Posted by
aurorawatcher on Thursday, July 09, 2009 4:39:55 PM
I don't think there can be any question that Sarah was the love of Abraham's life. Several times over the course of their life journey together, he faced the prospect of losing her and responded in totally inappropriate ways -- mostly, lying to potentates who had done him no harm and intended none.
So the report of events in Genesis 23 might seem a little unemotional upon casual observance. We want to see Abraham grieve for Sarah, but are denied this. Why?
The events of Genesis 22 provide the answer. The ram was already in the bush. God had taught Abraham about loss through the "sacrifice" of Isaac. Moreover, Abraham knew that his seed through Isaac would continue thanks to the wife that God had provided for Isaac many years before at the birth of Rebekah (Genesis 22:20-24). This reminder of home (Ur) must also be seen as a temptation to turn from the path of faith. God had commanded Abraham to dwell in Canaan, but often when our spouse dies we want to return their body to our homeland. Abraham still had strong family ties there, which illustrates the significance of his decision to bury Sarah's body in Canaan.
"Sarah lived 127 years. Then she died in Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her." Genesis 23:1-2
Fairth is neither divorced from emotion nor should it be bound by them. Sarah had lived 127 years and Abraham grieved for her in a manner common to most loving spouses. We should not take the Bible's brief mention of his grief as a sign that it was not true grief, but that God had other matters in view in the recording of this event.
Sarah's death brough Abraham to a point of decision. Wherever Sarah would be buried, would be where Abraham would also be buried. Up to this point, he'd been a sojourner in Canaan, a nomad without any land of his own. Now, if he was going ot bury Sarah in Canaan, he was compelled to buy a portion of the land God had promised to give him and his descendants from the Canaanites. How ironic that Abraham should humbly bow before these people and strike a legal contract over land God had promised to simply give him.
The purchase of the cave at Machpelah was an expression of Abraham's faith in God, according to the writer of Hebrews (11:13-16). Abraham's burial of Sarah in Canaan "staked his claim" in the land which God had promised. Canaan would be the homeland of his descendants. No longer would he be a sojourner and stranger in Canaan; he now owned land there.
According to Hittite law, Abraham was not obligated to the king of Canaan if he only purchased the cave rather than the field located outside its mouth, but Abraham deepened his commitment to the land and his faith in God (as well as extending his worldly obligations) by also purchasing the field. In effect, he became a citizen of two worlds with that purchase. His son was still getting a wife from Mesopotamia, but Abraham and his heir now owned land in Canaan.
Similarly, Christians are citizens of two worlds. Our inheritance is in heaven (1Peter 1:4), but we have obligations in this world. We must submit to earthly authorities and institutions (1Peter 2:11) and obey the laws of the land and pay our taxes (Romans 13:1-7). While Christians have been often accused of being "so heavenly minded [we're] no earthly good", our heavenly mind is what makes us truly useful in this world. Abraham's future inheritance did not lessen his present obligations; it established his priorities. Just because he'd been promised to inherit the land of Canaan did not mean he would not own property and bow before the present authority of that land.
Abraham’s purchase of a burial plot provided Israel with roots in the promised land. Jacob, who died in Egypt, was buried in the cave which Abraham purchased (Genesis 50:1-14). When the Israelites were freed from Egyptian bondage, where else would they return but to their fatherland? Interestingly, the land of Canaan had not yet been possessed when Genesis was written. Those who read it first looked forward to the conquest of Canaan. Caleb was given the privilege of taking the land which Abraham had purchased as an "earnest of his inheritance" (Joshua 14:13).
The cave of Machpelah stood for centuries as a monument to the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob just as the empty tomb of Jesus guarantees the Christian that the grave is not our final resting place but an abode for the body until Christ returns for His church (1Corinthians 15; 1Thessalonians 4).
The grave, for the Christian, is not an end, but a beginning -- a page turned in the story of our life. The burial of a loved one is a significant opportunity for a Christian to publicly express faith. The sons of Heth knew Abraham as a "price of God" (23:3, 7, 9, 10). In a Christian family, death of a loved one is an opportunity for Christian witness. I hope when I pass my non-Christian friends and family will attend my memorial service and I have left instructions that it should be a glorious time of celebration of God's grace in my life, not a time of mourning. My husband and children being Christians, I trust, will follow my wishes and, I have faith, will recognize that my absence from them means my presence with the Lord and therefore, my funeral should be a party, not a wake.