GOD STANDS AT ABRAHAM’S DOOR
In this post I will provide an example of how rabbinic Judaism deliberately perverts the plain reading of the Scriptures. I will be using the case of Genesis 18-19 where the narrative explicitly states that YHWH God and two other individuals appeared to Abraham as men, in human form, to announce to him the birth of Isaac from Sarah and their plain to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah for all of their wickedness. The readers will see how the rabbis tried to dilute the plain meaning of these passages since they obviously had a problem with God appearing as a man and eating human food.
Here’s the OT text in question:
“Then Yahweh appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day.And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing nearby; he saw, and he ran from the tent door to meet them, and he bowed himself to the earth, and he said, ‘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 let me bring a piece of bread, that you may refresh your hearts; after that you may pass on, since in such a manner you have passed by your servant.’ And they said, ‘So you shall do, as you have said.’ So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, ‘Hurry, prepare three seahs of fine flour, knead it, and make bread cakes.’Abraham also ran to the herd and took a tender and choice calf and gave it to his young man, and he hurried to prepare it.Then he took curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and placed it before them; and he was standing by them under the tree, AND THEY ATE.
“Then they said to him, ‘Where is Sarah your wife?’ And he said, ‘There, in the tent.’And HE said, ‘I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.’ And Sarah was listening at the tent door which was behind him.Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was past childbearing. And Sarah laughed to herself, saying, ‘After I am worn out, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?’And YAHWEH SAID to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh, saying, “Shall I indeed bear a son, when I am so old?”Is anything too difficult for Yahweh? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.’ Then Sarah denied it however, saying, ‘I did not laugh’; for she was afraid. And HE said, ‘No, but you did laugh.’
“Then the men rose up from there and looked down toward Sodom; and Abraham was walking with them to send them off. Now YAHWEH SAID, ‘Shall I conceal from Abraham what I am about to do,since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed?For I have known him, so that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of Yahweh to do righteousness and justice, so that Yahweh may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.’So YAHWEH SAID, ‘The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave. I WILL GO DOWN NOW and see whether they have done entirely according to its outcry, which has come to Me; and if not, I will know.’
“Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing BEFORE YAHWEH. Then Abraham came near and said, ‘Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing, to put to death the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not THE JUDGE OF ALL THE EARTH do justice?’So YAHWEH SAID, ‘If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place on their account.’And Abraham answered and said, ‘Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am but dust and ashes.Suppose the fifty righteous are lacking five, will You destroy the whole city because of five?’ And He said, ‘I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.’Then he spoke to Him yet again and said, ‘Suppose forty are found there?’ And He said, ‘I will not do it on account of the forty.’Then he said, ‘Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak; suppose thirty are found there?’ And He said, ‘I will not do it if I find thirty there.’And he said, ‘Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord; suppose twenty are found there?’ And He said, ‘I will not destroy it on account of the twenty.’ Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once; suppose ten are found there?’ And He said, ‘I will not destroy it on account of the ten.’And as soon as He had finished speaking to Abraham, YAHWEH DEPARTED, and Abraham returned to his place.” Genesis 18:1-33
The text is clear and remarkable!
YHWH appears as a man, eats human food as a man, has human feet that can be washed, converses with Abraham and informs him of Sarah’s conceiving Isaac and his intention to personally go down to Sodom and Gomorrah to investigate the accusations leveled against them. From there, Abraham pleads with YHWH to spare the city for the sake of the righteous among them, even if they are as few as ten, with YHWH agreeing to do so!
Now contrast this with the way the rabbis interpreted this passage. All emphasis mine:
וַיֵּרָא אֵלָיו ה׳ בְּאֵלֹנֵי מַמְרֵא וְהוּא יֹשֵׁב פֶּתַח הָאֹהֶל כְּחֹם הַיּוֹם מַאי כְּחוֹם הַיּוֹם אָמַר רַבִּי חָמָא בְּרַבִּי חֲנִינָא אוֹתוֹ הַיּוֹם יוֹם שְׁלִישִׁי שֶׁל מִילָה שֶׁל אַבְרָהָם הָיָה וּבָא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לִשְׁאוֹל בְּאַבְרָהָם הוֹצִיא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא חַמָּה מִנַּרְתִּיקָהּ כְּדֵי שֶׁלֹּא יַטְרִיחַ אוֹתוֹ צַדִּיק בְּאוֹרְחִים
§ The Gemara expounds another verse involving Abraham: “And the Lord appeared to him by the terebinths of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day” (Genesis 18:1). The Gemara asks: What is the meaning of “the heat of the day”? Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, says: That day was the third day after Abraham’s circumcision, and the Holy One, Blessed be He, came to inquire about the well-being of Abraham. The Holy One, Blessed be He, removed the sun from its sheath in order not to bother that righteous one with guests, i.e., God made it extremely hot that day to allow Abraham to recover from his circumcision, as he would not be troubled by passing travelers whom he would invite into his tent.
