I love reading the passages about Avraham because I learn so much about how to walk in faith, in a way that pleases G-d.  This week’s Parshah is Lech Lecha, which means “Go” or “Leave” or “Go to yourself” or “Get out.” And today, I have five questions for you.

FOLLOW TO THE UNKNOWN

ADONAI told Avram to leave his home and the people he knew there and to follow ADONAI to a new place.  If Adonai told you to do that, would you?

Even to your old age, I am He,

And to gray hairs, I will carry you.

I have made, and I will bear;

I will carry and will save.

Isaiah 46:4

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And He said to all, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”

Luke 9:23

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My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

John 10:27

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TRUST BEYOND SIGHT

Lot and Avram were too crowded together.  So Avram gave Lot the first choice to pick a place from the land.  Lot chose the land that looked the best, but it was also the land where evil people lived.  Sometimes the “shiniest” things attract the most self-seeking people.  Avram trusted ADONAI to take care of him, no matter how the land looked.  What would you have done, if you were in Avram’s or Lot’s shoes?

But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, “Friend, move up higher.” Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you.

Luke 14:10

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Two things I ask of you; deny them not to me before I die:

Remove far from me falsehood and lying;

Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me,

Lest I be full and deny You and say, “Who is the LORD?”

Or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.

Proverbs 30:7-9

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But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Matthew 6:33

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Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Matthew 6:10-12

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RESCUE WITHOUT REWARD

Lot and all that he had was kidnapped, along with everything in Sodom and Gomorrah.  Avram gathered his fighting men and immediately set out on a rescue mission.  He was victorious, and the king of Sodom told Avram that all the recovered possessions were now Avram’s.  But Avram wouldn’t take it.  He made sure that a tithe was paid to ADONAI, that anything eaten by the young men along the way was covered, and that his allies received their share.  But he himself took nothing.  He didn’t want anyone to think that his wealth came through his own conquering power but from ADONAI alone.  What would you have done?  Would you have rescued Lot?  Would you have taken something in payment for your troubles?

But Avram said to the king of Sodom, “I have lifted my hand to the LORD, God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth, that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Avram rich.’”

Genesis 14: 22-23

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You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep going astray and ignore them.  You shall take them back to your brother.

Deut 22:1

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So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Matt 7:12

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Then he (Naaman, who had been a leper) returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and stood before him.  And he said, Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel; so accept now a present from your servant.”  But he said, “As the LORD lives, before Whom I stand, I will receive none.”  And he urged him to take it, but he refused.

2 Kings 5:15-16

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STAY SOMEWHERE HARD

Sometimes ADONAI tells us to go, to leave everything behind.  But sometimes He tells us to stay.  Hagar ran away from Sarai because Sarai was not nice to her.  But ADONAI told her to go back, and He promised to bless her descendants.  If ADONAI told you to stay somewhere, even if it was hard, would you?

And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

Esther 4:14b

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Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him.  This is my rule in all the churches.

1 Corinthians 7:17

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WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE

ADONAI changed Avram’s name to Avraham, and He changed Sarai’s name to Sarah.  Avraham means “father of many.”  Sarah means “princess.”  If you were given a new name, what would you like your name to mean?  Think about the characteristics you would like to see in yourself.  And with the name that you have, how will you use it?  Think about Jabez, who had a name meaning “sorrow, sorrowful, or he causes pain.”  Or the fictional story of the two Mara’s – both had the same name meaning “bitter.” But one was a bitter woman who sowed bitterness into the lives around her.  The other was a healer, using bitter herbs to bring health to her community.

Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!” And God granted what he asked.

1 Chronicles 4:10

Torah passage: Genesis 2:20-3:21.

As I was reading the passages for this week, I was reminded that the Bible is all one story. The story of the Messiah. The Lamb of G-d, who takes away the sins of the world, and whose death brought us life. In this morning’s Torah reading, we read about how sin entered the world, and we also read that the answer, the redemption that we so desperately needed, G-d already had a plan for that.

