are two covenants, the latter made at Mt. Sinai, and the former made with Jerusalem up above which is free, Galatians 4:21-31, you will find that they contain the same law, the Torah, and that the only thing that is different is not the Torah, but how the administration of atonement for the remission of sins is carried out. That is the only change!

Rental Property

It is like renting an apartment; you have to sign a covenantal contract to move in. When you have fulfilled the contract you move out.
Say a new family moves in the same apartment, they would have to sign the same covenant agreement. It is separate from the 1st family’s rental contract, but identical in its rights and responsibilities.
So it is with this covenant of Abraham and the covenant of Moses. It is a renewal with the new tenants at Mt. Sinai.
Because there were millions of tenants now, a sophisticated priesthood was empowered to make atonement for the sins of the entire nation, not just one family!


Genesis 17:10-12
10This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11You are to undergo circumcision and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 12For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner-those who are not your offspring.

Tutor

Thus the tutor mentioned in Galatians (a sophisticated priesthood that was empowered to make atonement for the sins of the entire nation, not just one family!) Was added 430 years later to the covenant to attend to the issue of sin until Messiah Yeshua could come.
Galatians 3:16-19.

Members of Abraham’s Covenant

People love to claim their part of the Abrahamic covenant. Yet when they come against circumcision they almost always say, “the law is done away with,” thinking it is part of the Mosaic covenant.

They do not realize it is part of the Abrahamic covenant and was given to “BLESS ALL THE NATIONS THROUGH IT.”

Abraham’s covenant sign is circumcision. All covenants are sealed with a “SIGN.”

Things that make you go hmmmm …
Isn’t it interesting that the covenant requirement for the covenant that most “faith” preachers teach as your key entitlement to financial reward requires circumcision as a stipulation for ALL time?
Most pastors today call you a legalist if you ask for a strict rendering of what the Bible says.
Legalist versus what? an illegalist?

Abraham the legalist!
By today's standard, anyone who wishes to obey the Torah, G-d’s Teaching and Instruction, is considered a legalist or one who puts people in bondage.
Yet these same theologians get on TBN and claim the promises of Abraham’s covenant.
But if circumcision, or any other act of obedience to Torah, constitutes “legalism” then Abraham would have to be declared a legalist.

Abraham, legalist or man of faith?
Abraham was a man of the faith, a man who believed and looked forward to the coming of Messiah, but the faith that our father Abraham displayed was everything that the theologians speak out against today as legalism.

A real life example to ponder

Let’s put this into contemporary terms. Imagine yourself driving 20 miles over the speed limit and you discover yourself being pulled over for speeding.

As the police officer writes out the ticket you turn to him and state, “excuse me Officer, don’t you think you are being a little legalistic? After all, Officer, I am under grace, not under the law, right?”

This would be a very unwise thing to say to a police officer, wouldn’t it?

Yet many say it about YHVH’s Word every day!


Watch out for that angry cop!

Every time we call someone a legalist for simply wanting to obey YHVH’s Teaching and Instruction we are like that lawbreaker who was trying to make the cop look bad for their own irresponsible behavior!

Was Abraham under grace?
Both Abraham and Moses were under G-d’s grace as well.
Hebrews 4:2 says, “For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did.”
They heard the gospel and knew the grace of G-d even as we, yet Abraham knew and obeyed the Torah. And Moshe (Moses) likewise, heard the gospel and knew the grace of G-d and knew and obeyed the Torah. And these two men are the two greatest men of faith presented in the Tenach (the “Old Testament“) of scripture.

Hey… did they know something we ought to know?

The scriptures are clear that being under the grace of G-d did not mean that Abraham and Moshe (Moses) were free to violate his Torah (his law).

Being under grace and not under law, does not mean the law is done away and to speak such heresy is to speak against Yeshua himself who stated emphatically that not the least stroke of a pen contained in the Torah would pass away until the heavens and the earth pass away.

Psalm 119:172
172May my tongue sing of your word, for all your commands are righteous.

G-d commands Abraham to go
Notice that G-d does not tell Avram “where” to go; only that he will show him.
G-d speaks things that are not as though they are and he expects Abram to believe YHVH’s promise of future provision and obey his command.
Abraham does believe, trusting faithfully “Emuwn.”
He leaves his father’s house with his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot and all their possessions (no parachute).

Abraham arrives in Canaan: modern day Israel
Abram is only 75 when he leaves his country, his brother, and his father’s house.
When Abram arrives, YHVH covenants with him to have the land for ALL generations.
Abraham is blessed beyond his wildest imagination just like all who fully submit to G-d’s Teaching and Instructions by faith!

