Dying in Faith
Genesis • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Text: Genesis 23; 25:7-10.
1 Now Sarah lived to be 127 years old.
2 She died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went out to mourn and to weep for her.
3 Then Abraham got up from beside his dead wife and said to the Hittites,
4 “I am a foreigner and an outsider among you. Give me a burial site among you so that I can bury my dead.”
5 The Hittites replied to Abraham,
6 “Listen to us, sir. You are God’s chosen one among us. Bury your dead in the finest of our tombs. None of us will withhold his tomb for burying your dead.”
7 Then Abraham rose and bowed down before the people of the land, the Hittites.
8 “If you are willing for me to bury my dead,” he said to them, “listen to me, and approach Ephron son of Zohar on my behalf
9 to sell me the cave of Machpelah that belongs to him; it is at the end of his field. Let him sell it to me in your presence for full price, so that I may have a burial site.”
10 Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth. So in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city, Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham,
11 “No, my lord. Listen to me. I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. I give it to you in the presence of my people. Bury your dead.”
12 Again Abraham bowed down before the people of the land
13 and said to Ephron in their presence, “If you will please listen to me, I will pay you the price of the field. Accept it from me, so that I may bury my dead there.”
14 Ephron answered Abraham,
15 “Listen to me, my lord. The land is worth four hundred shekels of silver, but what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.”
16 Abraham agreed to Ephron’s terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver, according to the standard of the merchants.
17 So Ephron’s field at Machpelah near Mamre, the cave that was in it, and all the trees within the boundaries of the field were deeded over
18 to Abraham’s possession in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city.
19 After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field at Machpelah near Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.
20 So the field and its cave were deeded by the Hittites to Abraham as a burial site.
And then over to Genesis 25:7-10, and the account of Abraham’s death and burial:
7 Abraham lived a total of 175 years.
8 And at a ripe old age he breathed his last and died, old and contented, and was gathered to his people.
9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite.
10 This was the field that Abraham had bought from the Hittites. Abraham was buried there with his wife Sarah.
PRAY
This world is not my home I'm just a-passing through
My treasures are laid up Somewhere beyond the blue
The angels beckon me From heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home In this world anymore
But sometimes we do feel a little too much at home here, don’t we? Sometimes the pleasures and possessions of this life distract us from the reality that this world, as it is now, is not our permanent home.
Death is a reality we’d rather not face. But here it is, staring us in the face. First Sarah, then Abraham, dead. Life is over. The patriarch and matriarch of the Jews are gone.
It’s been 12 chapters and 13 sermons since we last referenced the death of a character in Genesis (Abraham’s father Terah), but this one hits different. There is so much hope and expectation that comes with the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham and Sarah in the birth of their son Isaac.
But now that joy is replaced with sorrow, as Abraham first buries his wife, and before long, Isaac has to bury Abraham.
Does anything last forever?
Will death win every time?
Will joy always end in sorrow?
Do all good things really have come to an end?
We all long for a joy that will never end — Ecc 3:11
11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men…
Death is a sobering reality, reminding us of the horror of sin and its consequences. And the reality of death should lead us to the One who has defeated death by His own death on the cross. And one day, He has promised, death will be destroyed.
Meanwhile, funerals serve a good purpose: to remind us of the seriousness and brevity of life, and the reality of life after death.
2 It is better to enter a house of mourning than a house of feasting, since death is the end of every man, and the living should take this to heart.
3 Sorrow is better than laughter, for a sad countenance is good for the heart.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.
So let’s be wise and come to this funeral today, take to heart the reality of death, and look to the hope laid up for us.
1. God’s people must suffer loss before receiving the promises (v. 1-2)
1. God’s people must suffer loss before receiving the promises (v. 1-2)
The Record of Sarah’s Death (v. 1-2)
1 Now Sarah lived to be 127 years old. 2 She died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went out to mourn and to weep for her.
Sarah — the only woman whose age is mentioned at death.
Abraham’s response: mourn and weep
His wife is gone
Isaac is just 37, not married yet
Sarah only got to see one generation of seed
Creation and Blessing: A Guide to the Study and Exposition of Genesis I. God’s People Must Suffer Loss before Receiving the Promises (1–2)
For this man of faith, however, Sarah’s death provided another situation in which faith could operate.
2. God’s people believe that the promises of God extend beyond this life (v. 3-18)
2. God’s people believe that the promises of God extend beyond this life (v. 3-18)
Abraham’s Desire for a Burial Place (v. 3-4)
3 Then Abraham got up from beside his dead wife and said to the Hittites, 4 “I am a foreigner and an outsider among you. Give me a burial site among you so that I can bury my dead.”
Who are the Hittites? — According to Genesis 10:15, they are descendants of Canaan, who was cursed by Noah in Genesis 9. They are listed in Genesis 15 among the enemies of Israel whose land God promised to Abraham’s descendants.
Biblical preference for burial over cremation — valuing the body
Foreigner and outsider
Desire for a permanent burial place
Possession of a small piece of land — land promise starting to be fulfilled
The Hittites’ Response (v. 5-6)
5 The Hittites replied to Abraham, 6 “Listen to us, sir. You are God’s chosen one among us. Bury your dead in the finest of our tombs. None of us will withhold his tomb for burying your dead.”
