In the Torah reading חיי שרה Chayei Sarah (“Sarah’s life,” Gen. 23:1–25:18), we read how Abraham was finally ready to down a permanent homestead in the land of Caanan while also in deep mourning for Sarah. As he was prompted by the death of Sarah to purchase a burial plot for her, he has to bargain for a piece of real-estate for the first time (Gen. 23:3–20).
King David later followed the example of Abraham when he insisted on purchasing the land for the Temple (2Sam. 24:10–25). He refused to accept the land as a gift. If you work for something, and purchase something it, you value it. Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus did the same; He purchased us with his death and resurrection (Acts 20:28; 1Cor. 6:20; 7:23; 1Pet. 1:18f; 2Pet. 2:1; Rev. 5:9). He did that willingly because He considered humanity’s salvation of great value.
Money is a tool of respect, so don’t love money
Money simply is a measurement of how much value we place on something. When we work for a wage, we give them our time and service in return for money.
Money is spiritual, not merely physical.1Daniel Lapin, Thou Shall Prosper: The Ten Commandments for Making Money, 2009 Abraham weighed out the 400 shekels of silver for the burial plot. But if silver has no value to value to you, then that silver was merely a shiny pile of metal — of no value in and of itself. Yet both Abraham and the seller of the property attached value to that metal and used it to communicate the value they attached to the property.
This recorded transaction in the Bible teaches an important lesson about how Heaven connects with Earth and how people are to treat each other. There are things that are yours and there are things that belong to others and things that belong to God. When we purchase an item from someone or when someone produces something for sale, that transaction is an extension of grace from one to the other.
When we buy something rather than simply taking it, we are acknowledging that they have value and what they have also is valuable.
The Torah later teaches us, “You shall not move your neighbor’s boundary mark” (Deut. 19:14; cf. Deut. 27:17). That is another example of how we are to respect other people’s boundaries, the way we should value our own borders, be they behavioral or physical. Moving a boundary is theft of what’s inside it, whether that action is subtle or obvious.
You are treating your neighbor in a way that you would not want to be treated. (See the “second greatest commandment,” aka the Golden Rule, in Lev. 19:18; Matt. 5:43; 19:19; 22:39–40; Mark 12:31–34; Luke 10:27–37; Rom. 13:9; Gal. 5:14; James 2:8.) Having respect for other people, their property, etc. is a fundamental Bible principle.
‘Open your hand’ to the poor
When people say that certain people have too much money and, therefore, the government or others should be able to take it, that is coveting and envy. People use these arguments to pretend to care about the poor and needly, but God sees the heart of these arguments. Rather, this is Heaven’s instruction to those who have more: “open your hand” (Deut. 15:7–11; cf. Matt. 5:42; Luke 6:34; Gal. 2:10).
If we don’t value our neighbors and our fellow man, then we will succumb to the temptation to steal, conquer and oppress our neighbor and our fellow man.
Knowing where things come from and using that to inform our relationships with others, helps us act respectfully towards our neighbors and what they own.
Here’s another take on the Golden Rule: If you want to be swindled, embezzled, then swindle and embezzle. If you don’t want to be swindled and embezzled, then don’t do that to others. It won’t guarantee freedom unfair dealing, but good character is the legacy that truly lasts.
Later, we see in the Torah, that God told them which people the children of Israel could conquer because their “cup of iniquity was full,” but God also gave them a long list of nations that they were not allowed to conquer. God Himself is a respecter of national and tribal boundaries and that example is available to us to follow, too.
In our dealings with other people, when we engage in commerce, it is a sign of mutual respect. When we are an employee of a company, you are selling your time to your employer. Thus, the Bible teaches us to work as through we are working for the LORD (Eccl. 9:10; Col. 3:22–24; Eph. 6:5–8). You may be having a transaction of wages for service with your employer, but you are ultimately transacting with God.
If we tell people that we are ambassadors of God but we do not act with integrity in our daily lives, both morally and economically, this causes people to disrespect us and God.
This is why Yeshua warns us to simply let our yes be yes and our no be no and not to use God as an excuse to overpromise and underdeliver in our moral and economic transactions.
Value what’s on the inside of a leader or spouse, not what’s on the outside (1Kings 1:1–31)
The traditional parallel reading for Chayei Sarah is 1Kings 1:1–31. In it we read that just like Yitzkhak (Isaac) rather than Yishmael was the chosen successor of Abraham, Shlomo (Solomon) was the chosen successor for David over Adoniyah (Adonijah).
The leadership of Israel makes the same mistake with Adoniyah as they had with Sha’ul, gravitating to the most attractive person, rather than reflecting on the what’s right.
David’s wavering (indifference) over Absolom and Adoniyah and Shlomo’s supporters having to intervene to put the right person on the throne have hints of the wavering of Yitzkak over Eysau and Rivkah’s maneuvering to put Ya’akob in the right position.
