Sarah’s Death and Burial (Gen 23)
Genesis: The Book of Beginnings • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction
Introduction
If you have your Bible, please turn it to Genesis 23.
As we continue in our series through the book of Genesis, you’ll note that at this point, Abraham and Sarah are actually pretty old. They were pretty old when Isaac, the promised child from God, was born and by now, Isaac’s probably in his late twenties, early thirties, and perhaps even older—thus, Abraham and Sarah are much older than he is.
It makes sense, then, that at some point, one of them is going to enter into eternity, and that’s precisely what happens in Genesis 23.
Let’s read the passage together:
1 Sarah lived 127 years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. 2 And 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. 3 And 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.” 5 The 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.” 7 Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land. 8 And 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, 9 that 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.”
10 Now 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.” 12 Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land. 13 And 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.” 14 Ephron 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.” 16 Abraham 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.
17 So 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 18 to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, before all who went in at the gate of his city. 19 After 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. 20 The field and the cave that is in it were made over to Abraham as property for a burying place by the Hittites.
As we study this passage, we’re going to break it into three parts: (1) Sarah’s Death (1-2), (2) Abraham’s Negotiation with Ephron (3-16), and (3) Sarah’s Burial (17-20). We’re working with a little bit longer of a passage, but I think you would all agree that unless we take the whole passage in one sitting, most of this simply wouldn’t make sense. In fact, even with taking it all in one sitting, some of it might not make sense yet. This passage is another reminder of God’s ability and willingness to keep His Word—it’s also a statement that true faith in God (true trust in Him) will result in you doing something because of your faith.
Really, what we see with Abraham’s willingness to purchase land in the Promised land is a firm statement about his faith—He believes in God and what God has promised him so much that he’s willing to buy a plot for Sarah in the land that he doesn’t actually own, yet.
Prayer for Illumination
Sarah’s Death (1-2)
Sarah’s Death (1-2)
Our text starts by giving us the setting of Sarah’s death in vv. 1-2.
Remember that at this point in Abraham and Sarah’s life, they had really been sojourning or living amongst the people that lived in the Promised Land prior to the nation of Israel receiving that land.
The way that Abraham and Sarah lived was actually pretty common in that time period because they were shepherds taking care of flocks—they often lived in tents among other nations and they traveled wherever their flocks could find water and food.
The problem with this type of lifestyle in this time period is that since Abraham and Sarah just lived amongst other people, they didn’t really have land—other than the well that Abimelech had agreed was actually Abraham’s.
And i don’t need to say this because it’s pretty common sense, but you can’t live in a well, you can’t sleep in a well, you can’t bury your dead in a well.
And that’s a predicament for what we see in vv. 1-2.
Sarah lived 127 years “and Sarah died at Kiriath-arba . . . in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.”
Kiriath-arba was previously known as the city of Mamre, it eventually becomes Hebron as stated in v. 2. It’s a location that’s already been fairly important in the history of Genesis and it’ll continue to be very important later in Jewish history.
In this instance, I don’t believe that Abraham or the others really know the significance of the location, but it is a significant place as we continue through the history of the Israelites.
Sarah died in the land of Canaan and Abraham went to mourn and weep for her—of course, this is the anticipated response for a man who had been married for such a long time with their wife—it would be unusual if Sarah died and Abraham carried on as if nothing had happened.
The text then continues in the next 14 verses with a negotiation between Abraham and a man named Ephron. In vv. 3-9, we see Abraham trying to find a location for him to bury Sarah—remember, they were sojourners, so they didn’t have their own property to bury their dead in yet. In vv. 3-9, we read:
Abraham’s Negotiation with Ephron (3-16)
Abraham’s Negotiation with Ephron (3-16)
3 And 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.” 5 The 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.” 7 Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land. 8 And 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, 9 that 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.”
The text starts with Abraham seeking a place to bury Sarah. Again because he was a sojourner and not a native to the land, he didn’t have land of his own.
