Avraham’s contemporaries saw a “burning palace,” a world ravaged by all kinds of ills, and reached the conclusion that there can be no “owner.” They could not imagine that a God would allow the world to “burn” and not put out the flames. Difficult problems continue to beset mankind not because God does not care to resolve them, but because it is our job to resolve them (of course, with God’s assistance). The raging fire is testament not to the fact that the world has no owner, but rather to the fact that the Owner’s servants are failing to do their job.
The Gemara in Masekhet Berakhot (7b) comments that Avraham was the first person in the history of mankind to refer to God with the title, “Adon” (“Master”). Avraham uses this term in speaking to God at the “berit bein ha-betarim” prophecy, as recorded in Parashat Lekh-Lekha (15:8).
What might be the significance of Avraham being the first individual to make reference to this divine Name?
It is possible that the Gemara refers here to the kind of relationship between the human being and the Almighty which Avraham espoused and taught. The status of “adon” implies that there is an “eved” (servant), or, more likely, many “avadim” (servants). Avraham taught that although we cannot begin to understand or even identify God’s intrinsic qualities (as the Rambam famously discusses in his Guide for the Perplexed), we can – and must – perceive Him as an “Adon,” a Master whom we are bound to serve. In a world submerged in pagan beliefs and practices, which did not recognize a Supreme Being, Avraham taught that there is an Adon, a Master over the earth whom we are here to devotedly serve.
Chazal, in a passage that appears in various forms in several Midrashic sources (Bereishit Rabba 39, Yalkut Shimoni – Lekh Lekha 62) compare Avraham to a traveler who sees a burning palace. At first, the traveler assumes that the building is ownerless. After all, a person who owns a building would never allow it to burn down, and not try to extinguish the flames. Just then, the owner peers through the smoldering structure and reveals his identity. Similarly, the Midrash writes, as Avraham began contemplating the question of whether the world has an “owner,” God eventually spoke to Avraham to confirm that there is indeed a Master of the world. According to the version recorded in Midrash Lekach Tov, God said to Avraham, “I am the first and I am the last, I am the Master of the world [Adon ha-olam]!”
Avraham’s contemporaries saw a “burning palace,” a world ravaged by all kinds of ills, and reached the conclusion that there can be no “owner.” They could not imagine that a God would allow the world to “burn” and not put out the flames. Avraham, however, realized (ultimately with the help of God’s explicit confirmation) that the world has a ruler – or, more accurately, that the world has a “Master.” The “Owner” allows the fires to rage because He has “servants” whom He has charged with the responsibility of dousing the flames and maintaining His “palace.” This was Avraham’s response to the pagan world. God allows the “palace” to “burn” because He expects us – His servants – to take care of it. Difficult problems continue to beset mankind not because God does not care to resolve them, but because it is our job to resolve them (of course, with God’s assistance). The raging fire is testament not to the fact that the world has no owner, but rather to the fact that the Owner’s servants are failing to do their job.
Thus, Avraham was the first one to call God by the term “Adon.” He announced to the world the notion of God’s status as Master, which, by definition, includes the notion of our status as servants.