11.16.25 ~ More than Skin Deep

Good morning!

As was the custom in the early church of Acts, the believers would meet on the Sabbath to study the Torah (Acts. 15:21). As many of you know, the Torah is divided into portions for weekly reading and study. Even though we have finished the Torah portions dealing with the life of Sarah, the truths of this portion carry on even today (Gen. 23-25).

In Sarah’s Torah portion we find that her beauty is referenced several times and twice at the beginning of her introduction (Gen. 12:11,14); a reality that every society focuses on today (from different vantage points)


And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair/yafat woman to look upon: (Gen. 12:11)

And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair./yafat (Gen. 12:14)

The custom during Abraham’s day, and now in the Middle east is for a woman to cover most of her face with a veil and to dress very, very modestly, in layers of loose, flowing robes which concealed all their womanly attributes and endowments from view. The western mindset is to bare the skin, the middle-eastern mindset is to cover the skin acting as the great equalizer. Take the most beautiful woman, dress her in ancient desert dress, cover her face with a veil, ride her around on a donkey, camel, the back of a motorcycle or a rickshaw in the windstorms and heat and cold of this beautiful country for a few months, and then put her fully covered in a line-up with the homeliest daughters of the desert, do you really believe you could tell the difference?

Sarah had the kind of beauty that did not diminish even in the latter stages of her life. She was so beautiful that wherever she went, rich and powerful kings, men accustomed to getting what they wanted, desired her. But just what kind of beauty was it that Sarah possessed?

The Hebrew word used of Sarah, and others in Scripture, and is translated as ‘beautiful’ in Genesis 12:11 is yafat (yod, feh, tav). It comes from the verb root yafah (yod, feh, hey).

Pictographically, these letters paint the mural of the hand [yod], and the mouth [feh], serving as a source of revelation and inspiration [hey]. At 65 Sarai was still so beautiful. How can this be recognized when the women cover themselves so modestly? Maybe, just maybe there is more to this concept of beauty than the Western mindset displays? The word yafat replaces the hey with a tav. Now we see Sarah with both her deeds and her words make the richness and blessing of the covenant of Yahweh come to life wherever she goes.

One might ask, "how does this apply to me as a man"? If you are or are becoming the bride of Messiah, like Rebekah was to Isaac, we can adorn the same yafah.

Happy 1st day of the week!

Shalom,
Alan

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