Something I was reading
today caught my attention. The author was making some points related to how
many people today trace their roots (physical or religious) back to Abraham.
2,382,000,000 (Christians)
1,907,000,000 (Muslims)
14,700,000 (Jews)
The members of the three
major monotheistic religions above total 4,303,700,000
people -- 55% of the total population of the world.
The
thing that caught my attention was a reference to Genesis 18:17-19. Genesis
contains some of the most difficult sections to translate in the Jewish Hebrew
Scriptures. A habit I picked up over the years is to always compare
multiple English translations of Bible verses. In many cases the place where
translators differ can be quickly identified. After doing a comparison, it was
clear to me this is one of those cases. So, I had to pull out the Hebrew text
and dig into it. The first verse in Genesis 18 sets the stage for the events.
1 And Yahweh came to
Abraham by the oaks of Mamre.
He was sitting at the
door of the tent in the heat of the day.
2 He lifted up his
eyes, and behold, three men were standing by him.
He saw and ran to meet
them from the door of the tent,
and he bowed to the
ground.
Abraham showed hospitality to the strangers, who
were headed to Sodom. Before they left, Yahweh told Abraham again that his wife
Sarah would have a son. At that point in time, the only son Abraham had was
Ishmael and his mother was Hagar the Egyptian. Abraham went to send the men on
the way. What happens next is very important because it reveals why Yahweh
chose Abraham:
17 And Yahweh
said,
“Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing?
18 Abraham
shall surely become a great and powerful nation,
and all the nations of the earth shall
wish upon themselves a blessing in him.
Most Bible readers
are aware of Yahweh’s promise that “Abraham will become a great and powerful
nation.” But take another look at what Yahweh said after that:
all the nations of the earth shall
wish upon themselves a blessing in him.
Think about what it
would look like for “all nations of the earth wishing a blessing upon
themselves in Abraham.” Why would they wish for that?
19 For I have noticed
and observed him,
in order that he may instruct his children and his house after him,
that they guard the way of Yahweh,
to do TZEDAQAH and MISHPAT;
in order that Yahweh may bring upon Abraham
that which He has spoken concerning him.”
Most translations read “I
have known him,” but the Hebrew reminded me of Noah, when his acts
of TZEDAQAH caught God’s attention. Yahweh “knew”
Abraham “by the things He had observed Abraham doing.”
Yahweh chose to make him a great and powerful nation for these reasons:
● in order that he
may instruct his children
● in order that they
may instruct their children
after him
What will Abraham teach
them?
Abraham will teach them how to guard the way of Yahweh
by doing acts of TZEDAQAH and MISHPAT
(justice).
I am sure you know what acts
of TZEDAQAH are by now (click
here if you are a new reader for more info). When members of other nations of the earth see
Abraham’s great and powerful nation doing acts of
TZEDAQAH and MISHPAT (justice) – they will wish the
blessing in Abraham upon themselves and become nations that do acts of
TZEDAQAH and justice. Isaiah said the same thing, but he used
different words (2:4):
“He shall judge between
the nations,
and shall arbitrate for
many peoples;
they shall beat their
swords into plowshares
and their spears into
pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift
up sword against nation,
neither shall they
learn war any more.”
These words are inscribed
on a wall across the road from the United Nations Building. The statue in the graphic above
is in the United Nations Garden and is named “Let
Us Beat Our Swords into Plowshares.”
Choose
Life 1st by Doing TOV,
Jim
Myers
Helping People Examine Their Beliefs
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