SUBJ: The
faith of Abraham and the death of Sarah wherein the promise of God
regarding the land and beyond are believed.
AIM: That we
might imitate Abraham in always looking to the promise of God in life
and in death looking for His glory.
INTR: With
the offering of Isaac there were no more tests of the faith of Abraham
in that he was fully proven and qualified to be called the Father of the
Faithful. 1. He had now, for a number of years, been made to witness
both the miraculous and the supernatural in the revelation of the Lord
to him. 2. He would now be brought to face a reality we must all face
– our own mortality and the fact that this is not it. 3. There are
some things that appear in this narrative that should attract our
attention. We recognize the impact of culture and tradition in much that
we do, but we would be advised to note biblical precedents where we find
them.
THESIS: Not only must we
be driven by faith in life, but also, in death and dealing with in a way
wherein God is glorified.
I. The death (vv. 1-2) 1. Sarah is
the only woman whose age is given at the recording of her death. 1)
We would note that our life is “a tale that is told.” And 2) The
implication of that and this text is that there is a divine accounting
of all the events in life and death. 3) Some have suggested that the
order of the numbers here may have looked to her beauty at 100 as being
as it was at age 7 and at age 20. Only a thought. 2. She was
accounted as integral to the life of Abraham and so was her faith noted
along with that of Abraham. 1) Even her determination to give Hagar
to Abraham indicated that she was looking to the promised seed and 2)
The scriptures note both her doubt and her subsequent faith as essential
to the record. 3. Sarah died in Hebron and Abraham came to mourn and
weep 1) Not directly from the offering of Isaac or 2) Not from
some journey – probably from another tent. 4. His grief was real even
though he sought here “no continuing city” 1) Their marriage had
spanned perhaps 100 years or more and 2) Such is the sanctity of
human life – Our Lord understands grief and experienced it.
II.
The Grave (vv. 3-18) 1. It is to be first remembered, as Abraham
noted, that he was a stranger in this land of promise: 1) It was
promised and the promise was sure 2) Possession had not and would not
be in effect during his lifetime – he sought only a burial place for his
family. 2. We will not belabor the point that burial was a practical
necessity and yet to be done in a reverential manner – Such has been the
Judeo-Christian practice through recorded history: 1) The Lord
Himself buried Moses and 2) We read that devout men carried Stephen
to His burial. 3. So, Abraham sought a burial place for a permanent
family possession. 1) He had obtained a reputation and the respect of
the Hittites and others in the Land 2) The meeting was cordial and
showed mutual respect 3) The offer was made to give the parcel and
the cave to Abraham, but 4) Permanence was essential to him and the
faith in the promise of God he would display. 4. In time to come,
Abraham would be buried there as would Isaac and Rebekah, and Jacob and
Leah. 5. And so the price of 400 shekels (weight) was paid and
Abraham had the only possession in the Land he would know in his
lifetime.
III. The Burial (vv. 19-20) 1. No ceremony is
recorded but a life from God was acknowledged by Abraham and Isaac.
2. Implied in all this is the hope of the bodily resurrection. 3. We
are reminded of the record of another significant burial of 1) Which
a detailed account of the death is recorded and 2) A detailed account
of the preparation, both before and after the crucifixion and the
careful placement of the body in the prepared tomb. 4. “But that body
reverently bedewed with tears, wrapped in fine linen clean and white,
softly laid down by loving hands, watched by love stronger than death,
lay in fitting repose as the corpse of a King till He came forth as a
Conqueror. So once more the dominant note is struck, and this part of
the prophecy closes with the emphatic repetition of the sinlessness of
the Suffering Servant, which makes His sufferings a deep and bewildering
mystery, unless they were endured because of ‘our transgressions.’
McLaren 5. Abraham left the testimony of hope in the placement of the
body of Sarah in the Land of promise. Our hope and the promise of God is
in Heaven at the right hand of God and we have an empty tomb as the
testimony that one day ours will be empty too.
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