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Genesis chapter 23. Last week
we saw in Genesis chapter 22 the call or the test by God upon
Abraham to go and to sacrifice his son. Obviously the Lord stopped
him from doing that, but that did reveal the nature of Abraham's
faith. He believed God. Here in Genesis
chapter 23, the bulk of the chapter is basically a business or a
land transaction after the introductory statement of the death of Sarah.
So beginning in chapter 23 at verse 1. Sarah lived 127 years. These were the years of the life
of Sarah. So Sarah died in Kirjath Arba,
that is, Hebron, in the land of Canaan. And Abraham came to
mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. Then Abraham stood up from
before his dead and spoke to the sons of Heth, saying, I am
a foreigner and a visitor among you. Give me property for a burial
place among you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight. And
the sons of Hath answered Abraham, saying to him, Hear us, my lord. You are a mighty prince among
us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our burial places. None of
us will withhold from you his burial place that you may bury
your dead. Then Abraham stood up and bowed
himself to the people of the land, the sons of Hath. And he
spoke with them, saying, If it is your wish that I bury my dead
out of my sight, hear me, and meet with Ephron, the son of
Zohar, for me, that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which
he has, which is at the end of his field. Let him give it to
me at the full price, as property for a burial place among you.
Now Ephron dwelt among the sons of Heth, and Ephron the Hittite
answered Abraham in the presence of the sons of Heth, all who
entered at the gate of his city, saying, No, my lord, hear me. I give you the field and the
cave that is in it. I give it to you in the presence
of the sons of my people. I give it to you. Bury your dead. Then Abraham bowed himself down
before the people of the land, and he spoke to Ephron in the
hearing of the people of the land, saying, If you will give
it, please hear me. I will give you money for the
field. Take it from me, and I will bury my dead there. And Ephron
answered Abraham, saying to him, My lord, listen to me. The land
is worth 400 shekels of silver. What is that between you and
me? So bury your dead. And Abraham listened to Ephron.
And Abraham weighed out the silver for Ephron, which he had named
in the hearing of the sons of Heth, 400 shekels of silver,
currency of the merchants. So the field of Ephron, which
was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field and the cave
which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field,
which were within all the surrounding borders, were deeded to Abraham
as a possession in the presence of the sons of Heth, before all
who went in at the gate of his city. And after this, Abraham
buried Sarah, his wife, in the cave of the field of Machpelah
before Mamre, that is, Hebron, in the land of Canaan. So the
field and the cave that is in it were deeded to Abraham by
the sons of Heth as property for a burial place. Amen. Well, as I said, the first two
verses deal with the death of Sarah, and it's quite brief.
We'll look at that in just a moment. But the main portion of the chapter
deals with the purchase of a burial plot, verses 3 to 20. And essentially,
the point is, is that the promise of God is becoming fulfilled,
or it's starting fulfillment. If you remember back in Genesis
chapter 12, you can turn there. Genesis chapter 12, we have Abraham
enters the land. God had promised to him that
he would give him the land, and he enters the land according
to chapter 12, verse 6. It says, Abram passed through
the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth trees
of Moreh, and the Canaanites were then in the land. And then
in chapter 13, he surveys the land. Notice specifically in
verse 17, God says, Arise, walk in the land through its length
and its width, for I give it to you. And then in chapter 21,
we see that Abraham secures water for life in the land, or use
in the land. That covenant he makes with Abimelech
to ensure that Abraham retains possession of a well that he
had dug so that they would in fact have water in the land.
Well, here specifically he purchases this piece of ground in the promised
land. He doesn't take it from them
because then he would be obliged to them. They may call on some
favors from him. He is not dependent upon the
pagans to produce or give him the land. but rather he has waited
on God, and now he's starting to make good on this promise.
So that's sort of the main focus or the main point, and in many
respects the chapter does read a bit like a legal document,
especially when we get to verse 17. It sounds almost like a business
contract and a description of the transaction that has been
conducted. It's very official. Verse 20
ends on the crescendo, so the field and the cave that is in
it were deeded to Abraham by the sons of Heth as property
for a burial place. So Abraham now owns a piece of
property in the promised land. Certainly, he will inherit the
entirety of the land. God has given it to him by promise.
