Third Torah Portion: Lech Lecha, You go out
B’resheet (Genesis) 12:1 – 17:27
Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 40:27 – 41:16
Galatians 3:1-29; Romans 4:1-25
Have you ever had times in your life when you heard the call to leave the past behind and move on to something better? You just knew in your spirit that it was time to pull the stakes and move on in life. You knew deep inside that the blessing and favor of God and man were ahead of you! Maybe you, or someone you know, is moving on even now.
For a young person, that could mean leaving their parents and a comfortable home and launching into a new career in a strange land. Or it could be leaving home to cleave to a spouse and start a new, blessed life, building a new home together.
Regardless of the reason, when the Father calls us to move out of the familiar into the great unknown, we can trust that He has a much better life in store for us. Abba has a great adventure ahead for anyone who will step out in faith and obedience to His call.
Go West Young Man!
It is no coincidence that in October of 1961, I was born during the week of this Torah portion Lech Lecha, “You go out.” As a baby, my parents moved me from Springfield Illinois to a small town among the wheat fields of eastern Washington.
Later in life, at the end of my liberal arts college days, I left my ‘Ur of the Chaldees’ behind to press on towards a city whose Builder and Maker is Elohim (God). Not knowing it, I moved on to a House of lively stones. Having graduated from a liberal arts college in Wisconsin at 25 years old, I heard the Father’s call to “Go west young man!” The call was to leave dead and dry religion and a depressing pot culture in the dust behind. He called me to start my new, born-again life in the mountains of Oregon.
Abba had me embark on a spiritual journey to discover who my God was and what He wanted for my life. Remaining free from the encumbrances of religion, the Father taught me a lot about Who He is, who I am, and who His people are from a Scriptural and Spiritual foundation. Here in Oregon, I found a baptism in the Spirit and baptism in the Name of Jesus Christ, then later in the Name of Yeshua HaMashiyach. I began to discover the roots of my faith as the Spirit of Truth began to build my beliefs in all, not just in the New Testament, but in all the counsel of God beginning with Genesis.
The lively stone I am most connected to is my Spirit-filled, loving wife Leslie, whom I met out here where our called-out journeys merged together. Relating to our father Abraham, we are still on that journey of faith, as we endeavor to follow the Lamb whithersoever He goes.
Since I was born again and delivered from miserable depression, my favorite color has been the cheery color – smiley yellow. 😊
The Third Covenant, the Covenant with Abraham
In Lech Lecha, we now enter into the third covenant that YHWH had made with man – the Abrahamic covenant. How can we remember and better understand this and all seven covenants that YHWH made with man?
If you were to line up the seven colors of the rainbow with the seven covenants that YHWH made with man, starting with:
- Blood red for the Adamic covenant in the first Torah portion. Adam means red man, the name’s root word, dahm, means blood, which has a bright red color.
- The second covenant has a safety orange color for Noah in the 2nd Torah portion.
- We now enter into the third color of the third covenant in the third Torah portion – the covenant with Abraham. The third color of the rainbow is yellow. (If you would like to see all covenant and their colors, see my previous commentary).
The benefits of Abba’s covenant with Abraham were that His seed would become a multitude of nations and that his household would enjoy an abundant life. The father of a multitude became very rich with ‘livestock, silver, and yellow gold (Gen 13:2).
Abraham’s wife laughed when she heard she would bear a son in her old age. Out of that covenant, they had a son of promise named ‘Laughter’ – Isaac. How many smiles 😊 and how much cheer did that birth bring to Abraham’s household? Because of the covenant that YHWH made with him, Abraham was a blessed and happy man.
Blessed to be a Blessing
Many Christians and Hebrew Roots brethren would agree that America has been blessed for blessing Israel. Believers in the Elohim of Israel like to lay claim to the covenantal benefit:
“And I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you.”
Genesis 12:3a
Only quoting the first half of this verse stops short of why America has experienced the blessings of Abraham. The second half is an extension of that promise:
“In you shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” Genesis 12:3b
When the seed of Abraham is blessed, others are blessed at home and even worldwide. My Father’s blessings were never intended just to bless me, but to be a flow of blessing to everyone and the world around me.
Child of Yah, you are a blessing! Yes, you are a tremendous blessing to all the families in your world! As His people, in and through us, all families of the world are blessed!
Being a Blessing Means Having Favor with God and Man
Do you see yourself as a blessing? Don’t people favor those who are a blessing to them? In Messiah, we do have the favor of Elohim and man.
Like many people, for most of my life, I’ve suffered from thinking that people, in general, do not like me, nor favor me. However, I’ve found in His Word that we are not only a blessing, but in general, others think favorably of a blessed people, the seed of Abraham. Read what the Word says about what other people think of believers in Proverbs 3:4; 8:35; 12:2; Luke 2:52; Acts 2:47; Romans 14:18 and 1 Peter 2:12.
