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Compliments of First Fruits of Zion
reprinted by permission of FFOZ
Lech Lecha – לך לך : “Go out”
Torah : Genesis 12:1–17:27
Haftarah : Isaiah 40:27–41:16
Gospel : Matthew 5–7
There was a king who desired to build and lay foundations. He dug constantly deeper but found only a swamp. At last he dug and found petra [bedrock]. He said, “On this spot I shall build and lay foundations.” So too the Holy One, blessed be He, desired to create the world, but sitting and meditating upon the generations of Enoch and of the Flood, He said, “How shall I create the world, seeing that those wicked men will only provoke Me?” But as soon as God perceived that there would arise an Abraham, He said, “Behold, I have found a petra [bedrock] upon which to build and to lay foundations of the world.” Therefore he called Abraham ‘Rock.’ (Yalkut Shimoni)
Why did God choose Abram? We do not know. But we do know that although the world was filled with millions of men and women, God chose one man. And by rabbinic reckoning, God chose Abraham before the creation of the world. Yalkut Shimoni, a medieval collection of Jewish legend, tells a parable (see above) about God’s quest for a single righteous man for whom He could justify creating the world. As God looked into the future, scanning over the generations of human beings to come, His eyes at last fell upon the righteous Abraham. On Abraham’s merit, He chose to create the world.
Did God really create the entire world only for the sake of Abraham? It seems to be an impossible notion, but in one sense, it is true. For the sake of Abraham’s Seed, the Messiah, the world was brought into being. During the Talmudic age, the great academies in Babylon agreed that the world was created only on the merit of one righteous man, but they argued over which righteous man that was. Rav claimed that the world was created for the sake of David. Shmuel countered that the world was created for the sake of Moses. But Rabbi Yochanon contradicted both and said, “The world was created only for the sake of the Messiah.” (b.Sanhedrin 98b)
Rabbi Yochanon’s opinion prevailed. The world was created only for the sake of Messiah—Abraham’s Seed. Saul of Tarsus taught the same concept. He believed that all things were created only for Messiah. Moreover, he taught that all things were created by the agency of Messiah.
For by Him [Messiah] all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. (Colossians 1:16)
God chose Abram out of the sea of humanity two thousand years in advance of the birth of Yeshua. This Abram, who would later be called Abraham, is the forefather of Messiah. For that reason, Ben Avraham (Son of Abraham) is one of the titles of Messiah. (Matthew 1:1) Inasmuch as Messiah was contained within Abraham, He is the Seed of Abraham. And perhaps this is the reason Abraham was chosen—not because of his own personal righteousness, not because of his personal conviction of monotheism; not because of his great faith, but because he is the father of Messiah. The world was made for the sake of Abraham because the world was made for the sake of Abraham’s Seed—the Messiah. And through the agency of Messiah, the world was made.
Shavuah Tov! Have a Good Week!
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Shadows of the Messiah
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80162-0099 USA
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