Chayei Sarah “Life of Sarah”
It is customary for religiously practicing Jews to read from an annual cycle of weekly Old Testament readings called Torah Portions. This is said to be the same reading schedule that was taught every Sabbath in the Synagogues during the times of Jesus in the first century.
As Christians who profess our faith in Jesus, we study the Old Testament to understand the historical, cultural, and contextual background of the history of our heritage in Jesus. This is commonly known as the Messianic teachings of Christianity and is a part of our Saturday Church in Norman, Oklahoma, and Arlington, Tx.
While customs are not commandments there is beauty for believers in Jesus (Yeshua) to understand their identity as grafted into the covenants with Israel. As descendants of Abraham, all Christians are heirs according to the promise given to Abraham even before Sinai. Christians should study and learn the Torah and show respect for their Jewish brothers and sisters. It is through the study of the law that we see another level of greatness in Jesus who is the lawgiver and the greatest Torah teacher of all time.
Chayei Sarah is the Hebrew title for “Life of Sarah” and is the name for the weekly Torah portion reading for the Book of Genesis starting in chapter 23 verse 1 and going through chapter 25 verse 18.
It is also important to point out that along with the Torah portion readings and teachings, there are what are called Haftarah portions which are readings from the Bible in the books of the prophets. This week’s haftarah readings come from the book of 1 Kings in chapter 1 verses 1 through verse 31.
The gospel readings incorporated with the weekly Torah portion readings come from the book of John in chapter 4 with verses 3 through 14.
As Christians exploring the Torah portion cycle we must maintain a balance of including the Old Testament, the prophets, and the gospels in our weekly bible study.
Torah Portion Overview-
The name of the fifth reading from the Torah Portion cycle in the book of Genesis is called Chayei Sarah. The Hebrew title Chayei Sarah means “Life of Sarah” or “Sarah Lived.” It comes from the first verse of Genesis 23 where it says “Now Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years.” This Torah Portion is filled with sorrow and romance as it tells the story of how Abraham mourned for his wife after her passing. It also tells of how Abraham procured a wife for Isaac and concludes with Abraham being laid to rest beside his wife.
Torah Portion Scriptural Highlights-
Genesis 23:1 Sarah’s death and burial
Genesis 24:1 Isaac and Rebekah get married
Genesis 25:1 Abraham Marries Keturah
Genesis 25:7 The death of Abraham
Genesis 25:12 The descendants of Ishmael
Haftarah (Prophets) Scriptural Highlights-
1 Kings 1:1 Succession and the struggles
1 Kings 1:28 Solomon and his accession
Brit (Gospel) Scriptural Highlights-
John 4:7 Jesus and the Samaritan woan
John 4:14 Jesus the living water
The Book of Genesis “B’reisheet” which means “In the Beginning.”
The Old Testament is commonly referred to as the Torah. It is the most sacred of all of Israel’s Scriptures. Most of our modern Bibles include the Old Testament “Torah” as the first five books in the Bible. The name in Hebrew of the first book of the Bible (Genesis) is B’reisheet. The name “B’reisheet” comes from one of the opening phrases in the book of Genesis which means “In the Beginning.”
The Greek Septuagint is where we find the English name for “The Book of Origins” called “Genesis.”
The Book of Genesis is the story of the origin of creation. Through creation, we learn about the nature of God and His intentions for creation. In the book of B’reisheet we learn about the creation of the universe, the creation of human beings, the creation of living creatures, and then the covenants leading to the creation of the nation of Israel before the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai.
The first book in the Torah and the Christian Bible also have different spellings that derive from the different sects of Judaism and the Hebrew language. Bereshit, or Bereishith are also common spellings for Genesis “B’reisheet.”
As Messianic Christians, we find the book of Genesis and the stories therein, as a historical account of how we as believers are grafted into the covenants and promises of God with our forefathers and how we can learn to walk and learn from their actions.
To Watch an overview of this week’s Torah Portion CLICK HERE