Yeshua was a tremendous blessing to families everywhere He walked upon the earth! He went around doing good, destroying the works of the devil (Acts 10:38), which brought Him favor from the common man. (Luke 2:52) Our Messiah redeemed His people from the curse (Gal 3:13) making us a blessing, renewing The third covenant that He made with man – the covenant with Abraham and his Seed. Good news! Happy day! 😊
What a blessing our Messiah was and is today in His multi-membered Body – the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb 13:8). Yeshua still heals people and destroys sickness and disease. He still casts out demons from the possessed and restores them to their communities. He raises loved ones from the dead and restores them to their families. He feeds multitudes and gives them Living Water, satisfying hunger and thirst. He teaches people the Truth and destroys lies that deceive us. He enables us to live righteously by His Spirit, destroying the power of sin. In the power of the anointing of the Anointed One, we can do greater works than He did. We are a tremendous blessing!
I believe that one reason that we don’t walk as He walked is that we don’t believe that we can be that great of a blessing to all the families of the earth. We have notions that people will not receive us with favor, but will reject our brand of religion, or will tend to not like us for whatever reason. Let’s challenge that stronghold in our minds.
Connecting the Gospel to the Torah, Paul said that YHWH preached this Good News to Abraham:
And the Scripture, foreseeing that Elohim would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the good news unto Abraham, saying, “In you shall all nations be blessed…” Gen. 12:3b, 18:18, Galatians 3:8
Did you catch that? The Gospel in a nutshell is a quote by YHWH as stated in the Torah. Let this sink in – the Gospel message in one simple sentence was YHWH preaching to Abraham that – “In you shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”
That we are such a great blessing to others is good news that should be preached. Do we realize that we are a part of the Good News to a lost world? Are our deeds and fruit good news to the fatherless and the widow? To the lost and the dying?
In case you didn’t catch it the first time when reading the Torah portion, YHWH declared the Gospel again a second time – this time about judging Sodom and Gomorrah:
Abraham was walking with them to send them off, when YHWH said, “Should I keep secret from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham will most certainly become a great and mighty nation and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed? Genesis 18:16b-18
Our Father did not want Abraham to lose heart when judgment was about to fall on Sodom and Gomorrah. He wants us to know that even when judgment falls and many perish, the Seed of Abraham today will grow to become a great and mighty nation. He wants us to continue to believe His promise that we will be a blessing to all the families of the earth who remain, even through the Great Tribulation.
Peter Preached the Same Gospel Message of Blessing
Peter preached the same Gospel message to the ‘men of Israel’ at the Temple in Jerusalem, quoting the same Gospel message that YHWH preached to Abraham:
You are the sons of the prophets and also of the covenant that Elohim cut with your fathers, saying to Avraham, ‘In your seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ Elohim raised up His Servant and sent Him first to you, to bless you all by turning each of you from your wicked ways.” Acts 3:25-26
The blessing of Avraham is in his seed, Israel, who was in his loins. That Seed is the Messiah (Galatians 3:16). That seed, as Yeshua said, is also the Word. (Matthew13:19-20)
In the Hebrew Scriptures, the words “promise” and “word” are most often translated from the same Hebrew word – debar. So a promise is simply a word from YHWH:
Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the Torah, having become a curse for us; for it has been written, ‘Cursed is everyone having been hung on a tree’ Deuteronomy 21:23 that the blessing of Abraham might come on the nations through Messiah Yeshua, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Galatians 3:13-14
Shouldn’t Hebrew Roots teachers shift more emphasis on proclaiming the Gospel? Shouldn’t that Gospel message include that each one of you, each believer in Messiah, is a blessing that just keeps multiplying blessings to all the families of the earth?
Being a Blessing by the Spirit
Our Messiah only forgives us our sins and turns us from the wicked ways of Torahlessness when we put our faith in Him and the Gospel message. Then we can receive the promise of the Spirit through faith in His Word so that we can live a righteous life and be a blessing – by the Spirit, not by the flesh as Paul contended with the Galatians. Then only can we keep the Torah and do it right, do it Yeshua’s Way, not by man’s religion as Paul had to contend with the easily bewitched Galatians. Only believers in Messiah of the Seed of Abraham can truly bring about the blessing of Abraham to the world around them.
Yes, you, brother and sister! You and I are a blessing! You and I bless everyone around us, everyone in our sphere of influence when we walk by faith in the Spirit and not after the flesh. (Romans 8) Deep down the whole earth is groaning and travailing for the revealing of the sons of God. The lost and dying world around us needs you and me to be good news to them and to bring them the blessing of the Father.
Each one of us has a job to do serving our Master and King, being ambassadors of the Kingdom of Heaven to our families, our neighbors, and the nation we live in. Pray for the shalom of the city wherein you are exiled. Pray for Jerusalem and pray for Salem.