And this kickstarts a series of back-and-forth statements that aren’t quite like how we would do them, so it might seem a little unusual for us today—Abraham asks for a burying place in v 4 before the Hittites respond in vv. 5-6, and their response seems awfully generous.
Their response is basically, you’re like a prince among us, go and choose one of our tombs and you may bury your dead there—and that sounds awfully generous, but here’s the thing—if Abraham had actually said, “thanks guys, I’ll go and do that” he would actually offend the people that he’s speaking to.
While the Hittites are saying that Abraham should just choose a tomb and take it, it’s in their culture that this is how you negotiate—it starts by simply offering what it is that wants purchased, but if the purchaser just tries to take it, it would be offensive to the others.
This is the ANE method of haggling.
So, Abraham responds to their offer of gifting a tomb to him, and his response is very simple—he already has a tomb in mind and he wants to pay full price for that tomb.
In v. 8, he states that this is the tomb of Ephron the son of Zohar and in v 9 he asks for the full price of the field so that he can own it outrightly.
Again, this is the proper way of negotiating something like this in the ANE context, which shows us Abraham’s willingness to work within his culture when it doesn’t deal with issues of sin.
Now, of course, we learn from the text that Ephron was amongst the group of people in v. 10, “Ephron was sitting among the Hittites, and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham.”
This part of the text does give us a more firm location of where this conversation took place—you’ll notice that it’s in the gate of the city.
Besides being an integral part of the defence of the city—the city’s gate was often where the leadership of the city gathered to talk about the business of the city as a whole, which gives us an impression that Ephron was an important Hittite in the city.
And we see again, this back and forth negotiation starting in v. 11, Ephron says, “no . . . 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. [Go and] bury your dead.”
Again, don’t assume that he’s being overly generous, he’s simply following the negotiation traditions of the Ancient Near Eastern culture.
And so, Abraham again asks for a price in v. 13, give me a price of the field. “Accept it from me, that I may bury my dead there.”
To which Ephron responds with “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. [and in v. 16,] Abraham listened to Ephron, [he] weighed out . . . the silver that [Ephron] had named in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights . . . among the merchants.” There’s two notable ideas to consider in these verses:
First, notice that Abraham is willing to work within his own culture when it doesn’t concern sin issues—he’s willing to be a part of the regular commerce of the Hittites even in something like this.
That’s important to note because often Christians today have an all or nothing approach to culture—meaning, we’re either all about being part of the culture, which leads us to sin like it did for Lot and his family; or, we’re so anti-culture that it leads us to isolationist tendencies, which by the way, is also sinful because it disobeys the Great Commission.
There’s a right way to work with the world around us in which we can be respectful of the the culture without approving everything that the society around us does and I think Abraham navigates that well in this situation—though, he didn’t always navigate that well.
Second, note that when he does work within the surrounding culture in something like this, he does so with integrity.
He doesn’t try to cheat Ephron, he doesn’t try to trick him—Ephron says that he would sell that plot of land for 400 shekels of silver and Abraham goes and weighs 400 shekels of silver according to the merchants and gives it to him.
Just for your information—400 shekels equals about 10 pounds—a pound of silver today is about $270, which means that 400 shekels of silver today would cost about $2,700, but remember silver used to be more valuable then.
An archeologist out of Rutgers believes that 400 shekels in Abraham’s time would be valued somewhere in the price range today of $624,000.
With that in mind, we might wonder if Abraham was overcharged, but regardless, he doesn’t try to cheat Ephron, he doesn’t try to trick him—that’s the price that Ephron gave him, and so he paid it.
You might ask, “how did he just have that much money?” Remember, Abraham has been rich for a while—that’s why he and his nephew Lot had to part ways, their flocks were too large and they needed more space—$624,000 for Abraham though it is a lot, clearly isn’t a ton for him.
