11.2.25 ~ Laughter is like Medicine...not this kind

Good morning!

I love the book of Genesis/Bereshit! The life lessons blow my mind, especially when it comes to our human relationships.

Sabbath morning zoom call. Lech Lecha/discover yourself: Who should I marry? Who will be my wife? Who will be Messiah's wife? 3 non-negotiable traits for the natural and spiritual relationships.

As I shared with you a couple days ago, Sarai, who later becomes known as Sarah is the behind the scenes character in the Abraham narrative. Her life has been a roller coaster of highs and lows emotionally and spiritually. And with the climax of Sarah giving birth to Isaac (Gen. 21:2), the covenant of circumcision is complete (Gen. 21:4), Sarah only has one thing to say: 'God has made a joke/tzawhak of me and whoever hears will laugh/tzawhak at me' (Gen. 21:6).

I know what some of you may be thinking, who double checked the reference (hopefully all of you :-)...that's not the way the verse reads in my bible. So, in defense of this translation, if we need to look closely at laughter/tzawhak. And to our amazement, we find sarcasm (Gen. 17:17; 18:12-15; 21:9).  

There is also a play on words with Isaac's name/yitzak, since his name comes from the same root word, tzawhak. Ironically, everyone who hears of the story of Isaac will mock the claim that he came from Sarah (Heb. 11:11). Fast forward a few thousand years to the supernatural birth of Yeshua (which is not Dec. 25 :-) and we will find the same. And, if we spiritualize your birth from above, taking into consideration the past, many mock/tzawhak you also.

Add to the linguistic evidence, Sarah's long history of difficulties in her journey with Abraham taints even the most joyous moments of life. She's waited her entire life for this moment. Up until now she's been abused emotionally, victimized and humiliated in her relation with the man to whom she was called (Isa. 51:1,2). Truly, it's hard to let go of the painful past; even if God brings you good news. She rejects the thought that she will once again enjoy pleasure/edna with the hope of conception.  She sees herself as a worn out set of clothes. Ugh. Can you relate?

Even with the ultimate gift of bearing the promised seed, she knows she'll be the laughing stock outside of those who are really in the 'know'. As with so many of us, the painful past of discontentment robs us of the joy in God's triumph...please don't let that happen!  Don't let the pain of your past experiences steal away the joy of God's cosmic purpose in your life.

Immediately following the 'weaning celebration' for Isaac (Gen. 21:8), we see the climax of Sarah's pain when she sees Ishmael mocking/tzawhak Isaac (Gen. 21:9). What does this mean? Was he just toying/tzawhak with him? Was he belittling/tzawhak him? Was he displaying his dominance/tzawhak over him? We don't know exactly. But, what we do know is that this teenage child of the flesh, Ishmael, is always going to mock the child of the Spirit and promise, Isaac (Gal. 5:16-17).

Understandably, Sarah's had it! She can't take it any more. It's time to drive out this slave woman and her son! This child is not going to share the inheritance with her son, Isaac (Gen. 21:10).

Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. (Gen. 21:10)

Do you find it strange that Sarah doesn't name Hagar or Ishmael (Gen. 21:10)? Can you imagine the emotion she has when she gets really direct with Abraham (Gen. 21:10)? Get rid of her and that child. I can't take this flesh any more. I am not going to risk the inheritance over this slave and child of the flesh (Rom. 6:12-17).

Sarah knew the power of the flesh, unharnessed, would disqualify an individual from the spiritual inheritance...hint, hint! Since the birth of Isaac, it's always been about inheritance! And, today, it's no different (Eph. 1:1-18).

Happy 1st day of the week!

Shalom,
Alan

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

3.8.25

Good morning! Have you ever considered the meaning of the 153 fish that were caught by Yeshua's disciples in John 21:4-12? You remember the story, right? It's the story many of us have experienced too often in our journey...we've been 'fishing' all night long and NOTHING. Then, with a listening ear, we grab our nets one more time, and with a mighty heave we throw the net in a different direction over the boat, and...my oh my, the boat's about to sink because there are so many fish in the net; yet the nets don't break. What a story! What a miracle! What 'fish finding vision Yeshua had'! What obedience; especially after doing it for so long 'my way'. What an enigma that Yeshua already had fish cooking on the shore when the boys arrived! What wisdom he displayed in His instructions to the boys! Am I listening, acting, and throwing in the right direction? Are my nets empty (Matt. 4:19)? Have you ever felt like you're outside the camp, isolate...
Read more

3.20.25

Good morning! Yesterday, we learned some essential truths about how to 'be still and know that He is God (Psa. 46:10). Today, I want to ask you a different question based on life's ability to throw a wide variety of circumstances at us!  One of the most difficult situations is when we are threatened by someone or some circumstance. Have you ever been threatened?  Oh, maybe no one came up to you with a gun, or shouted at you with malice, or told you that you were going to be tortured or punished.  Maybe all the threat you ever had was the innuendo of rejection, or the social snub or something much less violent than jail time.  But my guess is that if you are traveling the road with Yeshua, living a Torah lifestyle, you know what it means to be threatened. Every time the circumstances of your life look as though they are about to cave in, you are threatened.  It might not be a threat from a physical enemy, then again...but we all know that in one form or another t...
Read more

3.22.25

Good morning! Shabbat shalom! Although the portion of Vayakhel/and he assembled is almost entirely focused on the construction of the tabernacle, it begins by reminding the children of Israel that no work may be done on the Sabbath (Ex. 35:2,3). Why does it begin here rather than jumping right into how to construct the Tabernacle? Enquiring minds want to know :-) By placing the topic of the Sabbath against the construction of the Tabernacle it's God's way of defining the boundaries of the Sabbath...that even the most intimate work for the Lord needs to be put aside for His 'Date Day'. However, upon further investigation, there’s another layer to understand that connects us back to the golden calf (Ex. 32). As we know, while Moses was up on the mount getting the instructions from God the children of Israel decided to make an object that would replace Moses, their deliverer; The object, later known as the golden calf, originally intended as a 'necessary' means to ...
Read more