Blessing as Salt and Light
We are salt and light – Yeshua said that we are savory and the preservative. (Mat 5:13-16) Why do you think Oregon has experienced fewer natural disasters than most other states in the USA? Is it just because we are so Torah observant?
Believers in Yeshua, who reflect the Light of the Living Torah, mirror His light that always drives out darkness. The darkness of this world can never overtake the Light. The Gospel Light is the only true message that can unite people as one nation under God.
Divided or United?
In our day, the enemy is trying hard to divide people by race, the color of skin, ethnicity, financial or social status, gender, age, political party, you name it. One of the basic needs of every soul is to be part of something bigger than ourselves. Something bigger is often in who or what we identify with – such as a social club, a sports team, a political party, a race of people, or even a religious group. How short-sighted!
Paul preached the Gospel solution to sad divisions by declaring who we are in the Body of Messiah. True solidarity and unity can only come by regeneration through faith:
For you are all children of Elohim through trusting in Messiah Yeshua. For all of you who were immersed in Messiah have clothed yourselves with Messiah. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female – for you are all one in Messiah Yeshua. And if you belong to Messiah, then you are Abraham’s seed – heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3:26-29
So to become part of the same, united family as children of God, we must be regenerated in baptism and clothe ourselves with Messiah, put on His identity, and be imitators of Him. Then we are Abraham’s seed that is a blessing to the goyim (Gentiles).
There is only one way to become His child. It is no different whether you are a Jew or Gentile, a man or woman, a slave or a free man who has all the money he needs to acquire whatever he wants.
Paul wasn’t talking about losing our roles in life. By writing ‘neither male nor female,’ he wasn’t talking about a woman doing a man’s job, nor that it’s okay for a man to look like a woman. Nor was he saying that employees don’t have to submit to anyone’s authority.
We are all adopted into the same family in the same way that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were – by faith in the Messiah, becoming am Echad, one people, one in Messiah’s love!
The Same Gospel, the Same Seed
How do I know from this Torah portion that Abraham and Sarah believed the same Gospel and were born again by the same Seed as you and I are in our day?
By faith, even Sarah herself received the power to conceive when she was barren and past the age since she considered the One Who had made the promise to be faithful. So from one (Abraham) – and him as good as dead – were fathered offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven, and as uncountable as the sand on the seashore. Hebrews 11:11-12
How was it that the Son of Promise, Isaac, was conceived and born by parents who were reproductively dead?
By faith, by believing in the One Who could resurrect their dead bodies and reproduce the Seed of Messiah in them (Heb 11:11-12). They believed that YHWH is faithful to always keep His promises, He never goes back on His promises. Because of faith in the Word, Isaac was then conceived by the resurrection power of the Messiah. Their only son Isaac then became a clear type of the Messiah Yeshua.
So Yeshua, the Messiah, was the seed in Sarah, who was conceived by faith in the spoken Word of YHWH. That is how a soul is born again – hear the Word, the Gospel message, receive it by faith in the womb of the soul dead in trespasses and sin, and the Word becomes alive inside a soul who is resurrected from spiritual death.
The way Sarah was conceived with Isaac by faith in the Word is the same way we are conceived with the Messiah and are born again by faith in the same Word, the same Seed, and the same Gospel message. The miraculous power that was in Sarah to be conceived is the same resurrection power that is in us to be born again today.
The same thing happened to the mother of Yeshua, she believed the Promise of YHWH, and Yeshua was miraculously conceived in her womb when the Spirit moved upon her.
When the Spirit moves with power upon a soul who has repented and turned to Elohim, that soul is born again by the Seed; Yeshua now comes alive in the womb of the soul.
For I am not ashamed of the Good News, for it is the power of God for Salvation to everyone who trusts – to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Romans 1:16
Born from Above by Faith to be a Blessing
The paleo-Hebrew word for faith or trust is Emunah The paleo-Hebrew meaning of this word confirms this teaching of believing the Word and being born again in Messiah.
Emunah is spelled alef, mem, nun, and hey. Simply put, the letters picture power in the womb where a seed comes alive and is revealed by a new birth. That’s what happens in a receptive womb of the soul when the Word of Messiah, the Gospel, is planted and comes alive with resurrection power. That’s the paleo picture of being born again.
Do you really believe you were born again to be a blessing, that the words you speak have resurrection Life because Messiah lives in you? The same Gospel message is for us to proclaim today by faith – in you shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
In Messiah, you are a blessing not only to the Body as a member but to all the world around you! Let’s believe that and walk upright, Yeshurun, with our heads held up looking up to Heaven with praise and thanksgiving in our hearts! Let’s move forward with the blessing of Abraham and the favor of God and of man!
B’rakhot Avraham, the blessings of Abraham, be yours in the Name of Messiah Yeshua!
David Klug