Kings

This week's sabbath reading is titled Chayyai Sarah, or "The Life of Sarah". Sarah was the wife of Abraham, and had miraculously become a mother in her old age, as the LORD had promised her. It is interesting and important to us that the reading portion titled upon "the life of Sarah" begins with her death in Genesis 23. Genesis, or B'resheit in Hebrew, is about "Beginnings", and we will see another important "beginning" established here. I found that this week's reading portion is about two kinds of kings, and therefore two kinds of kingdoms as well. One thing we should know before we look at Gen. 23, is how the LORD changed Sarai's name to Sarah earlier in Gen. 17: "Then God said to Abraham, 'As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be by her. Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed..." (Gen. 17:15-17a). Her original name, Sarai, means in Hebrew "princess; ruler, steward, commander; prevail over, dominion, be a prince". All good stuff. so why rename her? As renamed by the LORD, Sarah, she becomes "a queen, the wife of a king". As we go then to Gen. 23 from this week's reading, there are at least two beginnings that we will see with Sarah's death. First of sll, the place of Sarah's death, Hebron/Kirjath Arba, has an important meaning. Hebron means "association, joining, join together, fellowship; to be marked with stripes and blows". It can also mean "charmer, spell, incantation". The other name that Hebron was known by, Kirjath Arba, means a city founded or "floored" on a square, or four-sided. This should remind us of the four-lettered name of God, and the "four-square" city of the New Jerusalem (see Rev. 21:16). Kirjath Arba also means the city founded by Arba - the greatest of the giants, and the father of Anak (Anakim). So whether we call the place of Sarah's death Hebron or its previous name, Kirjath Arba, we can see that this place represents two kingdoms. One of those kingdoms is the kingdom of God, and His Son, Jesus, who was marked with stripes and blows, and the other is a kingdom associated with witchcraft spells, and the giants who continually opposed God's people. In one of our beginnings found in this reading, Abraham will, for the first time, purchase a plot of land in what would become Israel in order to bury his wife: "...Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spoke to the sons of Heth ("Terror"), saying, 'I am a foreigner and a visitor (see also Jn. 17:16, 2 Peter 2:11, Heb. 13:14, Heb. 11:8-10) among you. Give me property for a burial place among you...I will give you money for the field; take it from me and I will bury my dead there." (Gen. 23:4, 13). At first the sons of Heth did not want to sell, but rather give the place to Abraham. However, Abraham insisted upon buying the land that included a burial cave for his wife. Abraham bought it for 400 shekels of silver - again the presence of a multiple of the number four: "So the field of Ephron ("fawn-like, young goat; to be dust, to throw dust") ...and the cave which was in it...were deeded (qum - accomplished, established; arise, rise up, raise) to Abraham as a possession (miqna/miqne/qana - purchase price, bought/flocks, herds/redeem, recover, of God redeeming His people) in the presence of the sons of Heth ('Terror"), before all who went in at the gate of his city." (v. 17-18). There was a very important shift that took place here, and a vital beginning - Abraham had purchased a place in what would become Israel, and now owned it. Hebron became known as "the city of the friend of God (Abraham)". We also see, by the meaning of the Hebrew words used here, the principle of God redeeming His people. However, that's not all! When Abraham approached the sons of Heth to purchase the field for a burial ground, the sons of Heth addressed Abraham as "a mighty prince among us" (v. 6). In Hebrew, this is written as "elohim nasi" among us. Elohim is the name of God. Nasi/nasa means "prince, ruler, one lifted up, vapors ascending to become a cloud/forgive, bear, endure, to suffer, take away anyone's sin, to expiate, make atonement for sin, to lay sin upon oneself, to marry a wife, to receive anyone's prayer, to lift up, rise up, to look upon". "Mighty prince" or "Prince of God" is not a complete translation into English, as we can see. There is no doubt that the sons of Heth (Terror), identified Abraham with the risen God of forgiveness, suffering and Atonement, tavek: within us, in the midst of us, Whom we know as Jesus. This is the King that the sons of Heth saw in Abraham. However, kingship in God's kingdom is not merely determined by a physical relationship to Abraham and Sarah, but by a spiritual relationship, defined by a likeness to the same King by whom Abraham was called above. In another portion from this week's sabbath reading, we will see two kings. Which king will prevail? In 1 Kings 1, King David, anointed by God, and prophesied as the patriarch from whom the Messiah/Christ would come, is still alive, but very old. One of his sons, Adonijah, appoints himself to be the new king. Adonijah is David's fourth son, and his name means "The LORD is Jehovah (YHWH: "Behold the hand, Behold the nail"). Everything seems to look good for Adonijah to become the new king- after all, his name glorifies Jesus as Lord- but he is not the successor that David named, and he is not of the right spirit to be a king in God's kingdom: "Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, 'I will be king'; and he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him...And Adonijah sacrificed sheep and oxen and fattened cattle by the stone of Zoheleth, which is by En Rogel; he also invited all his brothers, the king's sons, and all the men of Judah, the king's servants." (1 Kings 1:5,9). Adonijah exalted himself. Kings after the spirit of Abraham and Sarah do not exalt themselves, but rather, redeem or exalt others. Adonijah made great sacrifices as Abraham did, which looks good, but he is making those sacrifices at a place called Zoheleth, which means "serpent, afraid, worms, creeping, crawling". David's appointed successor, on the other hand, was his tenth son, Solomon, whose name means "peace, covenant of peace, prosperity, welfare, health, friendship, tranquility, whole, in full number, recompense, restore, restitution, finished". When David was informed that Adonijah had already made himself king, he reaffirmed his command before Bathsheba, Solomon's mother, taking an oath, that Solomon would become the king: "As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life from every distress, just as I swore to you by the LORD God of Israel, saying, 'Assuredly Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place', so I certainly will do this day." (1 Kings 1:28-30). David then had Solomon anointed king at Gihon, while David was still alive, Those who anointed him, according to David's command, blew the horn and proclaimed, "Long live King Solomon!". (v. 32-34). The place where Adonijah tried to take the kingship and kingdom, En Rogel (Spy, backbiter, slandered), was the source of the pool of Siloam, meaning "sent, cast out, put away". On the other hand, David sent Solomon to be anointed at Gihon, a spring outside of Jerusalem, whose name means "bursting forth, to come forth, bring forth, break forth, to issue forth from hiding places". It is also the name of one of the four rivers of the Garden of Eden, a river of paradise. As God renamed Sarah, kings would indeed come from her. Not just any kings, however, but the kings and kingdom that are of the image and likeness of the only King - Jesus Christ, the Anointed One, the King of kings and Lord of lords. These are also the spiritual kings which we are called to be (Rev. 1:6, 5:10), while recognizing our heroine of faith, Sarah, according to Heb. 11:11. If you would like to know more about being one of the kings born from Abraham and Sarah, you can pray with me: "Heavenly Father, You prophesied to both Abraham and Sarah that they would be the father and mother of kings, not as the world identifies kings, but as those who are named after, and are identified with Your son, Jesus. There is no other King, and there is no other kingdom that delivers me from out of darkness and into Your glorious light. Your King, Jesus, has redeemed me from Terror and serpents, has laid my sin upon Himself, and made me His special possession, bought with a price. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit to guide me in the way of my King's truth, forgiveness and atonement. I ask this in Jesus' name. AMEN."