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Av 22, 5761 / Aug 11, 2001
Av 20, 5764 / Aug 7,
2004
Av 20, 5767 / Aug 4,
2007
Av 20, 5770 / July 27, 2010
Av 20, 5773 / July 27, 2013
Av 23, 5776 / Aug 27, 2016
Av 23, 5779 / Aug 24, 2019
Av 23, 5782 / Aug 20, 2022
Chayey Sarah / Lifetime of Sarah
SCRIPTURES should be read first
The
Sages teach that the narrative of Sarah’s death immediately
follows the Akeidah (binding of Isaac), because she
died upon hearing of the event. This also explains why
Avraham and Isaac were not present at her death. Avraham
came to eulogize his beloved wife, who was named as Princess
of all mankind (Sarah).
Four-hundred shekels was an inflated price for the burial
plot, but Avraham insisted and paid it, and there should be
no dispute of ownership. The Sages say, “The righteous say
little and do much, but the wicked promise much and do not
perform even a little:” Ephron publicly stated that he had
given (free) the whole field, then suggested an exorbitant
price for just the cave.
At
this point, the Torah (v.16) spells Ephron with a vav
omitted, indicating that he was diminished by the act.
The
cave of Machpelah is the burial site of Avraham and Sarah,
Isaac and Rebecca, and Jacob and Leah. The name “Machpelah”
means “double,” possibly representing the couples buried
there. It is also traditionally known as the burial place of
Adam and Eve. In AD 2000, after many people were killed
through Arab-Israeli conflict, the area was given to
“Palestinian” control, and the tomb structure where Jews had
a seminary was immediately desecrated and destroyed (despite
a formal agreement that this would not happen).
_______
The following is
mainly based on the Psalm
(Consider Avraham,
David, and Yeshua).
Psalm
18:43-46 – You have delivered me from the contentions of the
people; You have placed me as head of the nations; a
people whom I have not known serve me. As soon as they hear,
they obey me; foreigners submit to me. Foreigners fade
away, and come trembling out of their fortresses. Yahweh
lives, and blessed be my rock; and exalted be the God (Elohim)
of my salvation,
Law-Grace
In
Torah, God is called “Elohim” – the God who is the Creator
of all, and sits as Judge of His creation (“Elohim saw all
that He had made, and behold, it was very good” – Genesis
1:31). He is also called “Yahweh” – the Eternal who is
Gracious (“Noah found grace in the eyes of the Yahweh” –
Genesis 5:8): this name of the Eternal Gracious One is used
approximately 7,000 times in the Bible!
Torah
uses these names in combination: “Yahweh Elohim” (often
translated the LORD our God) – the Eternal, who is our
Creator and Judge, is the Gracious One who reigns over the
entire universe. This is the God we bless for providing for
us (“Blessed are You, Yahweh Elohim, ruler of the universe,
who created . . .”). This is the God who, by grace (while
totally undeserved by us), became our Salvation: “Yeshua”
means “Yahweh is Salvation” – “You shall call his name
Yeshua: for He shall save His people from their sins”
(Matthew 1:21).
We are
to love “Yahweh Elohim” with all our hearts, and we are to
love our neighbors as ourselves; these are the two great
commandments, on which all other commandments hang
(Deuteronomy 6:5 / Leviticus 19:18 and Matthew 22:37). Of
the Ten Commandments, the first five hang on loving God, and
the last five hang on loving our neighbor. With the detailed
commandments that hang on and elaborate upon these, there
are six-hundred-thirteen in the Torah.
These
commandments were given to show us how we should have walked
in the Spirit without them (Galatians 3:19). Yeshua said
that He did not come to abrogate them (Matthew 5:17). John
said that “love” is keeping His commandments (1 John 5:3, 2
John 1:6). The word “legalism” is never* found in the Bible,
but “lawlessness” is condemned throughout (see 1 John 3:4).
[*A few loose translations insert it.]
We
cannot be saved, even partly, by keeping, or trying to keep,
commandments. But, if we are believers in Yeshua, walking in
God’s instruction is the natural, necessary result (James
1:20, Galatians 5:16).
Consider Torah, Prophets, Psalms, Yeshua, and Apostles --
Torah:
Deuteronomy 11:1 – You
shall love Yahweh your God, and keep His worship: His
statutes, and His judgments (hukim
and mishpatim,
least to greatest), performing His commandments (mitzvot),
always.
