Sarah Dies

Genesis 23

Immanuel – 4/30/23

For months we have been journeying with Abraham, a journey of highs and lows. Today we come to a low as we say goodbye to the covenant mother. Abraham’s beloved wife, Sarah, passes from life to death.

But in this place of death, one of God’s promises begins to find its first glimmer of fulfillment. Abraham comes to possess a tiny portion of the land that God has promised to him. The way it comes to him is certainly unexpected, through a negotiation over a burial plot for his wife.

Purpose

Work through Abraham’s negotiation to see that not everything is as it seems.

Read Genesis 23

Context

Our passage opens about 24 years after Abraham took his teenage son up Moriah’s height to offer him unto the Lord. Isaac is now 37. Abraham is 137. He’ll go on to live another 38 years. But here in chapter 23, in blessed Hebron, the abundant years of Sarah’s life come to their end. She was 127 years old.

In all of the Bible, Sarah is the only woman whose lifespan is given. It highlights her incredibly significant role in God’s redemptive plan through history.

People in the ancient Near East, just as we see in the Bible, were not afraid of the deepest expressions of sorrow: loud weeping, tearing clothes, sitting in dirt, wearing sackcloth, shaving the head. Job does all these when tragedy befalls him. When Abraham loses his beloved wife, the mother of nations and kings, his closest companion and fellow wanderer, it’s very likely his mourning is just as passionate.

Not only has Abraham lost Sarah, but it comes with another pain. After all this time, and despite his great age and wealth, Abraham has nowhere to bury his wife, nowhere to rest her bones. Our worldview is so entirely different from those in Abraham’s day, that it’s difficult to wrap our minds around this dilemma; but I’ll try.

Ancient Near East families had burial sites, sites that were very precious to those families. Generations would be buried in this exact same location. It was part of their identity, their legacy, their history. If someone died far from their family’s burial site, the living family members would undergo great efforts to return the deceased to the family burial plot.

Abraham came from Ur, 1,000 miles across the fertile crescent. But as you may remember Abraham buried his father near Haran: around 600 miles away. And as we will see next week, Abraham’s family is now firmly established in Nahor. Tradition would therefore dictate that Sarah’s body would return to the same site Abraham buried his father, Terah.

But Abraham does not want to return Sarah’s body to the region of Haran, and it has nothing to do with the distance. It has everything to do with his faith. You’ll see what I mean as we continue.

But notice, in verse 3, that Abraham rises, likely interrupting the traditional period of mourning, to secure a burial site within the Promised Land. He approaches the Hittites of Hebron.

Read vs 4

Remember, from chapter 14, Hebron was governed by Amorites: allies that fought alongside Abraham and together they defeated a much larger invading force. Now, over 50 years later, Hebron is under Hittite control; an evidence that the land of Canaan was subject to constantly shifting power dynamics – and probably violent ones at that.

When Abraham met with the Hittites of Hebron, the Hittite Empire was still growing. It will not reach its height for another 600 years or so. And even during its height, the borders of the Hittite Empire were in Anatolia and along the northern portion of the Fertile Crescent. It never reached down into the land that would become Israel. There’s considerable debate among scholars about what in the world were land-owning Hittites doing all the way down in Hebron, that Abraham had to go to them?

I point all this out because there appears to be a bit of irony in Abraham’s exchange with the Hittites. Abraham presents himself as a foreigner, but it is likely he has been living in the land of Canaan much longer than these Hittites of Hebron. Abraham is truly a faithful example, not asserting himself in terms of power – though he could have – but in terms of humility.

He places himself at the bottom of the social ladder.

Read vs 4-6

The Negotiation

Though Abraham has been in the land of Canaan for about 60 years, though he has accumulated much wealth, and though his name is renowned, he calls himself a foreigner and a nomad. He is choosing his words carefully, approaching the Hittites without a shred of pretense. With Abimelech, Abraham flexed his muscles somewhat to secure the water rights to Beersheba’s well. But here he comes only in meekness.

Clearly the Hittites are moved by Abraham’s appeal, and clearly they know who Abraham is. The title they apply to him appears to indicate how all the peoples of Canaan thought of Abraham: “a prince of God among us.”

The Hittites offer Abraham the pick of all their best tombs. None of them will withhold. “Take whichever you want, Abraham, even if it is one of our own!” It appears like a very generous offer.

