NOVEMBER 4, 2022 Numbers 30:1-2 Then Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: If a man makes a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of […]
NOVEMBER 3, 2022 Numbers 28:1-2 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Command the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘My offering, My food for My offerings made by fire as a sweet aroma to Me, you shall be careful to offer to Me at their appointed time.’” For the next two chapters, the Bible describes different offerings […]
NOVEMBER 2, 2022 Numbers 27:20-21 And you shall give some of your authority to him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient. He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire before the Lord for him by the judgment of the Urim. In the sight of the people, Moses was to lay his hands upon Joshua’s head […]
NOVEMBER 1, 2022 Numbers 27:18-19 And the Lord said to Moses: “Take Joshua the son of Nun with you, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him; set him before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation, and inaugurate him in their sight.” In the previous devotion, we focused on Moses’ prayer at the end his tenure over […]
OCTOBER 31, 2022 Numbers 27:15-17 Then Moses spoke to the Lord, saying: “Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, who may go out before them and go in before them, who may lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be like sheep which have no […]
OCTOBER 30, 2022 Numbers 27:15-17 Then Moses spoke to the Lord, saying: “Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, who may go out before them and go in before them, who may lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be like sheep which have no […]
The rabbis say that God chose Abraham before the creation of the world. He looked for a single righteous man for whom He could justify creating the world. As He looked into the future, scanning over the generations of human beings to come, His eyes fell upon the righteous Abraham. On Abraham’s merit He chose to create the world:
A parable: Once there was a king who was sought to build a palace. He began to dig, going further down, to lay a foundation, but he found only swampy soil. And so it was in many places. He was not able to build until he dug in one place, and there he found bedrock (petra). Thus he said, “I am building and placing foundations here,” and he built. So too, the Holy One, blessed be He, sought to create the world. He was sitting and scrutinizing the generation of Enosh and the generation of the flood, and He said, “Why should I create the world and let those wicked men arise and vex me?” But when the Holy One, blessed be He, saw Abraham arise in the future, he said, “Behold, I have found a rock (petra) to build upon and to lay the foundation of the world.” Thus he called Abraham “Rock,” as it says [in Isaiah 51:1-2], “Look to the rock from which you were hewn.” (Yalkut Shimoni, Bamidbar, 23:766)
Did God really create the entire world only for the sake of Abraham? For the sake of Abraham’s Seed, the Messiah, He brought the whole world into being. During the Talmudic Era, the great academies in Babylon agreed that God created the world only on the merit of one righteous man, but they argued over which righteous man that was. Rav claimed that God created the world for the sake of David. Shmu’el countered that God created the world for the sake of Moses. But Rabbi Yochanon contradicted both and said, “The world was created only for the sake of the Messiah.”
Rabbi Yochanon’s opinion prevailed. The sages agree that God created the world only for the sake of Messiah—Abraham’s Seed. Paul of Tarsus taught the same concept. He believed that all things were created only for Messiah: “All things have been created through Him and for Him” (Colossians 1:16).
God chose Abraham out of the sea of humanity two thousand years before the birth of Yeshua. He chose Him to be the father of the Jewish people and the father of the line of Messiah. This explains why the Messiah is called the “Son of Abraham,” i.e., Ben Avraham, at the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew. According to Paul’s teachings, the Messiah is the “Seed of Abraham.” God chose a childless man married to a barren woman to become the father of the Messiah, the father of the Jewish people, and the father of many nations.
Lech Lecha – לך לך : “Go out” Torah : Genesis 12:1-17:27 Haftarah : Isaiah 40:27-41:16 Gospel : Matthew 1-19
OCTOBER 29, 2022 Numbers 27:1-4 Then came the daughters of Zelophehad … and they stood before Moses, before Eleazar the priest, and before the leaders and all the congregation, by the doorway of the tabernacle of meeting, saying: “Our father died in the wilderness … and he had no sons. Why should the name of our father be removed from among […]
OCTOBER 28, 2022 Numbers 26:64-65 But among these there was not a man of those who were numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest when they numbered the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Sinai. For the Lord had said of them, “They shall surely die in the wilderness.” So there was not left a man of them, except Caleb […]
