Parashat Vayera
In last week’s synagogue parashah, which is the weekly Torah reading, the congregants would have been filled with the hearing of two great passages concerning God and the Messiah. They would have read Genesis 18 to 22. Genesis 18 begins with these words: Now the LORD appeared to him, Abraham. How can the LORD appear when Scripture says, “For no man can see Me and live”? (Exodus 33:20)
In this verse as well as the Genesis 18 passage with Abraham, the name of the LORD, His proper name, YUD-HE-VAV-HE is used. This has challenged so many rabbinical commentators because it clearly says that the God of heaven and earth can physically appear before man. Likewise, Yeshua Who is fully divine, whose origins are from eternity, came down to us, in Word and in wonder.
Last week’s parashah also included Genesis 22, a passage which makes some incredible associations with the Messiah’s First Coming. It speaks of the Akedah, the attempted sacrifice of Isaac, a sacrifice which never happened. It is full of foreshadowing, pointing in so many ways to the life, death, and resurrection of the Messiah.
We see for example, the willingness of Isaac to lie on that altar and have full trust in his father, Abraham. And this story is marked by the absence of the sacrificial lamb which was sought for, in order to replace Isaac. A ram, however, was given instead because the true Lamb would later be offered.
The story ends with Abraham calling this place the LORD (YHVH) will provide (22:14). This is exactly what the Father did when He provided Yeshua Who came down as the ultimate sacrifice for us.
So it is our prayer that having listened or read every word of these chapters, that the Spirit of God would fully bless them with wisdom and understanding so that they would see their Savior in these wonderful foreshadowings of the Holy Scriptures.