SERIES A --- YHVH’S PIONEERS -- LESSON 18
SARAH’S DEATH
SARAH DIES AND IS BURIED
From Genesis 23
Sarah died at the age of a hundred and twenty-seven at Kiriath-arba, known also as Hebron; and Abraham mourned and wept for her there. Then he stood up from his mourning to speak with the sons of Heth. [I am a stranger here, but I would like to bury my dead in this place,] he told them. [I would like to buy a burial place from you.] [You are one of YHVH’s princes, living here among us,] they answered. [Choose the best of our sepulchres and not one of us will refuse to let you have it.] Abraham bowed low before the Hittites, the people of that land, and said to them, [If you will let me bury my dead among you, ask Ephron, Zohar’s son, to sell me the cave of Machpelah at the end of his field. I will pay the full price for it so that I may have it for my family cemetery.] Ephron was sitting there with his neighbours so he answered Abraham in the presence of the other Hittites gathered at the city gate. [Let me give you the field, my lord, and the cave that is in it,] he said. [In the presence of all my people, I give it to you. Go and bury your dead.] Abraham bowed before the people of the land. [Listen to me,] he said. [I will give you the full price for the field. Accept it so that I may bury my dead.] [My lord,] Ephron replied. [The land is worth four hundred pieces of silver. But what is that between me and you?] In the presence of the other Hittites, Abraham weighed out the amount Ephron had stated in the money used by the merchants. So, Abraham legally bought the field with the cave, and all the trees in the field to its boundaries. The sale was witnessed by the Hittites who gathered at the city gate, and the land became Abraham’s. Then Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field at Machpelah, near Mature at Hebron, in the land of Canaan. The field and the cave in it were deeded by the sons of Heth to Abraham for a burial site, a permanent family cemetery.
COMMENTARY
OLD AGE
Sarah lived to see her son Isaac become a man. When she died, Abraham bargained for a choice burial place. The people with whom he bargained, the Hittites, and the very location, the cave at Machpelah, are both well known today. Abraham weighed out the purchase price on scales. Sorrowing, he laid his wife to rest. One generation had passed. The story of YHVH’s people would now continue in Abraham and Sarah’s son. Commercials and advertisements everywhere in today’s civilized world loudly proclaim their products’ ability to turn back the hands of time. They promise the buyer a new and years-younger appearance with powders, creams, dyes, clothes, makeup and even perfume. The ancient Israelites would have been amused at this modern quest for eternal youth. In Bible times old age was considered a blessing from YHVH and grey hair was a badge of honour. Every man desired a long life and the respect from others that came with it. Young people looked to the old for wisdom and guidance. Positions of leadership were entrusted to the aged. In the early chapters of Genesis, the people of ancient times lived to a great old age. A single lifetime might span almost a thousand years in the days before the Great Flood. Methuselah, the oldest man in the Bible, is described as having lived to be nine hundred and sixty-nine years old. After Noah, the human life span gradually declined. By the time of Abraham, two hundred years had become the limit of a long life. Isaac, the oldest of the patriarchs, lived to be one hundred and eighty years old, but his grandson, Joseph, died at the age of one hundred and ten. Because they lived longer, Bible-time men and women married late in life. Many people today marry in their late teens or early twenties, but some of these men married anywhere from forty to ninety. Esau took his Hittite wives at the age of forty and his twin brother Jacob was over eighty before he married Rachel and Leah. In ancient times the wife was often much younger than her husband. A man wanted to marry a young woman so that she could bear him many sons. But the strain and dangers of childbirth cut short the life span of many Old Testament women. Rachel, Jacob’s favourite wife, died after the birth of Benjamin. For the man or woman who survived the years, old age brought the respect of their juniors. But the passing of time then, as now, also meant the decline of physical strength. The writer of Ecclesiastes mourned the weakening eyesight and the loss of vigour that accompany old age. Human disabilities like these plagued even the great personalities of the Old Testament. Isaac and Jacob were hindered by blindness and King David suffered from poor circulation in his last years. With the lack of proper medicine and health care, it is somewhat amazing that anyone lived to old age. No wonder they were honoured so much by the young!
Thought for Today: Wednesday December 07:
May you focus more on Yeshua’s Goodness today, than on your badness. May you get excited about His Supply instead of despairing over what you lack in yourself. May you look to Him and imagine what is possible instead of looking down at what seems impossible. YHVH is doing a new thing in your midst. Lean in and look for Him with expectancy today, for every good gift comes from Him and He Loves His children deeply. Choose Joy!
Shalom, Has anyone attended Growing in Torah located in Orosi California ?
i see confusion about the sabbath day and remind folks that the luciferians, via their "holy roman empire" which was not holy and was not roman and was not an empire, created new calendars seeking to change the times and seasons alongside their khazarian mafia founders.
if you want to know how to measure the sabbath, i am not the only one who has poured hundreds of hours of investigation into the matter but my conclusions closely mirror the ones Mikal put together in his very well constructed educational video:
Q69: Who proclaims, "Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of his judgment is come..."?
#quiz
Source: www.biblequiz.biz
PS: Discussions are very welcome, but please do not give the answer away in your discussions.
