Parashat Vayeira | Genesis 18:1-22:24

As followers of Yeshua, we believe in life after death. Our eternal hope is in the resurrection of the dead and the life we will enjoy in our immortal bodies. Yeshua speaks of this eternal life in Matthew 25. Paul explains this reality by saying, “For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:53). Our eternal resurrection will be the defeat of the ultimate enemy: death. This is the understanding many have of immortality and how we enter into it. However, there may be another aspect of immortality and a way we can achieve it now, even while we live in this world. Let’s turn to our parashah to help us understand this concept.

In Parashat Vayeira, Abraham and Sarah are visited by three men who turn out to be angelic messengers. They came for at least two specific purposes. The first was to deliver the good news to Abraham and Sarah that Isaac would be born to them the following year. But they also came to bring judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns. At first, they appear to forego letting Abraham in on their plans. However, as they set out toward Sodom, the LORD says, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?” (Genesis 18:17–18). He chose to reveal His plans to Abraham.

In the very next verse, Hashem gives the reason He chose Abraham to occupy a special place in His mission among all mankind:

For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what he has promised him. (Genesis 18:19)