Parashah 4: Vayera (He appeared)

Parashah 4: Vayera (He appeared) - Genesis 18:1 through 22:24.

Haftarah (Writings and Prophets): 2 Kings 4:1-37.
B'rit Hadasha (New Testament): Luke 17:26-37; Romans 9:6-9; Galatians
4:21-31; Hebrews 6:13-20, 11:13-19; James 2:14-24; 2 Peter 2:4-10.

Summary & Overview

TORAH
o Genesis 18:1 | A Son Promised to Abraham and Sarah
o Genesis 18:16 | Judgment Pronounced on Sodom
o Genesis 19:1 | The Depravity of Sodom
o Genesis 19:12 | Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed
o Genesis 19:30 | The Shameful Origin of Moab and Ammon
o Genesis 20:1 | Abraham and Sarah at Gerar
o Genesis 21:1 | The Birth of Isaac
o Genesis 21:8 | Hagar and Ishmael Sent Away
o Genesis 21:22 | Abraham and Abimelech Make a Covenant
o Genesis 22:1 | The Command to Sacrifice Isaac
o Genesis 22:20 | The Children of Nahor

Last week we learned about Abram, how he became the first called out one
acting on the call of YHVH lech lechah that means, get yourself out. To be
called out is the Greek word kaleo, that is the basis of the word ekklesia
that is wrongly translated as church, and should rather be translated as
assembly. This was the beginning of the church or assembly and is not a
NT concept. This tied in with the Covenant YHVH cut with Abram that is the
foundation of our faith today.
This Torah Portion continues to deal with the Covenantal themes of Judgement
and Salvation, the same themes we saw in the previous two Torah Portions;
Noach and Lech Lechah. We will look in more detail at the judgement and
destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah as well as the theme of salvation with the
binding of Isaac.

YHVHs Appointment with Abraham

Gen 18:2-3 So he lifted his eyes and looked,
and saw three men standing opposite him. And
when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to
meet them, and bowed himself to the ground, 3
and said, , if I have now found favour in
Your eyes, please do not pass Your servant by.
Abraham saw three men and called them YHVH.
How and why did he recognise them as YHVH? We
do not have all the details of this event recorded but
YHVH gave us enough information to meditate on. There must have been
something supernatural about their appearance, or he received a revelation
from the Spirit he received from YHVH when his name was changed.

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He probably operated in the gift of discernment and recognised them as YHVH
in the flesh. His initial response after he saw them, was to run to greet them,
bowing down to the ground as a sign of reverence.

Run is the Hebrew word ruts /vr that means, to run, to rush, break down,
divide speedily, footman, guard, bring hastily, post. This word is associated with
the Commandments of YHVH as found in Psa 119:32 where David uses this
word in the context of to run in the way of YHVHs Commandments and
carefully walk in them. Last week we saw looked at Gen 15:1 where the Word
of YHVH came to Abram and we recognised the Word as Yshua, making the
connection with John 1:1-13, revealing Yshua as the Word of YHVH.
Bowed is the word shachah hxs that means, to depress, i.e. prostrate, in
homage to royalty or YHVH): crouch, fall down (flat), humbly beseech, do
reverence, worship.
The two first responses of Abraham is related to YHVHs Commandments, the
eagerness to obey and to worship. Do you remember when you just started to
follow YHVH, right after accepting Yshua, how eager you were to do the right
thing? This event gives us the indication that Abraham was a newly born again
child of YHVH, which happened when his name was changed, and the
Covenant was made with him. He was sitting in his tent, after his circumcision,
probably speaking with YHVH when the three men appeared. He had a sense
that it was YHVH in the flesh visiting him, and h fell to the ground in reverence.
The three men did not rebuke Abraham for bowing down to them, and this
indicates that Abraham identified them correctly as YHVH.
This manifestation of YHVH in the flesh or in the form of three men is associated
with YHVHs other Name, Elohim. Elohim has three distinct meanings;
Messenger, Judge and King. These are the characteristics of Yshua the
Messiah where He represented YHVH in the flesh during His first coming, being
the Messenger or Word of YHVH. The second time we will see Him, will be as
Judge, during His Second Coming. Lastly, we will meet Him as our King, after
His third coming, after the 1000 years. This meeting between Abraham and
Elohim, prophetically points to Messiahs second coming, where He will be the
Judge, similar to the event that followed, the judgement of Sodom and
Gomorrah.

