SARAH'S HOUSEHOLD
Because Abraham believed the Gospel, he went where God told him to go. With him went his wife, Sarah. And on the way, he lived out this Gospel, and shared it with others.
Now the LORD had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you. {2} I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. {3} I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." {4} So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. {5} Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan.
Genesis 12:1-5
It seems that everywhere Abraham went, he invited the homeless, the lost, the crippled, into his household. Soon, he and Sarah had a very large house. How big? Well, when his cousin was kidnapped by a Saddam Hussein-like king, Abraham knew just what to do:
Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.
Genesis 14:14
Based on an understanding of the phrase "trained servants who were born in his own house," archeologists and scholars understand that the second and third generation of Abraham's servants were dynamic and competent people. They also believe that since there were 318 of these specially-trained fighting men, that the total number of men, women, and children who lived with Abraham was undoubtedly over one thousand!!
Abraham is thus a model of incredible charity and generosity. Sarah is certainly a model of faithfulness.
"For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him."
Genesis 18:19"And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; {5} "because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws."
Genesis 26:4-5
Because I am becoming more like Abraham, I am becoming a friend of God.[1]
True Children of Abraham Obey God's Laws
Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold." {9} And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham;
Luke 19:8-9
Because our culture hates God, it hates His Word, the Scriptures, and hates what the Scripture says about Patriarchy. Thus, instead of women being like Sarah, women of nobility, women of dominion, women of blessing, modern women are cursed, enslaved, blind.
James B. Jordan writes in his commentary on Exodus:
Adam was given the garden to beautify and protect (Gen. 2:15). He was to name it [and the animals], get power over it, and creatively remold it. The Eighth Commandment [Thou shalt not steal] protects private property, as do other provisions in the law of God (cf. esp. Lev. 25:13; and see 1 Ki. 21). Every man is to have his own garden. His marriage and his garden (work) are the major axes around which the ellipse of his temporal life is drawn. In pagan aristocratic societies, few men have gardens, and most men are slaves. Moreover, even the aristocrats often exercise only minimal dominion [over their gardens] preferring to war or entertain themselves.
Under the influence of Christian concepts of familistic property, the free market has acted to break up such large aristocratic holdings.[2] The industrious poor eventually buy out the lazy rich, and anyone with thrift can eventually obtain his own garden. Dominion is multiplied.[3]
More dominion means more daughters of Sarah.
In the chapter of his book dealing with slavery (Exodus 21:2-11), Jordan makes these comments on the Biblical "dowery."
Perhaps just one interesting note here. Apparently the free Israelite woman, with her mohar [dowery, or bride money] had quite a bit of "independence" from her husband. This money would be her insurance policy, in case her husband died or divorced her (and so it is not the same as an insurance policy today). Also, however, it was money she could use and invest. It seems most likely that the money the woman in Proverbs 31:26 is using is her own money, not that of her husband (though perhaps it is money he has entrusted to her). Thus, if the husband were something of a fool when it came to money, the wife had her own which she could invest wisely to care for herself and her children.
Modern American Christian women are often more in the position of slave wives than of free ones, according to the Bible. They seldom have their own separate money. In the proper "Christian" home of today, the husband has all financial control. He has not provided his wife with money at marriage, nor later on (though he may adorn her with jewelry, which is hers to keep). If she takes a job, it is assumed that he will have ultimate say-so over the spending of her money. The Biblical marriage, however, while it may appear to entail more tension and negotiation between husband and wife, also produces people who are much more mature.
Ordinarily, a husband provided his wife with "bride money" which was a form of insurance for her. Robert North explains: "The purchase of the bride was generally made by the father of the youth. The lady retained the payment ... so that if at any time she was divorced, she would not be wholly unprovided . . . ."[4] In the case of the daughter sold into slavery, this bride money went to the father of the girl instead of to her. Thus, she was a wife without property or insurance, and therefore not a free woman.[5]
"Slavery?" Horrors! Aren't we so much better off without the Bible and its Patriarchy and slavery? Jordan answers:
A free wife in Israel had certain privileges, particularly access to considerable monetary property (the bride money). Having this property gave her a position of power with her husband. Indeed, free women in patriarchal times had their own tents and servants. The wife in Canticles had her own quarters. Thus, perhaps a free woman could not sue for divorce on the grounds of maltreatment. On the other hand, maltreatment probably could not even arise in the case of a free woman.
To apply this law today, we need to ask whether the modern American wife is more like the Israelite free wife (with lots of independent power and property), or more like the slave wife. Without intending any insult, I think the modern wife is more like the slave wife, having relatively little independent power. The proof of this, for me, is the fact than men so frequently beat their wives in this society, and get by with it. Thus, extending the equity of this law, by ethical analogy, I believe that women today should be permitted to sue for divorce on the grounds of serious maltreatment.[6]
[1] 2 Chronicles 20:7 "Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever?
Isaiah 41:8 "But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, The descendants of Abraham My friend.
James 2:23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God.
[2] Aristocrats tend to hold political power. Through this power they accumulate property and protect it. Under a Free Market, the State (aristocratic power-holders) is limited. People who are not politically-connected are free to acquire property
[3] James B. Jordan, The Law of the Covenant: An Exposition of Exodus 21-23 (Tyler, TX: Institute for Christian Economics, 1984) p. 133.
[4] Robert North, Sociology of the Biblical Jubilee, Analecta Biblica Investigationes Scientificiae in Res Biblicas 4 (Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1954) p. 151.
[5] Jordan, p. 85.
[6] Jordan, pp. 86-87. He adds on page 148:
Perhaps just one interesting note here. Apparently the free Israelite woman, with her mohar [dowery, or bride money] had quite a bit of "independence" from her husband. This money would be her insurance policy, in case her husband died or divorced her (and so it is not the same as an insurance policy today). Also, however, it was money she could use and invest. It seems most likely that the money the woman in Proverbs 31:26 is using is her own money, not that of her husband (though perhaps it is money he has entrusted to her). Thus, if the husband were something of a fool when it came to money, the wife had her own which she could invest wisely to care for herself and her children.
Modern American Christian women are often more in the position of slave wives than of free ones, according to the Bible. They seldom have their own separate money. In the proper "Christian" home of today, the husband has all financial control. He has not provided his wife with money at marriage, nor later on (though he may adorn her with jewelry, which is hers to keep). If she takes a job, it is assumed that he will have ultimate say-so over the spending of her money. The Biblical marriage, however, while it may appear to entail more tension and negotiation between husband and wife, also produces people who are much more mature.