He didn’t just come up with a plan after the fruit was eaten, He was ready with the solution before sin entered the world. And that got me to thinking about other situations. I might be caught by surprise, but He never is. There isn’t one thing that has ever happened in my life that He didn’t know was going to happen. He has already prepared solutions.

I just need to trust Him.

Shabbat Shalom.

As I read the scripture portions this week, one verse stood out to me. It was Genesis 21:17.
The phrase “in his present situation” got my attention. That tells me that whatever my present situation is, it is always the right time. I don’t need to wait for a better time. He is ALWAYS listening. He is ALWAYS ready to answer. His answer may not come immediately.

In the Haftarah portion, we read about Adonai bringing Israel back Tziyon. And Luke 1:54-55 says “He has taken the part of His servant Isra’el, mindful of the mercy which He promises to our fathers, to Avraham and his seed forever.” Israel has been waiting a long time to be delivered from their present situation, but G-d has a perfect plan and He will bring it to completion.

Let me tell you about a “present situation” from a few weeks ago. We were on vacation. Having a great time. Probably the best time we have ever had on vacation. And then my husband didn’t do something I thought he should have done. And I let my mind dwell on it. And I lost my peace. After about an hour, I prayed and said I want my peace back. Please show me how to get my peace back. About half an hour to an hour later, G-d reminded me of something a friend had shared on Facebook. And I realized right away that I had lost my peace because the thoughts I was dwelling on were the enemy’s thoughts. I allowed his thoughts to be in my mind and it took my peace. As soon as I realized that, I was able to let those thoughts go. And my peace returned.

What G-d taught me through that is that if there is an area of my life where I don’t have peace, it’s because I haven’t made the Prince of Peace L-rd over that area of my life.

Shabbat Shalom.

Parashah 49: Ki Tetze (When you go out) Deuteronomy 21:10 –25:19

I was blessed to have given the drash on this parsha last year.  As I was preparing this year, reading the portion, completing the Torah study, etc., I purposely did not go back and read my drash from last year to see if something different stood out to me reading it a year later.  It didn’t, 😊.  I think this year the thoughts that occurred to me last year maybe even more important.  Or maybe they are always this important and it is the craziness of the times that make us unable to look away from its importance.

This week’s parshah contains more than 70 of the traditional 613 commandments. You know we Dotsons love to do the math, that means that over 11.4% of the commandments are in this week’s parshah.  There is so much to talk about in this week but I’m gonna focus on one particular area that may encapsulate the purpose of obeying all the commandments.  War

10 “When you go out to war against your enemies, and Adonai your God hands them over to you

… this is how our parshah this week begins… not “if” you go out to war, “when”.  

It is vitally important that we remember that we are in a war.  The greatest of all wars, the battle between all that is good, holy, and just, against every evil thing. What is most pernicious about this war is, it goes on all around us and some days we barely notice it. Today, I offer up the notion that the war exists in every thought, every interaction, every choice we encounter.  

Wow, that’s pretty heavy, right.  It’s in everything? Unfortunately, there is no Switzerland in this battle, no neutral ground.  We are either actively seeking the Lord, or becoming susceptible to the enemy.

Well that didn’t make it any lighter, did it.  We all know the good news.  This war is won even though the battle is still raging.  We all know what we are supposed to do… Stay in the right camp.

The title of the parsha is repeated in Deuteronomy 23:9…

10 “When you go out as an army camp against your enemies, you are to guard yourself from every evil thing.

Ok, so how do we guard ourselves against every evil thing?  We need to know what is holy.  We cannot rely on ourselves to know the difference we have to know the ways of the Lord.  Before I was saved, I used to say, “I was taught right from wrong.” After a while I had to question, whose right and wrong was I taught.  The Torah is our field manual and our greatest weapon against the enemy.  It is both complex and simple.  It truly is as simple as love the Lord with all your might and love your neighbor as yourself, but at the same time He gave us the complexity of showing us detailed ways to walk it out, so we could understand His heart and His love for all of us, and expose our own shortcomings.  He knows our shortcomings and still He chooses to covenant with us anyway.  To me, this is illuminated in this parshah in chapter 22:1-4

22 “You are not to watch your brother’s ox or sheep straying and behave as if you hadn’t seen it; you must bring them back to your brother. 2 If your brother is not close by, or you don’t know who the owner is, you are to bring it home to your house; and it will remain with you until your brother asks for it; then you are to give it back to him. 3 You are to do the same with his donkey, his coat or anything else of your brother’s that he loses. If you find something he lost, you must not ignore it.

