Read Genesis 12:1-13:18 at Bible Gateway.
the teaching tools of scripture
Hebrew paragraph divisions:
Gen 12:1-9 {p} Promise of land and descendants
Gen 12:10-13:18 {p} Abram’s faith in the promise tested + promise reaffirmed
Strong themes of the parashah:
Gen 12:1-13:18 {p+p} Promise given + faith in the promise tested + promise reaffirmed
Abraham and the character trait of yielding rights
Gen 12:1-13:18 chiastic structure:
1a) Gen 12:1-6, Separate from your father’s house + the promise of YHVH + arrival at the oak of Moreh;
1b) Gen 12:6, The Canaanite was in the land;
1c) Gen 12:7-10, Bethel to the Negev + the land could not sustain him (famine);
1d) Gen 12:10-16, Arrival in Egypt;
1e) Gen 12:11-16, Sarai, Abram’s “sister,” taken into Pharaoh’s house + Abram made rich;
central axis) Gen 12:17, “But YHVH struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife;”
2e) Gen 12:18-19, Sarai, Abram’s “sister,” delivered from Pharaoh’s house + Abram rich (Gen 13:2);
2d) Gen 12:20, Departure from Egypt;
2c) Gen 13:1-6, The Negev to Bethel + the land could not sustain them (possessions too great);
2b) Gen 13:7, The Canaanite was in the land;
2a) Gen 13:8-18, Separate from Lot (father’s house) + the promise of YHVH + arrival at the oaks of Mamre.
gen 12:17 central axis and the history that prophesies
Theme of the parashah:
Promise given + faith in the promise tested + promise reaffirmed
Finding Messiah in Torah:
When this parashah opens, God is not anyone’s God. He has been rejected as God and as Creator at Babel. The rebellion at Babel introduced paganism among men as a religion, to replace YHVH, the Creator, as God. But when YHVH spoke to Abram, Abram listened to Him and obeyed Him. YHVH’s instruction was, “Separate yourself, and I will make a nation of you, so that in you I might bless all the families of the earth.” You mean, all those 70 families from Gen 10 that just rejected YHVH as God and turned to serve the creature rather than the Creator? Yes, all those families. The nation of Abram’s seed will have YHVH as their God (Gen 17:7), unlike every other nation on the face of the earth, and will be a blessing to all the other nations who have rejected God.
Where is the vengeful, wrathful, judgmental, angry God of the Old Testament? His plan is to bless those families that rejected Him, by making a way for them to return to Him, through the nation of Abram’s seed, and ultimately, the Promised Seed, Messiah Yeshua.
For further study off site:
Antiquities of the Jews, Book I, Ch. 7, How Abraham Our Forefather Went Out of the Land of the Chaldeans (Josephus)
Antiquities, Book I, Ch. 8, That When There was a Famine in Canaan, Abram Went Thence to Egypt (Josephus)
Egypt and the Bible – Associates for Biblical Research
Triennial Lech Lecha – Messianic World Site
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