Abraham the Bondservant

Abrahams first words were, please do not pass Your servant by, where he
referred to himself as a servant. The word here for servant is ebed dbi that
means, bondman, servant and bondservant. This is a well-known term used by
Paul and the disciples referring to themselves as bondservants of Yshua the
Messiah introducing themselves in their Letters to the congregations in the Berit
Chadashah (NT). Abraham revealed himself as the first bondservant of YHVH
and since he is our father of faith, we should become bondservants as well.
Q What does it mean to become a Bondservant?
You will find the first Commandments regarding Bondservants in the Book of
Leviticus, right after the receiving of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai.
This, in fact, was the first Commandment after the Ten Commandments.

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A Bondservant is a person who sold himself to someone else because of debt,
and he had to work back for 7 years. After the 7 years, he was set free to go, but
had the option to stay and serve his Master still out of free will. This then made
him a Bondservant of that Master.
Culture:
As a bondservant, he lived in his Masters house, sit at (from the Latin cultura
his table, lives like one of the Masters children. Living in stemming from colere,
the house, he had to obey the house rules and adopt the meaning "to cultivate")[1]
Masters way living (his culture) and being part of the generally refers to patterns
family, could now receive an inheritance. of human activity and the
symbolic structures that give
Personal Application: This is a beautiful picture of such activities significance
being born again when you choose Yshua as your and importance. Culture can
Master, to serve Him out of free will. What people tend be defined as all the ways of
to forget is that they have to give away their rights and life including arts, beliefs and
old life, and not to be their own masters of their lives institutions of a population
as with free men /women after you decide to follow that are passed down from
Yshua. You need to submit under His instructions if generation to generation.
you are part of His Household. We as believers today, Culture has been called "the
pray the prayer to make that choice, acknowledging way of life for an entire
society."
Him as the Messiah and Saviour, but we do not see
Him as our Master or ourselves as His Bondservants.
Believers expect YHVH to help them to sort out their messy lives, but
they do not respond to His call, lech lecgah, to get themselves
out of their old ways and culture, like their father, Abraham. We as
believers tend to treat Him as a Tool or a Genie in a bottle, using
His Name as a Magic Word to make our problems disappear.
Most people who believe in Jesus (Yshua) today, do not
understand the concept of a Bondservant and have no clue on how
to serve YHVH as a Bondservant, but rather expect to be served
by Him, because we now have rights as His children of the Most
High God. This order is the wrong way round, and you must realise
that you are the servant and He is the Master.
In other words, you dont have a life anymore, and He is not your
support system. Your life belongs to Him, and if you serve Him out of
free will, then He will look after you as one of His own children. This is what the
concept of adoption is all about, becoming a bondservant as Paul mentioned in
the Berit Chadashah (NT).
Rom 8:15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to
fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by
which we cry out, "Abba! Father!"
This might be confusing; Paul explicitly said we are not servants with a spirit of
slavery, what is going on?
John 8:34-36 Yshua answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you,
everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. "The slave does not
remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. "So if the
Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
Yshua explains the concept of being a slave, probably referring to being slaves
in Egypt saying, we are not slaves to sin anymore, and when you respond to His

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call, you become a son through adoption and live in the House of the Father as
a free person, free from sin. Being a Bondservant has to do with submitting to
YHVHs authority, becoming His child (son) through adoption through His Spirit,
then you are no longer in the house of slavery (Egypt), that depicted sin and
bondage. Having this understanding does not contradict Scripture at all.
Q - Why become a Bondservant? Hebrew Study Tip
We see the seriousness of becoming a bondservant in Gen As in many Hebrew words,
18:3 in the phrase; please do not pass Your servant by. they have positive and
negative meanings and
You become a bondservant so that YHVH wouldnt pass you
the context reveal the right
by in the time when you need Him. What does it mean: to meaning to use, but in
pass us by? some cases, both the
Pass by is the word abar rbi that means; to cover, to set positive and negative
meanings can apply to
apart (holiness), to pass over (Pesach), to provoke to anger, reveal wisdom. In this case
to perish (judgment), to turn away (repent). both meanings are
applicable.
Interpretation: To be a bondservant means to turn away
or repent so that you are set apart, and covered when
YHVH is provoked to anger, so that He may pass you over in the time of
judgement.
This gives us a deeper understanding of being a Bondservant and what you
should be like, you should be like Abraham; humble, repetitive, submissive,
serving, obedient, hospitable and set apart. Becoming a Bondservant will result
in you being; covered, saved, receive mercy and not being judged, receive life
while death and YHVHs anger pass you over.
Abraham is our father of faith (Rom 4:16) and he set the example for us as
believers, what it means to be a Bondservant, being adopted as a son/daughter
in the Household of YHVH, being born again.

