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Sodom
Lot
was sitting outside of the city when two angels walked up in the evening. Lot asked them
to stay at his house and after talking they agreed.
They had not yet gone to bed when the men of Sodom asked about the
strangers. "Where are they? Bring the strangers out so we can know
them."
Lot went to the front
entrance of his home and begged them not to take the strangers. After
all, they were under his roof
and his protection for the night.
They said Lot is an immigrant and
now he wants to judge our ways. What we do to them will be less than what we do to you.
The strangers pulled Lot inside
the house and they struck the people outside with blindness so they could not find the
door.
The strangers said to Lot,
"HaShem has send us to destroy the city. Get your daughters, son-in-laws and the rest
of your family out of here."
Lot went to his daughters and
sons-in-law and told them. His sons-in-law thought it was a joke and did nothing.
| As dawn drew near the strangers
grabbed Lot, his wife and his two daughters by the hand and lead them to the outskirts of
the city. One of the strangers said, "Run for your life! Do not look back! Do not
stop anywhere in the valley. Flee to the hills, so that you are not swept away." |
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Lot said to them,
"I can't reach the hills in time to escape and we will die. There is a
city that is close enough let us go there."
The stranger replied,
"I
will give you special consideration and I will not overturn the city you mentioned. Hurry,
because I can do nothing until you are there."
The sun had risen by the time Lot
arrived in Tzoar. HaShem made sulfur and fire rain down on Sodom and
Gimorrah.
Lot's wife looked behind her and
turned into a pillar of salt.
Abraham woke up early in the
morning, hurrying back to the place that he and HaShem had talked. He saw the ruined cities
of Sodom and Gimorrah and the smoke rising from them.
Lot went up from Tzoar, and
settled in the hills together with his daughters. They all lived in a cave in the hills.
The older girl said
to the younger, "Our father is getting old and there is no other men
around for us to marry. Let's get him drunk and have his children."
That night they got Lot drunk on
wine and he was not aware of what he had done.
The next day the younger daughter
got him drunk also.
The two daughters became pregnant
from their father. The older girl had a son and named him Moab.
The younger girl had a son and
named him Ben-Ami.
Sarah and Abimelekh
Abraham
went to the land of the Negev, and he settled between Kadesh and Shur. He would often
visit Gerar. There he announced that his wife Sarah was his sister. Abimelekh, king of
Gerar, took Sarah.HaShem
came to Abimelekh in a dream that night. "You will die because of the woman you took.
She is already married."
Abimelekh was afraid
and said, "Will you kill an innocent nation? Why didn't her husband
tell me? If I did anything it was with a clean heart and clean hands."
HaShem replied in his dream,
"I know that you did this with an innocent heart, that is why I prevented you from
sinning against me. Return the man's wife for he is a prophet. He will pray for you and
you shall live. If you do not, then you will die."
Abimelekh got up early the next
morning and summoned his servants. He told them of his dream and they were frightened.
Abimelekh summoned Abraham to him and asked how he did such a terrible thing to him.
Abraham said to him,
"I realized the one thing missing here is the fear of HaShem. I could be
killed because of my wife. She really is my sister, she is the daughter
of my father, but not the daughter of my mother. I asked her that when
we wander that she should tell people I was her brother."
Abimelekh took sheep, cattle and
slaves and gave them to Abraham. He returned Sarah to him and told them that they could
choose anywhere in his kingdom to settle. He also gave a thousand silver
pieces to Abraham
for any wrongs he might have made to Sarah.
Abraham prayed to HaShem and
healed Abimelekh as well as his wife and slaves, and they were able to have children.
Isaac and Ishmael
HaShem
remembered Sarah as he said he would, and Sarah gave birth to Abraham's son in his old
age. It was the exact time that HaShem had promised. Abraham called his son Isaac. When
Isaac was eight days old Abraham circumcised him as HaShem had commanded.
Beer Sheba
Abraham
accuses Abimelekh and his general, Pihol, of stealing his wells. They resolve
the argument and swear never to fight over the wells again. They call
the place where they made the pact,
Beer
Sheba, the well of oath.
The Binding
of Isaac
HaShem tells
Abraham to take his only son, Isaac, to a mountain in the land of
Moriah and sacrifice him. Without a word of protest, Abraham makes the
needed preparations and sets off on the journey. When he gets to the
mountain he leaves his servants behind.
Isaac asks,
"Where is the sacrifice we are bringing to HaShem?"
Abraham answers,
"HaShem will provide the sacrifice."
When they
reach the top of the mountain, Abraham sets up an altar and binds
Isaac on it. Abraham raises his knife, but just as he is about to strike
an angel calls to him and tells him not to touch Isaac. This was only
a test from HaShem. Abraham sees a ram whose horns are caught in a
bush, and sacrifices it instead of Isaac. The angel praises Abraham
and his children.
Next Week's Parsha
:
Chayay Sarah
Genesis 23:1
- 25:18
Next Week's
Haftara: I Kings 1.1-31 |
