To: en & others
My dearest daughter in Bournemouth, loved by God and loved by mum and dad,
grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
The "grace" is listed in Strong's concordance, Greek dictionary of NT words as 5485, "charis", (pronounced khar'-ece) derived from 5463 chario. chario is prim verb; to be cheerful, calmly happy or well off. Charis is graciousness, as gratifying, of manner or act, abstract or concrete, literal, figurative or spiritual, especially the divine influence upon the heart and its reflection in the life, including gratitude; acceptable, benefit, favour, gift, grace, joy, liberality, pleasure, thank, thanksworthy. This same charis in Chinese is En!
The "peace" in NT Greek is 1515 "eirene" (pronounced i-ray-nay): peace, literal or figurative, by implication, prosperity, one, peace, quietness, rest, set at one again.
Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, and the Holy Spirit!
We join the three angels eating a great meal under a tree, asking Abraham of the whereabouts of Sarah (Gen 18:9). When Abraham identifies her location in the tent, the angels promise to return in a year, by which time Sarah was to have a son (Gen 18:10).
Sarah overhears, as she is meant to, and laughs at the improbability of this suggestion, is Abraham not too old and Sarah too waxed out and worn out to reproduce? (Gen 18:12) Will I now have this pleasure? The pleasure she refers to is expressed in the Hebrew word eden (pronounced ayden), Strong's concordance 5730: feminine delicate voluptuous pleasure & delight. Yes, sexual intimacy between husband and wife is meant to be a pleasure.
The angel of the Lord hears Sarah laugh and knows of her dismay and doubt. Gen 18:14a is an important response for us to echo in our hearts: God himself asks: "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" He who laid the earth's foundations, marked off its dimensions, stretched a measuring line across it, laid its cornerstones while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy (Job 38:4-7). Surely, nothing is too hard for the Lord. The angel restates the promises and chides Sarah for laughing in doubt. Sarah denies laughing, but God knows what goes on (Gen 18:15). Lesson: God knows what goes on even if we are hiding in a tent. In Psalm 139 the psalmist recognises that God knows every word that we are about say even before it is on our tongue (Ps 139:4). He knows that we cannot flee from the presence of the Lord, and that wherever we are, God is there to guide and protect us (Ps 139: 7-12).
Let us close with the last 2 verses of psalm 139.
amen.
love dad
From: Su Min
Subject: Sarah Laughs
For any comments or enquiries please write to Dr. Lim Su Min
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