Vayeira וַיֵּרָא - And He Appeared
Torah Portion: Genesis 18:1-22:24
Genesis 19:21–21:4
19:21 He said to him, “Behold, I have granted your request concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. 22 Hurry, escape there, for I can’t do anything until you get there.” Therefore, the name of the city was called Zoar.
23 The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. 24 Then Hashem rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah sulfur and fire from Hashem out of the sky. 25 He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew on the ground. 26 But Lot’s wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
27 Abraham went up early in the morning to the place where he had stood before Hashem. 28 He looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and saw that the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace.
29 When Elohim destroyed the cities of the plain, Elohim remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the middle of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.
30 Lot went up out of Zoar, and lived in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to live in Zoar. He lived in a cave with his two daughters. 31 The firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come into us in the way of all the earth. 32 Come, let’s make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve our father’s family line.” 33 They made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father. He didn’t know when she lay down, nor when she arose. 34 It came to pass on the next day that the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let’s make him drink wine again tonight. You go in, and lie with him, that we may preserve our father’s family line.” 35 They made their father drink wine that night also. The younger went and lay with him. He didn’t know when she lay down, nor when she got up. 36 Thus, both of Lot’s daughters were with child by their father. 37 The firstborn bore a son and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day. 38 The younger also bore a son, and called his name Ben Ammi. He is the father of the children of Ammon to this day.
20 Abraham traveled from there toward the land of the South, and lived between Kadesh and Shur. He lived as a foreigner in Gerar. 2 Abraham said about Sarah, his wife, “She is my sister.” Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah. 3 But Elohim came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man, because of the woman whom you have taken; for she is a man’s wife.”
4 Now Abimelech had not come near her. He said, “Hashem, will you kill even a righteous nation? 5 Didn’t he tell me, ‘She is my sister’? She, even she herself, said, ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this in the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands.”
6 Elohim said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also withheld you from sinning against me. Therefore, I didn’t allow you to touch her. 7 Now therefore, restore the man’s wife. For he is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you will live. If you don’t restore her, know for sure that you will die, you, and all who are yours.”
8 Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears. The men were very scared. 9 Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done!” 10 Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you see, that you have done this thing?”
11 Abraham said, “Because I thought, ‘Surely the fear of Elohim is not in this place. They will kill me for my wife’s sake.’ 12 Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. 13 When Elohim caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, ‘This is your kindness which you shall show to me. Everywhere that we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”
14 Abimelech took sheep and cattle, male servants and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and restored Sarah, his wife, to him. 15 Abimelech said, “Behold, my land is before you. Dwell where it pleases you.” 16 To Sarah, he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. Behold, it is for you a covering of the eyes to all that are with you. In front of all, you are vindicated.”
17 Abraham prayed to Elohim. So Elohim healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants, and they bore children. 18 For Hashem had closed up tight all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.
21 Hashem visited Sarah as he had said, and Hashem did to Sarah as he had spoken. 2 Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which Elohim had spoken to him. 3 Abraham called his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. 4 Abraham circumcised his son, Isaac, when he was eight days old, as Elohim had commanded him.
Today’s Meditation:
I heard recently that Lot’s daughters thought the world had ended. That’s why they slept with their father, thinking it was their only chance to be pregnant, despite their deceptive act. Both became pregnant and both gave birth to the ancestral fathers of nations that would contend with Israel. That would be the Moabites and Ammonites. Two groups of people that have turned out to be destructive and have deviated from serving the one true Elohim.
Suppose these two daughters had waited and trusted in Hashem for their future; how different the world's future would have been. But in the face of distrust, doubt, and fear, they took things into their own hands. What a lesson for all of us. Wait on Him. Trust in Him. Do not make decisions out of fear, impatience, and/or doubt. The outcome will be good if you wait for Hashem.
Today’s Challenge:
Are you facing an important decision in your life? Are you waiting on Hashem to show you what to do, or are you taking things into your hands? I encourage you to hit the pause button. Don’t go forward in your own flesh. Wait for the Holy One from above to help you and show you what is the right thing to do. It will be so worth it.
