This study of Genesis 24:42-67; Isaiah 12:3-14:2; and James 4:13-17 explores divine guidance through Abraham’s journey of faith. The passages reveal God’s sovereignty in human plans, emphasizing trust, humility and seeking Heaven’s wisdom. Abraham in six ways shows how marriage is a sacred covenant requiring parental involvement, mutual respect, and spiritual alignment. We find true contentment by aligning our lives with God’s eternal plan, rather than chasing fleeting worldly pursuits.
Servanthood, the surprising path to spiritual power. This study of Genesis 24:1–41; Judges 19:16–21; and Ephesians 5:15–33 plunges into the lives of biblical icons Rivkah (Rebekah), David’s wife Abigail, and the Prophets. It uncovers a paradox: true authority emerges from humble service. Explore the delicate dance between respect and truth, as honesty proves the wellspring of genuine esteem. Discover how timeless principles of the soul can revitalize modern economics. At the heart of it all, the “bride of Messiah” beckons, a call to sacrificial love that transforms both individual and community. Prepare to have your assumptions upended, as this journey upends what we think are the biblical rules of “headship.”
This study on the Torah reading חַיֵּי שָׂרָה Chayei Sarah (“Sarah’s life,” Gen. 23:1–25:18) explores biblical principles of respect, property ownership and the hope of resurrection. It centers around the stories of Abraham and David, emphasizing their sorrow and the significance of their real estate transactions in the history of the people of Israel, finding resting places for Sarah and the presence of Heaven.
Chayei Sarah also has important connections to prophecies to the events surrounding the birth of Yeshua Messiah (Jesus Christ), exploring messianic themes and emphasizing the continuity of these prophecies in early Jewish writings.
It’s all too easy in today’s crave-the-cutting-edge lifestyle to forget who got us to where we are today. Abraham is called “father of us all” because his trust in God is the model for saving faith in God’s Son, Yeshua haMashiakh (Jesus the Christ) (Rom. 4:16–5:2). In this week’s Torah portion, חַיֵּי שָׂרָה Chayei Sarah (“Sarah’s life,” Gen. 23:1–25:18), we learn how important Abraham’s wife Sarah is in The Way from our old way of life to our new one in Mashiakh.
In the Torah reading חיי שרה Chayei Sarah (“Sarah’s life,” Gen. 23:1–25:18), we see the lengths Abraham goes to buy this final resting place for his wife Sarah, including his refusal to bury her on a Gentile’s property and his insistence on paying full price (or more) for a solid guarantee of ownership. It’s a lesson not lost on Abraham’s descendant King David, who 1,000 or so years later needed to buy a resting place for God Himself. It’s because of the Son of God — Yeshua (Jesus) — that Abraham, David, and all those who love God will receive the reward of living with God in a regenerated body, in the future place of rest.
The legacy of Abraham’s wife Sarah, the focus of Torah reading חיי שרה Chayei Sarah (“Sarah’s life,” Gen. 23:1–25:18), is not only her future daughter-in-law Rivkah (Rebecca) but also distant relatives Ruth and the Samaritan woman Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) met at the well.
These women, just as Sarah before them, extended acts of kindness and mercy to a stranger who would change their lives forever and they were rewarded for their kindnesses to strangers with a permanent connection with the Messiah.
“‘You have heard that it was said, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy” (Lev. 19:18; Deut. 23:3-6). But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.'” (Matthew 5:43–45 NASB)
We can learn from Abraham, the father of our faith in God, how to put these words of Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus the Christ) into action in the Torah reading חַיֵּי שָׂרָה Chayey Sarah (“life of Sarah,” Gen. 23:1–25:18). Even as God’s hundreds of years of merciful patience with Canaan’s reprehensible behavior were ticking down, Abraham was praying for the nations’ safety and paying them a large sum for property in the area.
Discovery from this Bible study how God’s friend was an early ambassador of peace to the world.