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		Living in Exile     Vayera   (Gen 18:1 - 22:24)

B'resheet/Genesis 18:17   And the L-rd said, "Shall I conceal from Avraham what I am doing?"

View whole verse and interlinear translation ...

Let's start by asking the question: to whom is The Name ...

HaShem: literally, Hebrew for 'The Name' - an allusion used to avoid pronouncing the Tetragrammaton, the so-called 'ineffable' name of G–d
HaShem speaking in our text? Is He talking to Himself, turning the matter over in His own mind, or is He asking the opinion of the two angels who had accompanied Him to visit Avraham? Opinions among the commentators vary; Rabbi Who Is ...

Hirsch: Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888 CE), German rabbi, author and educator; staunch opponent of the Reform movement in Germany and one of the fathers of Orthodox Judaism
Hirsch thinks it is probably the angels, adding the thought that "he is just as much as you are, My messenger on earth, and the knowledge of this decision belongs essentially to the carrying-out of his mission." The Who Is ...

Ramban: Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman Girondi or Nachmanides (born in Gerona, 1194; died in Israel 1270), Spanish rabbi, author and physician; defended Judaism in the Christian debates in Barcelona before making aliyah
Ramban suggests it is possible that the verb אָמָר, the Qal 3ms affix of the root אָמַר, usually to say, might refer to thought here, as if HaShem is speaking rhetorically to Himself, reasoning under His breath. Who Is ...

Rashi: Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (1040-1105 CE), 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
Rashi adds the idea that this is said in astonishment, a rhetorical question, as if it is clearly impossible from the outset.

Pointing to the text, "it is not My desire that anyone shall die -- declares the Lord GOD" (Ezekiel 18:32, NJPS), the Who Is ...

Sforno: Rabbi Ovadiah Sforno (1470-1550 CE), Italian rabbi, philosopher and physician; born in Cesena, he went to Rome to study medicine; left in 1525 and after some years of travel, settled in Bologna where he founded a yeshiva which he conducted until his death
Sforno paraphrases HaShem saying, "It is proper that I should not conceal My attribute of goodness from Avraham, and inform him that if indeed there are a number of righteous men in the midst of the wicked ones ... I would tilt towards living-kindness and be forbearing even towards the wicked, in the hope that they might repent." This will obviously be echoed later by Peter's comment that "the Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance" (2 Peter 3:9, ESV). Of course HaShem doesn't want His creatures to be lost; that is why it is entirely right and proper that Avraham - as a member of that same creature class - should have the opportunity to speak into the situation.

Taking us in a slightly different direction, Who Is ...

Abraham Ibn Ezra: (1089-1167 CE), born in Tudela, Spain; died in the South of France after wandering all around the shores of the Mediterranean and England; a philosopher, astronomer, doctor, poet and linguist; wrote a Hebrew grammar and a commentary on the Bible
Ibn Ezra suggests another reason why Avraham is being told what is going on: "... the fact that I intend to annihilate Sodom. After all, it is part of his inheritance." By involving Avraham at this stage HaShem makes him a part o the decision making process and hence the process of punishment and righteousness. Avraham is stretched from matters of his own personal righteousness to considering the righteousness of the wider world outside his tent and his family. Leon Kass explains that "G-d also intends that Avraham share responsibility for the punishment as a result of his participation in the judgement ... Avraham is to become G-d's partner, as it were, in executing political justice."¹

Ten generations earlier, HaShem told Noah what He was about to do - the flood - so that his life and those of family might be saved. Now, the disclosure that HaShem is about to make - "The outrage of Sodom and Gomorrah is so great, and their sin so grave!" (B'resheet 18:20, NJPS) - allows Avraham to react and intercede for the people of Sodom. "This dialogue between the Lord and Avraham," says Bruce Waltke, "is for Avraham's benefit, to challenge him to act wisely and nobly for justice."² Avraham has the perfect excuse that he is only an exile, a stranger in the land; he doesn't really belong - what business is it of his? - but HaShem isn't going to let him get away with that. As the prophet Amos will later say, "Indeed, my L-rd G-D does nothing without having revealed His purpose to His servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7, NJPS). G-d always tells someone what he is about to do, so that someone can raise the alarm and call for repentance or participation. Amos goes on: "A lion has roared, who can but fear? My L-rd G-D has spoken, who can but prophesy?" (v. 8, NJPS); the prophet must speak out what he has heard.

