The Life of Abraham: Unfulfilled Promises (Genesis 23)

continuing in Genesis series

focusing on the Life of Abraham

title slide (no reference)—Unfulfilled Promises

Genesis 23 (pew Bible # 20)

what to do with passage?

why is this in the Bible?

what does this have to do with me today?

why am I so excited to preach about Abraham buying a burial plot?

2 Tim 3:16-17

defend systematic expositional preaching

promise it has more to do with your life than you realize

black screen

explain at surface level (still not really answering why is this in the Bible)

Sarah dies at 127 years old

only woman’s lifespan recorded in Bible

Abraham self identifies as a sojourner and foreigner (20:4)

doesn’t go back home (Ur or Haran) to bury her

because Canaan is his new home

problems as a nomad

no permanent place to bury Sarah

and ineligible to buy property

map—Hebron safely in the Promised Land

black screen

Hittites

consensus of Hittite leaders (20:6)

you are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs.

Abraham

has eyes on a burial sight owned by Ephron (20:9)

cave of Machpelah

end of his field. For the full price

Ephron

I give…I give…I give (20:11)

Abraham presses

finally Ephron names a price—400 shekels

Abraham counts 400 shekels

now Abraham has possession of land to bury Sarah

but still—2 Tim 3:16-17

why is this in the Bible?

yes factual

and you may understand it better,

but why is it profitable for me today???

oh this is so good!!!

anyone can make any kind of promise

but can they fulfill it?

we are used to broken promises

politicians on campaign trail

bosses about raise

parents about going to Disney World

our life is filled with broken promises

does God make broken promises?

promises made

12:1-3

great nation

blessing to all families of the earth

13:14-17

land and descendants

map

15—covenant

15:4—own descendants

15:7—land

17—everlasting covenant and the sign of circumcision

17:8

evaluate

promise fulfilled

1 descendant—Isaac (not Ishmael)

long way away from sand on seashore and stars in sky

promise not completed

Abraham does not own one stitch of the Promised Land

is God a promise maker that is too weak to fulfill His promises? broken promises?

OR are the promises of God only unfulfilled?

what good is an unfulfilled promise? or partial fulfillment?

we want our promises RIGHT NOW

ENTITLEMENT MENTALITY WHEN COMES TO PROMISES

fulfilled HOW I WANT in the timeframe I DECIDE

we know God took 25 years to fulfill promise of Isaac

tension of unfulfilled promises in Genesis 23

Abraham is a sojourner and foreigner in the Promised Land (23:4)

nomad without any land to call his own in the land promised by God

62 years in Canaan

no permanent place to call home

despite the repeated promise to Abraham that he and his descendants will possess

Sarah lived 62 years after the Promise Land was assured

saw but never made her home

62 years and never saw the promise fulfilled

died never experiencing the promise of God

land—all this tension heightens the purchase of the land

Abraham will not let Ephron give

never really Abraham’s

land on loan or as a gift comes with strings attached

only will buy (perpetual possession)

400 shekels of silver

threw a number out that was high to see if it would stick

dumb enough to pay 400 shekels for that corner lot

will Abraham haggle over the price? (common)

pulls out 400 shekels

David paid 50 shekels for Mount Moriah (2 Sam 24:24)

400 shekels is 8x for a burial plot at end of a field

Abraham pulls out over 100 pounds of silver for an itty bitty burial plot

why???

400 shekels is a small price to pay for a piece of the Promised Land

for the first time in his life, Abraham is a legal owner of the Promises Land

now he can bury his wife Sarah in hope

hope that one day all this land will belong to Abraham and Sarah’s descendants

only a small piece of the land

but God was beginning to fulfill His promise of land

just like Isaac came 25 years after the initial promise

God would fulfill His promise IN HIS TIME

500 years after Jacob (grandson) died

why is Gen 23 significant???