But there are these Canaanites in the land, and it's not going
to be until later on that the nation of Israel will go in to
dispossess the land of the Canaanites. But this is sort of a down payment,
or this is sort of a foreshadowing of what is going to occur with
reference to Israel conquering the promised land as the Lord
had given it to them. Note first, with reference to
the death of Sarah, it indicates her age. I think the only time
in the Bible where a woman, or it's told to us, the age of a
woman who dies. She is 127 years. Of course, she is succeeded by
Isaac. He's 37 at this particular time. And then Abraham will live another
38 years, according to chapter 25. and verse 7. So the total years of Abraham
were 175 years. He was 10 years older than Sarah,
so he would have lived another 38 years after this. Notice that
she dies in the land of Canaan, and it says, Abraham came to
mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. Some suggest that he was
in another part of the country, he was in another part of a city,
he was in another tent, or whatever the case may be. He comes to
mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. And as we go through this
particular chapter, again, the emphasis falls on the acquisition
of this piece of land within Canaan. But it does evidence
to us the love that Abraham had for Sarah and the honor that
he wanted to pay to Sarah and the esteem that he had for his
beloved wife. Now, notice the purchase of a
burial plot. There are three exchanges or
interchanges with reference to Abraham and the sons of Heth. In the first place, he desires
property, verses 3 to 6. Secondly, he requests specifically
Ephron's cave in verses 7 to 11. And then in verses 12 to
15, he insists on paying for this. I think he wants to pay
even from the beginning in verse 4 when we compare that with verse
Nine, it was always his intention to pay for this piece of property.
And it wasn't ultimately just for Sarah's burial place, but
Abraham would be buried there, so would Isaac and Rebekah, and
so would Jacob and Leah. They would ultimately be buried
in this particular cave. But note the request of Abraham
in verses 3 and 4. Abraham stood up from before
his dead and spoke to the sons of Heth, saying, I am a foreigner
and a visitor among you. Literally, I'm a resident alien. He's not a citizen of the land. He is a foreigner and a visitor
among you. He's not a landowner at this
particular point. Theologically, he is. God has
told him that he will, in fact, receive the land. And when God
promises something, he certainly fulfills that. But there's still
Canaanites there. Abraham has now come into this
particular country, so his status presently is as a resident alien. And then he says, I am a foreigner
and a visitor among you. Give me property for a burial
place among you that I may bury my dead out of my sight. Now,
again, drop down to verse 9 for just a moment. that he may give
me the cave of Machpelah, which he has, which is at the end of
his field. Let him give it to me at the full price." So it
was always his intention to purchase the property. It was always his
intention to pay money so that it would be his. Again, so that
he would not be beholden to these pagans. Because if they just
gave him this piece of property, then they might call up a favor
later on. As well, we ought to appreciate,
with reference to this situation, the esteem for and the respect
for the body that we see in this particular section. He wants
to bury his dead. And that seems to be the biblical
pattern with reference to the people of God. It wasn't the
people of God that burned, it was ultimately the pagans that
would burn bodies. It is rather the people of God
that want to bury bodies. Matthew Poole says, the privilege
of burial has been always sought and prized by all nations, whom
nature and humanity teaches to preserve the bodies of men, which
have been the temples of reasonable and immortal souls from contempt
and violation, so especially by Christians as a testimony
and pledge of their future resurrection. I think that's a good observation
here. He wants to bury. He wants to show that respect.
