Genesis 23
Genesis 23:1-20 (NLT)
1 When Sarah was 127 years old,
2 she died at Kiriath-arba (now called Hebron) in the land of Canaan. There Abraham mourned and wept for her.
3 Then, leaving her body, he said to the Hittite elders,
4 “Here I am, a stranger and a foreigner among you. Please sell me a piece of land so I can give my wife a proper burial.”
5 The Hittites replied to Abraham,
6 “Listen, my lord, you are an honored prince among us. Choose the finest of our tombs and bury her there. No one here will refuse to help you in this way.”
7 Then Abraham bowed low before the Hittites
8 and said, “Since you are willing to help me in this way, be so kind as to ask Ephron son of Zohar
9 to let me buy his cave at Machpelah, down at the end of his field. I will pay the full price in the presence of witnesses, so I will have a permanent burial place for my family.”
10 Ephron was sitting there among the others, and he answered Abraham as the others listened, speaking publicly before all the Hittite elders of the town.
11 “No, my lord,” he said to Abraham, “please listen to me. I will give you the field and the cave. Here in the presence of my people, I give it to you. Go and bury your dead.”
12 Abraham again bowed low before the citizens of the land,
13 and he replied to Ephron as everyone listened. “No, listen to me. I will buy it from you. Let me pay the full price for the field so I can bury my dead there.”
14 Ephron answered Abraham,
15 “My lord, please listen to me. The land is worth 400 pieces of silver, but what is that between friends? Go ahead and bury your dead.”
16 So Abraham agreed to Ephron’s price and paid the amount he had suggested—400 pieces of silver, weighed according to the market standard. The Hittite elders witnessed the transaction.
17 So Abraham bought the plot of land belonging to Ephron at Machpelah, near Mamre. This included the field itself, the cave that was in it, and all the surrounding trees.
18 It was transferred to Abraham as his permanent possession in the presence of the Hittite elders at the city gate.
19 Then Abraham buried his wife, Sarah, there in Canaan, in the cave of Machpelah, near Mamre (also called Hebron).
20 So the field and the cave were transferred from the Hittites to Abraham for use as a permanent burial place.
37 years from the birth of their promised child, while still wandering as strangers without any land of their own, Sarah passes. For her burial, Abraham acquires his first tiny portion of Canaan in a plot that included a cave not presently utilized for this purpose. Rather than just receiving offers to commit her body to a tomb of the locals, he desired a place that would represent his belief in the resurrection. It would be secured as his own family burial place, not to be reclaimed as not having been paid for at full price. Even in these bodies that were passing from life on this earth, there was a claim made on a promise that would not pass. Surrounding this precious repository of his family’s remains would be an established land of promise to be occupied, dispersed from, and then reestablished today. The promise has remained unchanged through a myriad of transformations and will yet be sustained till the occupation and rule of our great Champion.
There is a faithfulness by us to the promise that equips for its continuance through our existence here and beyond. How critical it was for Abraham to walk out his belief in God’s word by acting out its reality even at the passing of his precious companion. When God’s Word gets settled secure in our hearts, nothing, not even death, can cause us to act in any way other than belief. Rather than letting our steps be determined by worldly expectations and traditions, our movements will establish a portion of the promise that will provide for its complete fulfillment far beyond our last breath.
Abraham was promised Canaan land but still he purchased the property he needed instead of receiving it as a gift from men or promise from God. 450 later during the exodus, Caleb was sent to spy out the land of Canaan and this area of Machpelah is the direction he went. So 450 years later the land promised to Abraham was not in the possession of God’s people but the land Abraham purchased was still recognized as the burial place for him and his family. I wonder how many covenants, spiritual transactions, are supposed to be validated by physical transactions? When we get married, it’s a covenant agreement with God and with another person but without a marriage license it isn’t recognized amongst men as a binding agreement. David did the same thing, purchasing the land to build the temple so it wasn’t disputed by men. So, what promises of God have I not received because I didn’t ” put your money where your mouth is” to activate my end of the deal?