The Promise of Isaac

Gen 18:10-15 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.) 11 Now Abraham and
Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of
childbearing. 12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I
have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? 13 And
YHVH said to Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I surely
bear a child, since I am old? 14 Is anything too hard for YHVH? At the
appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and
Sarah shall have a son. 15 But Sarah denied it, saying, I did not laugh,
for she was afraid.
When YHVH visited Abraham and Sarah and revealed to them that they would
have a son, Sarah laughed because it was "impossible" for her to bear children
at the age of 90 and not only that, Sarah had been barren her whole life.
Laugh is the word tsachaq qxo that means, to laugh outright (in merriment or
scorn); to mock, play, make sport in jest. This word is first found in Scripture in
Gen 17:17 where Abraham laughed when YHVH told him he would have a son

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and his name shall be Isaac or Yitschaq qxoy, that means, he laughs. His
name is created by adding a yod to the laughter of Abraham and Sarah. The
letter yod y represents the Spirit of YHVH, representing the unseen hand of
YHVH working in our lives.

Spiritual Insight: The laughter was a reaction of their unbelief, and YHVH
used that to create the promise by adding life, the yod y to the
imperfections we give Him. As you can recall, YHVH made a Covenant with
Himself on behalf of Abraham, and that included the promise of a son and a
nation that will come from Abrahams seed. Even when Abraham and Sarah
failed to initially receive this promise, YHVH acted on His Covenant Promise
and turned their unbelief into the promise through intervening with His
Spirit (yod). This gives us hope that even when we fear and fall through
unbelief, YHVH still holds up His end of the Covenant and work with our
failures and mistakes, to still fulfil His purposes and promises through and in
our lives. YHVH hits a perfect shot with a crooked stick. You do not have to
be perfect to be used by YHVH, as long as you are willing and allow Him to
use you; He will do the rest.

When YHVH appeared to Abraham and Sarah and told

them that they would have a son, Sarah laughed out of
unbelief, and when YHVH confronted her, she lied out
of fear and denied it.
Q What can we learn from this?
Fear is the number one reason why people lie and this
we saw with both Abraham and Sarah.
Believing a lie causes fear and fear is the evidence that
you obey the lie or the father of lies (Satan). Faith
comes from obeying YHVH, listening to His Words of truth and that is what
Abraham and Sarai learned the hard way.
Romans 10:17 - So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by
the Word of God.
YHVH will periodically test His set-apart people to see if they had built
character and grown spiritually, using his thermometer called faith. Rev
3:16 YHVH uses the terms, hot or cold to describe the spiritual health of
the Assembly. The next test Abraham faced was when they were in
Gerar.
Gen 20:1 -2 And Abraham journeyed from there to the South, and
dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and stayed in Gerar. 2 Now Abraham
said of Sarah, his wife, She is my sister. And Abimelech king of Gerar
sent and took Sarah.
Gerar rrg means lodging place, that comes from the root word garar that
means, to chew the cud, to continue, to saw, to destroy.
Spiritual Insight: Abraham was tested yet again, in a place he thought was a
place of lodging or rest, but the old sin of lying, was brought back up again
so that he could deal with it once again.

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 This is similar to a kosher animal, bringing the food
back up again to chew it for a second time. The re-
testing of past failures is to destroy the root causes
and to make the person into a kosher animal or
holy person. YHVH will test and re-test you, and
you will repeatedly be confronted with past
mistakes in similar situations, to refine you and
make you holy unto Him.

