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1 Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. 2 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. 3 Then Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spoke to the sons of Heth, saying, 4 "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." 5 And the sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, 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." 7 Then Abraham stood up and bowed himself to the people of the land, the sons of Heth. 8 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, 9 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." ~ Genesis 23:1-9
Today, we transition into Genesis 23 where the development of Abraham's walk with the Lord is being chronicled by Moses. Abraham's faith did not develop to the point that we will see it today overnight. No, it was the ongoing product in the life of a man who for a long time has been being convinced that the God of the Bible is true to His promises and we do well to be defined by Him. In today's passage we learn a little bit about how to handle the pain of losing a loved one.
In v.1-2 of today's passage we read, "1 Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. 2 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."
Abraham mourned for his wife Sarah who lived on this earth for 127 years. She is the only woman in the Bible whose age at death and specific place of burial are both recorded together. Sarah died 37 years after Isaac was born which took place in the year 2146 BC. Sarah is the first woman who is actually noted since Eve who was in the line of the Messiah. From the Bible, we can infer other women who are in His line, but Sarah is explicitly mentioned as bearing the son of promise, through whom God’s plans would be realized. And so from Sarah, there is a connection directly linking her to Mary, the mother of the Lord Jesus, both physically and spiritually. Through her came the otherwise impossible birth of Isaac, who is a picture of Christ, and through both her and Mary came the Messiah Himself.
This is the first mention of tears in the Bible. Tears continue throughout history until we get to Revelation 21 where God will wipe away every tear. Since man disregarded the commands of God, tears have been a part of the stain of human life. The Bible reminds us, "There is a time to weep and there's a time to laugh, there's a time to mourn, there's a time to dance." The Bible also reminds us that as believers in the goodness of our God, we do not mourn as those who have no hope. Due to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus from the dead, Abraham could rejoice along with us that we will see our loved ones again.
In v.3-4 of today's passage we read, "3 Then Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spoke to the sons of Heth, saying, 4 '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.'"
Abraham had been weeping in the valley of the shadow of death then he stood up from before death. When shadows come into our lives, it is a sign that there must be light somewhere. Of course, if we turn our back on the light, then we ourselves are the ones who cause the shadow. But if we face the light, as Abraham did, looking at that light streaming from the city whose builder and maker is God, then the only shadow comes temporarily when some object obscures the light for a moment. Only our faith in the God of the Bible enables us to deal with the heart wrenching pain that comes when a loved one passes into eternity.
After Abraham had poured out his heart and his tears, he spoke to the sons of Heth who were first mentioned in Genesis 10. King David’s wife Bathsheba came from them and she is an ancestor of the Lord Jesus. When Abraham spoke, he noted his lack of property, stating he was a foreigner and a visitor in the land. This is true, because the land belonged to the Canaanites until God determined they were to be removed some 400 years later. In Hebrews 11 God brings our attention that Abraham's a sojourner in the land, that he lived in such a way that it was clear to others that this world was not his home.
In v.5-6 of today's passage we read, "5 And the sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, 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.'"
Abraham was an honorable man because he had learned the value of walking with the Lord. Of course, that didn't come without a lot of bumps and bruises. As a result, the sons of Heth clearly understood Abraham’s favor with the Lord. In their response to Abraham's request, the sons of Heth offered to Abraham a resting place for Sarah freely and without condition.
This brings up question that many ask today and it is: "Is cremation wrong for the Christian?" As for biblical support for the anti-cremation position, it’s often pointed out that Abraham purchased this burial site for himself and his wife Sarah. In addition, Joseph commanded that his bones be carried out of Egypt in Genesis 50. There are no recorded cremations in the New Testament. Some believers argue that it is inconsistent for Christians, who have been saved by faith from the coming judgment of fire, to burn the remains of their dead.
Personally, I do not believe that cremation needs to be viewed as a spiritual issue. One could just as easily argue that the custom of burial in ancient Israel was nothing more than a reflection of the Bible’s cultural context. The fact remains that all physical bodies suffer disintegration, whether through decay or through fire. The idea that God cannot resurrect them in the one case as well as in the other isn't true. He does not need our specific ashes and chemical components to bring about our resurrection because the resurrected body is a new spiritual creation. After all the real us is our soul and our spirit.
In v.7-9 of today's passage we read, "Then Abraham stood up and bowed himself to the people of the land, the sons of Heth. 8 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, 9 that he may give me the cave of Machpelah which he has, which is at the end of his field.'"
Abraham repeated what he said earlier and adds to it. His statement, "If it is your wish" acknowledged their agreement. This passage literally reads, "Because you agree, please meet with Ephron on my behalf as I’d like to buy the cave of Machpelah." Machpelah means "double." Also known as the cave of the Patriarchs, it is a cave within a cave, thus double cave. Later, Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Leah were all be buried there.
Abraham purchased the cave at full money or full weight. Silver was the mode of money in that day and so it would have been weighed out to the required weight. Even though he could have been given land for a burial plot, Abraham didn’t want anything later to interfere with his eventual grave sight. He wanted it to be paid for, free and clear so that no one could take it from the family. Abraham was thinking of others. This is what our walk of faith does for us, it makes us like God, others minded.
