In Hebrew, the text literally reads, "And brought Isaac The Tent Sarah his mother..."

Sefer Zikaron  says, "The verse is to be read, 'to the tent Sarah, his mother,' which implies that he brought her to the tent, and there he viewed her in some respect as Sarah, his mother." And  Rashi  comments:  "And he brought her into the tent, and behold, she was Sarah his mother; that is to say, she became the image of Sarah his mother...."  In the tradition, when Rebekah entered the tent, the Shekinah, which had disappeared at Sarah's death, reappeared. 

The legacy of Sarah's life was extended to Rebekah, who was a little different from her kinfolk back in Nachor.  Now don't snore...the fun part's coming.

First, though, think of Sarah's life as a tent called Tent Sarah.  In last week's newsletter, we reviewed the tent as a symbol for a mortal human being, a temporary body that will be torn down in favor of a permanent house at the resurrection. "The House" is a metaphor for the Temple, yet the tent, or Tabernacle (Mishkan), contains the same basics as the permanent House.   In Judaism, Tent Sarah is known for three things:

• a Shabbat lamp that stayed lit from Erev Shabbat to Erev Shabbat, alluding to a time when 'from one Shabbat to another, all flesh shall come to worship Me,' says the LORD.
• dough that miraculously multiplied
• the cloud of the Shekinah that hovered over the tent

Messiah Yeshua came according to the expectation of Tent Sarah.  He proclaimed that he was the Light of the World, not just Judea and Galilee.  Like Tent Sarah, he was concerned about making souls among the nations.  Yeshua was prone to multiply both bread and fish, having prophetically symbolic numbers of starting pieces and leftover baskets that included both the tribes of Israel and the nations.  The cloud of the Shekinah hovered over Yeshua, prompting the disciples to offer to build sukkot, a symbol of the Feast of the Nations.  Oh, how Tent Sarah and Yeshua loved their "little children."

At the opening of his tent ( ohel) in Torah portion Vayera , Abraham 

1)  saw with open spiritual eyes, and 

2)   understood  what he saw.  

Sarah "heard" from her tent opening, which is obedience.  Together, the twin tents teach the essence of "Shma, Israel, YHVH your God is One," which requires the Israelite to bind the commandments on arm and head.  To hear is to obey, and to see is to understand more than the commandment, but its prophetic value to the individual and the entire Body of Messiah in eternity.  Abraham and Sarah's legacy was understanding the future of mankind in the resurrection and how obedience was a key testament to faith in that resurrection.

Okay, let's get to that snoring camel, Rebekah, and the Lower Garden.

Rebekah's location is on a higher spiritual level than her family's.  She must lower her water jug in order to give drink to the camels, which is exactly what the Rivers of Eden did, they "gave drink" to the whole Garden.  It is also what Yeshua offered at Sukkot on the Last Great Day, to "give drink" to all who were thirsty.  Rebekah is already exhibiting seeing and hearing behaviors necessary for return to the Garden of resurrection.  Her vision of Isaac will be vital to the narrative, but let's get back to the snoring camel.

When one lives on this fallen, physical earth without an expectation of resurrection to either reward or punishment, then he or she will "fall asleep."  Indeed, the key phrase of the Feast of Trumpets is "Awake, you Sleeper!  Arise from the dead!"  Rebekah lived and awaited her groom between First-Fruitfulness (the Euphrates) and Resurrection Days (the Tigris), both the Third and the Fifth Feasts: Firstfruits of the Barley, Yeshua's resurrection, and Feast of Trumpets, the Body of Messiah's resurrection.  Here are some key verses that hint to awaking from spiritual slumber. Isaiah says to "Kumi, ori..." or "Arise and shine..."

On the other hand, those who don't lift their eyes to the spiritual inheritance in the Garden will remain asleep even while they are awake.  The definition of "Nachor" is to snore like a camel!

Nachor = Snore, by extension, sleep. Snort like a horse or camel.

Death is described as sleep.   Rebekah  will be a point of life, hospitality, and grace among those who are so asleep spiritually that they snort like camels.  It's possible to play with the Hebrew words.  "Nahar" is a river, such as the rivers of Eden; "nachar" spelled with a chet instead of a heh is to snore.  Abraham purchases the resurrection field of Hebron from the children of Chet.  More spiritual "snoozers."  Don't worry.  They'll get an eyeful once the purchase is made. 

