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05-28-2006, 10:34 AM LovingNeighbor Joined on 02-10-2006 Washington Posts 397 Chayei Sarah Parasha Thoughts, Studies, and Comments The goal of this section is to get everybody's studies, thoughts, and opinions on anything in the weeks parasha. This includes, word studies, thoughts on verses, history, related subjects, and anything that may help us to understand this Torah Portion. Even if it's just an observation on the smallest part, it can help others who may not have seen it that way. The goal is then as we visit the parasha (Torah Portion) each year we will create a collection of studies and thoughts on this portion and everyone will benefit by having a broader view of the portion. Shalom! A disciple should diligently search for the truth and humbly deny and reconsider it's possession.    Report

05-28-2006, 11:49 AM HumbleTalmid Joined on 03-23-2006 Spokane Posts 7 Chayei Sarah Parasha Nov 26th 2005 Message Humble Talmid Our Faithful Father By Humble Talmid There are a few events this parasha brings that we need to walk away and understand tonight for our edification. First we have the death of Sarah and the event in which Avraham bought a piece of land with a cave in which to bury her. The man Ephron was willing to give the land to Avraham but it seemed that Avraham had wisdom to establish this transaction with money and in the witness of the sons of Heth. Men’s hearts through time can change and thus agreements and gift taken back. But, Avraham wanted to establish this as his. Not given by any man, but bought for a fair price and established with witnesses. How many people today would rather pay for the land than have it given to them freely? This seems to be a character flaw in today’s society. You see Avraham not only wanted to establish this for a possession of a burial place, but also treat his neighbor fairly and with respect. Do we always look out for the best interests for our brethren? Are we willing to treat all men with respect and integrity? Stop and Think! Next we have Avraham sending his servant to his country and his kindred to find a wife for Yitzchak (Isaac). He did not want Yitzchak (Isaac) to take a wife of the daughter of the Canaanites. Why was this? Are we to marry ourselves to pagan cultures and societies? We need to be wary of ourselves. Whose bride ware we? If we married our children off to the world this would poison our generations to come and slowly destroy us. Isn’t this what eventually happened with Israel? But, what about true love? Can’t we marry out of true love and if the other spouse is worldly can’t we just change them? How many times through the ages have we seen this? How many movies have we watched were this was the main plot? It is a form of adultery. Adultery means an unnatural union. Adulterated means to be corrupted or diseased by a mixture with something of less value. Degrading, isn’t it? Truly we need to watch the things in which we bind ourselves to. It is not just binding us, but our seed and generations to come. (Think and dwell on this daily). More important however we see that Avraham did not want Yitzchak (Isaac) to travel back to his native land. Why is this? How many of us dream of the past? Can we truly move forward and grow if we live in the past? How often are people changed for the worse or sucked back into there past simply out of curiosity? It is almost like sending a recovering alcoholic into a bar to minister. What are his chances of coming out of that place a changed man? And, are they for the better? I think not. Avraham new what waited for Yitzchak (Isaac) in the past and he did not want to risk losing the promise of the Father who took him out of that land and away from his kindred. How many of our families agree with our beliefs? How many of us are looked on as outcasts in our families because we follow the Torah? We sometimes hear something along the lines of, "it’s because we care for you and love you" from our families and if they could they would save us from this. We have a promise people! A promise from OUR heavenly Father. We need to rejoice and worship our Father as Avraham’s servant did when the Father provided Rivka (Rebecca) for Yitzchak (Isaac). Listen to this again. Beresheet (Gen.) 24:48, "And I bowed down my head, and worshipped YHWH, and blessed YHWH Elohim of my master Avraham, which had led me in the right way to take my master’s brother’s daughter unto his son. We do see also that the servant did not want to tarry in the land, but asked to take Rivka (Rebecca) immediately and go back to the land that the Father provided. This week let us evaluate what we allow into our lives and also remember not to think on the past or even entreat thoughts of "what if" but let us move onto the other promises the Father has awaiting us who believe. YHWH bless you and keep you!!    Report

