A Visit By Ad-nai
“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Ad-nai sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is Ad-nai of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!’ And the posts of the door were shaken by the Voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said: ‘Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, Ad-nai of hosts.’... Also I heard the Voice of Ad-nai, saying: 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?...”
Isaiah 6:1-5, 8a
Introduction
- Last week we saw the importance of the phrase translated into English as ‘HaShem G-D’. We saw that the underlying Hebrew points to G-d’s covenant faithfulness.
- We will see that there are still some important things to note regarding G-d’s Name and Abraham that have Messianic implications. Chapter 18 of Genesis is full of them.
Spelling Ad-nai
- Gen 18:1-3: HaShem ‘appeared’ – and then we see three ‘men’ showing up at Abraham’s door… and then a conversation between G-d and Abraham. Who are these ‘men’?
- vs 3 has Abraham calling one of the men, ‘Ad-nai’ – which when applied to a man simply means ‘master’.
- Our friends the Masoretes made sure that we know that this is not just a ‘master’ – but G-d Himself. They do it by the way they spell ‘Ad-nai’.
- Normally spelled with a patach, here it is spelled with the vowel kametz, which gives it the same sound in most cases. Using the kametz is how the scribes indicated that this word is a holy word – it is HaShem Himself.
- Gen 18:27; 31: Spelled with a kametz - clearly Abraham is speaking to HaShem.
- Ex 4:10: Spelled with a kametz – clearly Moses is speaking to HaShem.
- Ex 15:17: The first ‘HaShem’ in this verse is spelled with kametz, and so the English translators simply make it ‘HaShem’.
- Is 6:1, 8: Saw Him – heard His Voice. Spelled with kametz. Who else could it be? Gen 42:10: Not HaShem. Spelled with a patach.
- Gen 33:8: Definitely not HaShem. Spelled with a patach.
And He Appeared
- Gen 18:1: nifal form of vayera (from ra’ah) - nifal is the passive form. It means to be seen by another. Genesis 18 is called ‘Vayera’ – ‘And He Appeared’ – or ‘And He (was) Seen’.
- Gen 22:14: In the Mountain of HaShem, it will be seen (manifested).
- Gen 26:2: G-d appeared to Isaac.
- Gen 35:9: G-d appeared to Jacob.
- Gen 18:22: tikkun sofrim (scribal repair). Like kere/ketiv, tikkun sofrim was a practice of the Masorete scribes of the Hebrew Scriptures. Instead of changing the text, when it was ‘difficult’ – they would make a marginal note which gave the reader an optional way of reading the text for various reasons (sometimes good). In this case – the tikkun sofrim was to show the proper respect for Ad-nai. All English texts use the tikkun sofrim – NOT the actual Hebrew. The actual Hebrew says, “…[HaShem] stood before Abraham…”. This indicates again that one of the ‘men’ was in fact HaShem. The ‘greater’ never stands before the ‘lesser’.
Sarah’s Visitation
- Gen 18:11-14: The Hebrew is blunt. Sarah was no longer menstruating. She was not capable of having children at all. The promise of a child was the promise of a miracle.
- Rom 4:19-22: Sarah’s womb was dead.
- Rom 9:8-9: The promised son Isaac could not be a child of the flesh – to be the seed, he was to be a miracle, as the ultimate Seed, Messiah was also.
- Heb 11:11-12: Sarah trusted the One Who promised – not her own flesh.
- Gen 21:1: Visited = pakad – to visit, to count, to make an account of. First use.
- l1Sam 2:21; Luke 1:68. It is the word used for a Sovereign Who has arrived among His people to ‘see for Himself’ what is going on.
- Gen 18:14-15; Luke 1:37: Nothing is to hard for HaShem.
- Sarah’s conception was as miraculous as a virgin birth. Her body was restored and a year later she gave birth. This makes Isaac a prefigure of Messiah.
The Dance Parable
- How does what we learned relate to our Parable of the ‘Dance’ with Messiah?
- Why is it important to know that Abraham saw HaShem in the form of a man – and how is that related to a ‘dance step’?
- Gen 18 points to the incarnation of Yeshua in many ways. You can trust Him – nothing is too hard or impossible for Him.
Summary
- G-d appeared to Abraham in human form. Abraham had no problem with that.
- Abraham and Sarah learned to trust G-d. Isaac, the child of promise was a prefigure of Messiah, born of impossible circumstances, to fulfill a promise.