Abraham failed again and lied to king Abimelech,

saying that Sarah is his sister. This means that he will face another test in the
future until he proves that he has overcome fear and grown in faith.
Interestingly, the next similar event recorded in Scripture in Gen 26:9 where
Isaac failed the same test, saying that Rebecca is his sister.
Q - What do we learn from this?
It shows that Abraham did not teach Isaac from the mistakes he made, and
Isaac repeated the sins his father committed. We should teach our children
from our mistakes so that they can avoid making committing the same
sins.
YHVH came to Abimelech in a dream and revealed to him that Sarah was
Abraham's wife. Abimelech was shocked because he did not do this
intentionally, and YHVH told him to give her back because Abraham is a prophet
and he will pray for him, or else YHVH would destroy him and his people. This
reveals to us that Abraham was anointed as a prophet and that he could
intercede for the King so that the curse that came upon him could be lifted.
Gen 20:10-12 Then Abimelech said to Abraham, What did you
have in view, that you have done this thing? 11 And Abraham said,
Because I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place, and
they will kill me on account of my wife. 12 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.
Spiritual Insight: Sarah was Abrahams half-sister, so he technically did not
lie, but he did conceal the truth regarding her being his wife, and that caused
the king to sin. This is called 'creative lying' or telling half-truths, creating
false impressions. This is probably why Abraham told this lie twice without
repenting because he was technically not lying. The danger with this is that
other people sin because of miss-information. That is why we need to seek
the whole truth, and not be happy with only a partial truth so that we will not
sin unintentionally.
This is the where the concept of the Guilt Offering (asham) is applied; the
King committed a sin, but it was unintentional, and someone could bring a gift
(prayer) to lift the curse. Offering is the word qorban ]brq and means 'to
present a gift' or to draw near, and this is exactly what prayer is all about. In
this case, Abraham's intercession prayer acted as an asham offering to
remove the severe curse the King had brought on himself unintentionally.

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 Personal Application: When you wronged someone or
offended them, that causes them to stumble and sin, then
you must stand in for them through prayer, asking YHVH
to remove the consequences of their unintentional sin,
and forgive them as well as yourself for causing them to
sin. This is how we can bring an asham or Guilt offering
on their behalf.

Sodom & Gomorrah Destroyed

The two Messengers or Witnesses were sent to
Sodom by YHVH to meet Lot at the gates of
Sodom. When Lot saw them coming into the
city, he met with them and offered his
hospitality and his home, just like Abraham.
They went to Lots house where he washed
their feet and prepared a meal with unleavened
bread. This is very similar to what Abraham did
when he met Elohim (three men).
Q What does Unleavened Bread represent?
The pattern of Salvation: Unleavened Bread is connected to the Passover
and to the message of Salvation entering YHVHs Covenant. This gives us
the insight that Lot probably had to commit to the Covenant personally before
he and his household could be freed from Sodom, the place of bondage. This
is a prophetic picture of the salvation pattern depicted here with Lot being
saved from Sodom. Later, this pattern will be used to free the people from
Egypt, with the proper symbolism of the Passover lamb, and in the future, this
pattern will be applied to millions of individuals to free them from the system
of Babylon, during Messiahs second coming.
Q - What can we learn from the two men visiting Lot?
Personal Application: The truth will always be presented
by two witnesses, and then you can be confident that it is
reliable. Never take any verse standing on its own to build
a doctrine, find the second verse in Scripture that supports
that truth and then you know it is the truth that will be able
to defend itself. YHVH will always send truth in the form of
two witnesses, and this applies to the end time prophecies
as well.
For Example: Regarding the coming of Messiah, Daniel 11:12 states;
when you see the Abomination of Desolation set up in the Holy Place
AND see the daily Sacrifices being stopped. This shows us that there will be
two signs or two witnesses signalling the start of the Tribulation. Then we
read the same message in Mat 24:15-16 as well as in Mark 13:14, giving us
three witnesses of the same message. There should be no confusion
regarding this because of all three witnesses that confirm the same truth.
The two messengers or two witnesses were sent to Lot with the message
lech lechah, get yourself out! YHVH is sending us more than two witnesses
with the same message, in the same context of judgement and destruction,

