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Sivan 11, 5761 /
June 2, 2001
Sivan 9, 5764 / May 29, 2004
Sivan 9, 5767 / May 26, 2007
Sivan 9, 5770 / May 22, 2010
Sivan 9, 5773 / May 18, 2013
Sivan 12, 5776 / June 18, 2016
Sivan 12, 5779 / June 15, 2019
Lech Lecha / Go Forth From
SCRIPTURES should be read first
The lineage of the Sons of God had
progressed from Adam through Seth, through Noah and Shem, to Abraham. Abraham
came from the other side of the dispersion of the seventy nations. Now, God
would show His Covenant with man, telling Abraham to “Go forth”
(v.12:1) and “in
you (Abraham) all the families (seventy nations) of the earth shall be blessed”
(v.12:3).
In Adam’s time there was a seed
promise – a Messiah who would crush Satan. Note that this would mean a Messiah
for Adam’s race.
(Genesis 3:15) And I will put
enmity between you (the serpent) and the woman, and between your seed and her
seed (Yeshua); it (Yeshua) shall crush your (Satan’s) head, and you (Satan)
shall bruise his (Yeshua’s) heel. (Satan would temporarily hurt Yeshua, but
Yesuah would mortally wound Satan.)
The tenth generation was Noah, who
brought mankind through the great flood. He received a promise that the earth
would never again be destroyed by a flood. Messiah must now come through Noah,
the new father of all future generations.
(Genesis 9:8-17)
8
Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, 9 "Now
behold, I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants
after you; 10 and with every living creature that is with you, the
birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that comes out
of the ark, even every beast of the earth. 11 I establish My
covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water
of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth."
12 God said, "This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between
Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive
generations; 13 I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign
of a covenant between Me and the earth. 14 It shall come about, when
I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud, 15
and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living
creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy
all flesh. 16 When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it,
to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of
all flesh that is on the earth." 17 And God said to Noah, "This is
the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that
is on the earth."
The twentieth generation was
Abraham, who brought the generations of the Sons of God through the dispersion
from Babel. The Messianic promise is now through Abraham.
God’s covenant with Abraham is a
foundational covenant: others are amplifications of parts of this covenant. This
covenant is the basis for our salvation and future hope.
Abraham was promised an inheritance
of (1) Land, (2) Seed, and (3) Blessings. The Promised Land was described to
Abraham in Genesis 15:7-20. The promised seed was detailed to David in 2 Samuel
7:8-16 (the Davidic Covenant). The blessing promises are explained in Jeremiah
31:31-35 (the New Covenant).
The land portion of the covenant was
later given in greater detail to Abraham.
[Cutting a covenant.] (Genesis 15:7-21)
7
And He said to him, "I am Yahweh who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to
give you this land to possess it." 8 He said, "O Lord Yahweh, how may
I know that I will possess it?" 9 So He said to him, "Bring Me a
three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old
ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon." 10 Then he brought all
these to Him and cut them in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he
did not cut the birds. 11 The birds of prey came down upon the
carcasses, and Abram drove them away. 12 Now when the sun was going
down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell
upon him. 13 God said to Abram, "Know for certain that your
descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be
enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. 14 "But I will also judge
the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many
possessions. 15 "As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace;
you will be buried at a good old age. 16 "Then in the fourth
generation / millennium they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite
is not yet complete." 17 It came about when the sun had set, that
it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch
which passed between these pieces. 18 On that day Yahweh made a
covenant with Abram, saying, "To your descendants I have given this land,
from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates:
19 the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite 20 and the
Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim 21 and the Amorite and the
Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite."
Abraham lived at the beginning of
the third millennium of the world. Four millenniums later will be the Sabbath
Millennium, when Yeshua will reign. That will be the ultimate fulfillment of
this promise.
Moses was the twenty-sixth
generation.
Four-hundred-thirty years after the covenant was made with Abraham, God added
instruction through Moses, in order to guide His covenant people in the narrow
path.
(Galatians 3:19) Why the Law
then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through
angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the
promise had been made.
