Genesis 23:1-20
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Background
We are back in Genesis, picking up where we left off. So far, we have observed in Genesis the creation of the heavens and the earth, and mankind on the earth. We watched man fall from grace through rebellious sin. We’ve seen God judge fallen man, flooding the earth and destroying all life except for Noah and those on the ark with him.
Most recently, we were introduced to Abraham, the father of many nations. Abraham was promised that he would be the father of God’s chosen nation Israel through his son, Isaac, who was born to him when he was 100 years old. Sarah, his wife, was 90 years old when she bore Isaac. During Christmas, we saw Abraham’s faithfulness when God asked him to sacrifice Isaac, but instead provided a substitutionary sacrifice in his place. Now we will see what comes next in their story.
1 Now Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah.
2 Sarah died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan; and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.
3 Then Abraham rose from before his dead, and spoke to the sons of Heth, saying,
4 “I am a stranger and a sojourner among you; give me a burial site among you that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”
5 The sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him,
6 “Hear us, my lord, you are a mighty prince among us; bury your dead in the choicest of our graves; none of us will refuse you his grave for burying your dead.”
TIMELINE
TIMELINE
Of all the women listed in the Bible, only Sarah has her age listed, most likely because she is the mother of the son of promise, and as we’ve seen previously that Abraham is the spiritual father of all believers, that also means Sarah is the mother of all believers:
6 just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear.
Why this matters:
It was through Sarah that Isaac, the son of promise, would be born, and on whom would rest God’s covenant, through their descendants.
19 But God said, “No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
It is through this covenant that land and blessing are promised.
2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing;
3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
It is through this line that Jesus was born to be a blessing to the nations.
6 Even so Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.
7 Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham.
8 The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the nations will be blessed in you.”
9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.
God can use anybody for His purposes.
God can use anybody for His purposes.
Remember that originally, only the Jews were inheritors of the blessing.
12 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
And so Sarah died in Hebron. If you recall from 14, Kiriath-arba was listed as a city where giants lived, the sons of Anak.
MAP
MAP
15 Now the name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath-arba; for Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim. Then the land had rest from war.
At the end of 22, Abraham was living in Beersheba. As we’ve seen previously, Abraham often moved his tents.
Abraham would have been 137 years old, and Isaac would have been 37 at this time.
Abraham mourned the loss of his wife, most likely in a traditional manner in those days. This includes loud weeping, tearing of clothes, wearing sackcloth, and sitting in the dirt.
12 When they lifted up their eyes at a distance and did not recognize him, they raised their voices and wept. And each of them tore his robe and they threw dust over their heads toward the sky.
13 Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights with no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.
Abraham arose from his mourning and had to get down to business, because he had nowhere to bury Sarah.
In spite of his great wealth and covenants he had made, Abraham was still a sojourner in a foreign land.
13 All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
Heth was Canaan’s son, who was the son of Ham.
Abraham sought out the people of the land at the gate of the city and requested a place to bury Sarah.
The sons of Heth recognized Abraham’s reputation, his greatness and his wealth, and called him a “nasi Elohim” (prince of God). Because of this, they offered him whatever plot of land he wanted.
7 So Abraham rose and bowed to the people of the land, the sons of Heth.
8 And he spoke with them, saying, “If it is your wish for me to bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and approach Ephron the son of Zohar for me,
9 that he may give me the cave of Machpelah which he owns, which is at the end of his field; for the full price let him give it to me in your presence for a burial site.”
10 Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the sons of Heth; even of all who went in at the gate of his city, saying,
11 “No, my lord, hear me; I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the presence of the sons of my people I give it to you; bury your dead.”
12 And Abraham bowed before the people of the land.
13 He spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, “If you will only please listen to me; I will give the price of the field, accept it from me that I may bury my dead there.”
14 Then Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him,
15 “My lord, listen to me; a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that between me and you? So bury your dead.”
16 Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver which he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, commercial standard.
Here we see and interesting interaction for us: Abraham humbly bowing before the Hittites and asking for a very specific cave on a very specific plot of land for burial, not for living on. Abraham had also already found out who owned that land.
Abraham requested to pay full price for the land, so that he would own it outright.
This was important so that the Hittites didn’t try to rescind the gift.
He also was not requesting all of the land, but just the plot that the cave was on for burial.
Furthermore, Abraham believed God’s plan and was acting as though all the land would eventually belong to his descendants.
Ephron was among the men at the city gate, and made his presence known by offering the land to Abraham free of charge.
This might have been a generous offer, or it might have been a bargaining ploy.
Abraham again humbles himself by bowing, and insisting on paying full price for the land.
Many of us might have said thank you and taken it without paying.
Abraham was a man of wisdom and integrity.
Abraham was a man of wisdom and integrity.
Ephron sets a price of 400 shekels of silver, and Abraham immediately begins counting it out and then hands it over without further bargaining or negotiating.
17 So Ephron’s field, which was in Machpelah, which faced Mamre, the field and cave which was in it, and all the trees which were in the field, that were within all the confines of its border, were deeded over
18 to Abraham for a possession in the presence of the sons of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city.
19 After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field at Machpelah facing Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.
20 So the field and the cave that is in it, were deeded over to Abraham for a burial site by the sons of Heth.
The land has been sold and it is now owned by Abraham. There was no contention about this, and so Abraham went to have Sarah buried.
We see here that the cave and the field were in the vicinity of where Abraham had been sojourning, facing Hebron.
APPLICATION
APPLICATION
God can use anybody for His purposes.
Abraham was a man of wisdom and integrity.
Next week, we will continue through the book of Genesis.