Bless YHVH the blessed One; Blessed is YHVH, the blessed One for all eternity. Blessed are you, YHVH, our Elohim, King of the Universe, you have selected us from among all the peoples, and have given us your Torah. Blessed are you, YHVH, giver of the Torah. Amein.
ושׂרי אשׁת
Sarai wife of ……
Gen 16:1 And
Sarai, Aḇram’s wife, had borne him no child. And she had a Mitsrite female
servant whose name was Haḡar.
This is the story of
two women – two covenants - Sarai and Hagar. I believe the narrative wants us
to focus on Sarai, not just as Avram’s wife, but a woman who deserves our
careful covenantal scrutiny. Sarai faced with a long season of barrenness presents
different midrashim; we shall seek to explore some of them. It appears that those
whom He chooses will always face the temptation of going down to
Egypt/Mistzraim (manmade religion) to seek covenantal life. Those whom YHVH has
called and chosen will be confronted with a season(s) of barrenness. Sarai chooses
to bear the pain and humiliation for as long as she can but then decides to
solve her barrenness herself. On the other hand, Hagar is born in Egypt/Mitsrayim.
Her name means ‘’flight’’ - ‘’Hagar’’ can also mean “the stranger” “ha ger” – ‘’a
convert’’
Some sages refer to
Mitzraim as a ‘’covenantal birth canal’’. In other words, even in the midst of
trials and tribulations –new hope, new life, heavenly life, covenant life can
be born. (Strongs 4714 – ‘’double staits’’- ie narrow, constricted and tight)
Maybe we should take
another look at barrenness. Every great work and calling of YHVH seems to come
from a place of barrenness – Yahshua, Moshe, Yochanan the immerser, the nation
of Yisrael and even the bride of Messiah in the last days.
Hos 2:14 “Therefore, see, I am alluring her, and shall
lead her into the wilderness, and shall speak to her heart,
Gen 16:2 And Sarai said to Aḇram,
“See, יהוה has kept me from bearing
children. Please, go in to my female servant. It might be that I am built up by
her.” And Aḇram listened to the voice of Sarai.
Gen 16:3 And Sarai, Aḇram’s wife, took Haḡar her female servant, the Mitsrian, and gave her to her husband Aḇram to be his wife, after Aḇram had dwelt ten years in the land of Kena‛an.(Even in the Promised Land His people faced trails and testings)
Kena’an comes from a Hebrew word S3665 and can
mean to be “humbled.” We could conclude that after being tested, Sarai could no
longer bear the humiliation of being barren; she was humbled in her own sight
and went about doing something in her own wisdom and strength to remedy her
barrenness.
Heb 5:8 though being a Son, He learned obedience by what He suffered. Heb 5:9 And having been perfected, He became the Causer of everlasting deliverance to all those obeying Him,
Avraham
would have to wait for many years before his promised son – Yitschak would be
born – (Gen
12:4 So Aḇram left, as יהוה had commanded him, and Lot went with him.
And Aḇram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Ḥaran,)
Isa 48:10 … I have chosen you in
the furnace of affliction.[a] Footnote: aSee also Deu_8:2-16. בְּחַרְתִּיךָ,
בְּכוּר עֹנִי
Def ‘’oni’’ – Strongs 6040 - BDB Definition: affliction, poverty, misery – Mat 5:3
Is this not
the story of Yahshua’s bride? Sarai means ‘’princess’’ A princess waiting for
her Bridegroom, however, she is barren. She is waiting, languishing in ‘’Egypt’’
until Her Bridegroom comes and she undergoes a transformation from Sarai to
Sarah – from princess to mother of nations. It is only in facing our barrenness
that we become candidates for the kingdom.
Act
14:22 strengthening the beings of the taught ones, encouraging them to
continue in the belief, and that through many pressures we have to enter the
reign of Elohim.
Joh
16:33 “These words I have spoken to you, that in Me you might have
peace. In the world you have pressure, but take courage, I have overcome the
world.”
