Shabbat shalom, mishpocah! It's time again to get really serious about the week's Torah portion. Our synopsis can be found at In this week's lesson we learn that Avraham, our first Patriarch (a former pagan Chaldean), was truly one of the "great and chosen ones" because YHWH made several covenants with him - even though, Avraham (at first known simply as "Avram" which meant "exalted father") was guilty of not placing all his faith and trust in God....
Please note, first and foremost, that Avram was from the line of Seth, not Cain (see Genesis 5) and that he "called on the Name of YHWH" (Genesis 12:8; 13:4 and 13:18) which means he was obedient to YHWH's commands/Torah!
The first thing we see in Genesis 12:1 is YHWH separating Avram from his pagan ties:
Genesis 12: 1 Now ADONAI said to Avram, "Get yourself out of your country, away from your kinsmen and away from your father's house, and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation, I will bless you, and I will make your name great; and you are to be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, but I will curse anyone who curses you; and by you all the families of the earth will be blessed." (CJB)
For more, you'll have to read the Torah portion synopsis....
Is there a correlation between Avraham leaving behind his pagan ties and what Revelation 17:4 says?
ReplyDeleteKevin, my gut says that the only tie is that Revelation 17:4 refers to those who have abandoned YHWH as their God. Though Avraham was the father of many nations (Genesis 17:5 "...I will make you Av Hamon Goyyim [Father of a throng of Nations]), those nations had the same choice that Yishmael had. The nations of Yishmael chose a false god and strayed. So did most of the nations of the Goy.
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