Next, Abraham sends his servant to acquire a wife for Isaac, a wife fit for Tent Sarah.  The servant goes back toward the Euphrates to find her:

As one of the Rivers of the Lower Garden, the Euphrates divided into the circling rivers that surrounded it.  The nature of the Lower Garden described key points of both The Temple and the High Priest in Genesis Two (See Workbook Five Volume One).  When the servant realizes Rebekah is the one, he gives her prophetic items.   The  jewelry (nose ring, bracelets)  that the servant gives Rebekah  (Ge 24:22) indicate  this flow of the Torah, the Covenant document that governs the Land and its People, the  Ivri (Hebrews) . According to  Rashi :

2.  The two golden bracelets represent the two Tablets of the Covenant given at Sinai.  Their ten-shekel weight represents the Ten Words, or Ten Commandments written upon the two Tablets of the Covenant.

Abraham's servant  lifted his eyes  and saw the Bride of  Messiah in Rebekah, and he adorned her with the Covenant.   He saw prophetically and  understood  to give Rebekah the jewelry, which represented everything Abraham owned summarized in a document he carried .   The sages say the document was like a deed guaranteeing Isaac's inheritance, and they derive this from Genesis 24:10, which states that the servant took "all" Abraham's wealth in his hand for the journey.  This would have been a written guarantee to Isaac's prospective bride that Isaac would indeed inherit Abraham's wealth.  Sounds very messianic, doesn't it?

Although the portion is rich with much more symbolism and Hebrew textual richness, there are two supernatural events embedded in the portion that strengthen every believer's hope in the resurrection of Messiah Yeshua.  First, when Abraham purchases the resurrection field in Hebron, it literally rises.  The English text misses this nuance of an equivalent expression for alah/olah (to go up, arise), which is kum/kamah.  It was in Isaiah's reminder to "Arise!" to the Glory of Adonai, a near-synonym for Shekhinah, or the Dwelling Presence of YHVH. Remember that cloud atop Tent Sarah?

Abraham's servant did some actions when he departed on the journey to the place between the Two Rivers (Ge 24:10):

• he "took" camels (not snoring ones)
• he "went" or "walked" (yelekh) with Abraham's guarantee in his hand

• he "arose" (yakam)
• he "went" or "walked" to Aram Naharaim

"So I came  today to the spring, and said, 'O L ORD , the God of my master Abraham, if now You will make my journey on which I go successful..."

The sages such as Rashi comment that the servant's recounting implies that it took him and the camels only a day to travel from Abraham's camp to Nachor.  He had supernatural help in searching the sleepy city for a resurrection princess suitable for Tent Sarah, the Shekhinah, the bread, and the lamp of Shabbat.  Later when Yeshua instantly goes from a few miles out on the Galilee to dry land Capernaum, it makes sense.  When Phillip is transported to the Ethiopian's chariot to explain the scroll of Isaiah, it makes sense.  When Yeshua pops in and out of vision, especially after his resurrection, it makes sense.  

The other resurrection incident was in Abraham's purchase of Sarah's burial plot in Genesis 23:17. The impact is usually lost in English translations, but the language is repeated in Genesis 23:20.  Here is the Hebrew text:

Here is a more literal translation of the key phrases from Artscroll:  

"And Efron's field that was in Machpelah, that was facing Mamre  stood [yakam] -the field and the cave within it and all the trees in the field, within its entire boundary all around..."

The "boundary" is described as "all around," or "encircling," which is also the description of the Rivers of Eden.  Rashi says, "It had an ascension in that it left the possession of a commoner for the possession of a king."  Once the field became Abraham's possession, the one who saw joined with the life of she who heard, and the field ascended along with the cave and trees.  As Abraham had foreseen, it became a sign to the nations, the children of Chet, of his belief in the resurrection, first of Isaac, and then of Yeshua, a savior who would come with the signs of Tent Sarah: Shabbat lamp, multiplied bread, and Shekhinah.

Rebekah was a bride fit to live in Tent Sarah, to be buried beside Isaac in the resurrection cave, and to be adorned with the golden tokens of The Temple and its Covenant of the Torah.

When servants of Adonai have a mission from the Father to seek the Bride, we will arise and go.  Arise and shine.  Today.  When the Father commands His Son, "Today!", Yeshua will descend to welcome those who arise to the Shekhinah.  And so shall we ever drink from the Rivers of the Garden in that day.

SAVE the DATE!

Much of this newsletter alludes to past teaching and the Bereishit workbook.  Feel free to scour the newsletter archives at www.thecreationgospel.com for past issues.   I hope to teach the Rivers of Eden, the Feasts, and the Lower Garden more completely at our Creation Conference with Brad Scott May 3-5, 2019.  Stay tuned for registration details.