El Shaddai reveals His plans for the two cities that had become very wicked. Abraham challenges His mercy and the two discuss the number of righteous people living in the cities compared to the wicked. For how many righteous would El Shaddai relent on his judgment? Fifty, forty, twenty? Finally, El Shaddai yields to Abraham. For the sake of ten righteous, He will not destroy the cities. Unfortunately, only Lot, his wife, and Lot’s two unmarried daughters meet the criteria.
Parashah 3: Lekh L’kah (Get yourself out)
A deep sleep comes upon Abram as the sun is setting, and a great darkness comes over him. Elohim tells Abram that his descendants would be foreigners in a land that is not theirs. They would be oppressed and enslaved 400 years until He would judge that nation. Abram’s descendants would then leave that land with many possessions; however, Abram would not see these events with his own eyes as he would sleep with his ancestors. In the fourth generation, his descendants would return to the Land of Promise.
Parashah 2: Noach (Noah)
After the flood, Noach is given meat to eat along with green plants. In the sacrificial system of the Tabernacle, the fellowship or peace offerings were eaten by the priests or with the individual making the offering. This is not only prophetic to Elohim’s outline for worship in the Tabernacle, but He is showing Noach the required animal offerings. At the same time, Elohim reveals to Noach the difference between the animals he may eat and the animals he may not. This is the second time Elohim gives a dietary command, and this event occurs one thousand years before the Israelites received the Torah at Mount Sinai.
Pillar – Hebrew: Netzab
Pillars are used as imagery to describe the earth’s foundation. When it quakes, Elohim holds the pillars firm for all the people on the earth (Psalm 75:4). The first reference to a pillar is in Genesis 35:14 when Ya’akov (Jacob) sets up a standing stone or pillar at Beit-el. While the Israelites wandered through the wilderness, the glory of Adonai led them by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. His pillar shaded them from the heat of the day and kept them warm at night. His pillar protected them from their enemies and moved with them for 40 years. His pillar lived above the Ark of the Covenant in the Tabernacle; His pillar was their sukkah of covering for 40 years.