11-19-2006, 12:46 AM LovingNeighbor Joined on 02-10-2006 Washington Posts 397 Chayei Sarah Parasha Message 2006-7 Lovingneighbor Chosen For Parasha Chayei Sarah By Lovingneighbor 11-18-2006 This weeks Parasha is in the book of Genesis also called B'reisheet, and is called Chayei Sarah which means 'Sarah's Life'. In this weeks parasha: Sarah was 127 years old when she died in Chevron Avraham asked the children of Chet for a burial place Avraham asks the people to ask Efron to sell his cave in Makhpelah Efron told everyone he would give it to Avraham for free Avraham paid Efron 400 pieces of silver instead of taking it for free Avraham buried Sarah in the cave in the field of Makhpelah Avraham made his servant swear he would go and get a wife for Yitzchak from his country and his kindred The servant asks Elohim to let the woman he asks for water who says she will also water the camels be the wife for Yitzchak Rivka came to the well and the servant asked for a drink After she gave him drink she offered to water his camels also After she finished the servant put an earing in her nose and bracelets on her hands Rivka told her family what happened and they invited the servant in They set before him food but he would not eat until he told his message He told them how much Avraham was blessed by Elohim and given a son in his old age He said my master made me sware I would not take a wife of Kena'an for his son I said what if the woman Elohim shows me will not follow me and he said then you shall be clear from the oath Elohim showed me Rivka now tell me if she will go They said she shall go and the servant worshipped YHWH In the morning he was ready to go but the family wanted her to stay longer so they asked Rivka she said I will go So they sent away Rivka and blessed her Yitzchak was in the field and saw the camels coming Yitzchak met Rivka and took her to be his wife Avraham took Keturah for a wife and had sons Avraham gave all he had to Yitzchak and sent away his other sons with gifts Avraham died at 175 years old and was buried in the cave with Sarah Generations and death at 135 years old of Yishma'el Haftarah Adoniyahu tried to be king but it was not given to him it was promised to Shlomo In this weeks portion we have a common thread in all the stories, they are about being chosen. The word chosen is Bahar which means to be selected after careful examination. The word is a root word and is speeled with a Bet, Chet, Resh which in the pictographs would be a house, tent wall or dive, and beginning. This could be interpreted as the house seperated in the beginning. Elohim seperated light and darkness in the beginning. He then goes on through the whole book to show he has chosen light and not darkness and teaches us how to be light. Avraham was chosen in just as Noach and those before him based on how he represented Elohim's will which is equated to light. Sarah was also chosen and Avraham mourns over Sarah and retells her life and weeps. Avraham then selects a servant of his to find a wife for Yitzchak his son and is very sure to tell his servant not to take her from the women of Kena'an because he knows the importance of the wife in a household. It is them who bring forth the children and who teach them and serve their husband. Careful examination must be made for the wife to be chosen for his son. What traits does he select for his wife, and what is important? He says he will ask for a drink of water and the woman who gives him drink is the first test. It reminds me of the statement of our master who said when a person asked you for a drink and you gave not, so also you gave not to me. In this way we know that how she treats a stranger whether with kindness or not will be the way she will treat her husband also. It paints a beautiful picture in that how you treat the servant so you treat the master. Messiah spoke these words also to the Pharisees who rejected him and thus rejected the Father who sent him. The second test for the wife is would she go beyond what was asked of her, beyond graciousness to humble herself in servitude. If she will do such to a stranger how much more to her husband. This teaches women a valuable lesson in what Elohim finds acceptable for how a woman should treat not just her husband but all guests. Do you stop what your doing and offer to do more than asked for with your husband? Do you respond to his requests with kindness and go beyond the request. These are things that must be present in a mairrage. With great Joy he knew she was a good wife for his master and the chosen one. How can we learn from how Elohim choses a wife. Should we also be practicing this if we are to be his son's wife. When will he send a servant to decide if we are the chosen one? Have we been visited before? Notice last weeks parasha when Avraham was visited. Did he offer hospitality? Did he go beyond what most would do? If we are to be chosen of Elohim we will be visited and tested, thuroughly examined to see what we do on earth meets the higher standards in heaven. Shalom A disciple should diligently search for the truth and humbly deny and reconsider it's possession.    Report

