Last week we read how God sent three men to Abraham as he sat at the door of his tent (Gen. 18:1-2), for three purposes. One, to bring comfort to Abraham in the wilderness. Two, to announce that Sarah was going to have a child.  Lastly, to tell Abraham that Sodom and Gomorrah would be destroyed. God relayed his will to Abraham and Sarah through his angels. Abraham was a part of the scattering of the people of the world (Gen.  11:8), yet for him as he was scattered he was also called, sent by God on his way to a land that he did not know. Looking to Hebrews 1:14 we read, "Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?" In other words, Abraham was not sent away alone. God did not let his friend down (Is, 41:8) and sent forth his angels to minister to Abraham and his entire family. God did not leave Abraham hanging!

Well, it is the same this week in Chayei Sarah regarding the finding of a wife for Isaac, the son of promise who was birthed out of the loins of Abraham and Sarah.  In this case Abraham is speaking with his oldest and most trusted servant and implores him to go find a wife for his only remaining son.  In doing so, Abraham limits the servant to pick Isaac's wife only from Abraham's own people and just not anybody living in the land. The servant saw the possible insanity of this mission that seemed improbable (how am I going it get his son a wife from such a tiny group of people??) and respectfully said to his master  "Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came?" (Gen. 24:5).

Good question, Abraham most likely thought to himself, which is why it continues in 24:6-8 to read:

But Abraham said to him, "Beware that you do not take my son back there. The LORD God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my family, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying,

'To your descendants I give this land,' He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. And if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be released from this oath; only do not take my son back there."

Just as an angel brought Abraham direction in Genesis 18, here in Genesis 24 Abraham tells his servant that the angel will help out in this quest as well; "Mm, gonna try with a little help from my friends." Remember Genesis began with the revelation of creation crescendoing with the creation of mankind as the greatest revelation of God (Gen. 1:1–2:3; Ps. 19:1, Rom. 1:25). What was transferred to mankind was now made specific to one family beginning with Abraham (Gen.  12ff; Rom. 9:4-5), thus the right line of Abraham's descendants is important to God. The first mention of angels is in Genesis 3:24 where we see them working for God by keeping mankind out of the garden, yet the next mention of angels in Genesis 18:1-2 finds them working for Abraham to know the leading of God. This should remind us of the words of Yeshua in John 14:15-21;

"If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.  Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me.  Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."

Yeshua tells us that God would not leave his followers as orphans. Paul spoke of the Gentiles in Ephesians 2:13 in a similar fashion; "At that time you were without the Messiah, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world." They were not just strangers, but orphans. By definition an orphan is a child who has no parents because of premature death, but in the Scriptures an orphan is one who is without God, and according to John it is the person who has not been given the Holy Spirit to lead them. This takes us back to our parashah and Abraham's servant who once again is told that in pursuit of Isaac's wife God will go ahead of him and "send His angel before you."

The role of the Holy Spirit (or angels) was so important in God's world.  In Acts 16:6-10 Paul was so tuned into the leading of God that the power of the Holy Spirit showed him where to step just has it had been with Abraham and then his servant. According to the teachings of the Jewish sages the Spirit was among the ten things that were created on the first day (BT. Hag. 12a,b). The Holy Spirit dwells only among a worthy generation, and the frequency of its manifestations is proportionate to the worthiness. Tradition teaches that there was no manifestation of it in the time of the Second Temple (Yoma 21b), while there were many during the time of Elijah (Tosef, Sotah 7:5). The manifestation during the days of Paul was a by product of the new age (cf. Joel 2) conferring that the new age was worthy to receive the Holy Spirit.

All this to say that God shall "never leave you, nor forsake you" (Heb. 13:5).  The question may be asked, have we gotten too rational and intellect driven? Have we forgotten, "'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the LORD of hosts" (Zech. 4:6)?

God gave us friends to see us along the way, the greatest of the friends came as Yeshua (John 15:15). As the song says, do we get sad when we are alone? Well that is a song we no longer need to sing, as God goes with us daily.

Shabbat Shalom.