Land
Genesis 23:1-20
1Sarah lived 127 years; these were the years of the life of Sarah.
2And 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.
3And Abraham rose up from before his dead and said to the Hittites,
4“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.”
5The 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.”
7Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land.
8And 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,
9that 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.”
10Now 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.”
12Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land.
13And 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.”
14Ephron 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.”
16Abraham listened 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.
17So 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
18to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, before all
who went in at the gate of his city.
19After 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.
20The field and the cave that is in it were made over to Abraham as
property for a burying place by the Hittites.
While I grew up mostly in
the city, my family is deeply tied to the farm where my father spent his
childhood in northwestern South Dakota. Throughout my formative years, we went up to the farm several times
a year so that my dad could continue to work the land and help out the family.
The love for that land runs in my veins. It means we have “place” and
connection to something that is irrevocably permanent until Jesus returns.
Money, time, and possessions all slip away but land remains. God has promised
Abraham land – what becomes known throughout the Scriptures as The Promised
Land. Today, we call it Israel (or Palestine.)
The death of Sarah prompts
the purchase of the first parcel of The Promised Land that Abraham would own.
It is offered to him as a gift by the Hittites. But he refuses that gift
(graciously) and instead pays the full price for a nice piece of property with
trees and a cave. No one will be able to say they gave the Hebrews The Promised
Land as a gift – only God can do that. Later in the Scriptures, in Jeremiah
32:6-15 we find another remarkable story of the people’s connection to the
lands that God gave to them.
Give it a read. It’s pretty
interesting!
The fascinating thing about
this purchase is that was made literally the evening before the Hebrews were
carried off into the Babylonian captivity. Jeremiah buys a piece of property
that he will lose the next day to a conquering nation! And he does so with full
knowledge that this is what is going to happen! This purchase serves as a
living picture of the fact that God will not abandon His people. He will bring
them back to the Land that He has already given to them. Their captivity will
not last forever. The people were tied to something that was irrevocably permanent.
We are tied not to the land
of Israel, but to the God who gave that land. Jesus’ family did not purchase a
tomb for His short stay in the tomb. He was buried borrowed in a grave. He did
not need that tie to the Promised Land. Instead of being tied to the land, we
are irrevocably and permanently tied to the risen Christ. Who knew the death of
Sarah would be this interesting!!!!
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