He wants to show that dignity for the body of his departed
wife. As well, we need to appreciate
he wants not just a burial place. When we get to the Hittite response,
they offer him a burial place. But that's not technically what
Abraham is requesting. If you look at verse 4, he says,
give me property for a burial place among you. He's not simply
looking to dispose of the remains of his dearly beloved wife. He wants property. That's what's
moving him and motivating him with reference to these sons
of Heth. So he asks this specifically from them so that he may obtain
this property in the land of promise. John Gill makes the
observation. And this he was the rather desirous
of, the burial of Sarah, not only because it was according
to the rules of humanity and the general custom of all nations
to provide for the burial of their dead, but he was willing
to have such a place in the land of Canaan for this purpose, to
strengthen his faith and the faith of his posterity, and to
animate their hope and expectation of being one day put into the
possession of it. This is a down payment. He is
receiving from the hand of God. He is going to own something
in the land of Canaan. This does envisage what will
come after Abraham with reference to the nation of Israel. They
will be given the entirety of the land, but it starts small
at this cave of Machpelah. Now notice the response of the
sons of Heth. Abraham has assumed a posture
of great humility. He says, I'm a foreigner and
a visitor among you, verse 4. Notice how the sons of Heth answered
Abraham. They say in verse 6, hear us,
my Lord. You are a mighty prince among
us. Bury your dead in the choicest
of our burial places. None of us will withhold from
you his burial place that you may bury your dead. So he's obviously
shown himself to be a faithful man, an upright man among these
sons of Heth in this particular community here in the land of
Canaan. They respect him. They know him
to be a prince of a man. They know him to be a lordly
sort of a man. And of course they're not going
to not give him property so that he can bury his dearly beloved
wife. I mean, only a beast would do
such a thing. And that's the end of the verse. Verse 6, none
of us will withhold from you his burial place that you may
bury your dead. But notice what they do say or
don't say. They say, you bury your dead
in the choicest of our burial places. Again, they're not ponying
up property. They're not offering him a parcel
of land. They are saying that you can
use one of our burial places. Waltke says the change of terms
from property for a burial site to tomb suggests that while the
Hittites are willing to grant this mighty prince the right
to bury his dead on their land, they are reluctant to give him
a permanent possession there. They're not real keen on coughing
up the land to this particular resident alien. Wenham makes
the same observation, despite the warmth of their reply, which
they very much are. They call him, my lord, and they
refer to him as a mighty prince among us. So he says, despite
the warmth of their reply, the Hittites, by omitting any mention
of this point, the fact that he asks for a burial plot, not
simply for the use of one of their graves, probably indicates
their reluctance to transfer land to Abraham, for then he
would no longer be a landless sojourner. So again, they're
very respectful, they're very kind, but they're not forthcoming
in terms of his particular request. He says, give me property for
a burial place among you that I may bury my dead out of my
sight. I want to own land in this nation
of Canaan. Now notice, secondly, the request
for Ephron's cave in verses 7 and 11. So Abraham stood up and bowed
himself to the people of the land, the sons of Heth. Again,
he's a kind man. He's a humble man. If we did
moralize this particular passage, there's a whole lot here for
us. How to deal in business transactions with other people. You show respect. You show kindness. You show a
bit of give and take. You show the sorts of things
that indicate that you are an upright and a decent fellow.
with reference to him bowing. Matthew Poole says he showed
a civil respect to them in testimony of his thankfulness. And I love
this. He says religion allows and requires civility and those
gestures which express it. In other words, we ought to be
a people that can function in society without going off the
deep end or flipping out or not having any sort of interaction
with the pagans. Abraham is dealing with the pagans
in a way that he wants to secure from them certain benefits and
he's willing to pay them for those benefits. There's nothing
wrong with that as we proceed through this particular passage.
But notice he requests the specific cave of Machpelah. It says in
verse 8, he spoke with them saying, if it is your wish that I bury
my dead out of my sight, hear me, and meet with Ephron the
son of Zohar for me. that he may give me the cave
of Machpelah, which he has, which is at the end of his field."
Notice that he specifically asks for the cave that's at the end
of the field. He doesn't ask for the field. All Abraham is
seeking after is this particular cave. He's not interested in
the field, per se. Now, when Ephron responds, he
throws in the field and the cave and the whole shooting match.
But here, specifically, he just asks for the cave that's at the
end of his field. And then it says, let him give it to me at
the full price as property for a burial place among you. Again,
Abraham is courteous. Abraham is kind. Abraham is exercising
those tokens of civility. But Abraham's not backing down.
