Parasha Chayei Sarah

Bereshit (Genesis) 23:1 –25:18
M’lakhim Alef (1st Kings) 1:1 –31
Brit Chadasha: Mt. 8:19 –22; 27:3 –10 And Lk. 9:57 -62

The Aleph Tav

In the Revelation of Yeshua Ha Mashiach to John we find 4 references to the Aleph Tav, the first and last letters of the Hebrew Aleph Bet; Rev. 1:8, 1:11, 21:6 and 22:13. The translation reads “I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending.” Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek Alphabet. Messiah Yeshua is a Hebrew man and not a Greek man therefore He would have said “I am the Aleph and the Tav, the beginning and the ending. He is the entire Hebrew Aleph Bet from A to Z so to speak therefore He is ALL the Hebrew letters, ALL the Hebrew words. Jn. 1:1 confirms this understanding. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Elohim, and the Word was Elohim. He was in the beginning with Elohim.”
In its ancient form the Aleph Tav would read “strength of the covenant.”
1 Corin. 10:1 –11: “Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moshe in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Messiah. But with most of them Yehovah was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; nor let us tempt Messiah, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.”
Two thousand years ago, they believed they were living at the end of the age; truly we are much closer to the end of the age than they were.

חיַּיֵ שׂרָָה “the life of Sarah”

Parasha Highlights:

The death of Sarah
The purchase of the burial cave at Machpelah
Eliezer, the servant of Abraham, seeks a wife for Isaac
Abraham remarries
The death of Abraham
The title of this Parasha is “the Life of Sarah” however it begins with her death. Scripture doesn’t really have much to say regarding her life. Sarah was the first woman to conceive a child after the seal of the Covenant was given, which was the circumcision.
I believe we have a birthday and a death day. Ps. 139:16 tells us “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (NIV) **The number of years to the life of Sarah are therefore significant.
Our Parasha opens in 23:1-4: “Sarah lived one hundred years and twenty years and seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. And Sarah died in Kiryat Arba; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her. And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spoke to the sons of Heth, saying, I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a burying place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”
Since nothing in Scripture is arbitrary, the number of years in the Chayei Sarah (the life of Sarah) 1, 20 and 7 direct our attention to the week of Messiahs’ death as well Yehovahs’ Festival cycle; the “appointed times” or “moedim.” These numbers speak to the 1st and 2nd redemptions as well as the final ingathering of the 7th millennia. An interesting fact is that Queen Esther reigned over 127 provinces.
The previous Parasha has already given us a hint. Recall Isaac, a type and shadow of Yeshua, was born at the season of Pesach, Passover. Pesach is the 1st of the “appointed times.” Ge. 22:8″ “Abraham said, My son, Elohim will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so, they went both of them together.” **the Aleph Tav was connected to Isaac, a type and shadow of Yeshua.
Jn. 1:25 –29 tells us: “Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. And they asked him (John the immerser), saying, ‘why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Eliyahu, nor the Prophet?’ John answered them, saying, ‘I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to lose.’ These things were done in Bethabara, beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day John saw Yeshua coming toward him and said, ”’look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!'”

The week of Messiahs’ death

Jn. 19:1 –2: “So, then Pilate took Yeshua and scourged Him. And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe.

The crown of “thorns” directs our attention back to the Akeidah, the binding of Isaac, and the Aleph Tav Ram caught in the thicket. The first Aleph Tav in scripture is the 4th word in order, therefore Pesach would have occurred on the 4th day of the week (Wednesday); the week of Yeshua’s death. Jn. 19:30 records “So when Yeshua had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. Yeshua surrenders His life at 3:00 p.m. on the 14th day of the 1st month; the same time of day all the Pascal offerings are finished. The Pascal lambs, including Yeshua, are sacrificed at 3:00 p.m. which is considered “between the evenings,” on the 14th day of the first month. He was placed in the borrowed tomb “between the evenings” on the 14th. The first full day in the tomb was from sundown on the 15th, the second full day in the tomb was from sundown on the 16th with His resurrection on the 3rdd ay, “between the evenings,” the 17th day of the first month; the Shabbat; three days and nights in the tomb just as Yeshua prophesied in Mt. 12:39 –41.
Mt. 12:39 –41 Yeshua replied, “A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now One greater than Jonah is here.”

The 1st Redemption

The 1st redemption began with the 1st official Pesach, Passover. This cannot be a coincidence. The four expressions of redemption are found in Ex. 6:5: “And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant ( אֶת־בְּרִיתִֽי ). Therefore, say to the children of Israel: ‘I am Yehovah; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians (the separation of the holy and the profane), I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you as My people, and I will be your Elohim. Then you shall know that I am Yehovah your Elohim who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.'”
The 1st redemption began with judgment against Egypt, the ten plagues; so, there was tribulation in the land. Ex. 12:1 –7: ‘Now Yehovah spoke to Moshe and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, ‘this month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: on the tenth (the day Yeshua entered Jerusalem for the last time) of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it.'” V 13: “Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood ( אתֶ־הדַָּם ), I will pass over (Pesach) you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
The birth of Isaac at Pesach, Passover, is a foreshadow of Yeshua as the Pascal lamb. Pesach is a Covenant Festival directing us to the ultimate Pascal offering, Yeshua and His Aleph Tav blood.
The blood on the doorposts and lintels is another separation; the separation of Covenant Israel and those that chose the world system. Recall eight is the number for covenant so, it should not be a surprise to us that the eighth letter of the Aleph Bet, the Chet, means divide or separate.