Sadly, Adoniyah didn’t live up to his name, “My lord is Yah.” Instead, Adoniyah was his own lord.
Beware of being attracted to the outward appearance. People who have charisma can lead people down a very bad road. We have to really be mindful and careful. We have to look beneath the surface and examine what’s “on the inside” to find out what will endure.
Regarding the selection of David:
“(T)he LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.’”
1Samuel 16:7 NASB
Here are a couple of examples of judging someone based on their looks rather than their heart got the people of Israel into trouble:
- Sha’ul was their first choice as king of Israel. The Bible tells us that he was “exceptionally tov” (good/beautiful) and tall (1Sam. 9:2). Yet, on the inside was a petty, spiteful, paranoid, unbalanced man.
- Avishalom (Absalom) was highly praised for being exceptionally yafeh (beautiful) (2Sam. 14:25). But inside, he was a scheming, glad-handing megalomaniac.
By contrast, Rivkah (Rebekah) was me’od tov (very good/beautiful) on the outside (Gen. 24:16), but Eliezer selected her because of her desire for service. “Pretty is as pretty does.”
Best courting advice ever
“Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.”
Proverbs 31:30 NASB
Dating is about having fun, but the goal of courting is getting to know someone for the purpose of marriage and finding someone who they can respect and build a mutually respectful relationship with for life. This may sound backward in modern times, but any attention to people’s stories — frequently, women’s — of dating heartache reveals that the old ways can be better. (See the book Hands Off! This May Be Love: God’s Gift for Establishing Enduring Relationships.)
The most authoritative Leader was also the least ‘camera-ready’ (Isaiah 52:13–53:12)
Most startlingly in our look at the dangers of charisma, the most desired-after King of Israel — the ultimate Servant of the LORD — would not be outwardly attractive, but His attractiveness became obvious through His anointing, His consecration and service.
“Behold, My servant will prosper, He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted.
Just as many were astonished at you, My people, So His appearance was marred more than any man And His form more than the sons of men.
Thus He will sprinkle many nations, Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him; For what had not been told them they will see, And what they had not heard they will understand.”
Isaiah 52:13-15 NASB
When Israel looked like they were destroyed and desolated by the exiles, the Messiah, even more so, appears to be destroyed and desolate.
But just as Yeshua was resurrected from the dead, Israel will also return from exile and be, in a sense, resurrected from the dead.
Lamentations 5:20 was written in the context of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. From the people in the generation of Isaiah and Jeremiah, it looked hopeless: the nation, temple and heritage were lost, gone. But the foretold sprinkling in Isaiah 52:15 points to the New Covenant promise:
“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.”
Ezekiel 36:25-27 NASB
At this time, the people were completely lawless. Both the northern and more so the southern tribes had the edifice of unity with God, but their hearts were far from God. They were hard-hearted not only towards God, but also towards other people. They were doing horrific things to other people. When you read what came before the exiles, we see that the people of Israel had traded God’s traditions for their own.
They had co-opted the traditions of the nations around them and used them to worship God, which God found abhorrent and disgusting to the point that He tells them that He loathes “your festivals” (Isaiah 1:10–20). The people by that time had mingled the traditions of men so much with His instructions that His festivals were unrecognizable.
“If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death.”
1John 5:16–17 NASB
This is a lesson from the two trees in Eden: One way leads to life with God (eternal), and the other way that seems to impart wisdom and self-sufficiency actually leads to death.
The New Covenant, which Yeshua put into action with power, is a promise of a change from the inside out.
“Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.
He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”
Isaiah 53:1-3 NASB
The Messiah Yeshua had charisma but it did not come from the outside appearance. His charisma became evident when He spoke and taught. He did not speak under anyone else’s authority, He spoke under His own authority. That was the word made flesh. That is what attracted the crowds to Him.
“Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.
But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.
All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”
Isaiah 53:4-6 NASB
We may not esteem the Messiah, but Messiah’s suffering was an act of mercy shown by God to us.
“He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.
By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?
His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.”
Isaiah 53:7-9 NASB
We can look at this in the rear view mirror and see Messiah Yeshua fulfill all this, but Isaiah’s audience was living this in real time. They were in exile and Isaiah was telling them that there would be one who would suffer for mankind, even more than they are suffering. They had to wonder why they had survived when their relatives had been slaughtered before their eyes. They had to make a decision as to whether to repent of their sins and return to God and unite as a people or allow themselves to be absorbed by the world and abandon their identity once and for all and abandon their mission to bring the the knowledge of the Torah and the Messiah into the world.
“But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.
As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.
Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.”
Isaiah 53:10-12 NASB
God told Moses to build the tabernacle like the pattern of what is in Heaven. When the book of Hebrews tells that these things are a “shadow” of things, that is what they always were.
Summary: Tammy