"Sarah's Life"
B'reisheet (Gen.) 23:1 - 25:18; 1 Kings 1:1 - 31; Heb. 11:11 - 16
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This week's Parsha begins with the announcement of the end of Sarah's life. Sarah was of the Matriarchs of the Hebrew people, the mother of the Nation of Israel. This was proclaimed with these simple words from Genesis 23: "Sarah lived to be 127 years old; these were the years of Sarah's life." Notice that the Scriptures do not speak of Sarah's death but rather her life. This is a lesson that is continuing to be taught in Judaism today. At a Jewish funeral we speak of the life of our loved one. We speak of them in the Olam Haba (World to Come). The traditional prayer for memorial, the Mourners Kaddish, doesn't even mention death. Instead it focuses on G-D's might, and glory. As believers in Messiah Yeshua we understand that we have life eternal. Just as the Scriptures proclaim Sarah's Life we can proclaim the life of our loved ones who have gone to be with the L-RD. As we read in Yochanan (John) 6:40: "Yes, this is the will of my Father: that all who see the Son and trust in Him should have eternal life, and that I should raise them up on the Last Day."
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This week's Parsha is named after Sarah the wife of Abraham. Many people have said over the years that in Judaism women are looked at as second-class people or thought of as lower then men. This is not true. Judaism thinks of women in a high place with a man's position being one who leads to protect the women, not to be the boss. We are taught by Yeshua to love our wives as He loved His People. We as Messianic Believers need to understand that the women in our congregation are to be honored, not demeaned. Remember how many times in the Scriptures we find women demonstrating great faith and even as in the case of Deborah walking in a G-D given leadership possition.
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For those who keep up with Israeli politics there have been some sweeping changes over the past few weeks. Each of these changes can be traced back to this week's Parsha as well as some verses within the past few Parashot. This week we read of the death of Sarah the matriarch of Judaism and the Hebrew people. After her death, we read of the purchasing of the burial place of the Patriarchs in Makhpalah. These words are written down to give not only a location of the burial place of Abraham, but also to give a written deed for this land which was not only given to Abraham by G-D but also purchased by Abraham from the sons of Het. No matter what anyone says about the conflict over the land of Israel, it all comes down to an attempt to prove G-D's Word wrong. This attempt is not just being made by the Arabs and those who support the Islamic peoples but behind this attack against the word of G-D is the deceiver himself, hasatan. We as believers need to not only pray for the peace of Jerusalem but also stand in the gap for those living in the land. There is a great revival happening among the Messianic synagogues in Israel as we are seeing and hearing of many Jewish people coming to faith in the Jewish Messiah Yeshua. Beyond this move among the Jewish people, we also see a powerful move of the Ruach HaKodesh among the Muslim people as many Arabs are turning to faith in the atoning power of the Jewish Messiah Yeshua. As time goes on, this war between truth and lie, between G-D and hasatan, between humanism and the Faithful believers, will get more dramatic. Let us all pray with an increased effort not only for opportunities to share with open hearted people here in the Pensacola area but also for those who are effecting lives and souls in the Land promised by G-D and purchased by G-D's people.