Prophets:
Isaiah
24:5-6
–
The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants,
for they transgressed Torah, violated statutes (hukim),
and broke the everlasting covenant (brit). Therefore,
a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held
guilty. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned,
and few men are left.
Psalms:
18:21-23 – [Consider applications to Avraham, David,
Yeshua, and us.] For I have kept the ways of Yahweh, and
have not wickedly departed from my God. For all His
judgments (mishpatim – the moral laws) were before
me, and I did not put away His statutes (hukim – the
commands that are not intuitive) from me (most obvious to
non-intuitive). I was also blameless with Him (including the
intermediate edos – rituals and festivals).
105:7-10 – He is Yahweh Elohim; His judgments (mishpatim)
are in all the earth. He has remembered His covenant (brit)
forever, the Word which He commanded to a thousand
generations, the covenant which He made with Avraham, and
His oath to Isaac. Then He confirmed it to Jacob for a
statute (huk), to Israel as an everlasting
covenant,
119:160 – The sum of Your Word is truth, and every one of
Your righteous judgments (mishpatim) is everlasting.
Apostolic:
Yeshua
/ Matthew 5:17-19 –
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the
prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For
verily I say to you, till heaven and earth shall pass away,
one yod
or one serif
shall by no means pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Whoever shall break one of these least commandments, and
shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the
kingdom of heaven: but whoever shall do and teach them, the
same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. [Note that our
position in eternity (not our salvation) is dependent upon
performing and teaching His mitzvot – from
mishpatim to hukim (the least obvious).]
Paul
/ Galatians 6:1 Brethren, even if a man is caught in any
trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a
spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, lest you
too be tempted.
John
/ 1 John 3: 4 – Everyone who practices sin also practices
lawlessness; for sin is lawlessness (Gr. anomia –
against Torah ways).
2 John
1:6 – For this is the love of God, that we keep his
commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
Examples /
Difficulties:
Colossians 2:16-17 – Therefore let no man condemn you in
regard to food or drink or for observing a Festival or a New
Moon or a Sabbath day – for these are a prophetic
shadow of things to come, Messiah Himself being the body
(casting the shadow). This passage is commonly turned on its
head, used to condemn us for observing Biblical Festivals
and Sabbath!
If
Paul (1 Corinthians 7:18) meant that circumcision should no
longer be done, then he contradicted his words by his
actions (Acts 16:3)! There is a need to study the context of
Paul’s teaching.
The
Epistle to the Hebrews does not say that Torah changed. It
shows a change in the priesthood – from the substitute
Levitical priesthood (Numbers 3:12), back to the original
Malchi-tzedek priesthood-of-the-firstborn.
Colossians 2:14 does not say that God’s Law was nailed to
the cross: it is not His commandments that are referred to
as “against us” or “hostile toward us” (they are “not
grievous”); it is the “rule of death” that is against us and
hostile toward us – “the soul that sinneth, it shall die!”
It is this rule of death that was consummated against Yeshua
upon the cross, and its dominion over us was annulled. Torah
was not annulled, but the penalty of death against us was
consummated upon our substitute – the very one prophetically
pictured and afterwards memorialized by sacrificial
offerings (which are only temporarily suspended because of
the lack of a physical Temple).
If
sacrificial offerings are not still proper memorials of
Yeshua (as the Passover in Luke 22:19), then why did the
Apostle Paul offer them at the Temple long after the
crucifixion (Acts 21:26), and why will they be offered in
the future Millennium by God’s direction (Ezekiel 46:1-7)?
Conclusion:
Psalm
139:23-24 – Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and
know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful
way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.
Readings:
"Blessed are You, Yahweh our God, King
of the Universe,
Who chose us from among all peoples by
giving us Your Torah.
Blessed are You, Yahweh, giver of the
Torah."
Reader 1* Amen
1 Now Sarah’s
lifetime was one hundred years, twenty years, and seven
years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. 2
Sarah died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of
Canaan; and Avraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep
for her.
Reader 2* Amen
3 Then Avraham rose from before
his dead, and spoke to the sons of Heth, saying, 4
"I am a stranger and a sojourner among you; give me a burial
site among you that I may bury my dead out of my sight."
5 The sons of Heth answered Avraham, saying to
him, 6 "Hear us, my lord, you are a mighty prince
among us; bury your dead in the choicest of our graves; none
of us will refuse you his grave for burying your dead."