Abraham is going to purchase land. Abraham is going to get
the down payment that will ultimately result in Israel occupying that
nation after having vanquished the Canaanites from it. So he
specifically asks for that, and then when he says, give me, again,
with reference to verse 4, he's not looking for a handout, he
is looking specifically to pay. Wenham again says, by using this
phrase and mentioning payment, Abraham insists that he is not
merely interested in the right to bury his dead, a point already
conceded by the Hittites, but in owning the land, something
they had conspicuously omitted to consent to when they replied
to his opening remarks. He's not going to let them off
the hook. So all of that to say we can be courteous, we can be
civil, and yet we can make sure that we make out on a particular
deal. We're not dishonest, we're not
ungodly, we're not unkind, but certainly, as one has well said,
we don't live on love and fresh air. We have to have land, we
have to have water, and thankfully Abraham stands his ground and
makes sure that he gets that sort of thing so that he can
function in the land as God had called him to. Now notice the
response of Ephron. He is present with these sons
of Heth. Why Abraham doesn't directly
address him, I don't know. Maybe he wasn't seen by him,
or maybe he didn't think they spoke the same language, I'm
not sure. But verse 10 tells us that Ephron dwelt among the
sons of Heth, and Ephron The Hittite answered Abraham in the
presence of the sons of Heth, all who entered at the gate of
his city, saying, I want you to follow along as we go through
the rest of the chapter how many people are present. There's a
whole host of witnesses. It's a legal document. It's a
legal transaction. It's as if Moses is saying here,
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, I'm going to tell
you about this particular land transaction, and I'm going to
highlight or give you all the main points with reference to
this exchange, this transfer of property, and all of the witnesses
that were party to it. This didn't happen in a back
sort of dark room meeting, but rather it was out in the open,
all these persons witnessed it, and so Abraham had the right
to this particular property. He wanted it in perpetuity. He
says, no my lord, hear me, this is Ephron, I give you the field
and the cave that is in it, I give it to you in the presence of
the sons of my people, I give it to you, bury your dead. See
how insistent they are on wanting to give it to him. They don't
want him to be in a position of ownership in the land. Again,
they respect him, they like him, they probably think he's a great
guy and all of that, but they don't want him to own the land.
And this is some foresight on their part. Because Israel is
certainly not going to be good for Canaanite society. So we
have to accredit these men with at least enough savvy to read
the writing on the wall that at least presently what they
are inclined to do, just give him this cave so that he can
bury his dead and then go back to his existence. That was pretty
intelligent on their part. Now notice the offer, or rather,
insistence of payment on the part of Abraham in verses 12
to 15. Then Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the
land, and he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people
of the land, saying, If you will give it, please hear me. I will
give you money for the field. Take it from me, and I will bury
my dead there. See, he's not going to take no
for an answer. Abraham's going to buy property.
Abraham is going to do this, again, not only to bury Sarah,
but he's also doing it as the beginning of fulfillment of God's
promise in terms of the ownership of the land. And then notice
the response of Ephron at this particular point. Verse 14, Ephron
answered Abraham, saying to him, my Lord, listen to me. The land
is worth 400 shekels of silver. What is that between you and
me? So bury your dead. Now, that seems like a lot of
money. If we compare other land purchases
in scripture, there are a couple in the Old Testament that we
could turn to. In fact, why don't we? 2 Samuel
24, 24. 2 Samuel 24, 24. Remember, we're dealing with
400 shekels. Now, the value of the shekel
may have changed, and the weight involved in measuring the shekels
could have changed, but the 400 number seems to be quite large. And in 2 Samuel 24, 24, then
the king said to Aaron, no, but I will surely buy it from you
for a price, nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my
God with that which cost me nothing. So David bought the threshing
floor and the oxen for 50 shekels of silver. If we were not being
live-streamed, I would ask you what is the significance of this
particular transaction in 2 Samuel chapter 24. It is the threshing
floor of Arana. This is a place where David would
build an altar. This is at Mount Moriah. We considered
Moriah last Wednesday night in terms of that place of sacrifice
with reference to Abraham and Isaac. It is this place where
David builds an altar, and then it will be the place where the
temple is built in Israel, or in Jerusalem specifically. Then
1 Kings chapter 16. 1 Kings chapter 16 at verse 24. Again, just looking at how much
money is spent. 1 Kings 16.24, and he bought
the hill of Samaria. This is the wicked Omri. He bought the hill of Samaria
from Shemar for two talents of silver. Then he built on the
hill and called the name of the city which he built, Samaria,
after the name of Shemar, owner of the hill. And then Jeremiah
32. Jeremiah 32, in many respects, is a parallel passage to what
we have in Genesis chapter 23. It's a land transaction conducted
with reference to faith in God. Because essentially what you
have in Jeremiah 32 is God tells Jeremiah to buy property in Jerusalem. Now, if you're familiar with
the historical situation that was facing Jeremiah, that would
have been the worst possible idea ever in terms of real estate
acquiring. It'd be like a meteor was coming
to Chilliwack, and everybody knew it, it was going to blast
the city, and everything would be destroyed. And then you, this
was going to happen on a Tuesday, you went out on a Monday, and
you bought up several properties in the city. Everybody would
say, what's the matter with you? Are you nuts? In Jeremiah 32,
the particular historical occasion is that Babylon is seizing Jerusalem. Babylon is going to descend upon
Jerusalem. It's probably in the midst, or
it's happening as we are reading Jeremiah 32. And they're going
to destroy the temple. They're going to destroy the
city. So when God tells Jeremiah to buy this property, it's an
act of faith. It's an expression of faith in
God that when God says, the exile will be 70 years. And after that
exile, the exiles will return from Babylon back to Judah. It's an expression of faith to
buy land in that part of the world at that particular time.