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 prior to YHVH judging Babylon; come out of Her my people, (Jer 50:26, Jer
51:55, Isa 21:9, Rev 18:4, Rev 11:13, Rev 14:8, Rev 18:19)
The Messengers of Elohim took Lot and his whole house, (his wife and
unmarried daughters) out of the city just before Sodom was destroyed. Lots
righteousness saved not only him but also his whole household, acting on the
message and warning given by the two witnesses. They were under his
covering, so to speak, and followed his example. In the same way, must we
always act on the truth, presented by two witnesses, and set the right example
so that our family members can follow and be saved as well at the end. This
principle applies to all areas of life, not only end time prophecy.
1 Cor 7:14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his believing
wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing
husband. Otherwise, your children would be unclean, but now they
are holy.
Spiritual Insight: Not all the family members or
believers will stand till the end, and some will lose
their salvation. The example to support this is
where Lots wife followed at first, respond to the
call and left Sodom. Then, halfway through their
salvation process, she looked back and was
changed into a pillar of salt. The act of her looking
back is similar to what we find in the story of the
Exodus, where people longed back to Egypt, and
that caused them to die in the wilderness and not
make it to the Promised Land. The fact that you accepted Yshua as your
Master and Saviour does not guarantee your salvation in the end. Only those
who endure to the end will be saved. This proves once saved, always saved
doctrine to be false because it contradicts these two witnesses I just
mentioned here, and truth must confirm other truth in Scripture, not contradict
or replace it.
We read in Gen 19:17 that the Messengers told Lot and his family to escape to
the mountains. This is similar to Matt 24:15-16 where Y'shua tells us to flee to
the Mountains. This links the events in this Torah Portion to the end time events
and why it is important to study the Scriptures as preparation for what is coming
so that we can be prepared.

End Time Judgement Cycle

Q What do we learn from this and how will the end times
unfold?
We have seen numerous times that everything in Scripture
is prophetic and cyclical, that means that it will repeat in
cycles, even more than once. For example, the passage in
Matt 24 is an interpretation of the passage in Daniel 12, has
already happened in the time of the Maccabees (first cycle) and will happen in
the end times at Messiahs return (second cycle). This means that prophecy
might have more than one application within two or more time periods, involving
different generations. We see from this Parashah the following prophetic time
frame of events that will become a pattern of the cycle for future events:

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 1. YHVH met with Abraham - YHVH will reveal Himself to His people before
judgment comes.
2. Promise of Isaac - YHVH will affirm His promises of offspring (new
believers) that will bring joy (Isaac)
3. 3 men visited Abraham - YHVH will reveal His Plan of Judgement to His
people before executing that Plan,
4. Abraham interceded this gives His people time to intervene for those
still entrapped in the system.
5. Lot and his family saved - YHVH will save the righteous and those who
respond to His call before judging the world.
6. Sodom destroyed - Just like death is inevitable so will the judgement of
YHVH come upon the world, whether we believe it or not.

Abraham Interceded
Fascinating insights can be found when you analyse the conversation between
Abraham and YHVH utilising the meaning of the Hebrew numbers. The event
described here was when Abraham interceded for the people of Sodom and
Gomorrah, as well as for Lot and his family. We will now look at this dialogue
between Abraham and YHVH to glean wisdom from
their conversation: Hebrew Study Tip
1. If there were 50 righteous: The following words Every Hebrew letter repents
add up to the number 50: The numeric value of the a number and every word
letter Nun n =50, nun means fruitful. The word can be represented by a
Kingdom =50, as well as Heir to the Throne. The number as well, by adding
word dumah =50, that means His blood as well as the up the numbers of each of
word Yovel that means Jubilee. YHVH will hold back its letters. Different words
judgment if there are 50 righteous; they who are fruitful sharing the same number
in His truth, to them grace will be extended. The truth are linked together. This
regarding the Blood of the Heir, the Heir to the technique is known as
Throne, through Whom they can enter into the Gematria, where different
Kingdom, being set free (Jubilee). thoughts from different
2. If there were 5 less or 45 righteous: Five is the words can be connected if
they share the same
numeric value of the letter hey h that means
number. The meaning of this
revelation, light or breath of life. Five also word with similar number
represents the Five books of Scripture, known as the can be brought in with the
Torah. This means that YHVH gave the light of the other words and meditated
Torah, as an act of grace, so that it will reveal His
upon to reveal a deeper
truth, as well as His Spirit or Breath of Life. The
meaning of the verse or
number forty-five is numeric value of Lot as well as
Adam and mankind. 45 depicts the individuals that
word you are studying.
He extended His grace and Torah to, these are people
like Lot, the direct family of Abraham, as well as all mankind, meaning that
His grace and revelation of the Torah is for all mankind and those who accept
it, will be saved like Lot were, restoring Adams Breath of Life.

3. If there were 40 righteous: Forty is the number of the letter tav t that means
cross or burden, as well as a yoke, or call. The word trials=40 as well as
testings. We learned from Scripture that Israel spends 40 years in the wilderness,
similar to Yshua, where He was tested before He started His Ministry.