Reader 3* Amen
7 So Avraham rose and bowed to the
people of the land, the sons of Heth. 8 And he
spoke with them, saying, "If it is your wish for me to bury
my dead out of my sight, hear me, and approach Ephron the
son of Zohar for me, 9 that he may give me the
cave of Machpelah which he owns, which is at the end of his
field; for the full price let him give it to me in your
presence for a burial site."
Reader 4* Amen
10 Now Ephron was sitting among
the sons of Heth; and Ephron the Hittite answered Avraham in
the hearing of the sons of Heth; even of all who went in at
the gate of his city, saying, 11 "No, my lord,
hear me; I give you the field, and I give you the cave that
is in it. In the presence of the sons of my people I give it
to you; bury your dead."
Reader 5* Amen
12 And Avraham bowed before the
people of the land. 13 He spoke to Ephron in the
hearing of the people of the land, saying, "If you will only
please listen to me; I will give the price of the field,
accept it from me that I may bury my dead there."
Reader 6* Amen
14 Then Ephron answered Avraham,
saying to him, 15 "My lord, listen to me; a piece
of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that
between me and you? So bury your dead." 16
Avraham listened to Ephron; and Avraham weighed out for
Ephron the silver which he had named in the hearing of the
sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, commercial
standard.
Reader 7* Amen
17 So Ephron's field, which was in
Machpelah, which faced Mamre, the field and cave which was
in it, and all the trees which were in the field, that were
within all the confines of its border, were deeded over
18 to Avraham for a possession in the presence of the
sons of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his
city. 19 After this, Avraham buried Sarah his
wife in the cave of the field at Machpelah facing Mamre
(that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 20 So
the field and the cave that is in it, were deeded over to
Avraham for a burial site by the sons of Heth.
"Blessed are You, Yahweh our God, King
of the Universe,
Who in giving us Yeshua, the Living
Torah, has planted everlasting life in our midst.
Blessed are You, Yahweh, giver of the
Torah."
______________________
"Blessed are You, Yahweh our God, King
of the Universe,
Who selected good prophets, delighting
in their words which were spoken truthfully.
Blessed are You, Yahweh, Who chose the
Torah, Your servant Moses, Your people Israel,
and the prophets of truth and
righteousness."
1 Kings 1:1
Reader 8* Amen
1 Now King David was old, advanced
in age; and they covered him with clothes, but he could not
keep warm.
Psalm 18
(To be sung.) For
the choir director. A Psalm of David the servant of Yahweh,
who spoke to Yahweh the words of this song in the day that
Yahweh delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and
from the hand of Saul. And he said:
1 "I love
You, O Yahweh, my strength." 2 Yahweh is my rock
and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I
take refuge; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my
stronghold. 3 I call upon Yahweh, who is worthy
to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. 4
The cords of death encompassed me, and the torrents of
ungodliness terrified me. 5 The cords of Sheol
surrounded me; the snares of death confronted me. 6
In my distress I called upon Yahweh, and cried to my God for
help; He heard my voice out of His temple, and my cry for
help before Him came into His ears. 7 Then the
earth shook and quaked; and the foundations of the mountains
were trembling and were shaken, because He was angry. 8
Smoke went up out of His nostrils, and fire from His mouth
devoured; coals were kindled by it. 9 He bowed
the heavens also, and came down with thick darkness under
His feet. 10 He rode upon a cherub and flew; and
He sped upon the wings of the wind. 11 He made
darkness His hiding place, His canopy around Him, Darkness
of waters, thick clouds of the skies. 12 From the
brightness before Him passed His thick clouds, hailstones
and coals of fire. 13 Yahweh also thundered in
the heavens, and the Most High uttered His voice, hailstones
and coals of fire. 14 He sent out His arrows, and
scattered them, and lightning flashes in abundance, and
routed them. 15 Then the channels of water
appeared, and the foundations of the world were laid bare At
Your rebuke, O Yahweh, at the blast of the breath of Your
nostrils. 16 He sent from on high, He took me; He
drew me out of many waters. 17 He delivered me
from my strong enemy, and from those who hated me, for they
were too mighty for me. 18 They confronted me in
the day of my calamity, but Yahweh was my stay. 19
He brought me forth also into a broad place; He rescued me,
because He delighted in me. 20 Yahweh has
rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the
cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me. 21
For I have kept the ways of Yahweh, and have not wickedly
departed from my God. 22 For all His ordinances
were before me, and I did not put away His statutes from me.