But it’s important to catch the subtle turns of negotiation. Abraham wants his own property. He wants to establish a burial ground for his own family. But the Hittites offer a choice tomb. Catch the wording in verse 6, bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs: not yours but ours. All they are offering is a section of their own burial grounds: a his and hers tomb. Additionally, Sarah’s body, and later Abraham’s, would be surrounded by the dead of another family.

This offer is not at all what Abraham wants. The Hittites, pretentiously though politely, appear to be denying Abraham’s request.

Resolute, yet all pretense aside, Abraham bows down low and humbles himself even further.

Read vs 7-9

Abraham’s bow is significant. It’s true, he is a prince of God; but he does not count his position a thing to be grasped, just as he does not consider the land a thing he can grasp – though he certainly had the power to do it. And though Hittites are abject pagans, he does not hate them for their evils, and he does not hate them for possessing what God had said was his.

Instead, Abraham desires to graciously, humbly, gain their favor.

He then hones in on a particular Hittite and reveals the specific nature of his request. Abraham desire’s Ephron’s cave for his family’s permanent burial site. He is willing to pay whatever price is named – a subtle hint of his substantial wealth. By purchasing that cave, his sole ownership would be incontestable.

Read vs 10-11

Once again, we see that the city gates were a place of importance. It was where the nobles gathered and governed, and it was where significant transactions were legally conducted – in the sight of those noble men who judged.

Ephron stands up from among these Hittite nobles, and he offers not just the cave, but the field also. Yes, Ephron’s offer is more than what Abraham asked, but that generosity masks a self-serving purpose.

Notice how conscious Ephron is of those around him: in verse 10 he answers so all the Hittite nobles hear him; and in verse 11 we read, In the sight of the sons of my people I give it to you. While Abraham demonstrates a heart that is humble and meek, Ephron grandstands. His intentions are likely good, but he wants everyone to see his generosity, looking for the applause of man.

This is a common characteristic of our day. People want to be seen as compassionate, generous, fighting injustice; so they posture and pose on social media, garnering as many likes as possible. We refer to it as virtue signaling. Millenia before social media, Ephron is virtue signaling.

Remaining entirely unflappable, Abraham again bows himself in meek humility.

Read vs 12-13

Ephron’s self-serving intentions are further revealed when Abraham rejects his gift. It’s not helpful. He knows that gifts can easily be rescinded, especially in ancient Canaan where the land was ruled by the whims of men. Some commentators even see this possibility in Ephron’s offer: giving a gift publicly only to take it back when it suited him best.

No, Abraham wants to legally, indisputably, possess a plot of land for his family’s bones.

Though we are seeing these undertones of self-interest and sly bargains, the Hittites generally regard Abraham well. It’s certainly not like they’re out to get him. Though, I’m sure the Hittites wouldn’t be upset if they gained some advantage over Abraham. That’s the nature of a sinful world, people constantly trying to gain the upper hand – whether by force or polite sleight of hand.

Abraham falls for none of it, even at the enticement of free land. For a third and final time, Abraham offers his money and urges them to accept. He too wants witnesses, but for a legal purpose. If Ephron accepts, then the rulers of Hebron will serve as legal witnesses; such was the custom of the day.

Read vs 14-16

Finally, after asking three times, Abraham is finally given a price for the land he desired. With a flourish of false friendliness, Ephron claimed it was worth 400 shekels of silver.

In 2 Samuel 24, King David refuses to accept a plot of land as a gift, a plot that he wants to build an altar upon. That site would eventually become the location where the temple is built – which means it is also the same location where Abraham was prepared to offer Isaac. So instead of receiving it as a gift, he buys it from a Jebusite for the fair market price of 50 shekels of silver.

Ephron offers Abraham a small plot of land, with far less significance, for eight times that amount: 400 shekels of silver! Certainly, the value of a shekel could vary from city to city and from age to age, but certainly not that much. Ephron sees Abraham has his heart set on this particular plot of land, this particular cave, and he sees an opportunity to make bank.

I imagine that when Ephron names his price, everyone’s eyes get wide, and they all turn to see what Abraham will do next. Without hesitation, as if the sum is immaterial, Abraham weighs his silver. Likely, it’s barely a dent in Abraham’s treasury.

Read vs 17-18

These verses are recorded in the formal manner of an ancient contract. He buys the cave, the field by the cave, and all the trees in the area. Remember, tall and old trees held religious value in the minds of the ancients. Even if they were neither old nor tall at time of purchase, they may be one day. It will be important to know who owns them. Thus, they are mentioned in the record of this land sale.

