Genesis 22:20-23:20

Do you live as if this world were your home?  Is your heart set on material possessions or on making this life here easier?  

Abraham’s faith in the Eternal God gave him confidence as he began to visit the valley of the shadow of death.  Abraham knew that he was a stranger and pilgrim on the earth (Heb. 11:13) and that he would die without seeing the fulfillment of the promises (Gen. 15:15-16).  But he continued to trust God as he saw the younger generation arise and the older generation pass on.

For example, the clan update from Haran (22:20-24) fits this theme.  This may seem like an aside but in fact it introduces us to Rebekah who will become a key figure in the next generation.

But it is especially seen in the death of his beloved wife Sarah (Ch. 23).  Sarah is the only woman in the Bible whose age, death and burial are mentioned.  She is 127 years old, making Isaac 37 at the time of her death.  Abraham has been living in Beersheba while Sarah has apparently lived at the earlier family home in Hebron.

Certainly this must have been difficult for Abraham, and for Isaac as well (Gen. 24:67).  This is the first mention in Scripture of grief over death and the disposition of dead bodies.  Note that burial …

·       Shows respect for what God has made.

·       Shows respect for the person who lived in that body.

·       Speaks of sleep or rest and the hope of the resurrection.

·       Was the consistent practice of God’s people in Scripture.

But more than a treatise on how we deal with the body, God uses this sad moment to do something wonderful for Abraham in terms of fulfilling the covenant.  Through the purchase of burial land Abraham truly owns a piece of the land promised to him by God.  

When you attend a funeral are you not prompted to think of your own life and your eventual death?  Certainly the death of his wife brought this home to Abraham.  Faith in a faithful God can sustain us in the face of our greatest and last enemy.  

In death we grieve.  But let us not grieve as those who have no hope.  People of faith remember they are citizens of heaven.  We eagerly await the resurrection when our bodies will be transformed into the likeness of Christ’s glorious body (Phil. 3:20-21).