Jer
12:5 “If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then
how do you contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, you feel safe,
then how do you manage in the Yarděn jungle?(swelling)
(Gen 17:15 And Elohim said to Aḇraham,
“As for Sarai your wife, do not call her name Sarai, for Sarah is her
name.
Gen 17:16 “And I shall bless her
and also give you a son by her. And I shall bless her, and she shall become
nations – sovereigns of peoples are to be from her.”
Gen 17:17 And Aḇraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Is a child born to a man who is a hundred years old? Or is Sarah, who is ninety years old, to bear a child?”)
Gen 16:5 And Sarai said to Aḇram, “My wrong be upon
you! I gave my female servant into your bosom. And when she saw that she had
conceived, I was despised in her eyes. Let יהוה judge between you and me.”
Gen 16:6 And Aḇram said to Sarai, “See, your female
servant is in your hand, do to her what is good in your eyes.” And Sarai
treated her harshly, and she fled from her presence.
Gen 16:7 And the Messenger of יהוה found her by a spring of
water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur,
Gen 16:8 and He said, “Haḡar, Sarai’s female servant,
where have you come from, and where are you going?” And she said, “I am fleeing
from the presence of Sarai, my mistress.”
Gen 16:9
And the Messenger of יהוה
said to her, “Return to your mistress, and humble yourself under her hand.”
Midrash: Even
in our day we continue to see the affects of the rivalry and rejection between
the descendants of Yitzchak and Yishmael; between those are chosen and those
who have not been chosen.
Even in
our day as believers we need to accept that we will have to come to terms with
the pain of rivalry and rejection – Mt 25 the parable of 10 virgins, five are
accepted five are rejected.
Gen
16:10 And the Messenger of יהוה said to her, “I am going to
increase your seed greatly, too numerous to be counted.”
Gen
16:11 And the Messenger of יהוה said to her, “See, you are
conceiving and bearing a son, and shall call his name Yishmaʽĕl, because
יהוה has heard your affliction.
Gen
16:12 “And he is to be a wild man, his
hand against every one and every one’s hand against him, and dwell over against
all his brothers.”
Gen
16:13 And she called the Name of יהוה who spoke to her, “You are
the Ěl who sees,” for she said, “Even here have I seen after Him who sees me?”
Gen 16:14 That is why the well was called Be’ĕr Laḥai Ro’i, see, it is between Qaḏĕsh and Bereḏ.
Hagar is one of the few people in scripture that YHVH speaks to directly. After this encounter Hagar calls YHVH ‘’the One who sees me’’ – see vs 13.
S883 - Beer-lahai-roi = “well of the
Living One seeing me” or “the well that belongs to one who sees while he is
living.”
http://thetorah.com/locating-beer-lahai-roi/
“About 5 Km
north of Petra, situated in a short Canyon is one of Petra’s business quarters.
Tourists call it “Little Petra,” - biblical Beer-lahai-roi. – “
Wells prove
to be very significant meeting places in the scriptures, perhaps even in the
future. Could Petra be a possible meeting place for a future bride of Messiah?
See also Ber/Gen 24:62 where Yitzchak meets Rivkah; Ber 29:10 Yakov meets
Rachel at a well where he falls in love with her. Avraham sent Eliezer to find
a wife for Yitzchak. Eliezer found Rivkah by a well.
Yahshua
also had an encounter with a Samaritan woman at a well – Yoh/John 4:6 Yakov’s
well. This Samaritan woman was possibly barren as she was put away by five
husbands. It was acceptable in those times to put away a wife who was barren.
Note
these people found water (life) in barren places.
Yisraelites
are called upon to be “well diggers” see Psalm 84. So that desperate wilderness
wonderers may have some chance of an encounter with the ‘’Water of Life’’
Joh 7:37 And on the last day, the great day of the festival,(this was the seventh and last day of Sukkot also called the Hoshiannah rabbah) יהושע stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me, and let him who believes in Me drink. Joh 7:38 “As the Scripture said, out of His innermost shall flow rivers of living water.
