Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
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Conscientiousness
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Proverbs
Do not be one who shakes hands in pledge
or puts up security for debts;
27 if you lack the means to pay,
your very bed will be snatched from under you.
The lover of money will not be satisfied with money; nor the lover of wealth, with gain.
This also is vanity.
How much better to get wisdom than gold!
To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.
Transition: From Abraham to Isaac
The last segment on the sacrifice of Isaac begins a transitionary section in Genesis as we move from Abraham to the continuation of the promise in Isaac.
Isaac, surprisingly, doesn’t return with Abraham down the mountain.
Having faced the reality of his death, Isaac becomes a man, a patriarch in his own right, and the story of Genesis begins moving us from Abraham to Isaac.
The first step in that journey is the loss of Sarah, Isaac’s mother and Abraham’s wife.
Abraham: The Loss of a Spouse
The loss of a loved one is a part of life.
Abraham takes the time to weep for his wife, a practice that ANE cultures no doubt do better than we often do.
Nevertheless, this story’s focus is primarily on Abraham’s deal with the Hittites, not on the loss of Sarah.
This is because, even back then, death often brought on new and unfamiliar challenges, and even financial challenges.
Not only must Abraham find a way to cope with the loss of his wife emotionally, he must also find a way to cope financially.
Abraham: Playing the Haggling game
This new financial challenge presents itself to Abraham in the form of a lack of land.
Abraham has not yet been given the promised land, and so he has no place to bury his wife.
Thus, Abraham enters into a haggling game with Ephron the Hittite.
While we might read this as a friendly transaction, the rules and customs of ANE haggling reveal that Ephron was attempting to pull one over on Abraham by giving him the land as a gift.
Abraham would rather pay an exorbitant price for the land now than to be in debt to the Hittites later.
Betting on Hope: Stewardship in light of Promise
Why did Abraham pay so much for this land though?
It was a bet on hope.
Burial places were of great significance in the ANE.
Family burial places were handed down from generation to generation, and this burial place would be no different.
Sarah would be buried here, as would Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah, and even Joseph would be buried here.
Abraham believed the promise that God gave him, that his descendants would inherit this land.
That is why he was willing to pay so much for a place to bury Sarah, as opposed to returning to Haran where they had come from to bury her.
Haggling and Hope
As followers of Christ, we are called to be good stewards with the money and resources we have been given.
But being a good steward isn’t always about making lots of money.
Instead, it’s about using the money and resources we do have wisely.
How much better to get wisdom than gold!
To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.
Luke 16
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