Lekh L’Kha (Go to Yourself) B’resheet/Genesis 12:1-17:27
1.I know we have talked about this in the past but as a refresher look at the opening words of our portion. It begins with Lekh L’kha. These Hebrew words are often translated with the English word go. However, in Hebrew, G-d actually says two words which when properly translated means, “Go to yourself.” What did this mean to Avraham and what does it mean to us today?
What does it mean to go to yourself? I believe that G-d was saying to Avram and to us, “There is more for you. Become who I created you to be. I have a plan for your life.” I believe these are extremely important questions for all of us to ask ourselves. Do we believe G-d has a specific plan for our life and are we ready to cross over to grasp it?
In Genesis 14:13 we see Avram first called Avram the Hebrew. The word for Hebrew is haivri, which literally means one who is standing on the other side.
Genesis 41:12 uses this term, Ivri to describe Joseph, “And there was there with us a young man, a Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard; and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams; to each man according to his dream he did interpret”
In Jonah 1:9 Jonah described himself as a Hebrew or Ivri, He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the L-rd,the G-d of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
Each of these examples are people who had been set apart or “standing on the other side.” G-d is calling His people to be that “other” in our world. The understanding is that to be a Hebrew ( IVIRI) means to have the courage to stand with your truth on one side of the river even if the whole world is standing on the opposite side.
I read a sentence this week that I think fits here. “Dead fish go with the flow, live fish swim against the current.” We are to be live fish. We are to be people whose lives are built on what G-d says, what He has called us to be. So in some ways we are to apply Genesis 12:1 to our lives as well.
2.Scripture doesn’t tell us much about Avram before G-d called him to leave his home and family and go to a place G-d would show him. Why do you think G-d chose Avram for this challenge? What about Avram made him willing to do such a huge new thing?
Avram might have been a non-conformist. That would have made it easier for him to make this leap. People have a natural drive to fit in, to conform to the influences around them.
When we look at Genesis 12:1 we see exactly what G-d called on him to leave. “Get out from your country and from your family, and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.” Look at that sentence closely. G-d was calling him to leave his land, his birthplace, his father’s house and follow G-d. So, in effect G-d was calling him to leave everything that might draw him back into conforming.
G-d was taking Avram out of all those influences and saying to him, “I want you to be different, not just for the sake of being different, but for the sake of showing a whole new way of living, a walk of faith. G-d was saying to Avram, I want you to hear Me. I want you to follow Me and to teach your children to follow Me, to follow the way of the L-rd by doing what is right and just. (Genesis 18:19)
Bur mainly I think G-d chose Avram because of his obedience. He did not question G-d. When G-d spoke he got up and moved. In Genesis 15:6 we are told that Abram “believed the L-rd, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” The apostle James cites this verse and claims that because of his faith Abraham became the “friend of G-d” (James 2:23). And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed G-d, and it was credited to him as righteousness,”[a] and he was called G-d’s friend.
3.What does scripture tell us about Avram that makes the following statement true? “One important aspect of Avram’s faith was his ability to live in the future.”
One of the most important aspects of Avram’s faith was his ability to live in the future, letting the past go and doing what he could in the present. G-d’s promises to Avram were things that would happen in the future but he had the faith to live according to those promises. I know when we talk about living in the future it sounds at best impossible and at worse unwise. Most people would say we should major on the present because none of us knows what the future holds. This is true for people who do not know G-d.
However, Avram’s life was lived through his faith in the Father and G-d’s promises for his future. As we see in the Torah portion Avram believed G-d for his future. He took all he possessed and left Haran, an advanced culture, to set out for a place he had never been. He trusted that G-d’s promises would be fulfilled and in fact waited years for their fulfillment. Actually, most of G-d’s promises were not fulfilled in Avram’s lifetime.
In Genesis 15:5 G-d showed him the stars in the sky and said so shall your seed be. And still his wife was childless. But he continued to believe G-d’s promises.
Avram, knew G-d personally and knew He was absolutely trustworthy. So yes Avram lived in the future. He was able to invest his life in following G-d’s promises to him. We see the same principle in the Messianic writings in
Matthew 19:21, Yeshua answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
James 5:3, Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. and
Luke 16:11. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?
The surest way to live each day is to trust the Father who holds our future in His Hands. Jeremiah 17:7-8 says it in such a wonderful way. “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
We can learn from Avraham the most fulfilling way to live today is to trust in Him who holds our future. Only faith like this will take us through the challenges that come to us all.
4. As soon as Avram arrived in the Land he and his family experienced a severe famine and had to leave and go to Egypt to find food. Why, after calling Avram to go on this journey, would G-d allow a famine to hit just as Avram arrived? Have you ever felt like you stepped out to do something G-d called you to do and immediately hit problems or bumps in the road? If so, please share your experience with us on Shabbat as we study together? Genesis 12:10-20.
First question: Did Avraham have to leave for Egypt?
Did G-d tell him to go to Egypt.
Would things have been different if he had waited for G-d to give him direction?
Do we sometimes quickly head to Egypt instead of waiting on G-d when hard times happen?
I’m sure the question came to Abram’s mind, “Why is this happening to me? I am doing what G-d asked and now there is a famine!” Have any of you had a similar experience in your life?
Why does G-d allow hardships in our lives when we are doing our best to follow Him? Even in hard times He wants us to come to Him, to seek comfort and direction and understanding from Him.
Sometimes when we face hardship we turn away from G-d for a time. In II Chronicles 28:22 Ahaz, in his time of trouble became even more unfaithful to G-d. Instead of turning to G-d for help, for answers he turned further away.
II Chronicles 28:22, “ In his time of trouble King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the L-rd. 23 He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus, who had defeated him; for he thought, “Since the gods of the kings of Aram have helped them, I will sacrifice to them so they will help me. But they were his downfall and the downfall of all Israel.”
Then the story of King Manasseh tells a different reaction to handling troubles.
II Chronicles 33:10-13, “The L-rd spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention. So the L-rd brought against them the army commanders of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon.2 In his distress he sought the favor of the L-rd his G-d and humbled himself greatly before the G-d of his ancestors. And when he prayed to him, the L-rd was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the L-rd is G-d.”
So the question we need to think about, “Where do we immediately turn when we are facing a crisis?