The Hittites’ view of Abraham — God’s chosen one (literally, prince of God)
Their offer to give Abraham a free burial site — and the nicest one
Abraham’s Insistence (v. 7-9)
7 Then Abraham rose and bowed down before the people of the land, the Hittites. 8 “If you are willing for me to bury my dead,” he said to them, “listen to me, and approach Ephron son of Zohar on my behalf 9 to sell me the cave of Machpelah that belongs to him; it is at the end of his field. Let him sell it to me in your presence for full price, so that I may have a burial site.”
Respectful (bowing down), but insistent
Abraham’s insistence on buying the field shows his distrust of the Hittites (and probably rightly so)
The Transaction (v. 10-18)
10 Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth. So in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city, Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham, 11 “No, my lord. Listen to me. I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. I give it to you in the presence of my people. Bury your dead.”
12 Again Abraham bowed down before the people of the land 13 and said to Ephron in their presence, “If you will please listen to me, I will pay you the price of the field. Accept it from me, so that I may bury my dead there.”
14 Ephron answered Abraham, 15 “Listen to me, my lord. The land is worth four hundred shekels of silver, but what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.”
16 Abraham agreed to Ephron’s terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver, according to the standard of the merchants.
17 So Ephron’s field at Machpelah near Mamre, the cave that was in it, and all the trees within the boundaries of the field were deeded over 18 to Abraham’s possession in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city.
Indirect way of settling the transaction
Carried out at the gate of the city, where business transactions were made (think of Ruth)
3. God’s people demonstrate their faith by reconciling death with the abiding promises (v. 19-20)
3. God’s people demonstrate their faith by reconciling death with the abiding promises (v. 19-20)
Abraham Buries Sarah (v. 19-20)
19 After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field at Machpelah near Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 20 So the field and its cave were deeded by the Hittites to Abraham as a burial site.
Abraham’s Death (25:7-10)
7 Abraham lived a total of 175 years. 8 And at a ripe old age he breathed his last and died, old and contented, and was gathered to his people.
9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite. 10 This was the field that Abraham had bought from the Hittites. Abraham was buried there with his wife Sarah.
The major issue in the accounts of Sarah’s and Abraham’s deaths is this:
Will God fulfill His promises?
Will He multiply their seed like the dust of the earth and the stars of the sky?
Will He give them the land of Canaan?
Will He bless the whole world through their seed?
And we see that the response of Abraham and Sarah, as well as Isaac, is faith — persevering faith in God’s promises.
The testimony of their life — and their death — is this:
I trust that God will keep His promises.
I believe that God will do what He has said He will do.
God is trustworthy.
Sarah only got to see one generation of seed; Abraham saw two. But they believed that God would fulfill His promise.
Abraham and Sarah lived in the promised land as foreigners, and the only portion of land that they possessed during their lives was a burial plot. But they trusted God’s promise that someday they would inherit the land.
Creation and Blessing: A Guide to the Study and Exposition of Genesis II. God’s People Believe that the Promises of God Extend beyond This Life (3–18)
God would do far more for them than he had done in this life—which is the hope of all who die in the faith.
And here’s an interesting detail:
Creation and Blessing: A Guide to the Study and Exposition of Genesis Theological Ideas
The inclusion of the genealogy of Nahor just prior to this chapter reminds the reader that the ancestral home was in the east; but the account of the burial in the Land of Promise informs the reader that there was no going back for Abraham.
The future was in Canaan, even though the first recipients of the promise would die before that promise could be realized.
Creation and Blessing: A Guide to the Study and Exposition of Genesis II. God’s People Believe that the Promises of God Extend beyond This Life (3–18)
The point of the story is that Abraham went through these elaborate negotiations to purchase a possession in which to bury his dead. This purpose is significant, for burial was usually in one’s native land.
It seems clear enough that he was making this portion of the land the ancestral home. There would be no going back to Haran.
When Abraham bought Machpelah, he was renouncing Paddan Aram (which was just brought to the reader’s attention in 22:20–24). Canaan was the land his descendants would inherit.
It is interesting to observe here that the only portion of the Promised Land that Abraham ever received, he bought—and that was a grave. But this grave bound them to the land, for later patriarchs would die and be gathered to their ancestors—in Canaan (see 50:13).
The point for biblical theology is that Abraham and Sarah had not exhausted God’s promises in their lifetime.
13 All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
In context, the author of Hebrews is specifically talking about Abraham and Sarah. They died in faith, not having received all that God promised. And they are an example to us, because we also must die in faith, because we will not receive everything God has promised in this life.
God is calling us to keep on trusting Him and His promises right up until the end of our lives, and perhaps especially in the face of death. When a loved one dies, and when your death is near, you must choose to trust that death is not the end, and that on the other side of death is the full enjoyment of God’s promises.
Application
Application
Don’t get too comfortable in this world. Your true home is with God.
Don’t get too comfortable in this world. Your true home is with God.
Taste a little of God’s promise now — enjoy most of it later.
Taste a little of God’s promise now — enjoy most of it later.
This is the life of persevering faith — the life of a believer.
This is the life of persevering faith — the life of a believer.
Creation and Blessing: A Guide to the Study and Exposition of Genesis III. God’s People Demonstrate Their Faith by Reconciling Death with the Abiding Promises (19–20)
God’s promises are not exhausted in this lifetime. Just as Abraham bought the cave in hope, we too have a hope for the full benefits of the promise of salvation beyond this life.
The time of death (when the natural inclination is to mourn as the world mourns) should be the time of our greatest demonstration of faith, for the recipient of God’s promises has a hope beyond the grave.
By God’s grace, let’s persevere in our faith. Let’s keep on trusting God’s promises.
One day, we will see Him face to face. Then our faith will be sight.
