This statement is made by Abimelech, the king of Gerar, and Phicol, the commander of the king's armies to Abraham. They come to him to ask if he will make a covenant with them not to deal falsely with them, plot against them, or - presumably - make ware against them. Their motivation has attracted the attention of the commentators; Abraham may be rich and have a large household, but surely he wouldn't represent a threat to an established kingdom? Abraham was a nomad, a sojourner in tents - here today and, relatively speaking, gone tomorrow - while they are city dwellers with thick stone walls and city gates, rooted in the sand and bed-rock of the land; why should they be concerned about Abraham?

Rashi: Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (1040-1105CE), French rabbi who wrote commentaries on the Torah, the Prophets and the Talmud, lived in Troyes where he founded a yeshiva in 1067; focuses on the plain meaning (p'shat) of the text, although sometimes quite cryptic in his brevity

Rabbi

Hirsch: Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888CE), German rabbi, author and educator; staunch opponent of the Reform movement in Germany and one of the fathers of Orthodox Judaism

Using one of the Hebrew names for Messiah, - G-d with us, G-d gave the prophet Isaiah a warning for the surrounding nations who were eyeing Israel up covetously for conquest:

G-d is with us! You may make an uproar, people, but you will be shattered. Listen, all of you from distant lands; arm yourselves, but you will be shattered; yes, are yourselves, but you will be shattered; devise a plan, but it will come to nothing; say anything you like, but it won't happen; because G-d is with us. (Isaiah 8:8b-10, CJB)

Because G-d was with Israel, their plan to conquer and plunder Israel would not only come to naught, but they themselves would be shattered in the process. This rested entirely upon the promises and presence of G-d among His people, for they were already weak and were unable to defend themselves against the strong and well-armed nations who were poised to march in and take possession. 'Look,' G-d is saying to the nations, 'see things as they really are: I am with My people and you can’t overcome Me!'

The Jewish leaders recognised the same quality in Yeshua. Nicodemus came to Yeshua at night and said, "Rabbi, we know it is from G-d that you have come as a teacher, for no-one can do these miracles You perform unless G-d is with him" (John 3:2, CJB). Later on, the man who has been blind from birth but was given sight by Yeshua tells the Jewish leaders, "In all history no-one has heard of someone's opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from G-d He couldn't do a thing!" (John 9:32-33, CJB) The following Hanukkah when Yeshua was again in Jerusalem, some of the leadership tried to stone Him for they thought He was blaspheming, but Yeshua told them "If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father" (John 10:37-38, NASB).

Rav Sha'ul understood what this meant in a very practical sense. He wrote, "What then shall we say to these things? If G-d is for us, who is against us?" (Romans 8:21, NASB) He saw the power of G-d at work in each believer, the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit, that other people would see and want for themselves: "For it is G-d who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13, NASB). We should expect the people around us to see G-d in our behaviour, to hear G-d in our words, to be questioning how and why we do what we do and the attitude of love that we show to them and each other. If not, then we need to ask why. It is not that G-d doesn't want that to be happening, for not only has He told us to be like that, but He wrote in His word that it would be so: "Thus says the L-rd of Hosts, 'In those days the men from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that G-d is with you"'" (Zechariah 8:23, NASB).

Further Study: Joshua 2:8-13; Hebrews 13:20-21

Application: How does your world view match against G-d's? Do you really expect that G-d will be revealed in your life? Perhaps it is time for a reality check, where we ask G-d to align our expectations with His word and then be ready and open for Him to show Himself in us. Then stand back and see what G-d will do!

© Jonathan Allen, 2008