AbundantLife

      The title of this week's Sabbath reading portion is Chayei Sara, meaning, "The life of Sarah." The Sabbath portion opens, not with the life of Sarah, but with her death: "Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life (hay/haya - live, life, living thing, vigorous, flowing, fresh, reviving, renewal, maintenance, community, sustenance, prosperity, welfare, happiness/quicken, alive, save, revive, recover, remain alive, live forever, be restored to life or health, to revive from death) of Sarah. So Sarah died in Kirjatharba (four-fold, four-squared city [see Rev. 21:16: the foursquared City-Bride], squared like an altar or doorway or breastplate) (that is Hebron - association, joining, "the city of the friend of the merciful God", couple together, join, to unite, to adhere) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her." (Gen. 23:1-2).

     Why has the Lord titled this study "The life of Sarah" when it starts with her death? Looking at the Hebrew meaning of the word "life" or hay as shown above, we can see that the meaning extends beyond the concept of death. It even includes revived life and to live forever. We will see a common thread that will run throughout this Chayei Sara Sabbath reading portion.

     The Hebrew letters that make up the word "life", or hay, give us a further look into this subject. The Hebrew letters are cheth + yod. These letters have the individual pictographic meaning: "tent/tabernacle dividing wall, inner chamber, to protect, to make reparation for a wrong or damage done" + "a finished work, a deed done." The hay life of a mother, in this case, Sarah, any parent, or any man or woman of God, is ongoing even after death. Their hay life is able to affect many generations to come. This Sabbath reading portion will give us other examples of this.

     The Lord refers to Sarah when exhorting His people many generations later to revive themselves in faith and obedience to His Word: "Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness, you who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the hole of the pit from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you; for I called him alone, and blessed him and increased him." (Isa. 51:1-2).

     The New Testament points us to Sarah as an example of obedient faith in the Word and promise of God: "By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised." (Heb. 11:11). It goes on to say that therefore, from Abraham, as good as dead (in age) was born a multitude of descendants too many to count. (v. 12). The life (in faith) of Sarah as well as Abraham, which contained the eternal and all-powerful Word and Spirit of God, produced countless lives, both physical and of like-faith, that continues today. As He prophesied of the passing away and destruction of the things of this world, Jesus said regarding the eternal property of His Word: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away." (Mt. 24:35, Mk. 13:31, Lk. 21:33).

     Paul wrote that we, as believers in Jesus Christ are like Isaac, children of promise, of the Word, of the Spirit, born to the free woman, Sarah, and the Jerusalem that is above which is free, rather than children of the flesh or the slave woman, Hagar. (Gal. 4:22-26). The hay life (of faith, the Spirit and the freedom) of Sarah continues on through the believers in Messiah/Christ.

     After burying Sarah in a cave which he purchased, and following the period of mourning for Sarah, (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-Abraham sent his trusted servant to find a wife for his (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-son (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-Isaac among Abraham's kinsmen in his previous dwelling place outside of Canaan. Isaac's wife was not to be chosen from among the Canaanites. (Gen. 24:1-4).

     His faithful servant found a wife for Isaac from among Abraham's kinsmen, and her name was Rebekah. The *aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega (see *note below) only becomes attached to Rebekah's name after she agreed to leave her home and family to go with Abraham's trusted servant into Canaan to marry Isaac. (Gen. 24:60-61). She was a comfort to Isaac after his mother Sarah's death. The hay life of Rebekah will play a major role in securing the genealogy line of the Messiah/Christ (see Mt. 1:1-2, Lk. 3:34) who would be born centuries later. Rebekah believed a guiding prophetic Word that she received from God while she was pregnant (Gen. 25:21-24). She would, from that prophetic Word, give the appointed son, Jacob, the words of wisdom and guidance that would secure his blessing and spare his life from his vengeful brother, Esau.

     We have another example of ongoing "life" from the Sabbath reading portion from the Book of Ruth. Ruth, a woman of Moab, remained joined (see Hebron above) to her mother-in-law Naomi (Ruth 1:15-17) even after they were both widowed and living in the country of Moab. Ruth remained with her mother-in-law when Naomi went back to her family in Bethlehem, because they had nothing left. Ruth listened to the words of her mother-in-law and followed them exactly as she gleaned left-over pieces of grain from Boaz' fields there. (Ruth 2:19-23 and Ruth 3:1-5). Ruth had said to Naomi, "All that you say to me I will do."

     Boaz married Ruth and they had a child, Obed. Of this child it was said "There is a son born to Naomi," who would be a restorer of life (see hay above) in Naomis' (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-old-age. Naomi took (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-the-child and nursed him herself. Ruth's son, Obed, would have a son named (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-Jesse, who would have a son named (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-David, who would become the king of Israel and from whose line Messiah/Christ would be born centuries later. Both Naomi and her daughter-in-law, Ruth, both of whose lives were seemingly ended in loss and poverty, by their humble obedience, lived on in a hay revived life by the hand of the LORD, as well as on-going life in the genealogy of Messiah/Christ. (see Mt. 1:5-6, Lk. 3:31-32).

