11:1-9. The Tower of Babel and the Dispersion. the Holy Tongue
It seems ludicrous that people who had first-hand evidence of the Flood could have found grounds to rationalize a way of bypassing God’s control of events, but such is man’s capacity for self-deception that he can negate reality and build substance around a vacuum.
5. … a judge must not condemn the accused until he has investigated the case fully.
10-32. The ten generations from Noah to Abraham. Peleg & Reu, Serug, Nahor, Terah, Abram, Nahor, Haran.
Abraham and Sarah in Egypt
29. A woman has two missions in life, the first from birth as an individual, and the second when she marries and is elevated to a higher, joint mission with her husband.
12: A new creation.
The Era of Desolation had come to an end and the Era of Torah had begun. … They would receive the Torah and they would be in the vanguard of perfecting the world and bringing all people to accept the sovereign of the One God.
God’s Call to Abraham
Abraham Comes to Canaan
The concept of trial. … Abraham given up his entire past and follow God’s lead to a new land. … to choose between God’s will and his own nature or understanding of what is right. … how a great man obeys God.
Righteous people must be ready to endure such isolation; popularity is pleasant but it is also a snare, because the natural desire to win the approval of others can easily lead people to bend their principles.
13: 1-6. The Return to Eretz Yisrael.
1. He left a place of spiritual pollution and returned to his former, higher condition.
3. One should not change his customary lodgings unless he has suffered harassment and anguish there. Therefore, one discredits himself [as he will be considered hard to please or disreputable]. … On the way back, though he was much wealthier, he did not waste money on unnecessary luxury.
6-9. Abraham and Lot part ways.
8. for anyone who tried to show them mercy would suffer humiliation and war. The Torah loves peace and Abraham exemplified peace, but any person who seeks peace in opposition to the wisdom of the Torah courts disaster.
10-13. Lot chooses money over morality.
14: The War of Kings. By refusing personal gain he showed that he had acted only to save his nephew, but not for himself, and he showed that he would not deprive others of their entitlements in order to prove his righteousness.
8-10. Sodom is defeated.
12. Lot Taken Captive.
14-16. Abraham saves Lot.
14. The potential for the future is contained in the present; if there was idolatry in Abraham’s offspring, it indicated an insufficiency in him.
18-24. Abraham shuns honors.
21-23. Abraham declines the king’s offer.
15:1. …”Fear not, Abram, I am a shield for you; your reward is very great.”
15:1-6. God’s reassurance to Abraham.
2. Abraham addressed God as my Lord, indicating complete obedience and acknowledgement of His mastery.
5. outside the realm of reason and nature.
7-21. The Covenant Between the Parts: the promise of the Land. Egyptian Exile and Redemption. The Ratification of the Covenant
12. Four Monarchies: Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece, Rome.
- bitumen
- mortar
- ludicrous
- anthropomorphism
- strife
- assuage
- sap
- mantle
- mnemonics
- sever
- patrimony
- potent
- concoct
- ruse
- debilitate
- confide
- lecherous
- diatribe
- unscathed
- etiquette
- warp
- constrict
- nefarious: wicked.
- tutelage: guardianship
- ebb
- ignominiously
- loot
- marauder
- gall
- weary: fatigued, sapped
- heifers
- slain: kill
- fray: wear out
- reprisal: revenge, vengeance, retribution, an eye for an eye, comeback, recrimination
- avail: make use of
- plaint: a charge, accusation
- propagation
- allegiance: loyalty
- repent: FEEL REMORSE FOR