Gen
16:15 And Haḡar bore Aḇram a son, and
Aḇram called the name of his son, whom Haḡar bore, Yishmaʽĕl.
Gen
16:16 And Aḇram was eighty-six years
old when Haḡar bore Yishmaʽĕl to Aḇram.
Abraham and the
Covenant of Circumcision
(Gen 17:1 And
it came to be when Aḇram was ninety-nine years old, that יהוה appeared to Aḇram and said to him, “I am Ěl Shaddai – walk
before Me and be perfect.
Gen 17:2 “And
I give My covenant between Me and you, and shall greatly increase you.”
Gen 17:3 And
Aḇram fell on his face, and Elohim spoke with him, saying,
Gen 17:4 “As
for Me, look, My covenant is with you, and you shall become a father of many
nations.
Gen 17:5 “And no longer is your name called Aḇram, but your name shall be Aḇraham, because I shall make you a father of many nations.)
Paul’s midrash on this portion:
Gal 4:21 Say to me, you who wish to be under Torah, do you not hear the Torah? Gal 4:22 For it has been written that Aḇraham had two sons, one by a female servant, the other by a free woman. Gal 4:23 But he who was of the female servant was born according to the flesh, and he of the free woman through promise. Gal 4:24 This is allegorical, for these are the two covenants: one indeed from Mount Sinai which brings forth slavery, which is Haḡar,Gal 4:25 for this Haḡar is Mount Sinai in Araḇia, and corresponds to Yerushalayim which now is, and is in slavery with her children. Gal 4:26 But the Yerushalayim above is free, which is the mother of us all. Gal 4:27 For it has been written, “Rejoice, O barren, you who do not bear! Break forth and shout, you who do not have birth pains! For the deserted one has many more children than she who has a husband.” Gal 4:28 And we, brothers, as Yitsḥaq was, are children of promise. Gal 4:29 But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him born according to the Spirit, so also now. Gal 4:30 But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the female servant and her son, for the son of the female servant shall by no means be heir with the son of the free woman.” Gal 4:31 Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the female servant but of the free woman.
Gal 5:17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you desire to do. Gal 5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under Torah
Paul uses the term
“under the Torah” 11 times. In general we may categorize this phrase under two
general headings: 1. Under the condemnation of the Torah, 2. Under the errant teaching
that a gentile gains righteous status through the ritual of the proselyte ie
submitting to the Torah as the rabbi’s defined it.
Unfortunately vs 18
has often been misunderstood by Christians to mean that YHVH has done away with
the Torah. See Galatians Commentary page 61,62 by Tim Hegg.
The resolution of
the conflict described in vs 17 is clearly laid out here: being led by the
Ruach (Spirit) is the prime characteristic of those born from above – see Rom
8:4&14
Rom 8:4 so that the righteousness of the Torah should
be completed in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the
Spirit.
Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of Elohim, these are sons of Elohim.
Religion has accomplished ‘’much’’ without the help of YHVH – how infinitely more will we accomplish with His help. (Lev 10:10)
Jas (rather Yaqov) 1:25 But he that looked into the perfect Torah, that of freedom,[d] and continues in it, not becoming a hearer that forgets, but a doer of work, this one shall be blessed in his doing of the Torah. (Rom 10:17)
ושׂרי אשׁת
Sarai wife of …… a better covenant ….an eternal covenant …..
Baruch atah YHVH, Eloheinu, Melech
ha-‘Olam, asher natan lanu Toraht-emet, v’chai-yeh o’lam nata-b’tochenu. Baruch
atah YHVH, notein ha-Torah. Amein.
Blessed are you YHVH, our Elohim, King of
the Universe, you have given us your Torah of truth, and have planted
everlasting life within our midst. Blessed are you, YHVH giver of the Torah –
Amein.