(Exodus 20:1-20) 1
Then God spoke all these words, saying,
[How to love Yahweh your God]
2
1
"I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the
house of slavery. 3
2
"You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 "You shall not make for
yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth
beneath or in the water under the earth. 5 "You shall not worship
them or serve them; for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the
iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations
of those who hate Me, 6 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to
those who love Me and keep My commandments. 7
3
"You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not
leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain. 8
4
"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 "Six days you shall
labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath of
Yahweh your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your
daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who
stays with you. 11 "For in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the
earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore
Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. 12
5
"Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land
which Yahweh your God gives you.
[How to love your neighbor]
13
6
"You shall not murder. 14
7
"You shall not commit adultery. 15
8
"You shall not steal. 16
9
"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 17
10
"You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's
wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or
anything that belongs to your neighbor."
18
All the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of
the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled
and stood at a distance. 19 Then they said to Moses, "Speak to us
yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die."
20 Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid; for God has come in
order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so
that you may not sin."
David was the thirty-third
generation. To him the seed portion of the covenant was expanded: David
symbolized the ultimate Messiah, who would come through David’s line.
(II Samuel 7:8-16)
8
"Now therefore, thus you shall say to My servant David, 'Thus says Yahweh of
hosts, "I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be ruler over
My people Israel. 9 "I have been with you wherever you have gone and
have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a great name,
like the names of the great men who are on the earth. 10 "I will also
appoint a place for My people Israel and will plant them, that they may live in
their own place and not be disturbed again, nor will the wicked afflict them any
more as formerly, 11 even from the day that I commanded judges to be
over My people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Yahweh
also declares to you that Yahweh will make a house for you. 12 "When
your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up
your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish
his kingdom. 13 "He shall build a house for My name, and I will
establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 "I will be a father
to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him
with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, 15 but My
lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I
removed from before you. 16 "Your house and your kingdom shall
endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever."'"
The blessing portion of the
covenant is called the “New Covenant”. This word ‘new’ does not mean original,
but rather renewed: God will renew His covenant by applying it in a new way – to
hearts.
(Jeremiah 31:31-35)
31
"Behold, days are coming," declares Yahweh, "when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32 not like the
covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to
bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I
was a husband to them," declares Yahweh. 33 "But this is the covenant
which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares Yahweh, "I
will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be
their God, and they shall be My people. 34 "They will not teach
again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know Yahweh,'
for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,"
declares Yahweh, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will
remember no more." 35 Thus says Yahweh, Who gives the sun for
light by day And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; Yahweh of Hosts is His name.
Circumcision was to be performed on the eighth day (Leviticus 12:2). On the
eighth millennial day – when the earth is renewed – we shall all have
circumcised hearts, and our sin will be remembered no more. There will be no
need for evangelization, for everyone will know God
So how does this covenant relate
to us today?
(Romans 4:1-25) 1
What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has
found? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to
boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say?
"Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." 4
Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is
due. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who
justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, 6 just
as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits
righteousness apart from works: 7 "Blessed are those whose lawless
deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. 8
"Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account." 9
Is this blessing then on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we
say, "Faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness." 10 How then
was it credited? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while
circumcised, but while uncircumcised; 11 and he received the sign of
circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while
uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who believe without being
circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them, 12 and the
father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who
also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while
uncircumcised. 13 For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants
that he would be heir of the world was not through the (Mosaic) Law, but through
the righteousness of faith. 14 For if those who are of the Law
are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified; 15 for
the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no
violation. 16 For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may
be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the
descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of
the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 (as it is
written, "A father of many nations have I made you") in the presence of Him
whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that
which does not exist.18 In hope against hope he believed, so that he
might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken,
"So shall your descendents be." 19 Without becoming weak in faith he
contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred
years old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb; 20 yet, with respect to
the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith,
giving glory to God, 21 and being fully assured that what God had
promised, He was able also to perform. 22 Therefore “It was credited
to him as righteousness”. 23 Now not for his sake only was it written
that it was credited to him, 24 but for our sake also, to whom it
will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Yeshua our Lord from
the dead, 25 He who was delivered over because of our transgressions,
and was raised because of our justification.
(Ephesians 2:12-13; 3:6)
12 Remember that you (gentiles) were at that time separate from
Messiah, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the
covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13
But now in Messiah Yeshua you who formerly were far off have been brought
near by the blood of Messiah.
