Abraham’s Wells

Nov 20, 2022 | Torah Portion

Isaac returned to his semi-nomadic mode of life and brought his flocks into the valley of Gerar on the edge of the Negev. As he went, he reopened the wells of his father Abraham. The Philistines had filled in Abraham’s wells as an exercise of their sovereignty, perhaps to discourage semi-nomadic shepherds and herdsman like Isaac from grazing on their territory.
Isaac reopened the wells. The Torah uses four short etiologies to describe how Isaac named four wells. He named one well “Contention” because after he dug it, the herdsmen of Gerar came out and contended with his shepherds. They said, “The water is ours!” He dug a second well and named it “Hostility” because of a dispute with the same herdsmen. He moved further into the Negev, away from Gerar, and dug a third well. He named it “Broad Places” because he had finally escaped the Philistines and had ample space.
It seems as if Isaac named the wells without any thought as to what they had been called in his father’s day, but the Torah says, “He gave them the same names which his father had given them.” This becomes clear in the story about the well of Shibah (Beersheba). He camped at Beersheba (Well of the Oath); he swore a covenantal oath (shevu’ah, שבעה) with the Philistine King. That same day his servants reported a well they had dug. He named it Beersheba, Well of the Oath—the same name Abraham had given it a generation earlier when he made a treaty with the previous Abimelech and Phicol.
The story of Isaac reopening Abraham’s wells indicates that Isaac is the legitimate heir to the Abrahamic legacy. Like Abraham, Isaac sojourned as a stranger in a strange land, without land and water rights.
On another level, the story illustrates the value of returning to the original sources. Isaac could have dug new wells. Instead he chose to restore Abraham’s wells. He could have chosen new names. Instead he chose to use the same names that Abraham had given them.
In a similar way, the biblical path of faith is not one of innovation and novelty. Instead, we find our spirits satisfied drinking from the wells of faith from which our fathers drank. When the Master offered the woman at the well the living water of salvation, he spoke not of literal water, but of salvation—yet He offered that living water to her at Jacob’s well.
The journey into Messianic Judaism is much like Isaac’s journey back to the wells of his father Abraham. These original sources have been filled in and concealed by time and hostile Philistines. The Sabbath has been lost. The holy days have been forgotten. The Torah itself has been, as it were, filled in with earth. We need not dig new wells or create new names. If we will only make the effort to open these original wells up again, we will find that they are as deep and filled with living water as when our fathers first drank from them.
Toldot – תולדות :”Generations” Torah : Genesis 25:19-28:9 Haftarah : Malachi 1:1-2:7 Gospel : Matthew 13-14

Good Things of His Master’s Hand

Nov 13, 2022 | Torah Portion

Abraham sent his servant Eliezer to find a wife for his son Isaac. The name Eliezer (אֱלִיעֶזֶר‎) literally means “God of Help.” As Eliezer went forth to procure a bride for Isaac, he relied on the God of Help to assist him. An angel went before him.
When we set out to do the work of God, we need to rely on Him for help, especially in the matter of evangelism. After all, we are not trying to make converts to a religious creed; we are trying to change hearts. This is an impossible task for a human being. Even the greatest psychiatrists cannot change the human heart. Therefore, like Eliezer, we rely utterly on the God of Help.

Then the servant took ten camels from the camels of his master, and set out with a variety of good things of his master’s in his hand; and he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor. (Genesis 24:10)

As we go forth to proclaim the good news, we bring the good things from the household of God. In the midst of a lost and hurting world, we have the goods that people need. What are these good things of our Master’s house? They are acts of loving-kindness, forgiveness, wholeness, peace, and that most precious of all commodities: hope. Many people have never experienced unconditional love. They have never known real kindness, real friendship, real compassion. Many people have lived most of their lives without even modest hopes. These are things we have received in abundance through Messiah, and we can pass them on to others, but only if we bring them with us.
Eliezer brought the gifts from his master’s household with him in order to establish his credibility. If he had simply appeared in Aram, claiming to be looking for an attractive young girl to bring back to some faraway prince, the men of that place would have driven him away as a scoundrel and kidnapper.
Is it any different with us? If we start to speak into people’s lives about God and faith without first having provided them with evidence of the fruit of our faith, they will drive us away as religious fanatics. The world has plenty of religions and ideologies for sale, each one clamoring for attention like obnoxious salesmen.
The good things of our Master’s house establish credibility: “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). The fruit of the Spirit is irresistible to the thirsty soul. A person of genuine faith and conviction who lives out his faith and manifests his convictions in godliness and real kindness, without phoniness or pretense, naturally attracts others.
Chayei Sarah – ×—×™×™ שרה : “Life of Sarah” Torah : Genesis 23:1-25:18 Haftarah : I Kings 1:1-31 Gospel : Matthew 11-12