11-17-2007, 8:12 AM LovingNeighbor Joined on 02-10-2006 Washington Posts 397 Chayei Sarah Parasha 2007-8 Message Lovingneighbor A Place to Rest For Parasha Chayei Sarah By Lovingneighbor 11-3-2007 This weeks Parasha is in the book of Genesis also called B'reisheet, and is called Chayei Sarah which means 'Sarah's Life'. In this weeks parasha: - Sarah was 127 years old when she died in Chevron - Avraham asked the children of Chet for a burial place - Avraham asks the people to ask Efron to sell his cave in Makhpelah - Efron told everyone he would give it to Avraham for free - Avraham paid Efron 400 pieces of silver instead of taking it for free - Avraham buried Sarah in the cave in the field of Makhpelah - Avraham made his servant swear he would go and get a wife for Yitzchak from his country and his kindred - The servant asks Elohim to let the woman he asks for water who says she will also water the camels be the wife for Yitzchak - Rivka came to the well and the servant asked for a drink - After she gave him drink she offered to water his camels also - After she finished the servant put an earing in her nose and bracelets on her hands - Rivka told her family what happened and they invited the servant in - They set before him food but he would not eat until he told his message - He told them how much Avraham was blessed by Elohim and given a son in his old age - He said my master made me sware I would not take a wife of Kena'an for his son - I said what if the woman Elohim shows me will not follow me and he said then you shall be clear from the oath - Elohim showed me Rivka now tell me if she will go - They said she shall go and the servant worshipped YHWH - In the morning he was ready to go but the family wanted her to stay longer so they asked Rivka she said I will go - So they sent away Rivka and blessed her - Yitzchak was in the field and saw the camels coming - Yitzchak met Rivka and took her to be his wife - Avraham took Keturah for a wife and had sons - Avraham gave all he had to Yitzchak and sent away his other sons with gifts - Avraham died at 175 years old and was buried in the cave with Sarah - Generations and death at 137 years old of Yishma'el - Haftarah Adoniyahu tried to be king but it was not given to him it was promised to Shlomo In this weeks parasha we see the story of Sarah's death and how Avraham looks for a field to bury her in. We see how he desires his servant to find a suitable wife for his son. What do these two things have in common? They are both a place to rest. Burial in these times and in the scriptures is a big deal. We see Yosef asking for his bones to be buried in a certain place, We see Moshe's body taken away by Elohim and buried in a secret place, We see in this parasha the importance of Avraham getting a certain place for Sarah and him to be buried and later Yitzchak and Rivka are buried there also, and we see with Mashiach the particular mention of his burial place. One could take from these scriptures that burial was not a casual or unimportant deal biblically. The word for burial is Kawbar H6912 spelled Quf, Beyt, Resh which in the Ancient Hebrew could mean Sun at the horizon or circle, family or house, and beginning. One interpretation for that word would be that both the sun at the horison and circle are a path that returns to it's origin. Like the verse of us comming from the ground and returning to the ground. Second is the family or house which when added to the beginning would mean that the cycle we call our life will return to the beginning and I think that the big question is who will be in what family. This is the measure of our lives are we the children of the devil or the children of Elohim as the parable of the wheat and tares points that this is the division at the end of the world. So at your burial you will be joined to your family whether it is Elohim or satan. This is a big observation because we will see one of the main promises tied to this word is to be gathered to your people. It's first use is with Avraham in the promise of the covenant. Gen 15:13 And he said unto Avram, Know of a surety that your seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; Gen 15:14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. Gen 15:15 And you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. Gen 15:16 But in the fourth generation they shall come here again: for the lawlessness of the Amori is not yet full. Gen 47:29 And the time drew nigh that Yisra'el must die: and he called his son Yosef, and said unto him, If now I have found grace in your sight, put, I pray you, your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray you, in Egypt: Gen 47:30 But I will lie with my fathers, and you shall carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their buryingplace. And he said, I will do as you have said. Gen 35:29 And Yitzchak gave up the spirit, and died, and was