6
To be specific, that the gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the
body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Messiah Yeshua through the
gospel.
Psalm 9:10 is a fitting closing:
“Those who know Your name will
put their trust in You, for You, O Yahweh, have not forsaken those who seek
You.”
Readings:
"Blessed are You, Yahweh our God, King
of the Universe,
Who chose us from among all peoples by
giving us Your Torah.
Blessed are You, Yahweh, giver of the
Torah."
Reader 1* Amen
1
Now Yahweh said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, and from your
relatives and from your father's house, to the land which I will show you;
2 and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your
name great; and so you shall be a blessing; 3 and I will bless those
who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the
families of the earth will be blessed."
Reader 2* Amen
4
So Abram went forth as Yahweh had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now
Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 Abram
took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had
accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out
for the land of Canaan; thus they came to the land of Canaan. 6 Abram
passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. Now
the Canaanite was then in the land. 7 Yahweh appeared to Abram and
said, "To your descendants I will give this land." So he built an altar there to
Yahweh who had appeared to him. 8 Then he proceeded from there to the
mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west
and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to Yahweh and called upon the
name of Yahweh. 9 Abram journeyed on, continuing toward the Negev.
Reader 3* Amen
10
Now there was a famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn
there, for the famine was severe in the land. 11 It came about when
he came near to Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, "See now, I know that you
are a beautiful woman; 12 and when the Egyptians see you, they will
say, 'This is his wife'; and they will kill me, but they will let you live.
13 "Please say that you are my sister so that it may go well with me
because of you, and that I may live on account of you." 14 It came
about when Abram came into Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very
beautiful. 15 Pharaoh's officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh;
and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. 16 Therefore he treated
Abram well for her sake; and gave him sheep and oxen and donkeys and male and
female servants and female donkeys and camels. 17 But Yahweh struck
Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. 18
Then Pharaoh called Abram and said, "What is this you have done to me? Why did
you not tell me that she was your wife? 19 "Why did you say, 'She is
my sister,' so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife, take
her and go." 20 Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they
escorted him away, with his wife and all that belonged to him.
Reader 4* Amen
13:1
So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, he and his wife and all that belonged
to him, and Lot with him. 2 Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in
silver and in gold. 3 He went on his journeys from the Negev as far
as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel
and Ai, 4 to the place of the altar which he had made there formerly;
and there Abram called on the name of Yahweh.
Reader 5* Amen
5
Now Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. 6
And the land could not sustain them while dwelling together, for their
possessions were so great that they were not able to remain together. 7
And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen
of Lot's livestock. Now the Canaanite and the Perizzite were dwelling then in
the land. 8 So Abram said to Lot, "Please let there be no strife
between you and me, nor between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are
brothers. 9 "Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from
me; if to the left, then I will go to the right; or if to the right, then I will
go to the left."
Reader 6* Amen
10
Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well
watered everywhere – this was before Yahweh destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah – like
the garden of Yahweh, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar. 11 So
Lot chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward.
Thus they separated from each other. 12 Abram settled in the land of
Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the valley, and moved his tents as
far as Sodom. 13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and
sinners against Yahweh.
Reader 7* Amen
14
Yahweh said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, "Now lift up your eyes
and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and
westward; 15 for all the land which you see, I will give it to you
and to your descendants forever. 16 "I will make your descendants as
the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then
your descendants can also be numbered. 17 "Arise, walk about the land
through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you." 18 Then
Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which are in
Hebron, and there he built an altar to Yahweh.
"Blessed are You, Yahweh our God, King
of the Universe,
Who in giving us Yeshua, the Living
Torah, has planted everlasting life in our midst.
Blessed are You, Yahweh, giver of the
Torah."
______________________
"Blessed are You, Yahweh our God, King
of the Universe,
Who selected good prophets, delighting
in their words which were spoken truthfully.
Blessed are You, Yahweh, Who chose the
Torah, Your servant Moses, Your people Israel,
and the prophets of truth and
righteousness."
Joshua 24:3-18
Reader 8* Amen
3
'Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him through all
the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants and gave him Isaac. 4
'To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau, and to Esau I gave Mount Seir to possess it;
but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt. 5 'Then I sent Moses and
Aaron, and I plagued Egypt by what I did in its midst; and afterward I brought
you out. 6 'I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the
sea; and Egypt pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea.
