WORD STUDY – CALLED ON GOD יקרא
Genesis 12:8: “And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.”
Hebrews 11:9: “By faith he dwelt in the promised land as a stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.”
I often wondered where Paul got is inspiration of historical facts that are not found in the Old Testament. Where in the Old Testament does it say that Abraham lived in tents as well as Isaac and Jacob? Surely, when you dwell in a place long enough you will build yourself a more permanent dwelling, how did Paul really know that his people lived in tents for three generations in their home land? Did he assume this from his reading of Scripture, did all this just pop into his head as part of divine inspiration? There are many little details in the history of Israel that Paul speaks about that are not found in Scripture.
Actually, he got it from oral tradition. Stories passed down from generation to generation to fill in many “gaps” in Scripture. To be sure much of this gap filling is myth but not all of it is, for Paul wrote under the inspiration of God and hence what he wrote from oral tradition what he wrote would be fact.
We have a lot of this oral tradition today preserved in the Talmud which is why I like reading the Talmud. Every once in while a factoid jumps out at me and I have this little witness in my spirit that it is a true fact. I cannot affirm like Paul that it is an actual accurate fact, I can only say my spirit bears witness to it and I leave it up to you to decided if your spirit bears witness to it.
In Genesis 12:8 the Talmud in Sotah 10a takes issued with the Masoretic and tells us that the words “and he called” or vayikra should be read as vayakrei ei not a. Note these are vowels and vowels were not found in the original text of Semitic languages. The word ends with an Aleph which sometimes is used for a vowel but the ancients did not always assume that when used as a vowel it would be and a, it might be e, i, o or u. It may even be a combination like ei. Only the context and reader will determine. The Jewish scholar, rabbi and Hebrew master Reish Lakish says in the Talmud it is should be read as ei.
Now what difference does it make whether it is a or ei? Whole bunches of differences. For one thing the passage would not read “And he called on God,” but “And he made others call on God.”
For me this is profound. I believe Moses was very evangelistic. He not only shared his knowledge of Jehovah with others but he tried to evangelize them. For one thing he and his son and grandson remained strangers in the land even though they lived there for three generations. The reason was that they refused to assimilate into the culture and religion of those around them.
I live in Cicero, Illinois which is 83% Hispanic. We are a sanctuary city where many, if not most are first generation Hispanics who were not born in the United States. Consequentially, many refuse to assimilate into our American culture and doggedly refuse to speak English, serve only food reflective of their culture and post signs on their businesses written in Spanish only. Their children, however, who were born in this country or came over at a very early age are determined to learn English, adapt to our way of life and most likely their children will be completely assimilated into our culture.
This is kind of the way of Abraham except his sons and grandsons also refused to assimilate and doggedly maintained their language, culture and their faith in God. They also did one thing that no Hispanic ever did. No Hispanic ever tried to encourage me to adapt to their culture. Abraham and his children did try to make the Canaanites adapt to their culture or religion which were one and the same. Yet, they did it diplomatically. They invited people to their homes to share a meal and when the guest left they felt obligated to bless Abraham and his family. But Abraham would tell them not to thank him but to thank Jehovah who provided all food. He would give a little witness, a little encouragement to acknowledge God.
So what value was there in getting his guest to give such an unwilling proclamation made under duress? The ancient sages taught that Abraham believed that every positive deed, thought or word has value no matter how superficial or hypocritical it might be. Remember in Mark 9:38 John told someone to stop casting out demons in Jesus name and Jesus rebuked him saying that no one who performs a miracle in His name can speak evil of Him. The Talmudic teaching goes on to say that Abraham did not see pagans and idolaters but people created by God who possessed the potential to recognize their creator.
As a child I memorized Scripture in Awana club and Sunday school to get prizes. This memorization very superficial, sometimes out of obligation. I had no idea what I was saying when I spoke the Scriptures I had memorized to my teachers but those passages remained in my heart to this day and has brought great comfort. Maybe we need to take a cue from Abraham and not view our neighbors and unsaved friends as pagans and unbelievers but as people who have the potential to recognize their creator and when we share a meal with them, loan our lawn mower to them, watch their pet while on vacation and they try to thank us perhaps, like Abraham, we just ask them to thank God for He is the one who provided all things. Such a little gesture may spark something in the heart of your friend to recognize his creator.
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