Abraham has maneuvered through this negotiation and finally gotten what he was after, even if it cost him more than it should have. He finally possesses a plot of land to bury the bones of his family, a place to lay his beloved wife to rest.

Read vs 19-20

Sarah’s death and final burial bookend a very lengthy negotiation process. As you can see, the majority of chapter 23 is Abraham’s dealings with the Hittites. You might think to yourself, especially as we were working through it all, what’s the point? Is all of this really important?

If it’s in the Bible, then God wants us to know it, and not just as pieces of information, but because God’s word is our source of life – every bit of it. To see the significance of this negotiation, as it is linked to Sarah’s death, we need to peel back the surface layer.

Resolute and Meek

If there are two words that I could use to describe Abraham during the negotiation, they would be resolute and meek. He resolutely wants to own Machpelah’s cave. He will not accept it as a gift, and he will not accept any other offer. He wants the cave for his family’s burial site.

As I hinted at earlier, this is a matter not of practicality, it’s a matter of faith.

The Amorites owned this land in the past. Now it’s the Hittites. Eventually other Canaanites will capture it. But Abraham knows these are just passing waves. This plot of land, and all the land surrounding it, it all belongs to Abraham. God has sworn it. As surely as God is holy, this is Abraham’s land.

It is not his lot to acquire this land. He takes none of it by force, though he could have. Instead, he makes every effort to legally acquire one tiny little piece of it; the only piece of the Promised Land that Abraham ever owns during his lifetime. It’s the first glimmer of fulfillment of God’s land promise to Abraham.

He does this because he will not bury his wife’s bones in any other land. He will not return her to the burial site of his father. This is where she belongs, in the Promised Land. This is where he belongs – and his son, and eventually his grandson.

By faith Abraham is trusting that there will be a long lineage, though he cannot see beyond Isaac. They will all need a burial site. And by faith He is, in the most permanent way he knows how, tying his body and his lineage to God and God’s land of promise. Abraham’s faith is resolute.

God honors this, for just as he believed, so it would be. On his deathbed in Egypt, these were the very last words of Jacob – Abraham’s grandson:

Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. There they buried Abraham and Sarah, his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah, his wife, and there I buried Leah— the field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites.” When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people. -Genesis 49:29-33

To this day, Abraham’s bloodline remembers this cave. After the Wailing Wall, the cave of Machpelah – also known as the Cave of the Patriarchs – is the second holiest site for Orthodox Jews.

I also said Abraham was meek. He demonstrated this as he remained polite and peaceful, bowed and humbled himself before the Hittites. Do you know what Biblical meekness is? It’s being stronger than someone else, but for their good, you choose not to exercise that strength. Like Jesus hanging on the cross though He could have called down legions of angels and obliterated every one of His enemies.

If Abraham was able to defeat an invading force of four armies, and he has only grown richer and more powerful since, these displaced Hittites in Hebron would be an easy snack. Yet he does not lift a finger against them. He uses the tools of peace to acquire that which is rightfully his.

For his hope is not in his power, his wealth, not even in his rights. His hope is in the Lord. He knows God will make good on his promises, and not just for others. He trusts that he himself will enjoy the fullness of God’s promises. He wisely believes that meekness is the path of a greater reward.

And this faith of Abraham’s is confirmed in the words of his greatest descendant. Jesus said,

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” -Matthew 5:5

Yes, the meek receive the greater reward. In meekness Abraham was purchasing a small burial plot for his family, but God was giving him the earth. And by Jesus’ own words, all the children of Abraham – everyone who believes in Jesus – all of us are given this same promise. In Christ we are meek, and by Christ we shall inherit the earth. More on this in two weeks, when we come to Abraham’s death.

In all of chapter 23, God never speaks. It’s no coincidence, for it is in death that God seems to be the most silent. Only by faith is God in and through everything, as it is for Abraham when his wife died.

Though Abraham is offered enticing options, what appear to be generous gifts, Abraham’s focus is unswervingly resolute. And despite his divine claim and his substantial strength, Abraham demonstrates profound meekness.

These incredible attributes exist in Abraham because he is looking not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. He looks with eyes of faith. He does not grasp at what he can take, he waits upon the Lord who has promised.

If we learn nothing else from chapter 23, let it be that we wait upon the Lord. When loved ones die, it is God who gives voice to the silence and life to the people of promise. When at the end of your life you feel you have nothing to show, God is waiting with the earth.

O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath!…And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you…Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; hold not your peace at my tears! For I am a sojourner with you, a guest, like all my fathers. -Psalm 39:4-5,7,12