Gordon Wenham tells us that "it is characteristic of the true prophet that he is privy to the divine secrets. The point of the question is whether Avraham is going to enjoy the privilege of access to the divine committee's deliberations that prophets enjoy."³ Jeremiah was flogged and imprisoned for speaking the word of HaShem to the people of Jerusalem; he complained that speaking out made him a laughing-stock, that the word of HaShem brought him "constant disgrace and contempt" (Jeremiah 20:8). He tries not to speak out, to hold the words in and let the moment pass: "I thought, 'I will not mention Him, no more will I speak in His name' -- but it was like a raging fire in my heart, shut up in my bones; I could not hold it in, I was helpless" (v. 9, NJPS). The problem is that "he who has stood in the council of the L-RD, and seen, and heard His word -- he who has listened to His word must obey" (23:18, NJPS). Nahum Sarna explains that "in the case of the prophets, the divine foretelling is an expression of G-d's love for humanity, meant to warn of impending calamity in the hope of bringing about repentance." Jonah's mission to the city of Nineveh is surely the most obvious example.

As followers of Yeshua, we too are exiles in this world; we are in it but we do not belong to it. One of the things this means is that we know the end of the story; we know about the soon return of Yeshua and coming judgement of all mankind, when those who know Yeshua and proclaim Him as King will be saved, while those who do not will not. On the one hand, this allows us to take a step back from all the petty - and not so petty - squabblings and arguments of this world in the certain knowledge that there is a much larger end-game taking place for which much of the script has already been written: "He will swallow up death forever; and the L-rd G-D will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of His people He will take away from all the earth, for the L-RD has spoken" (Isaiah 25:8, ESV). The arc of history has a destination to reach and reach it, it most certainly will: "For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and He will guide them to springs of living water, and G-d will wipe away every tear from their eyes" (Revelation 7:17, ESV).

On the other hand, much work remains to be done; there are many people to reach with a meaningful expression of the Gospel to which they can respond, both at home and overseas. There is great suffering and deprivation that needs human hands and involvement to mitigate. Many people are still the subject of oppression and abuse; others are trafficked around the world in a web of corruption and lies. Elderly people live isolated and frightened lives, often malnourished and afraid to leave their homes. The answers for all these ills, brought on by greed, idolatry and sin, is the clear air and healing power of the kingdom of G-d, setting people free by the power of the truth and the liberating message of the Gospel. But this work must be done by us, by the people of G-d; by the followers of Yeshua, both Jew and Gentile, by the exiles and ambassadors sharing G-d's message of reconciliation.

During 1793, when Britain had been dragged somewhat reluctantly into war with revolutionary France, it suffered a number of defeats at the hands of a divided enemy whose fighting forces were virtually untrained and whose treasury was virtually bankrupt. Britain and its allies, with their better trained and resourced armies should have had no difficulty in pushing back the French forces and constraining them to their own borders. Nevertheless, British, Prussian and Austrian armies were all repulsed. This happened because British policy was more focused on securing advantage once the war was ended than on actually winning the war on the ground in a timely manner. One of William Pitt's biographers observes that "seizing the rest of the West Indies would cement Britain's maritime and financial power, while fighting in Flanders would help to entrench the Austrians in Belgium and diminish the chances of a Bavarian exchange."⁴ The British government was too occupied with the end-game and what came after to actually win the war!

As exiles, we have a sure and certain hope of return and restoration; we know where we are going, we hear what Walter Brueggemann calls the "cadences of home"⁵ ringing in our ears and warming our hearts. But we cannot be "so heavenly minded" that we are "no earthly good"; we cannot be so focused on life with Yeshua in the Olam HaBa - important though that is to remember - that we fail to be the hands and feet of Yeshua in the world in which we now live and serve: "whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me" (Matthew 25:45, NIV). We have to engage with the world; we have to do what we can, what is in front of us each day, as Rabbi Tarfon explained: "It is not for you to finish the work, but neither are you a free man and entitled to refrain from it" (m. Pirkei Avot 2:16). As "Avraham is granted this singular privilege because he symbolises the future Jewish nation, which is destined to become a source of blessing to the other nations" (Sarna), so we are granted this privilege because we represent Yeshua Himself, who is the promised blessing for all the nations. As the children of Avraham by faith (Galatians 3:7), whether Jew or Gentile, we incarnate that blessing for those around us. Our mandate is to share the vision and invite folk to come along on the journey.

1. - Leon R. Kass, The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis (Chicago, IL: Chicago University Press, 2003), page 321.

2. - Bruce K. Waltke with Cathi J. Fredricks, Genesis: A Commentary, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2001), page 268.

3. - Gordon Wenham, Genesis 16-50, Word Biblical Commentary, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1994), page 50.

4. - William Hague, William Pitt The Younger, (London, Harper Collins, 2005), page 337.

5. - Walter Brueggemann, Cadences of Home, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 1977).

Further Study: Ezekiel 33:7-9; 1 Corinthians 2:14-16

Application: We who stand in the council of Yeshua, hearing His word, being filled with His Spirit have to be obedient in taking that message - for good or for bad - into our world and sharing it, in both oral and practical ways with whoever the Spirit lays in our path. This is how the work in exile is done and how we show that we belong to Him.

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© Jonathan Allen, 2024

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