GRIEVING WITH HOPE

The Sting of Death

Sarah’s death takes place 37 years after the birth of Isaac, and 62 years since entering the land of Canaan. Sarah said she was old and worn out before she got pregnant with Isaac, yet the Lord had blessed her with great joy through the birth of Isaac. He further blessed her with an exceptional long life, and being able to see her son grow up. As a matter of fact, Sarah is the only woman in Scripture that has her age recorded at death.

Genesis 2:17 “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.””

Genesis 3:19 “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.””

1 Corinthians 15:26 “The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”

1 Corinthians 15:56 “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.”

Firstfruits of the Coming Promise

The Lord had promised to give this land to Abraham and his descendants.

Genesis 13:14–15 “The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever.”

Genesis 15:18–21 “On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.””

The Lord gave the land of Canaan to Abraham as a sojourner. He could dwell wherever he pleased, though the Canaanites still lived in the land. It would be his descendants that the Lord would use to drive out the Canaanites so they could take possession of it for themselves. It was like God gave Abraham the title, but his descendants would officially take possession later.

It appears that though there was mutual respect shown between Abraham and the Hittites, Abraham was charged an exorbitant amount.

1 Kings 16:24 “He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver, and he fortified the hill and called the name of the city that he built Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill.” (6,000 shekels)

Jeremiah 32:9 ““And I bought the field at Anathoth from Hanamel my cousin, and weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver.”

Abraham’s willingness to purchase a burial plot for his beloved wife in Canaan points to his great hope in God to fulfill His promises. But this passage also points to an even greater hope that Abraham and Sarah both had.

See Hebrews 11:8-10 and Hebrews 10:11-16...

How to Grieve With Hope

See 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18...

Job 19:25–27 “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!”

For the believer, to be away from the body is to be with the Lord.

2 Corinthians 5:6–8 “So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”

The suffering we experience now will be swallowed up in the joy of the glory that will be revealed to us.

Romans 8:18 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

The mourning, suffering, and pain we experience now is temporary. Unending joy is coming.

Ecclesiastes 3:4 “a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;”

Psalm 30:5 “For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”

Psalm 126:5–6 “Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.”