What about Lot?

Lot in this portion is very much like the modern organized traditional Christian Church and the lost tribes of Israel that believe they have replaced the covenants of the houses of Judah and Ephraim!

Lot started out in biblical trusting and faithfulness with Abraham who was moving out with his family member. That represents Judah (as did the organized traditional Christian Church and their Israelite brothers the lost tribes of Israel.) They started as one with Judah under King David's unified tent.

Lot gets to Canaan (the Promised Land), goes to Egypt (places of confinement), then back to Canaan getting wealthy along the way (as do organized traditional Christianity and the lost tribes of Israel).

His employees end up fighting with Abraham’s (as do organized traditional Christianity and the lost tribes of Israel with their brothers in the tribe of Judah).

So Lot strikes out on his own

Lot decides in his own power to move and set up his tents toward Sodom, a wicked pagan place. This symbolizes the movement of the organized Christian Church and Judaism away from the Torah, YHVH’s Teaching and Instruction done by faith!

Abraham asks of YHVH and G-d gives him the Promised Land by faith. This represents the Judeans that DID receive Yeshua as Messiah and enter into their rest while keeping Torah, the remnant and their Christian brothers and sisters who kept all YHVH's instructions by faith.

Lot gets taken hostage

Sodom is such a pagan place. There is violence and perversion everywhere. Lot and all he owns are taken into bondage. This is where the “body” is to this day, in bondage with NO real power!

But YHVH had a plan to redeem Lot from the pagans that had captured his family. Abraham and his 318 men trained for war attacked the enemy stronghold and freed Lot and his family.

Genesis 14:14-16
14When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. 16He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people.
It is time for the sons of Abraham to arise for battle!

In the last days the scripture calls for a reawakening of those sons of Abraham who are called of the L-rd.

We have to go get those who are stumbling off to their death.


Jeremiah 16:19-21
19O LORD , my strength and my fortress, my refuge in time of distress, to you the nations will come from the ends of the earth and say, worthless idols that did them no good. 20“Do men make their own gods? Yes, but they are not gods!" 21“Therefore I will teach them- this time I will teach them my power and might. Then they will know that my name is the LORD.”

The awakening
There is a worldwide revival of people turning back to the Torah.

EV FREE, CGGC, AOG, BAPTISTS, WORD OF FAITH, and 7TH DAY ADVENTISTS all have active messianic congregations that are growing!

People are seeking more than the cotton candy prosperity only messages. They are seeking a real life change.

Micah 4:1-2
1In the last days the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. 2Many nations will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 33:24-26
Then the word of the LORD came to me: 24"Son of man, the people living in those ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land. But we are many; surely the land has been given to us as our possession.' 25Therefore say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Since you eat meat with the blood still in it and look to your idols and shed blood, should you then possess the land? 26You rely on your sword, you do detestable things, and each of you defiles his neighbor's wife. Should you then possess the land?'”
Are you living in ruins?

Have you been keeping G-d’s teaching and commands?

Or like righteous Lot have you placed the opening of your tent (your heart) toward the pagan sinful world?

Have you been carried away from the truth by false doctrine and held powerless, full of religion?

Do you want to live like Abraham really did in blessing, and power and prosperity?

You must die to your flesh and obey G-d.

YHVH’s covenant with you -G-d’s side of the covenant

Genesis 26:4-8
4 "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you and kings will come from you. 7I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God."
Abraham’s results require Abraham’s actions! -your side of the covenant

Genesis 26:9
9Then God said to Abraham, "As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come.”

Jesus said in John 15:10-11,
10If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

Doing the covenant means death to the flesh
A dead person has no reputation! Philippians 2:7
A dead person seeks not his own. 1 Corinthians 13:5
A dead person does not fight back. Exodus 14:14
A dead person is never tempted. 1 Corinthians 10:13
A dead person is never vain. Psalm 24:4
A dead person is never offended. Matthew 11:6
A dead person never opens their mouth! Isaiah 53:7
A dead person never argues or needs to win one! Colossians 3:13
A dead person has no agenda! John 8:50; 1 Corinthians 13:5

Remember

Father Abraham sacrificed his past by leaving all he had known to obtain G-d.

He was willing to sacrifice his future by offering his only son because he knew G-d was faithful to keep his word.

Power in this last revival will be held by those who are obedient to ALL YHVH’s Word.

Not just the parts that we like.
©2008 Ariel Ehrmantrout all rights reserved worldwide
Hebrew Roots International™



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