Jon Simmons Verified by ProIsrael 4d ago Shabbat Shalom!
This week, we are reading the parasha Vayera, which means “And He appeared.”
Throughout these chapters, we see God revealing Himself to Abraham in different ways.
But there is one detail twice in this parasha when God appeared and spoke to Abraham. Abraham lifts up his eyes when God appeared to him.
Genesis 18:1-2 "The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground."
Then, in Genesis 22: 12-13 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
We find Abraham facing one of the greatest tests of his life. God has finally fulfilled His promise by giving him Isaac, the son he had waited so long for, the son through whom God had promised to establish His covenant. And now Abraham is asked to surrender the very gift he has received.
Can you imagine what must have gone through Abraham’s heart? After waiting, praying, and trusting, the promise is finally in his arms. And now he is asked to lay it down.
As Abraham and Isaac walk up the mountain, Isaac asks a heartbreaking question:
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
Abraham answers, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” (Genesis 22:7–8)
And then, at the very moment Abraham is about to sacrifice his son, the angel of the Lord calls out to him from heaven:
“Abraham! Abraham!”
Abraham answers, “Here I am.”
He is told not to harm the boy. And then Scripture tells us something beautiful:
“Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns.” (Genesis 22:13)
Abraham lifts up his eyes, and he sees what God has provided.
What a profound lesson for us today.
Sometimes God gives us a promise, a dream, or a desire that we have carried in our hearts for years. We pray for it, wait for it, and finally rejoice when we see it come to pass. But what happens when God asks us to surrender it back to Him? What happens when the very thing we have prayed for becomes the thing we are afraid to lose?
Abraham's story reminds us that our greatest treasure is not the promise itself, but the God who made the promise. Even when we cannot understand His ways, we can trust His character. Even when we cannot see the provision, we can trust the Provider.
And there is something even deeper in this story.
The ram that was sacrificed in Isaac's place on the top of the wood, points us toward the greater sacrifice to come. Later we see God would provide the ultimate Lamb: His only Son, Yeshua, who gave His life for us on the top of the wood.
And perhaps this is the invitation of Vayera for each of us this week: lift up your eyes.
Do not look only at the circumstances in front of you. Look to the One who holds your future in His hands. Our help does not ultimately come from what we possess, what we achieve, or what we can see. Our help comes from the Lord.
Psalm 121 beautifully reminds us:
“I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:1–2)
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