It is customary for religiously practicing Jews to read from an annual cycle of weekly Old Testament readings called Torah Portions. This is said to be the same reading schedule that was taught every Sabbath in the Synagogues during the times of Jesus in the first century.

As Christians who profess our faith in Jesus, we study the Old Testament to understand the historical, cultural, and contextual background of the history of our heritage in Jesus. This is commonly known as the Messianic teachings of Christianity and is a part of our Saturday Church in Norman, Oklahoma, and Arlington, Tx.

While customs are not commandments there is beauty for believers in Jesus (Yeshua) to understand their identity as grafted into the covenants with Israel. As descendants of Abraham, all Christians are heirs according to the promise given to Abraham even before Sinai. Christians should study and learn the Torah and show respect for their Jewish brothers and sisters. It is through the study of the law that we see another level of greatness in Jesus who is the lawgiver and the greatest Torah teacher of all time.

Vayera is the Hebrew title for “And He Appeared” and is the name for the weekly Torah portion reading for the Book of Genesis starting in chapter 18 verse 1 and going through chapter 22 verse 24.

It is also important to point out that along with the Torah portion readings and teachings, there are what are called Haftarah portions which are readings from the Bible in the books of the prophets. This week’s haftarah readings come from the book of 2 Kings in chapter 4 verses 1 through verse 37.

The gospel readings incorporated with the weekly Torah portion readings come from the book of Luke in chapter 17 with verses 28 through 37.

As Christians exploring the Torah portion cycle we must maintain a balance of including the Old Testament, the prophets, and the gospels in our weekly bible study.

Torah Portion Overview-

The fourth reading from the Torah Portion Cycle in the book of Genesis is named Vayera. The English title for Vayera is “And He Appeared.” It describes how God appeared to Abraham and sat outside of Abraham’s tent. The Torah Portion Vayera then continues with God testing Abraham’s faith and concludes with a final test and trial.

Torah Portion Scriptural Highlights-

• Genesis 1:81 Abraham and Sarah are promised a son

• Genesis 18:16 The judgment of Sodom

• Genesis 19:1 The depravity of Sodom

• Genesis 19:12 The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

• Genesis 19:30 Moab and Ammon’s shameful origins

• Genesis 20:1 Abraham and Sarah at Gerar

• Genesis 21:1 The birth of Isaac

• Genesis 21:8 Hagar and Ishmael are sent away

• Genesis 21:22 The covenant between Abraham and Abimelech

• Genesis 22:1 The command to sacrifice Isaac

• Genesis 22:20 The children of Nahor

Haftarah (Prophets) Scriptural Highlights-

• 2 Kings 4:1 The Widow’s Oil and Elisha

• 2 Kings 4:8 Elisha raises the Shunammite’s son

Brit (Gospel) Scriptural Highlights-

• Luke 17:28 Like the days of Lot

• Luke 17: The Son of Man revealed

The Book of Genesis “B’reisheet” which means “In the Beginning.”

The Old Testament is commonly referred to as the Torah. It is the most sacred of all of Israel’s Scriptures. Most of our modern Bibles include the Old Testament “Torah” as the first five books in the Bible. The name in Hebrew of the first book of the Bible (Genesis) is B’reisheet. The name “B’reisheet” comes from one of the opening phrases in the book of Genesis which means “In the Beginning.”

The Greek Septuagint is where we find the English name for “The Book of Origins” called “Genesis.”

The Book of Genesis is the story of the origin of creation. Through creation, we learn about the nature of God and His intentions for creation. In the book of B’reisheet we learn about the creation of the universe, the creation of human beings, the creation of living creatures, and then the covenants leading to the creation of the nation of Israel before the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai.

The first book in the Torah and the Christian Bible also have different spellings that derive from the different sects of Judaism and the Hebrew language. Bereshit, or Bereishith are also common spellings for Genesis “B’reisheet.”

As Messianic Christians, we find the book of Genesis and the stories therein, as a historical account of how we as believers are grafted into the covenants and promises of God with our forefathers and how we can learn to walk and learn from their actions.

To Watch an overview of this week’s Torah Portion CLICK HERE