When Death Comes to a Family of Faith

When Death Comes to a Family of Faith Genesis 23 August 18, 2019 The Big Idea: After being married longer than most people live, Abraham faced the death of his beloved Sarah. In this experience, Abraham faced what people still deal with today, when someone dies. He and Sarah are models of how to face death with your faith firmly in the Lord. Genesis 23 (ESV) 23 Sarah lived 127 years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. 2 And Abraham rose up from before his dead and said to the Hittites, “I am a sojourner and foreigner among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” 5 The Hittites answered Abraham, 6 “Hear us, my lord; you are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb to hinder you from burying your dead.” 7 Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land. 8 And he said to them, “If you are willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me and entreat for me Ephron the son of Zohar, 9 that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns; it is at the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me in your presence as property for a burying place.” 3 4 Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites, and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, of all who went in at the gate of his city, 11 “No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the sight of the sons of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead.” 12 Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land. 13 And he said to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, “But if you will, hear me: I give the price of the field. Accept it from me, that I may bury my dead there.” 14 Ephron answered Abraham, 15 “My lord, listen to me: a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.” 16 Abraham listened 10 to Ephron, and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants. So the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre, the field with the cave that was in it and all the trees that were in the field, throughout its whole area, was made over 18 to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, 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 of Machpelah east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 20 The field and the cave that is in it were made over to Abraham as property for a burying place by the Hittites. 17 What We Learn from Abraham & Sarah about Facing Death in Faith 1. Sooner or later, people we love die. (Hebrews 9:27) 2. Even if they and we are people of faith, deep sadness comes and we mourn the loss of that person from our world. 3. Weeping at the death of someone we love is the most natural and human response to the death of someone we love. (John 11:35) 4. The deep grief we are feeling is punctuated and interrupted by practical matters of burial preparations and rituals. (Genesis 23:3-16) 5. The person of faith should honor the memory of the one who died and worship the God who gave them to us for a season. (Acts 9:36-39) 6. Abraham’s purchase of a cave and a field was driven by the promises of God that this land is where his descendants would live. (Genesis 17:8) 7. But, the ultimate fulfilment of God’s promises lay beyond the earthly Promised Land and was in the heavenly land God has prepared for His people. (Hebrews 11:13-16) 8. The person of faith finds a way to keep living for and serving God until the day of their own death. (John 9:4)