Essentially, as we watch Abraham and Ephron negotiate a price for Sarah’s tomb, which will later become a tomb for more of the family—we see Abraham dealing with Ephron in integrity—willing to pay out what Ephron requested without trying to trick him or anything like that, there’s a lot we can learn from this, but there are still a few verses left in this text. Let’s look at vv. 17-20:
Sarah’s Burial (17-20)
Sarah’s Burial (17-20)
17 So 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 18 to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, before all who went in at the gate of his city. 19 After 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. 20 The field and the cave that is in it were made over to Abraham as property for a burying place by the Hittites.
Abraham purchases this field from Ephron in an area called Machpelah, which is near Mamre and is at this time called Kiriath-arba, but will later be known as Hebron and he buries Sarah.
v. 17 speaks a bit about the totality of Abraham’s ownership of the land—that the field, the cave, the trees, everything in the whole area is owned by him. It might seem odd that the Bible would express the totality of Abraham’s ownership, but I think it does it for two reasons:
First, you can own part of a property—for instance, in a lot of places around Central Pennsylvania, you can buy a plot of land, but not have the rights to the coal or oil or gas underneath the land. In places like NYC, you can own the surface of the land, but then not own the rights above the building. So, this passage provides clarity in the totality of Abraham’s ownership.
Second, remember that this land that Abraham now owns in its totality is part of the Promised Land—the land that was promised to Abraham from God. The fact that Abraham now owns in its totality this field and this cave and the trees and everything else in the area foreshadows how Abraham’s descendant will eventually have all that land.
So, Abraham has total ownership of at least part of the Promised Land and it is here that he buries Sarah, his wife in a cave in the land of Canaan.
And that brings us to our application for this morning. Now, you might read a passage like this and think that there’s not much that we can gain from a passage like this for today, but I’d argue that we really learn several different things from the passage—I’d say that there’s almost a side application and then the main application. So, let’s deal with the side application first and then I’ll emphasize the main application of the text.
Application
Application
You cannot read this text and walk away thinking that in life as a Christian I must isolate myself completely from people around us—in fact, I would argue that while we shouldn’t be like the world around us, we ought to be willing to interact with the world around us—it’s actually a major part of the Great Commission. How do you make more disciples of Jesus Christ if you’re completely unwilling to speak with people that think and believe differently than you do? You have to interact with people outside the Christian faith if for no other reason than obedience to the Great Commission. So, let’s start with the side application here, it is clear in this passage that Abraham had no problem working within the surrounding culture as long as there wasn’t sin involved. We actually see that mindset elsewhere as believers interact with other believers in the market like Paul as a tentmaker or as they care for others who need cared for (consider Jesus’ teaching concerning the Parable of the Good Samaritan), and elsewhere. Of course, we ought to be careful and discerning as we do this, but we can work within the surrounding culture if it doesn’t involve sin—and that’s where the side application comes in.
Christians can work amongst unbelievers if it doesn’t involve sin—and when we do decide to work with unbelievers whether that’s in the marketplace or to serve those in need or wherever else it may be, we must do it as Christians ought to—meaning, with integrity, with kindness—not trying to trick people or deceive people.
All of this sounds like it ought to be common sense for believers, and yet, we do find ourselves justifying sinfulness in business or marketplace related scenarios by saying, “well, that’s just how business is done.”
For example, I have a missionary friend in a certain part of India, which includes needing to be creative in access—meaning, he had to start a business to come into the area that he’s in. It was very clear from the start, that local officials in the city that he started his business in expected to be bribed in order for him to get business licenses and permits.
This is an instance in which though he obviously has to work with unbelievers to get the business going—it wouldn’t be right for him as a Christian to bribe people, even if that’s what the culture of that part of India is like.
He’s willing to work within the laws of that city, but the sinful bribing of government officials, he’s determined not to be a part of.
Consider how many people—even professed Christians would find themselves in a situation like that and think, “if that’s how it is, then I’ll go ahead and bribe these people?” We’ll justify the sins tied with bribing people—the breaking of laws, possible deceit, and whatever else it might be and just say “that’s just how business is done.”