The 2nd redemption

The 2nd redemption will follow the pattern of the 1st which means there will be tribulation i.e. the plagues found in Rev. 15:1 -3 Seven Angels With Seven Plagues: I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last because with them God’s wrath is completed. And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name. They held harps given to them by God and sang the song of God’s servant Moshe and of the Lamb.
Rev. 16:1 –4: “Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, ‘go, pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.’ The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly, festering sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead person, and every living thing in the sea died. The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say…
Rev. 8 –18: “The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was allowed to scorch people with fire. They were seared by the intense heat, and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him. The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in agony and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done. The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. Then I saw three impure spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. They are demonic spirits that perform signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty. Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.” Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, ‘it is done!’ Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since mankind has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake.”
Plagues preceded the 1st redemption then the season of Pesach. Plagues will also precede the 2nd redemption followed by the season of Pesach; possibly the final festival cycle before the Second Advent of Yeshua.
Ecc. 3:1 “To everything there is a season (appointed time), a time for every purpose under heaven.”

Acts 17:31 “Because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” **Recall the luminaries are a creation from day four with the specific purpose of establishing times and seasons, the “appointed times.”

Seven, the final ingathering

The final redemption or second exodus is a series of events that will occur at the end of the age prior to the return of Messiah Yeshua at the beginning of the Messianic Age (or Millennium). The redeemed believers will receive their spiritual or glorified bodies at the resurrection of the dead, which occurs at the second coming of Yeshua. After that, they will rule and reign with Yeshua for a thousand years during the Messianic Age.
Jer. 23:3 – 8: “But I will gather the remnant ( אֶת־שְׁאֵרִית ) of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking, says Yehovah. Behold, the days are coming,” says Yehovah, that I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; a King shall reign and prosper and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. ( יהְֹוהָ צדְִקנֵוּ )” Therefore, behold, the days are coming, says Yehovah, ‘that they shall no longer say, as Yehovah lives who brought up the children ( אתֶ־בְּניֵ ) of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ but, ‘as Yehovah lives who brought up and led the descendants (אתֶ־זרֶַע ) of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ And they shall dwell in their own land.”
It’s interesting to note the timing of this prophecy’s fulfillment. This second exodus regathering corresponds with Yeshua’s reigning over this earth and executing judgment—something that will not happen until Yeshua’s second coming when he will defeat his enemies and establish his millennial kingdom on earth; the 7th millennia. So, we see from this passage that the second exodus, when scattered Israel is regathered and returns to dwell safely in the land of Israel coincides with the second coming of Yeshua and the beginning of His millennium reign.
Jere. 16:19: “Yehovah, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in the day of affliction, the gentiles shall come to You from the ends of the earth and say, ‘surely our fathers have inherited lies, worthlessness and unprofitable things.’ Will a man make gods for himself, which are not gods? Therefore behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know My hand and My might, and they shall know that My name is Yehovah.
In conclusion, Israel was living among the gentiles of Egypt in the 1st redemption and Covenant Israel is still living among the gentile population preceding the 2nd redemption. The Covenant of Yehovah is fulfilled as a Covenant of peace when the Kingdom is restored and under the rulership of Messiah forever (in the 7th millennia).
While the bridegroom is away it is incumbent upon the bride to prepare herself. 24:61 tells us that Rebecca and her maidens arose and rode upon the Ten camels…Doesn’t this lead us to the parable of the Ten virgins?

Haftarah

M’lakhim Alef (1 Ki.) 1:1 –31
Our Haftarah recounts the final days of King David. His son Adonijah calls himself the crown prince which means he would be the next King instead of Solomon.
Adonijah represents a false kingdom that is not the kingdom ordained by Yehovah. Adonijah had the support of some of King David’s’ leadership while others remained loyal to the anointed King. There would be only one ordained King.
1 Ki. 1:13 tells us: “Go immediately to King David and say to him, ‘Did you not, my lord, O king, swear to your maidservant, saying, ‘assuredly your son Solomon shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne'”? Why then has Adonijah become king?’ **Yeshua descends from the “third” son born to him in Jerusalem, Nathan (2 Sam. 5:14 see also Lk. 3:31).
There was a false (spiritual) kingdom prior to the 1st redemption, and we currently see a false (spiritual) kingdom during the time prior to the 2nd redemption.

Brit Chadasha

Mt. 8:19 –22 v 22 But Yeshua replied, “follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” Our Parasha speaks to the death of two people, Sarah and Abraham.
Mt. 27:3 –10 Speaks to the purchase of a burial field.
Lk. 9:57 -62 Let the dead bury their own dead.