That's the significance of Jeremiah 32. Well, in verse 9, we see
specifically how much he bought the field from, from his uncle
Hananiah. Verse 9, So I bought the field
from Hanumel, the son of my uncle, who was in Anathoth, and weighed
out to him the money, seventeen shekels of silver. Drop down
to verse 15 because this gives the significance for the whole
thing. For thus says the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel, houses and fields and vineyards shall be
possessed again in this land. You see, a land transaction,
as mundane as it may be, and I have to believe that chapter
23 in Genesis sort of feels like that, it feels like that teaching
it, it is nevertheless an expression of faith in the living and true
God. Notice what it says in Jeremiah
32 at verse 36. Now, therefore, thus says the
Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, it
shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the
sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence." Excuse me. Behold, I will gather them out
of all countries, where I have driven them in my anger, in my
fury, and in great wrath. I will bring them back to this
place, and I will cause them to dwell safely. They shall be
my people, and I will be their God. Then I will give them one
heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for the
good of them and their children after them. and I will make an
everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from
doing them good, but I will put my fear in their heart so that
they will not depart from me. Yes, I will rejoice over them
to do them good, and I will assuredly plant them in this land with
all my heart, and with all my soul." So you see the expression
of faith in this land acquisition in Jeremiah 32. It's the same
sort of thing that we find in Genesis 23. But in terms of those
other purchases of land, they seem a lot less than what Abraham
is ponying up in this particular instance. Then notice what Ephron
says, verse 14. We know that Abraham has a lot
of money. Abraham has been gifted a lot of things from different persons. Abraham has
amassed a great deal of wealth. Abraham doesn't attempt to dicker
about the price. Abraham simply pays the price.
So as far as Abraham's concerned, it's not too much. It's just
right. So Abraham pays the money for
this particular field. And that brings us to consider
finally the completion of the transaction in verses 16 to 20. Notice in verse 16, the purchase
of the land. And Abraham listened to Ephron,
and Abraham weighed out the silver for Ephron, which he had named
in the hearing of the sons of Eth, four hundred shekels of
silver, currency of the merchants. So it was a good deal for Abraham.
He pays the money, and now he secures the land. Now notice
how verse 17 describes this transfer of property. It's almost like
reading your papers when you buy a house. or you buy a townhouse
or you buy something. There's a contract and it sort
of indicates all of the particulars of the sale. Notice you've got
the buyer and the seller. Verse 17, the field of Ephron
was deeded or were deeded at the very end of verse 17 to Abraham.
You've got the seller there, and you've got the buyer. Notice
you've got the location. The location is specified. It's
the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before
Mamre. You can find this place. It's
really there, and this is the portion of land that Abraham
now owned. as well the particulars in terms
of the parcels of land. It doesn't just include the cave,
but it also includes the field, and then the environs. It's not
just the cave and the field, but look at what verse 17 says,
the field and the cave which was in it, and all the trees
that were in the field which were within all the surrounding
borders. So everything there was Abraham's. Everything there
was his ownership. Everything there was a testimony
to the faithfulness of God. Every tree, every piece of dirt,
every rock, every crevice in the cave, that all belonged to
Abraham now, and it was gifted to him not by Ephron. It was
gifted to him not by the sons of Heth. It was gifted to him
not by any pagan or Canaanite, but rather it was gifted to him
by God Most High. Remember? Abraham's unwillingness
to receive anything from the king of Sodom. Go back to chapter
14. Remember when Abraham goes, and
he meets that coalition of kings, and he defeats them, and he gets
Lot back, and he gets the persons and the goods back. And in verse
21, in Genesis 14, the king of Sodom said to Abram, give me
the persons and take the goods for yourself. But Abram said
to the king of Sodom, I have raised my hand to the Lord, God
most high, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will take nothing
from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything
that is yours, lest you should say, I have made Abram rich. Well, we might suppose the same
sort of sentiment is in chapter 23. He doesn't want Ephron to
say, I have given this land to Abram. He doesn't want the sons
of Heth to be able to say, I have given this land to Abram. No,
it is God who gave the land to Abram. And that is what's in
view in this particular chapter. So God, in his grace, makes this
promise to Abraham. Abraham moves out of Ur of the
Chaldeans. He goes into Haran. He ultimately enters into the
promised land. God tells him you're going to
receive all this. God tells him in chapter 13 to walk the land.
