Toldot, תּוֹלְדֹת - Generations
Torah Portion: Genesis 25:19-28:9
Genesis 26:6–12
26:6 Isaac lived in Gerar. 7 The men of the place asked him about his wife. He said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say, “My wife”, lest, he thought, “the men of the place might kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to look at.” 8 When he had been there a long time, Abimelech King of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was caressing Rebekah, his wife. 9 Abimelech called Isaac, and said, “Behold, surely she is your wife. Why did you say, ‘She is my sister?’”
Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘Lest I die because of her.’”
10 Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!”
11 Abimelech commanded all the people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife will surely be put to death.”
12 Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year one hundred times what he planted. Hashem blessed him.
Today’s Meditation:
Today, we learn about generational sin. We see Isaac doing the same thing his father Abraham did, saying his wife is his sister to avoid being killed. He lied. But does Hashem count that against him? Interestingly enough, Scripture continues to say that Hashem blessed his crops one hundredfold. This is reported right after we see Isaac lying.
Are there certain times when it is okay to lie? To save your life or save someone else’s life? Maybe he repented to Hashem, and He forgave him? Some Scripture is very curious and mysterious. We don’t know the entire story of what happened, so we can only speculate. That’s why it is essential to always be in the will of Hashem, so that when we feel like we don't have to tell the truth, we will hopefully know His heart in the matter.
Today’s Challenge:
Think of a time when you stretched the truth. Was it for a life-saving reason? Or were you just making things easier? Lying is a sin. If we lie, we repent and we make restitution. Learning to restore what has been done is more effective when it can be done in tangible ways. Think today of how you can do that. Repentance brings life.