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Moses was on the Mountain for 40 days when Israel failed the test building and
worshipping the golden calf. Forty is also the numeric value of the word lu'e, that
means mine or for me, as well as the number of the two phrases in Leviticus
25:25 ga'aloh, his kinsman and v'ga'al, and shall redeem" The righteous
who will be saved are those who are tested and stand, those who take up their
yoke (plan YHVH has for them), and follow Him during the time called the
Wilderness. Those who belong to Him, will prove themselves to be His kinsman
(blood related) who will be redeemed.
4. If there were 30 righteous: Thirty, means Covenant and is the numeric value
of the letter lamed l that means learning and shepherds staff. The word
ba kaha = 30, that means in power, va cheet ah, = 30, that means He will
purify, as well as Va ah chayeh = 30, that means and I make alive. YHVH will
save those who are part of the Covenant He made with Abraham, those who
follow the Shepherd and learn from His Words. He will not destroy those whom
He purified and made alive through His Power (resurrection power of Spirit).
5. If there were 20 righteous: Twenty has the same meaning as the number two
and it means, restoration of relationships. is the numeric value of the letter kaf
k that means palm of the hand as well as covering. It is also the numeric
value of the words; Yadah that means His hand, abib, that means the first
month (starts the Feast cycle with Passover as the first Feast occurring in the first
month). He will restore relationship with those who partake in His Restoration
Cycle depicting the Festivals and the Work of the Messiah. They will be
covered by His hand during the time of judgement.
6. If there were 10 righteous: Ten means completion and is the number of the
letter yud y that means Spirit of YHVH, specifically the "unseen hand of
YHVH." The following words and phrases add up to the number ten; vhoveh, that
means, and I came, as well as avoh that means, I will come. YHVH will
rescue and save those who allowed His unseen hand of His Spirit in their lives
so that they can me made complete. Yshua came the first time to establish His
Covenant in His own Blood and will come again to judge those who rejected it.
Q - Who are the people that will be saved during this Judgement of YHVH?
All of those mentioned here better known as Bondservants of Messiah, those
who serve and follow YHVH through these six attributes found in the
conversation between Abraham and YHVH. To summarise, you need to:
o Salvation: Know that the blood of the King will set you free
o Revelation: Accept the revelation of the Truth through His Torah through
which He will restore humanity
o Calling: Accept His calling on your life and put on His yoke so that you
will be able to withstand the tests during this life.
o Holiness: Accept His Covenant, follow the Shepherd and allow Him to
teach you, purify you through His Word and resurrect you through His
Sprit.
o Preparation: Engage in His Restoration Cycle and His Festivals so that
you will know the Work of the Messiah and prepare for His second
coming.
o Direction: Allow His unseen hand to work in your life so that you be
made complete and ready for His coming.

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Hagar and Ismael left the Family
Gen 21:9-13 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the
Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham,
scoffing. 10 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. 11 And the
matter was very displeasing in Abrahams sight because of
his son. 12 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. 13 Yet I will
also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman because he is your seed.
Ismael was not the son of promise and therefore a mistake and after the birth
of Isaac, Sarah dealt with her mistake by asking Abraham to ask Hagar and her
son to leave. Abraham was initially upset, but YHVH confirmed to him this was
His will and that He will look after Hagar and Ismael and make him a great
nation as well because of the promise and the Covenant.
From our perspective, we see that this was not good because Ismaels
descendants will be a very great nation and enemy of Israel. From YHVHs
perspective, it is good, because He made a Covenant with Himself on behalf of
Abraham and his seed, that includes Ismael, and He kept His promise because
of the Covenant.

Ismael laimsy consists of two parts yisma imsy that comes from the
word shama ims that means, to listen, obey and discern, and El la, that is
short form of Elohim. This gives the meanings; listen Elohim or Elohim is
listening, or listen to Elohim. The word shama is found in the phrase shema
Yisrael that means listen Israel or obey Israel. The name Yisrael lairsy
that means, righteous people of Elohim, is similar to Yismael (Ishmael), and
the only difference is the mem m and the resh r that makes the word mor
rm that means bitter, angry, bitterness and heavy. Rearranging the letters gives
the word ram ,r that is the basis for the word ramah that means, to throw,
to cast down, to deceive, to betray, to shoot.