Rev 14:6-7
Those of the Negeb shall possess Mount Esau, and those of the Shephelah shall possess the land of the Philistines; they shall possess the land of Ephraim and the land of Samaria, and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.
Obadiah 1:19
This isn't a reference to Arabs or any other non-Israelite people, but to the descendants of Jacob who were once driven to remote places. God will bring them back and eventually restore them to the full extent of the Promised Land.
SERIES A --- YHVH’S PIONEERS --- LESSON 17
YHVH WILL PROVIDE
ABRAHAM OFFERS ISAAC
From Genesis 22
One day YHVH arranged a test for Abraham, to see if he would trust and obey YHVH no matter what He asked him to do. [Abraham!] YHVH called. [I am here,] Abraham answered. [Take your only son Isaac, whom you love dearly, to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on the mountain I will show you,] Adonai said. Early the next morning Abraham saddled his donkey, split the wood for the burnt offering, and left for Moriah with Isaac and two servants. On the third day, Abraham saw Moriah from a distance. [Stay here with the donkey,] Abraham told the two young servants. [Isaac and I will go over there to worship and we will return.] Abraham put the wood for the fire on Isaac’s shoulders while he carried the torch and knife. Then the two of them set out together for Moriah. [My father,] said Isaac. [Yes, I am here,] Abraham answered. [I see the torch and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?] Isaac inquired. [YHVH Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son,] Abraham said. The two walked on together until they came to the place which YHVH had told him about. Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on top of the wood. Then he took the knife and prepared to kill Isaac with it. But as Abraham was ready to plunge the knife into Isaac, the Angel of Adonai called to him from heaven. [Abraham! Abraham!] the Angel called. [Here I am,] said Abraham. [Do not harm the lad,] the Angel said. [Now I know for sure that you trust YHVH completely, for you have not held back one thing in your life, not even your only son whom you love so much.] When Abraham looked up, he saw a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. He took the ram and offered it for a burnt offering instead of his son. Abraham called that place YHVH-Yireh, which meant [Adonai Will Provide.] It was still called that at the time this was written. Once again, the Angel of Adonai called from heaven. [I have sworn by Myself that because you have followed My Command exactly and did not withhold even your only son, I will bless you greatly and will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens and the sand of the seashore; and your descendants will conquer their enemies and will bless all the nations of the earth, for you have obeyed Me.] Then Abraham and Isaac returned to the two servants, and they travelled back to Beersheba. Abraham made his home there at Beersheba for a while. About that same time Abraham heard that his brother Nahor and his wife Milcah had eight sons. Their names were Uz, Buz, Kemuel the father of Aram, Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel, who became the father of Rebekah. Nahor had other children by his concubine Reumah. They were Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.
COMMENTARY
THE MOUNTAINS OF THE LAND
Human sacrifice, although sometimes practiced in Abraham’s day, was forbidden by YHVH. What must Abraham have thought when YHVH told him to sacrifice Isaac, the child through whom his descendants were to come? Abraham obeyed… expecting YHVH to somehow keep His promise. Then, at the place of sacrifice, YHVH did provide. A ram, caught by its horns in a thicket, was substituted on the altar for Isaac. From north to south, a range of mountains formed a backbone through the central part of Palestine. These mountains played an important part in the history of Israel. In time of war, the mountains became a natural defence. It was almost impossible, and certainly not effective, for chariots to be used in these mountains. Chariots were made for battle in the broad plains. The mountains mentioned in the Bible remain today as continuing landmarks, out-living man-made cities, towns and buildings. Names of mountains remain much the same throughout Bible history, and even until modern times. Foreign religions often crowned a mountain or hill with a pagan temple or shrine, dedicated to a heathen god. At low points in their history, Israelites joined their neighbours to worship these pagan gods in the mountains. In the days of the Hebrew kings, high places were erected where the Israelites went to sacrifice or worship YHVH. Perhaps Israelites and Canaanites wanted to take their worship as close to heaven as possible. YHVH often revealed Himself upon a mountain. He made His promise to Noah on Mount Ararat and confirmed Abraham’s faith in Him on Mount Moriah. Moses received the Law on Mount Sinai and Yeshua was transfigured on Mount Hermon or Mount Tabor. Thus, the mountains were vital to the people, in war, in worship, and in daily living.
After speaking with two different pastors who need to prepare funeral services for children this week I am amazed how many forget what the Bible teaches us...
We are not born to die, we are created to live!
Even the long lived Methuselah's life on this earth is less than the blink of an eye when compared to eternity.
But in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape, and it shall be holy, and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions.
Obadiah 1:17
God has promised that he will always preserve a remnant of the physical descendants of Jacob so that he can fulfill his promises to Jacob. They will repent. They will be restored to the land, and all their enemies will submit to the King of Israel or be erased from history.
Blessings everyone.
In this article, I explore one of the fundamental characteristics of a worshipper. Worship is indeed a mystery, but mysteries, if we genuinely and humbly ask, will be revealed. Worship is the foundational key to establishing the habitation of God among the community of His people. It must be given to God in the way that He desires and not in how we feel it should be. Our perception of worship and the way we offer it to God is learned from our experiences, but are they correct? Worship should be natural. I hope this offering will give you something to think about.
https://www.grantsmarshall.com..../post/has-god-found-
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