gathered unto his people, being old and full of days: and his sons Esav and Ya'akov buried him. One the opposite side we see a curse of not being gathered to your people and not being buried. Jer 25:33 And the slain of YHWH shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground. We see it is a big deal to be buried with your family Gen 49:31 There they buried Avraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Yitzchak and Rivkah his wife; and there I buried Leah. Not being buried is worse it says than not being born Ecc 6:3 If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that a miscarriage is better than he. So what does Sarah's burial and Yitzchaks wife selection have to do with each other. Well the burial place was in a field and it was a cave. This can be a beautiful description of a woman. Like the field left to herself she will bring forth weeds and sorrow and work. If a father prepares the woman for the man as it says in B'reisheet to dress and keep the garden, then he will not have as much work to do. But if a father is negligent and lazy with his daughter he will hand over a very tough piece of land to his son in law. Either way with enough work it wil produce good fruit and multiply and prolong your life by having children. One of the overall themes in the scriptures is about the promised land. In this scenario we see it is about the promised wife. Even there there are giants inhabitating the promised good and fruitful land but us men must go in and possess that good land. How many men nowadays won't rule over and posess their wives. I don't care how hard it is you can and must work the land until it becomes fruitful. Are your children weeds or fruit trees. Alot of that has to do with what you've don'e with your wife because she is with the kids all day. Men just won't work these days. They don't want confrontation. They look at the men arguing with their wife and say take it easy. Yeah right. They may be starving when the harvest comes. Women jump in to save the wife who is being corrected or pushed too hard with a look of the eyes they try and help one of their own. Help yourself. You yourself are a hard piece of land. The last thing people want is your garned making theirs look bad, or your work making them look lazy. Who will till the ground. Whose field will be a garden of fruit. The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. It's amazing to me the concern that Avraham puts in choosing a good field for himself and for his son in his future wife. One who is a profitable servant. Not sitting to eat until his work is done. Like the parable the master tells and after he does all he was supposed to hi is called an unprofitable servant because he only did what he was supposed to and added nothing extra to it. This is the test of Rivka. Would she only do what was asked of her or would she bear fruit. If a tree only places itself it is a tree that doesn't multiply. An unprofitable tree. A tree that bears fruit then multiplies seed and becomes more profitable as time goes on. In this same way Rivka is a profitable servant. A woman who bears fruit. Respect and honor are what is commanded and yet many wives don't even have this. And where then is the fruit? should they be thanked for cleaning the house such as the servant who worked in the field all day. I don't say this to say you should not be thankful or appreciative, but wives need to wake up and realize they need to bear fruit going beyond what is required which many aren't. You don't go this journey alone but you must get up and work your husband can't bear fruit for you. I am standing before you not as a man who has eaten of the harvest but as a man who is working in the field crying out to the men sitting under the trees in the shade. " Harvest is coming, Work or starve!" and to those working let's all work harder. No fruit without work! No fruit without work! Women you should beg to be corrected because it is food for you and your family. What good is a man who brings home a meal if you will refuse to eat. Work together and live. If you are lazy or your wife stubborn you may both die when harvest comes. A good woman is a resting place for you from the world and rest to your soul. A place to go, peace to your bones. A good woman is an inheritance to your kids and a fruitful field for all who draw near. Allow your husbands to work their field because it is all they have and without fruit from that field the whole family will starve. A good field with no man to work it is as useless as a man who has no field. Elohim has blessed us with an inheritance lets not be lazy or afraid to go in and possess it. Jdg 18:9 And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good: and are you still? be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land. Shalom! A disciple should diligently search for the truth and humbly deny and reconsider it's possession.    Report

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