Spiritual Insight: We see how close the two names of the two nations are
and how both became great nations in the end. The existence of Ishmael is
there to act as a sheepdog to bring Israel back to hearing YHVHs voice so
that they can obey Him and do what the Covenant expected of them
regarding the promise given to Abraham. Ismael exist to help keep Israel on
track, and every time Israel go astray, YHVH sends Ismaels descendants to
bring bitterness to Israel through betrayal, deception, opposition and war.
Ismael fulfils the same function as Satan; the oppose and is the negative
force that works against YHVHs people to get them back to listening to
YHVH and obeying the Covenant so that His promises or plans could be
fulfilled through their lives.

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 Spiritual Insight 2: We always tend to think YHVH is in the Spiritual
battling against the Opposer (in the spiritual realm), while we are on
earth, waiting for the victory and breakthrough. This implies that the
battlefield is beyond us, in the spiritual realm and we only feel or
experience the outcome of the battle. This also means that YHVH and
the Opposer (Satan) are at the same level, with similar but opposing
strength.
In actual fact, the Opposing force is below us, with YHVH above us, if
you like, and we are in the middle, we are the battlefield, and all the
forces are working in us. Therefore, Paul said in Rom 16:20 that the
Serpent is under our feet. We need to move out of the darkness
(enemies domain lower parts), into the light (YHVHs domain
higher parts) and this will move us closer to YHVH, away from the
opposing force that we generally call Satan.

The Binding of Isaac

We saw previously how YHVH tested Abraham and how he
failed miserably, adding dynamics to his life. This time the test
is even more challenging and Abraham had to overcome his
fears once and for all.
Q What tests did Abraham face in this single test?
Fear: This is yet another test where YHVH was testing
if Abraham has learned to overcome his fear by
believing the promise. The only difference is that
Abraham was not the one who could lose his life here,
but his son Isaac. That makes this test so much more
challenging.
Commitment & Trust: Abraham had to prove that he feared and trusted
YHVH more than the fear of losing his child to death.
Love: Abraham had to demonstrate that he loved YHVH more than he
loved his only son.
Faith & Obedience: Abraham obeyed, even unto death, even if it means
that he will lose his only son. Abraham had to believe that YHVH will
make a plan to fulfil His promise, even raising Isaac from the dead. His
faith was strengthened by keeping his eyes on the outcome and on the
promise, not on the current situation he faced.
Personal Application: Do you love the Promises of YHVH (Isaac) more than
you love your exceedingly Great Reward (YHVH)? Are you willing to lose
everything you love to gain YHVH? Is YHVH the most important aspect of
your life and do you put Him first? Will you obey YHVH even if you are faced
with death or the death of a loved one? This gives us the conclusion that our
love can only be proven through obeying the One you love the most and that
He will make His promises true in your life because of His Covenant. This
love for YHVH is associated with obedience as we saw in Abrahams life:

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 Joh 14:15 If you love Me, keep My commandments.
Exo 20:6 and showing mercy to thousands of those that love Me and
keep My commandments.
In an End Time perspective, we read in the context of the final Judgement:
Rev 12:17 The serpent became angry with the woman. So it went away
to fight with her other children, the ones who keep YHVHs Commands
and hold on to the testimony of Yshua.
To love YHVH above all things means to hold on to His promises, keep His
Commandments no matter what. Sometimes you have to sacrifice something
very dear to you or make a decision that does not make sense in the natural at
that time but has significant positive consequences in the future. Sacrificing
something to YHVH, sometimes do not look logical or do not make a lot of
sense, but it is worth it at the end, as we learned from Abrahams example.
Abraham loved YHVH more than he loved his son and through that, he achieved
the greatest accomplishment in his life, and he became the Father of Faith. Paul
aspired to the same level of faith as Abraham when he said that everything is
worthless compared to Messiah, and he is willing to lose everything to gain
Yshua.
Php 3:8 But no, rather, I also count all things to be loss
for the excellency of the knowledge of Messiah Yshua my
Master, for whose sake I have suffered the loss of all
things, and count them to be dung, so that I may win
Messiah
Prophetic Application: Just like Isaac's life was spared by
a Ram that was caught in a thicket, (Gen 22:13) so Y'shua is
the Lamb of YHVH Who died in the place of every sinner
bearing all the sins of all humanity throughout all ages (Joh
1:29, Rev_7:17, Rev_19:9, Rev_22:1). That is why His
Blood of Messiah has more value than the blood of animals,
and the only currency or payment that is accepted for
humanitys sin.

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