Vayera - Mashiach in Avraham & Sarah
In Bereshit (Bereshit) 18:1 it says:
“HASHEM appeared to Avraham by the oaks of Mamre as he sat at the entrance to the tent during the heat of the day.”
In Vayera, this week’s Torah portion, we learn the story of how the Lord appeared to Avraham as he sat outside the tent, during the heat of the day. The word Vayera means, “And He appeared” in Hebrew, and it points to the appearance of Mashiach, who appears in this Torah portion through the story of the birth of Yitzhak and the story of Avraham sacrificing Yitzhak on mount Moriah.
According to Jewish tradition, Avraham was sitting in his tent, recovering from his recent circumcision, when he saw three men passing by, “Angels who had the likeness of men.” In the Talmud, it states that the three men were, “Micha’el, Gavri’el, and Raphael. Micha’el came to bring tidings to Sarah, Rapha’el to bring healing to Avraham, and Gavri’el to overturn Sodom.”
One mystical interpretation points to the three visitors as a prelude to Mashiach, The words, ‘And behold three men standing,’ allude to three redeemers: Eliyahu, Mashiach ben Yosef, and Mashiach ben David.” Another interpretation says that the “Three men allude to the three fathers, Avraham, Yitzhak, and Ya’acov who came to visit the sick man, Mashiach, who is sick from bearing the harsh punishments of Israel.”
In Bereshit 18:3-5 it says:
“My lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, please do not pass your servant by. Please let a little water be brought and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree; and I will bring a piece of bread, that you may refresh yourselves; after that you may go on, since you have visited your servant.”
Avraham did not know that the three strangers were angels, yet he hurried to greet them and show them hospitality in the best way he could. Yeshua said, in Yochanan (John) 8:39, “If you are children of Avraham, then do the things Avraham did!” Yeshua showed us that he is Avraham’s son by doing the deeds of Avraham. Avraham took on the role of a servant and personally served his guests. In Luke 22:27 it says, “I am among you as one who serves.” Avraham brought water to his guests; Yeshua offers us the water of life. Avraham washed their feet; Yeshua washed the feet of his talmidim. Avraham said, in Bereshit 18:4, “I will bring you a piece of bread, that you may refresh yourselves.” Yeshua offers us the bread of life.
The sages saw several insights about Mashiach from Avraham’s hospitality. They said, “Everything that Avraham did for the ministering angels, The Lord ... will do the same for his children in the future.” For example, Avraham brought water to wash the feet of his guests. As a reward for this, God will wash Avraham’s children in the days of Mashiach, as it says in Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 30:25, “On every lofty mountain and on every high hill there will be streams running with water.” Moreover Isaiah 41:18 speaks about the abundant waters that will flow in the Messianic Era: “I will open rivers on the bare heights and springs in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water and the dry land fountains of water.” Then it will be said in Isaiah 4:4, “The Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Tziyion.”
The sages also reasoned that for every act of kindness done by Avraham, there would be an act done by God in the messianic age. The sages go so far as to state that because of the tree that Avraham directed the strangers to sit under, God is going to resurrect a Sukkah over Jerusalem, and it will be as it is in Isaiah 4:6, “A sukkah will give shade by day from the heat; it will also provide refuge and cover from storm and rain.”
Avraham quickly understood who the three strangers were when one of them said, in Bereshit 18:10, “I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.” Avraham had been entertaining angels unaware, as it says in Hebrews 13:2, “Some have entertained angels without knowing it.”
As we all know, when the angel was telling Avraham this, Sarah was laughing in secret. The Chofetz Chaim has a comment on this, wondering why the Torah would put such emphasis on the folly of the righteous Sarah. Then he realizes that this points to the Messianic Era. Just as Sarah laughed at the thought that God would keep his promise after so many years of hoping and waiting, we too are in danger of losing faith in the coming of Mashiach after so many years of waiting.
After decades of waiting for the promised child, Sarah had given up and had been ready to settle for Yishma’el (Ishmael). Many of us have an attitude like Sarah’s. It says in the Chizuk Ha’emunah, quoted by Yisrael Meir Kagan, Chofetz Chaim: Lessons in Truth 268:
“If one truly believes in the possibility of Mashiach’s imminent arrival, then he will constantly be in a state of spiritual preparation, through Torah, good deeds, and repentance. If, however, such is not the case, then it is apparent that our talk of his imminent coming is mere lip service; in reality, our faith is quite Miniscule. This is alluded to in the words told to Sarah, “No, you laughed indeed.”
There’s a similar teaching in 2 Kefa (Peter) 3:3-4:
“First, understand this: during the Last Days, scoffers will come, following their own desires and asking, ‘Where is this promised “coming” of his? For our fathers have died, and everything goes on just as it has since the beginning of creation.’”
When Sarah finally held the promised child in her arms, she laughed with joy. She said, in Bereshit 21:6, “God has given me good reason to laugh; now everyone who hears about it will laugh with me.”
In Bereshit 18:14 it says:
“Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time, at this season next year, I will return to you; and Sarah will have a son.”
The same word that the Torah uses for “At the appointed time” in the verse above is the same word that the Torah uses to describe the biblical festivals. This led the sages to speculate that Yitzhak might have been born on one of the biblical festivals, specifically the feast of Pesach. As it says in the Talmud, Rosh HaShanah 2a:
“And how do we know that Yitzhak was born at Passover? Because it is written, ‘At the appointed time I will return to you.’”
The birth of a promised son on a biblical festival alludes to the coming of Mashiach at the appointed time, and as it says in Mattityahu (Matthew) 24:36, “But when that day and hour will come, no one knows — not the angels in heaven, not the Son, only the Father.” Nevertheless, we still celebrate the Mashiach’s redemptive work on the cross, which happens to fall on the biblical festival of Pesakh (Passover), and we celebrate the trumpet blast of Mashiach’s second coming, on Rosh Hashanah. The promised son will come at his appointed time.
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