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.”
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.
God put a degree of rebelliousness in all of us because sometimes we have to have a rebellious spirit. When the culture around us, whether it’s in our own family or our national culture, is wicked and evil, we have to have the fortitude to rebel against that and stand firm in living the way that is right.
The name of the Torah portion חיי שרה Chayei Sarah means “life of Sarah,” but it starts with the matriarch’s death. We see how Abraham works hard to find a final resting place for her, but her death had a huge impact on Yitzkhak (Isaac) as well, affecting him for years. Her death also played a larger than life role in how Abraham’s most trusted servant, Eliazer of Damascus, set out to find a suitable wife for Yitzkhak to carry out Abraham’s legacy.
When we are pushed to our limits, God promises us that the ways of the Kingdom of God are far more profitable in the long term than trying to avoid pain. That’s what Abraham and Sarah learned over many years of their lives. It’s all the more relevant today for increasing social and physical pressure put on believers in the Holy One of Israel and the Anointed One of God. This lesson of faith is the backdrop of the Torah section Chayei Sarah (“life of Sarah,” Gen. 23:1–25:18).
Why did Abraham the nomadic “father of faith” pay so much for a tomb for his wife Sarah? What’s the connection between Abraham’s and King David’s picking a certain son as the successor over other, older sons? Are does the symbol of a well in the account of Yitzkhak marrying Rivkah and in Yeshua’s encounter with the Samaritan woman teach us about the Mashiakh’s work of bringing new life out of death? These are questions tackled in this discussion of the Torah portion Chayei Sarah (“life of Sarah”), covering Genesis 23-25.
The eight days of Chanukah (Festival of Dedication, John 10:22–39), historically parallel the eight days of Sukkot (Festival of Tabernacles). But there is a startling parallel to eight women in the Bible for whom having children would have been miraculous — including the mother of Yeshua (Jesus) — yet these women dedicated themselves to God’s mission to restore the Earth.