4 “If you see your brother’s donkey or ox collapsed on the road, you may not behave as if you hadn’t seen it; you must help him get them up on their feet again.

We already know to love our neighbor/brother as ourselves.  We wouldn’t do this to ourselves.  Yet here, the Lord shows us that he knows the fragility of our humanity.  We will pretend that we didn’t see the “donkey”.  Taking care of our brother’s donkey is how we stay in the right camp.  Ignoring it, is how we become susceptible to the enemy.  Knowing the Torah, not just by reading, but by studying, is our ultimate weapon against the enemy. When we more fully understand the Heart of the Lord, the more fully we can view our world through His eyes. Only then, can our decision maker judge accurately what to do in battle – and remember everything is part of the battle.

In war, it is important not just to know your weapons but also the enemy’s weapons.  The kids and I read a great devotion that spoke about the enemy’s weapons being … Fear, Loneliness, Anger, and Shame. We made up the acronym FLASH to help us remember these weapons. Thankfully the devotion went on to explain what tools we have to combat these devices.

Adapted from Jesus Calling for Kids

Fear is defeated by trust.  We have to know the Lord and His promises to trust Him.

Loneliness is cast out by His Presence.  We have to spend time with Him.

Anger is erased by His Peace. Anger is not getting something we want.  When we submit our situation to Him, He is faithful to give us His Peace.

Shame is driven away by forgiveness.  When we understand the love our Master Yeshua has for us, to submit Himself to die the most shameful death so we may have forgiveness and full access to the Father, the enemy cannot get a foothold with shame.

When we know His promises/His ways/His Torah, spend time with Him to learn it, submit ourselves under His authority, repent of our sin and accept His forgiveness, we have an impenetrable shield against the enemy.

To end let’s go back the beginning… Deuteronomy 21:10

10 “When you go out to war against your enemies, and Adonai your God hands them over to you

Let us always remember, The Father, through His Son Yeshua, has defeated the enemy.

Shabbat Shalom

While reading the Torah Portion this week, I kept returning to the second reading of the Parshah. Especially verses 14-20. It talks about choosing a King to rule over the Israelites after they crossed over and possessed the land promised to them.  The King must be one of their brothers, not a foreigner. You might be asking yourself, why? The foreigner may want to multiply horses for himself and try to take the Israelites back to Egypt. God specifically told them they must never go back that way. God also said that the King should not take many wives for himself.  Now that’s interesting!   I think there would be a whole lot of jealousy and bickering going on in the Palace. I think this would be a real distraction.

Now here is the part that got my attention. The King was required to write a Torah scroll for himself and read from it every day. I did a little research and found that it could take up to a year and a half to complete the writing.  The scroll remained with him, and he would read it all the days of his life.

The Word of God is rich and full of life.  Every year of reading through the Torah cycle, I learn something new.  My eyes are open to a new mitzvah, and as I search deeper, I find there are many things that I need to change in my life. That’s what the word of God does; it makes us take an honest look at ourselves. The bible has a lot to say about reading and obeying God’s Word. Psalm 119: 1 says, “Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the Torah of Adonai. Verse 9 of the same chapter asks this question; how can a young man keep his way pure? The answer is by guarding it according to your word. It goes on to say in verse 11, I have treasured Your word in my heart, so I might not sin against you.

Walking uprightly and just takes effort on our behalf.  There are so many distractions in the world today. Our jobs, our hobbies, TV, Facebook, and many other things keep us from reading and studying the Word of God.  Nothing wrong with any of the above, except when they replace time with God.

So here is my take away from this week’s Parshah.  Let’s all become Kings and Queens of our households. Write the word of God on your hearts, read, and study Torah every day. Watch as the word of God changes your family, your job, and your attitude.

Shabbat Shalom