23 I was also blameless with Him, and I kept
myself from my iniquity. 24 Therefore Yahweh
has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according
to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes. 25 With
the kind You show Yourself kind; with the blameless You show
Yourself blameless; 26 with the pure You show
Yourself pure, and with the crooked You show Yourself
astute. 27 For You save an afflicted people, but
haughty eyes You abase. 28 For You light my lamp;
Yahweh my God illumines my darkness. 29 For by
You I can run upon a troop; and by my God I can leap over a
wall. 30 As for God, His way is blameless; the
word of Yahweh is tried; He is a shield to all who take
refuge in Him. 31 For who is God, but Yahweh? And
who is a rock, except our God, 32 The God who
girds me with strength and makes my way blameless? 33
He makes my feet like hinds' feet, and sets me upon my high
places. 34 He trains my hands for battle, so that
my arms can bend a bow of bronze. 35 You have
also given me the shield of Your salvation, and Your right
hand upholds me; and Your gentleness makes me great. 36
You enlarge my steps under me, and my feet have not slipped.
37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them, and I
did not turn back until they were consumed. 38 I
shattered them, so that they were not able to rise; they
fell under my feet. 39 For You have girded me
with strength for battle; You have subdued under me those
who rose up against me. 40 You have also made my
enemies turn their backs to me, and I destroyed those who
hated me. 41 They cried for help, but there was
none to save, even to Yahweh, but He did not answer them.
42 Then I beat them fine as the dust before the
wind; I emptied them out as the mire of the streets. 43
You have delivered me from the contentions of the people;
You have placed me as head of the nations; a people whom
I have not known serve me. 44 As soon as they
hear, they obey me; foreigners submit to me. 45
Foreigners fade away, and come trembling out of their
fortresses. 46 Yahweh lives, and blessed be my
rock; and exalted be the God of my salvation, 47
The God who executes vengeance for me, and subdues peoples
under me. 48 He delivers me from my enemies;
surely You lift me above those who rise up against me; You
rescue me from the violent man. 49 Therefore I
will give thanks to You among the nations, O Yahweh, and I
will sing praises to Your name. 50 He gives great
deliverance to His king, and shows lovingkindness to His
anointed, to David and his descendants forever.
Acts 7:1-18
Reader 9* Amen
1 And the high priest said, "Are
these things so?" 2 And Stephen said, "Hear me,
brethren and fathers! The God of glory appeared to our
father Avraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived
in Haran, 3 and said to him, 'Depart from your
country and your relatives, and come into the land that I
will show you.' 4 "Then he departed from the land
of the Chaldeans, and settled in Haran. And from there,
after his father died, God removed him into this country in
which you are now living. 5 "And He gave him no
inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground; and yet, even
when he had no child, He promised that He would give it to
him as a possession, and to his offspring after him.
Reader 10* Amen
6 "But God spoke to this effect,
that his offspring would be aliens in a foreign land, and
that they would be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred
years. 7 "'And whatever nation to which they
shall be in bondage I Myself will judge,' said God, 'and
after that they will come out and serve Me in this place.'
8 "And He gave him the covenant of circumcision;
and so Avraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised
him on the eighth day; and Isaac became the father of Jacob,
and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs. 9 "And the
patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt.
And yet God was with him, 10 and rescued him from
all his afflictions, and granted him favor and wisdom in the
sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor
over Egypt and all his household.
Reader 11* Amen
11 "Now a famine came over all
Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction with it; and our
fathers could find no food. 12 "But when Jacob
heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers
there the first time. 13 "And on the second visit
Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph's
family was disclosed to Pharaoh. 14 "And Joseph
sent word and invited Jacob his father and all his relatives
to come to him, seventy-five persons in all. 15
"And Jacob went down to Egypt and there passed away, he and
our fathers. 16 "And from there they were removed
to Shechem, and laid in the tomb which Avraham had
purchased for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in
Shechem. 17 "But as the time of the promise
was approaching which God had assured to Avraham, the people
increased and multiplied in Egypt, 18 until there
arose another king over Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph.
"Blessed are You, Yahweh
our God, King of the Universe,
Rock of Ages, righteous
throughout all generations.
You are the faithful God,
promising and then performing, speaking and then fulfilling,
for all Your words are true
and righteous.
Faithful are You, Yahweh
our God, and faithful are Your words,
for no word of Yours shall
remain unfulfilled;
You are a faithful and
merciful God and King.
Blessed are You, Yahweh our
God, Who are faithful in fulfilling all Your words." |