How Big Is God’s Tent?

Posted on by MVF Silverton

This week I was faced with a dilemma.  Do I write on subject that would take more pages than you would care to read or do I pose questions from the Life of Sarah?  Obviously since this is a blog, I chose the later.  In doing so, I am hoping that you will dig into the Scriptures themselves and ask two fundamental questions, “How big is the tent of Abraham and Sarah?   And, does it include you as well as others?”  

Amazingly, the Torah portion called “Chayei Sarah” doesn’t talk much about Sarah’s past or even her offspring, but concludes instead with her death and burial.  So, here a couple of “tent covering” questions.  

  1. Abraham had received a promise for his seed to be as numerous as the sands of the sea.  Sarah of course, was a part of this promise.  How will Sarah display her impact within this promise?  Will it be through Isaac or Ishmael?  Will it be through her influence with her husband and/or others? 
  2. After Abraham mourns Sarah’s death, why does he approach the sons of Heth (known as the Hittites) for a burial site?  What is the connection to this land and how will it affect the Hittites as well as the Sons of Abraham?  Can you recall a famous Hittite in David’s Kingdom?  

The apostle Peter in 1 Peter 3, mentions the life of Sarah and how she is an example of a woman who influences the life of her husband.  Is this why Abraham tells his servant to find a wife for his son Issac in the land of his relatives and not Canaan?  

  1. If the land of Cannan was an acceptable place to bury Sarah, why is it unacceptable to find a wife there? 
  2. What type of characteristics did Abraham desire for his son’s wife? 
  3. Rebekah comes to the well and draws water for Abraham’s servant.  Is there any correlation of this picture to the picture of the Samaritan woman coming to the well and responding to Yeshua? 
  4. Did Sarah’s example as a wife influence Abraham’s decision to marry Keturah? 

Consider the following text from John 4: 

“So, the Samaritan woman said to Him, “how is it that You, though You are a Jew, are asking me for a drink, though I am a Samaritan woman?” . . . Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water (referring only to Jacob’s genealogy) will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him (spiritual life) shall never be thirsty; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.”

In this example, is the tent of Abraham and Sarah (parents of Isaac) only for the Jewish nation (the Tribes of Judah and Benjamin)?  Or is it more inclusive? 

In Genesis 25, Abraham marries another woman after Sarah’s passing.  Her name is Keturah meaning “incense.”  What type of picture does this give us? 

Abraham “left everything he owned to Isaac” but “gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away … to the land of the east” (Genesis 25:5–6). God’s redemptive plan mandated that the covenant line run through Isaac, yet the sons of Keturah (meaning incense) were intentionally blessed and geographically dispersed.  

  1. How does Zipporah, the wife of Moses and daughter of Jethro, priest of the Midianites exemplify incense? They came from the line of Keturah.  
  2. How does the Queen of Sheba from the line of Keturah show gifts to and from the nations? 
  3. Other sons from Keturah are scattered to the eastern nations and responsible for trade in frankincense, myrrh, and gold.  Where did the magi come from when presenting these same gifts to Yeshua? 

Over the last few weeks, I have been asked about the role of Gentiles and their impact on the tribes of Judah and Benjamin i.e. the Jewish nation.  For them, the concept of making Jews jealous for Messiah is keeping rabbinical traditions and customs of the Jews.  But how are we as Gentiles supposed to make Jews jealous over customs we barely understand?  So, what can Gentiles offer?  Is jealousy created by works?  By faith?  By love?  Is it all three?   

In First Corinthians 15:45-50, the Apostle Paul talks about the earthly man and the spiritual man.  In directing this conversation, Paul talks about the spiritual impartation given to us through the second Adam—Yeshua the Messiah.  How does this relate to our “tent” conversation? 

  1. If you are “in” Messiah is there a better chance of persons being drawn or coveting that same type of relationship?  Is there also a chance of this relationship being a stumbling block for others? (Jealousy can of course, cause negative reactions as well as positive ones.) 
  2. What is the stumbling block for the Jewish nation and will there be an opportunity to see?  

In John 4, we see a second picture with the Samaritan woman coming to the well of living water; that of worship.  Let’s read what she says to Yeshua:

“Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and yet you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one must worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Believe Me, woman, that a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, because salvation (promise of Messiah—the root of the tree) is from the Jews. 23 But a time is coming, and even now has arrived, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman *said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.” 26 Jesus *said to her, “I am He, the One speaking to you.”

After reading this portion from John 4, what do you think about worship? 

  1. What is a true worship?  What does it entail?  Is worship a set of “must” rules?  
  2. Is it possible for true worship to draw others towards a deeper spiritual connection through the water of Messiah?
  3. Why does Yeshua offer blessings to a Samaritan woman—a woman who is not a Jew? 

Galatians 3:8 declares that God “announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All the nations will be blessed through you.’” Keturah’s sons are the first concrete illustration: biologically Abrahamic yet outside the covenantal core, they prefigure the Gentile church’s later grafting in Romans 11.  Notice within Romans Chapter eleven, some major questions arise:

  1. Does Yahweh reject the people of the original blessing and promise? 
  2. Why are some of the children of promise broken off from the tree? Who replaces them? 
  3. Who is the root of the tree?  And, who and what does the root support?  
  4. Why does Paul tell both camps–Jew and Gentile to not be arrogant? 

In my estimation, the tent of Abraham and Sarah, demonstrates God’s dual track of covenantal election as well as blessings that flow out to anyone who wishes to partake “in” Messiah.  It gives us a foundational picture of our need to worship Yeshua our Messiah, so that our lives can be forever changed, in that, Keturah (a sweet aroma of incense) comes under a rather large Abrahamic tent.  

Be blessed this Sabbath,

Rollyn