The point of the narrative is to show how Abraham first came into legal possession of a piece of land in Canaan

Genesis 23 is God’s down payment on the Promised Land

the Lord is beginning to fulfill his promise of a homeland for his people

important burial site for the patriarchs and their wives

Sarah, Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah, Leah, and Jacob

Hebrews 11 (pew Bible # 1195)

you will either live by

sight

believe what you can be proven by own senses or science

faith

ever seen God, Jesus, HS, heaven, hell?

ever seen people in Bible or authors or original manuscripts?

if empirical data not available, then does that make it not true?

people of faith bank our earthly lives and our eternal destiny on things which we have never seen

it’s the way the people of God have always lived

11:8-10

not Abraham’s plan (11:8)

leave Ur—>Haran—>Canaan

had no idea where he was going

called by God

only God knew

think of the blessings Abraham would have missed out by not believing God

we want to verify the blessings before we believe

count our blessings…then we will believe

that’s not how it works

we believe, then experience

not the economy of the world

even then Abraham didn’t experience all of the blessings promised to him by God (11:9)

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

walked around the Promised Land without possessing the Promised Land

no permanent residence

living in tents

no place to call home

hear the NASB—11:9

promised but never possessed

except a burial plot

Abraham’s faith required a great deal of patience

in order to live without grumbling as a foreigner in his own land

how would this go over in your life?

fulfilled HOW I WANT in the timeframe I DECIDE

God’s promises are meant to be fulfilled as you determine???

if knew Jesus would come before end of 2024

persistently forsake sin, pray, witness, serve

diligently be about the Lord’s work

not hard to know it will all be over soon

BUT to be about the Lord’s work

month after month

year after year

with the feeling His promises no nearer to being fulfilled

takes patience

blank screen

secret to Abraham’s patience: hope in the ultimate fulfillment of the promises of God

his hope was not in the dirt of Canaan

but in the ultimate Promised Land—heaven

even if he would have possessed the Promised Land in Canaan

it was not the ultimate inheritance

11:10

how do you fight discouragement, fatigue, self-pity???

how often do you think of being in the presence of the Lord???

when we concentrate on this life only

we can be discouraged with every little thing that goes wrong

or seems to last too long

or is not successful

frustration sets in BECAUSE WE EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THIS WORLD

you want what this world can’t give

Taco Bell line will never move fast enough

waitress will not refill your sweet tea often enough

your math teacher will always assign homework that makes you roll your eyes

the older you get the more frustrated you get that your health is not what it once was

working on house

dishwasher won’t fit

of course longer than old one

spray insulation

wall isn’t square

paint bucket designed wrong (open plug—not screw lid—and paint goes everywhere)

found spots…probably find more today

Col 3:2

newsflash believer—this is not your home

this is not the Promised Land

things are not perfect

don’t expect them to be

this world is broken—we await for the true Promised Land that is perfect

are you expecting too much from this broken world???

how much do you focus on heavenly things that are perfect?

doesn’t change situation

BUT changes perspective

11:13-16

not Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob possessed the Promised Land

500 years after Jacob died

they did not receive the promise of God

but lived with faith that God would give them the promise

God made the promise

but didn’t tell how it would be fulfilled

God only gave the promise

and that was enough

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

had a sampling of the Promised Land

pastured flocks

raised children

but didn’t possess it

for people of faith

God’s promises are as good as done

the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob) believed that and lived accordingly

but what do you do while you are waiting on the promises of God?

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

were considered strangers and exiles

strangers were often hated

exiles shows they don’t belong

while they were waiting on God’s promises

they were happy to be called strangers and exiles

because they were just passing through the earthly Promised Land of Canaan

headed to the real Promised Land in heaven where God dwells

is that how you are living???

Unfulfilled Promises

how are you living with the unfulfilled promises?

God is good for them

but what are you doing while you are waiting?

how do you live life waiting on God’s promises?

we are promised that one day we will be forever with Him

only in Christ—GOSPEL

one way to waste your waiting is to treasure the stuff on this earth too much

there are no amount of Amazon boxes that can satisfy your soul

you will still have complaints of your coworkers even on your best day at work

your kids will not obey perfectly every. single. time.

your parents may love you but not perfectly every. single. time.

Genesis 23 and Hebrews 11 have been balm for my soul

easy to be in this world and not focus on things above

easy to live like everything depends on me and not focus on being in the presence of Jesus

easy to function like this is our final home instead of the place we are passing through

nothing in this life

will give you (believer) the satisfaction and joy

that comes with absolute assurance of future glory

do you believe that?

nothing honors God like a life of faith

all God’s promises are not meant for you to experience here and now

do you long for the day when you will experience all of God’s promises?

I do

combined service next week

9:00 special Bible tracks—The Person of Christ

10:30 worship

fellowship meal (taco bar)

let’s come be thankful and celebrate all God is doing at FCC