God gives him this well from Abimelech in chapter 21, and
now God is giving him the land. So again, as we read through
this particular section, we cannot forget the theology. The theology
in Genesis chapter 23 is that your God is faithful. Your God
delivers. When your God promises, your
God fulfills. And that is precisely what Abraham
is preaching to us from Genesis chapter 23. Again, with reference
to the legality of it, the presence of witnesses. Notice in verse
18, it was deeded to Abraham as a possession in the presence
of the sons of Heth before all who went in at the gate of his
city. Notice the other references to the witnesses. Verse 10, Ephron
dwelt among the sons of Heth. And Ephron the Hittite answered
Abraham, notice, in the presence of the sons of Heth. So no one
could come back later and say, well, this Abraham was deceptive,
and this Abraham was a liar, and this Abraham, you know, got
won over on Ephron. No, there were all kinds of witnesses
around. Again, this is a legal document.
It's binding in a courtroom. Notice in verse 11. No, my Lord, hear me. I give
you the field and the cave that is in it. I give it to you in
the presence of the sons of my people, I give it to you. Again,
at verse 13, he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people
of the land saying, if you will give it, please hear me. I will
give you money for the field. Take it from me and I will bury
my dead there. And then again in verse 16, Abraham
listened to Ephron and Abraham weighed out the silver for Ephron,
which he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heb. You see,
it is obviously, conspicuously, a legal transaction that Abraham
now does own a piece of the promised land. And that moves us to verses
19 and 20, where he actually does possess the land. And of
course, he buries his beloved. Verse 19, and after this, Abraham
buried Sarah, his wife, in the cave of the field at Machpelah,
before Mamre, that is Hebron, in the land of Canaan. In case
you missed it, brethren, this is the significance. This is
in the land of Canaan. Abraham owns a piece of property
in the land of Canaan. And then the legal possession
of the field by Abraham is underscored in verse 20. So the field and
the cave that is in it were deeded to Abraham by the sons of Hath
as property for a burial place. So Abraham got specifically what
he was after. He wasn't just able to dispose
of the body of his beloved in the burial places of the sons
of Hath, he wanted property for a burial place. And that property
would serve as a burial place, but it would also serve as a
reminder to Abraham and a reminder to Abraham's posterity that God
who promised is faithful and that we will, in fact, receive
the entirety of this land. And so, in conclusion, in terms
of some practical observations, that is, in the first place,
the point of the transaction. Abraham is unwilling to be dependent
upon pagans. Abraham is not going to give
pagans the opportunity to say, it's by my hand that Abraham
has prospered. Abraham has faith in the true
and living God, and the possession of a piece of ground in Canaan
was sacramental for Abraham. It signified to him that the
God who promised was faithful. John Gill says, with reference
to this property, He says, it was a pledge and earnest of the
future possession of the land of Canaan by the seed of Abraham.
This was the first piece of ground in it possessed by Abraham and
his seed. Beautiful observation, summarizes
beautifully. chapter 23. Secondly, we would
be remiss if we didn't again observe the faith of Abraham. Remember, we've had cause to
reflect upon the reality that faith in Christ does not mean
the absence of trials in life. It doesn't mean that there'll
be no hardships. He had to banish Ishmael in chapter
21. He had to sacrifice Isaac in
chapter 22. Now we might say, well, he didn't
really have to. Yeah, but he didn't know that.