שַׁדְּרֵיהּ לֶאֱלִיעֶזֶר לְמִיפַּק לְבָרָא נְפַק וְלָא אַשְׁכַּח אָמַר לָא מְהֵימְנָא לָךְ הַיְינוּ דְּאָמְרִי תַּמָּן לֵית הֵימָנוּתָא בְּעַבְדֵי נְפַק אִיהוּ חַזְיֵיהּ לְהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא דְּקָאֵי אַבָּבָא הַיְינוּ דִּכְתִיב אַל נָא תַעֲבֹר מֵעַל עַבְדֶּךָ
Despite the intense heat, Abraham wanted to invite guests. He sent Eliezer his slave to go outside to see if there were any passersby. Eliezer went out but did not find anyone. Abraham said to him: I do not believe you. The Gemara comments: This demonstrates the popular adage that people there, i.e., in Eretz Yisrael, say: Slaves do not have any credibility. The Gemara continues: Abraham himself went out and saw the Holy One, Blessed be He, standing at the entrance to his tent. This is as it is written: “My Lord, if now I have found favor in your eyes, do not leave Your servant” (Genesis 18:3), i.e., God’s presence was there, and Abraham asked Him for permission to attend to the travelers.
כֵּיוָן דַּחֲזָא דְּקָא אָסַר וְשָׁרֵי אֲמַר לָאו אוֹרַח אַרְעָא לְמֵיקַם הָכָא הַיְינוּ דִּכְתִיב וַיִּשָּׂא עֵינָיו וַיַּרְא וְהִנֵּה שְׁלֹשָׁה אֲנָשִׁים נִצָּבִים עָלָיו וַיַּרְא וַיָּרׇץ לִקְרָאתָם מֵעִיקָּרָא אֲתוֹ קָמוּ עֲלֵיהּ כִּי חַזְיוּהּ דַּהֲוָה לֵיהּ צַעֲרָא אֲמַרוּ לָאו אוֹרַח אַרְעָא לְמֵיקַם הָכָא
Once God saw Abraham tying and untying the bandage on his circumcision, God said: It is not proper conduct to stand here, i.e., it is not respectful to Abraham even for God to stand there. This is as it is written: “And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, three men stood over him; and when he saw them, he ran to meet them” (Genesis 18:2). The verse first states that they stood over him, and then it says that he ran to meet them. The Gemara reconciles this apparent contradiction: Initially, they came and stood over him. Upon seeing that he was in pain, they said: It is not proper conduct to stand here. (Talmud, Bava Metzia, 86b https://www.sefaria.org/Bava_Metzia.86b.17?lang=bi)
Despite admitting that Abraham saw YHWH standing at the entrance of his tent, since YHWH’S presence was there, the rabbis distinguish the three men from YHWH so that YHWH is no longer appearing as one of the men!
Instead, the rabbis assert that the three men were the angels Michael, Raphael and Gabriel respectively:
מַאן נִינְהוּ שְׁלֹשָׁה אֲנָשִׁים מִיכָאֵל וְגַבְרִיאֵל וּרְפָאֵל מִיכָאֵל שֶׁבָּא לְבַשֵּׂר אֶת שָׂרָה רְפָאֵל שֶׁבָּא לְרַפֵּא אֶת אַבְרָהָם גַּבְרִיאֵל אֲזַל לְמֶהְפְּכַיהּ לִסְדוֹם וְהָא כְּתִיב וַיָּבֹאוּ שְׁנֵי הַמַּלְאָכִים סְדֹמָה בָּעֶרֶב דַּאֲזַל מִיכָאֵל בַּהֲדֵיהּ לְשֵׁזְבֵיהּ לְלוֹט דַּיְקָא נָמֵי דִּכְתִיב וַיַּהֲפֹךְ אֶת הֶעָרִים הָאֵל וְלָא כְּתִיב וַיַּהַפְכוּ שְׁמַע מִינַּהּ
The Gemara continues: Who are these three men? They are the angels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael: Michael, who came to announce to Sarah that she was to give birth to a son; Raphael, who came to heal Abraham after his circumcision; and Gabriel, who went to overturn Sodom. The Gemara asks: But it is written: “And the two angels came to Sodom in the evening” (Genesis 19:1). The Gemara answers that Michael went along with Gabriel to Sodom to save Lot. The Gemara notes: The language is also precise, as it is written: “And HE overturned those cities” (Genesis 19:25), and it is not written: THEY overturned those cities. Conclude from it that only one angel overturned Sodom. (Ibid.)
What makes this assertion even more troubling is that the rabbis have Michael and Gabriel going down to Sodom with Gabriel being the one who overturned Sodom and Michael being assigned to save Lot. This emphatically contradicts what is written in Genesis which explicitly states that it was YHWH himself who came down to Sodom to overthrow it with brimstone and fire which he summoned from that YHWH who was dwelling in the heavens above!
“The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar.And Yahweh RAINED on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire FROM Yahweh out of heaven,and He overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.Then his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. Now Abraham arose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood BEFORE YAHWEH;and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the valley, and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace. Thus it happened, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, that God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.” Genesis 19:23-29
Hence, we not only have YHWH appearing on earth as a man we even have another YHWH who remained in the heavens above!
It is obvious why the rabbis were troubled with the plain reading of Genesis 18-19. These Jews apparently had a major difficulty with Moses’ assertion that YHWH came down to the earth in the form of a man who then ate human food as a man and then later rained brimstone and fire from another One called YHWH. The rabbis knew that the explicit teaching of Genesis 18-19 could not be reconciled with rabbinic Judaism, which emphatically seeks to undermine the belief that Israel’s God is an infinite multi-Personal Being that is capable of coming to the earth as a man!
FURTHER READING
RABBINIC PERVERSION OF SCRPTURE
APPEARANCE OF THE TRINITY TO ABRAHAM AND DAVID, PT. 2., PT. 3
CHALLENGE TO THE RABBIS: SEEING THE GOD OF ISRAEL
THE RABBIS’ DILEMMA: WORSHIPING GOD’S ANGEL
Answering Islam Blog 
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