     From another reading selection connected to this Chayei Sara Sabbath, we read of a mother who directly inserted herself into the perils of the highest powers of a kingdom to ensure the promised succession of her son, Solomon, to his father David's throne. The throne and kingship of David came under attack in his old age as a son, Adonijah, rose up to try to take the throne from his father with the help of the highest officials in the land. The throne, however, had been designated by God to Solomon (see 1 Chron. 28:5-7), David's tenth son. In the same way that Sarah had to fight for the position of the son of God's promise, Isaac, over Ishmael, Bathsheba had to secure the rightful place of her son of God's promise, Solomon. Bathsheba was not only fighting for her son's succession to the throne, but also most likely for his life. If the other son, Adonijah, had succeeded, he most likely would have ended Solomon's life. Bathsheba, with the help of Nathan the prophet and Zadock the priest, received the elderly David's permission to anoint and crown Solomon as king while David was still alive. David commanded: "...let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega-Solomon) king over Israel; and blow the horn/trumpet (shofar) and say, 'Long live King Solomon!' Then you shall come up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne, and he shall be king in my place. For I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah." (1 Kings 1:32-35). (*Aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-Solomon as well as his mother are also named in the genealogy of Jesus Christ (Mt. 1:6).

     Finally, from this week's Sabbath readings, Proverbs Chapter 1 warns a son to save his life from destruction by following the advice of his parents: "My son, hear the instruction of your father, and do not forsake the law (tora - law, direction, human or divine instruction, instruction in the Messianic age, Mosaic Law, precept, statute) of your mother; for they will be a graceful (hen/hanan - grace, favor, precious, acceptance, good will/mercy, grace, favor, supplication) ornament (livya/lava - wreath, garland/join, cleave, abide) on your head, and chains/necklaces ('anaq - necklace, neck pendant, adornment, to liberally furnish) around your neck." (Prov. 1:8-9, and 10-19).

     A godly parent, including a mother, speaks words that preserve and revive life for the children, and contain the wisdom of the LORD.

     So, why discuss the hay life of Sarah upon the occasion of her death, and why does this Sabbath reading portion focus upon women more than other Sabbath reading?  As I thought about these questions, it seemed to me that the LORD was emphasizing a truth. These women, especially in the social conditions of their era and culture, would not have necessarily been considered as having important rank or honors as the world thinks of rank and honor. Some of these women had lost everything, some had consented to leave everything familiar to them and join themselves to an unknown place, husband, and future. One was the wife of a prosperous nomad and could be easily overlooked in the shadow of her husband who became an honored patriarch to all of faith. Another was one wife among many wives of an elderly, dying king. However, a life, even an "ordinary, everyday" life, joined with the hay life of God becomes an extraordinary life. It becomes a life that impacts not only one's own family, but countless generations, even to the manifesting of Messiah/Christ in the earth, as each of these lives above demonstrated. 

     Jesus described the hay kind of life that He brought to us this way: "...I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly (perrisos - beyond, exceeding, over and above, supremely, superadded, superior, extraordinary, more eminent, more remarkable)." (Jn. 10:10). In the New Testament Greek, and in this above verse, hay life has become zoe life. This is the meaning of zoe/zao life: "the absolute fulness of life which belongs to God and to Christ, life real and genuine and active and vigorous devoted to God, life to last forever, real life that is active, blessed and endless in the kingdom of God, an active, powerful and efficacious life."

     As we can see from the examples given in this Chayei Sara, "The life of Sarah" Sabbath reading portion, even a most "ordinary" life becomes eternally extraordinary when yielded by faith and trust to the Lord. Scripture says this: "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives (see zao above) in me; and the life which I now live (see zao above) in the flesh I live (see zao above) by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." (Gal. 2:20). Also: "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life (see zoe above) is hidden with Christ in God." Col. 3:2-3).

      Let us pray to be joined with the hay/zoe life of God through Christ: "Beloved Father, You have made it possible for me to have an extraordinary life lived by and through Your Son, Jesus. It is not accomplished by my own plans and efforts, nor by the honors of men, but by Your miraculous, wise, and overcoming presence in my life, and in any life who will believe You. Let my life be hidden in You, Jesus, and lived through You. Please let my hay/zoe life in You lead to the same kind of life in my family and in future generations. Let the hay/zoe life of God in me and future generations lead to the manifestation of Jesus Messiah/Christ in the earth. I ask this, with awe and thanksgiving, in Jesus' name. AMEN."

*NOTE: aleph-tav written in Hebrew as אֶת, are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The meaning of the two pictographic Hebrew letters can also be interpreted "Adonai (Lord) of the Cross/Covenant". In the New Testament, these letters are translated as Alpha and Omega written as ΑΩ, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. These letters are those by which Jesus Christ identifies Himself in the Book of Revelation: see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, Rev. 22:13.