He was willing to do that. Faith doesn't question God. Faith obeys God. And here in
chapter 23, though it was a few years later, he nevertheless
loses his wife. Because we're believers in Jesus
Christ, it doesn't mean we're immune to the various trials,
afflictions, hardships, and difficulties that befall mankind. We're not immune. We're not,
you know, those who are put aside and there's no hardship that
ever falls on them. One wonders if these health,
wealth, prosperity guys ever read the Old Testament. Well,
one wonders if they ever read the New Testament either, but
the bottom line is that the people of God in this world have tribulation. And it's not just, you know,
godless men persecuting us. It's the trial and the difficulty
of losing children. It's the trial and the difficulty
of losing loved ones. It's the trial and difficulty
of having hardship and affliction in this world. So faith in Jesus
Christ does not mitigate the various circumstances that we
face or the various consequences that we face in this world. Now,
we ought to appreciate as well the faith of Sarah. Turn to Hebrews
11 for just a moment. Hebrews chapter 11. Sarah is in the hall of faith
in Hebrews chapter 11. Remember, this particular chapter
functions in a way of encouragement to the people of God, the people
that are being discouraged, the people that are not sort of persevering
perhaps as they ought. There are some within their ranks
that are turning back to Judaism and to the old covenant types
and shadows. And the emphasis of the Apostle is that you need
to press on, you need to endure, you need to run with endurance,
the race that is set before you. And he gives them all of these,
this cloud of witnesses in Hebrews chapter 11, of those who ran
the race before them so that they can be encouraged by this.
And in Hebrews 11, 11, we read, By faith Sarah herself also received
strength, to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was
past the age, because she judged him faithful who had promised."
Blessed statement. I mean, if that could be said
of us at the end of our days, we judge God faithful who had
promised. That's a blessed testimony and
a blessed expression of the faith of this particular woman. Therefore,
verse 12, from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as
many as the stars of the sky in multitude, innumerable as
the sand which is by the seashore. Before we get back to Genesis,
I want to just read what verses 13 to 16 highlight concerning
the Old Testament saints as a whole. These all died in faith, the
patriarchs, not having received the promises, but having seen
them afar off, were assured of them, embraced them, and confessed
that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those
who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And
truly, if they had called to mind that country from which
they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better,
that is, a heavenly country. Therefore, God is not ashamed
to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them."
That sort of applies to the whole group of patriarchs back in the
primeval age. But back to the account in Genesis.
Think about the life that Sarah had. Okay, we've talked a lot,
I know I've talked a lot about Abraham and his struggles and
his difficulties. She was 90 years childless. Now, childlessness today is often
celebrated and exalted, but in this particular instance, it
wasn't something that was celebrated and exalted. It was something
that she would have been looked down upon. So she was 90 years
childless. She was twice given to foreign
kings into their harems. with reference to Pharaoh and
Abimelech. That couldn't have been a fun
time. We don't know specifically what happens in terms of her
time there, but the fact that she was in those situations had
to have been difficult. She's twice provoked with reference
to Hagar and Ishmael. And according to God, she's right
in that whole interchange. I mean, she says, cast out the
bond woman and her son. Abraham is very displeased. But
God says, you need to listen to her. She was the right one
in that exchange. But she was affronted by Hagar
initially and then Ishmael. Remember, Ishmael basically scorned
her. when Isaac was born. And then as well, she watches
her husband go through the various things that he went through.
I'm sure he wasn't silent about the reality that he had to go
to Mount Moriah. He was called on a particular
errand to sacrifice their son, their only son, the son whom
they love. She had a tough go of it, brethren, and nevertheless,
she saw God as faithful, the one who promised was faithful.
Wenham comments concerning her. The primeval history preserves
an almost exclusively male orientation. Women are rarely mentioned except
as adjuncts to their husbands. But with Sarah, we meet a woman
of heroic proportions, worthy grandmother of the nation of
Israel. He says, the stories of the expulsion of Ishmael and
the sacrifice of Isaac highlighted Abraham's deep affection for
his sons. So this story makes plain Abraham's
sincere love for Sarah and the honor he bestowed on her. They
had a good family. They had love. They had affection.
They had closeness. They had intimacy. But most of
all, they had faith in the living God who promised them, come out
of the land of Ur the Chaldeans into this land that I am giving
you. And here is the initial down payment that God is faithful
to His promise. Well, let us close in a word
of prayer. Our Father, we thank you for
your word. We thank you for the promises of God. We thank you
that you have blessed us richly and given us so much in our Lord
Jesus Christ. We know that he's the one in
whom all the promises of God are, yea and amen. And we know
that passages like Genesis 23 ultimately do point to the Lord
Christ. We thank you for this. We thank
you for the gospel of our salvation. We thank you for this time that
we can gather together, and we praise you in Jesus' name, amen.