Likewise, how tempting is it for us when we’re in situations of purchasing something that if someone miscalculates or maybe doesn’t scan something, we just won’t say anything when we witness them do it?
Christians can live amongst unbelievers and interact with unbelievers—even do business with unbelievers, but as we do so, we still need to act as Christians ought to.
Truthfully, just living like a Christian is often the best evangelistic tool there is.
Martin Luther, “The Christian shoemaker does his duty not by putting little crosses on the shoes, but by making good shoes, because God is interested in good craftsmanship.”
However, that’s not the main point of the passage, the main point of the passage has to deal with the burial itself and that idea is really summed up in the New American Commentary on Genesis. Kenneth Mathews states:
Genesis 11:27–50:26 15. Sarah’s Burial Site (23:1–20)
The notion of burial indicates permanency. That Abraham secures a family plot in Canaan rather than returning to Haran conveys the man’s commitment to the land promised him. Ancient peoples cherished their ancestral burial ground; burial in the ancestral grave indicated honor and continuity with the family. Later, while in Egypt, Jacob and Joseph insist that their remains rest in Canaan according to their faith in the divine promises
And it’s in this that we really see the application for the passage.
Abraham’s purchase of this field with a cave to bury his wife Sarah does two things—in a literary sense (in the overall context of Scripture), this passage shows us a part of God’s fulfilling of the land promise given to Abraham; in a more immediate sense, this text shows us Abraham’s willingness to act because of His faith or trust in God. Let’s talk about both of those ideas for our application.
This foreshadows the completion of the Promised Land
Remember that God had promised Abraham that Abraham’s descendants would be given all the land of Israel by God—and up to this point, Abraham hasn’t really seen the fulfillment of that promise yet.
With the exception that Abimelech did affirm that Abraham at least built the well in question a few chapters ago and thus, ought to be able to use the well freely.
With that exception, none of the promised land had been given to Abraham yet, but Abraham gaining possession of part of the Promised Land to bury his wife in reminds us that God still made a promise to Abraham and He still intends to keep that promise.
Now, you might be familiar with the Old Testament and the history of the Israelites—so, you might know that Abraham isn’t alive by the time the Israelites receive the Promised Land in Exodus; and you might think that it isn’t fair to Abraham that he didn’t get the Promised Land himself. Let me remind you of two things:
First, God didn’t promise that Abraham himself would have the Promised Land, just that his descendants would be given that land.
Second, it’s actually Abraham’s faith, his trust in God to keep the promises given to him that saves him—not necessarily the obtaining of the land.
“By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed [j]by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise, 10 for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 By faith even Sarah herself [k]received [l]ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she regarded Him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore there were born even of one man, and him as good as dead [m]at that, as many as the stars of heaven in number, and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.
13 All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. 15 And indeed if they had been remembering that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now, they aspire to a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not [n]ashamed to be called their God, for He prepared a city for them.
Or, in other words, what I’m getting at is this—God made a promise to Abraham, even though Abraham didn’t receive the promises yet, he trusted God to fulfill those promises and that trust in the Lord to fulfill those promises resulted in Abraham purchasing a plot of land in the midst of a land that wasn’t his, but he knew that land would be his descendants’ one day because he trusted God.
So, let’s think about all this in light of our present situations.
We often in our words make the claim that we have faith in Jesus, that we trust Him, but then in our actions, we don’t actually act like it.
For instance, we’ll make the statement that we trust God, but then we allow our anxiety to dictate our emotions and actions rather than simply trusting God.
That tends to look like us overthinking situations, or trying to wrestle control from God, or trying to act sovereign when we really aren’t sovereign or in control or able to change things with long amounts of thinking.
Of course, this then becomes a vicious circle because in our overthinking, in our wrestling with God, and in our desire to be in charge, we find ourselves in the same spot, where our anxiety dictates our emotions and actions—and so we keep overthinking, we keep wrestling, we keep trying to have control.