7 'But when they cried out to Yahweh, He put darkness between you and
the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them and covered them; and your own eyes
saw what I did in Egypt. And you lived in the wilderness for a long time.
Reader 9* Amen
8
'Then I brought you into the land of the Amorites who lived beyond the Jordan,
and they fought with you; and I gave them into your hand, and you took
possession of their land when I destroyed them before you. 9 'Then
Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel, and he
sent and summoned Balaam the son of Beor to curse you. 10 'But I was
not willing to listen to Balaam. So he had to bless you, and I delivered you
from his hand. 11 'You crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho; and
the citizens of Jericho fought against you, and the Amorite and the Perizzite
and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Girgashite, the Hivite and the
Jebusite. Thus I gave them into your hand. 12 'Then I sent the hornet
before you and it drove out the two kings of the Amorites from before you, but
not by your sword or your bow. 13 'I gave you a land on which you had
not labored, and cities which you had not built, and you have lived in them; you
are eating of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.'
Reader 10* Amen
14
"Now, therefore, fear Yahweh and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away
the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve
Yahweh. 15 "If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve Yahweh,
choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your
fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose
land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh." 16
The people answered and said, "Far be it from us that we should forsake Yahweh
to serve other gods; 17 for Yahweh our God is He who brought us and
our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did
these great signs in our sight and preserved us through all the way in which we
went and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed. 18
"Yahweh drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in
the land. We also will serve Yahweh, for He is our God."
Psalm 9
(to be sung)
For the choir director; on Muth-labben. A
Psalm of David.
1
I will give thanks to Yahweh with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonders.
2 I will be glad and exult in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O
Most High. 3 When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish
before You. 4 For You have maintained my just cause; You have sat on
the throne judging righteously. 5 You have rebuked the nations, You
have destroyed the wicked; You have blotted out their name forever and ever.
6 The enemy has come to an end in perpetual ruins, and You have
uprooted the cities; the very memory of them has perished. 7 But
Yahweh abides forever; He has established His throne for judgment, 8
and He will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the
peoples with equity. 9 Yahweh also will be a stronghold for the
oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble; 10 and those who know
Your name will put their trust in You, for You, O Yahweh, have not forsaken
those who seek You. 11 Sing praises to Yahweh, who dwells in Zion;
declare among the peoples His deeds. 12 For He who requires blood
remembers them; He does not forget the cry of the afflicted. 13 Be
gracious to me, O Yahweh; see my affliction from those who hate me, You who lift
me up from the gates of death, 14 that I may tell of all Your
praises, that in the gates of the daughter of Zion I may rejoice in Your
salvation. 15 The nations have sunk down in the pit which they have
made; in the net which they hid, their own foot has been caught. 16
Yahweh has made Himself known; He has executed judgment. In the work of his own
hands the wicked is snared. Higgaion Selah. 17 The wicked will return
to Sheol, Even all the nations who forget God. 18 For the needy will
not always be forgotten, Nor the hope of the afflicted perish forever. 19
Arise, O Yahweh, do not let man prevail; Let the nations be judged before You.
20 Put them in fear, O Yahweh; Let the nations know that they are but
men. Selah.
Hebrews 11:1-10
Reader 11* Amen
1
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not
seen. 2 For by it the men of old gained approval. 3 By
faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that
what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. 4 By faith
Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the
testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through
faith, though he is dead, he still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was taken
up so that he would not see death; “and he was not, because God took him up”;
for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to
God.
Reader 12* Amen
6
And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must
believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. 7
By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence
prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the
world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
8 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place
which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where
he was going. 9 By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise,
as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of
the same promise; 10 for he was looking for the city which has
foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
"Blessed are You, Yahweh
our God, King of the Universe,
Rock of Ages, righteous
throughout all generations.
You are the faithful God,
promising and then performing, speaking and then fulfilling,
for all Your words are true
and righteous.
Faithful are You, Yahweh
our God, and faithful are Your words,
for no word of Yours shall
remain unfulfilled;
You are a faithful and
merciful God and King.
Blessed are You, Yahweh our
God, Who are faithful in fulfilling all Your words."
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