But nothing ever changes because instead of trusting God—instead of having faith in Him and who He is, we’re putting our trust in ourselves, in our ability, or in our own power and authority.
And practically, what that looks like is this:
For those in school—it could look like studying for a test realizing that the test is an important part of your overall grade, but then worrying that you don’t actually know what you’re doing—and then either the anxiety drives you to find a way to cheat on the test or it might cause you to fall into a level of despair as you worry about taking the test and then worry through taking the test and then worry after that test. When in reality, if you’ve actually taken the time to prepare, there’s nothing left to do than to take the test and trust God.
For those working—it could look like constant fear of doing the wrong thing while at work—not because you’re incompetent or unable to do the work, but rather, you have a level of imposter syndrome that drives you to be concerned that people are going to find out you’re a fraud when you really aren’t. This imposter syndrome can then drive you to push yourself in such a way that you’re trying to be in control of all things, when in reality, we’re actually in control of very little; and in reality, we ought to just do our best and let God handle the rest.
For those at home—not living in faith can cause marriage problems, parenting problems, sibling problems, and really several other interpersonal, relational, emotional, spiritual, and even mental problems—because living without trust or faith in God forces you to place your trust or faith in yourself, in other people, in objects, or whatever else and nothing except God is able to bear the weight of your faith or your trust consistently and permenantly.
Of course, you can think of several situations in your own life in which you say you trust the Lord, but then you don’t really trust the Lord and we have to deal with that issue.
I’d say, you ought to deal with that issue in two ways—and the two ways are actual simple:
Every time you find yourself trusting not in God, but in yourself—start with repentance.
The issue is that if you continually place your trust in yourself or in someone else or in whatever else, you aren’t trusting in God—you aren’t living by faith.
And if you don’t work to change the way that you think or the way that your mind processes the issues that tend to cause you to fall into that cycle that I mentioned earlier where you’re overthinking situations, or trying to wrestle control from God, or trying to act sovereign when we really aren’t sovereign or in control or able to change things with long amounts of thinking.
Part of the way that you get out of that cycle is by reorienting your mind—to think rightly about yourself and about God—and in this case, you need to recognize that it is God who is in control and it is God who is sovereign and is providentially working in all things. And in this process of reorienting your mind, you place your trust, you place your faith in God alone.
Now, don’t get me wrong—I’m not saying that your faith sure spur up some amount of inaction or a lack of doing your best or anything like that.
What I’m saying is that as you serve, as you work, as you live at home, as you go to school—you do your best. Or, in other words, you still live your life seeking to be faithful in all that you do, but ultimately, you leave the results, you leave the end up to God—that’s trusting Him.
The reality is that your trust or faith in God ought to result in actual action—meaning, just saying you have faith, but not living like you have faith reveals that you don’t actually have faith.
You ought to live as if you genuinely have faith if you claim to have faith.
Practically, what that looks like is this:
For those in school—instead of worrying about that test and allowing that worry to drive you to despair or to drive you to cheating—you study, you work hard, you take the test, and then you trust God with the results.
For those working—instead of having that imposter syndrome preventing you from working or causing you to try to control everything—you train, you prepare, you work hard, you do your best, and then you trust God with the results.
For those at home—instead of placing your trust or faith in other people, other things, or whatever else it might be and winding up in interpersonal, relational, emotional, spiritual, or mental problems—you love your family, you care for your family, you do your best, and then your trust God with the results.
Often what that looks like might not look how you want it to look, but trusting God means continually being faithful to what He has called you to do—and then letting Him handle everything else.
Your trust, your faith in God ought to lead you to live like Christians ought to live—as reflections of the fruits of the Spirit who serve others, worship Jesus, and makes more disciples.
If your faith doesn’t, then you might want to consider whether you have genuine faith or not.
Pastoral Prayer
