Sermon Text: Genesis 23:1-20
Sermon Title: Orange Park Bible Church is a Cave
“It is remarkable that Moses, who relates the death of Sarah in a single word, uses so many in describing her burial” (Calvin’s Commentary on Genesis).
The announcement of Sarah’s death takes up only two verses (1-2). Moses then devotes sixteen verses to document Abraham’s negotiation and purchase of land for her burial (3-18). Sarah is buried (19) and it is documented that the land is Abraham’s possession (20).
What did Moses intend for Israel to learn from this story? With no mention of Christ or the Gospel, what is this story supposed to teach us?
1) Although Sarah’s death is not the subject of the passage, it is worth considering for a moment.
“Sarah’s life was far from easy. She suffered the shame of childlessness till she was ninety. Twice she was trapped in a foreign king’s harem by her husband’s unbelieving folly. Twice she was provoked beyond the breaking point by her slave-girl Hagar or her son Ishmael. Once she had seen her own son leave to be sacrificed by his father” (Wenham).
She was married to a man who was more interested in saving his own skin than protecting his wife. She was pulled away from her family and friends to live in a foreign land. She never owned a piece of property. She never was able to settle in one place. Her son, Ishmael and friend Hagar were abruptly dismissed from the family. How did she handle it? Grace…
- “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:8-10).
Sarah knew that God’s promise to her family would for outlive her. She was looking past significance, prosperity, security, and ultimate meaning in this life.
2) To understand this passage, we must first understand that Isaac was not the “climax” of Abraham’s story. The birth of Isaac is not the fulfillment of the promise made in Genesis 12, 13, 15, 17.
The promise of
Genesis 15:1-7 is offspring rivaling the stars in the sky and possession of the promised-land. At Sarah’s death Abraham has a son with no wife. Think about it. Sarah lived her entire life and only saw one “star” and had no possessions, except the grave she was buried in.
What/when is the fulfillment of the promise?
- “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God’” (Revelation 21:1-3).
- “But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13).
In the beginning God mandated his people to “fill the earth” (Gen. 1:28).
After the flood God repeated this mandate to Noah (Gen. 9:1).
After people’s refusal at Babel to fill the earth (Genesis 11), God made a new start with Abram, calling him “to the land that I will show you” (12:1) and promising the new land to his seed (Genesis 12:7, 15:1-7).
God begins to fulfill His promise by giving Abraham a field and a burial plot as a permanent possession in the land.
Four hundred years later, Joshua leads Israel in to possess the whole land of Canaan. Under King Solomon the land expands from the river Euphrates to the border of Egypt (1 Kings 4:21).
- Sidney Greidanus “Preaching Christ from Genesis”
We must understand that the purchase of this land is as major as the birth of Isaac.
If Abraham and Sarah’s goal were nothing other than intimacy through faith, they would have died very unproductive people.
3) Abraham threw down big money for this cave.
Publicly, Ephron offers three times to give the field and the cave to Abraham. Then, Ephron offers to sell the cave for a highly inflated cost (400 shekels of silver). David paid only 1/8 the price Abraham paid for the temple site (
2 Samuel 24:24). Jeremiah only paid 17 shekels of silver for a field.
Aside from this purchase being a further fulfillment of God’s promised plan of redemption, why would Abraham pay so much money for this field? There was no earthly return on this investment. Abraham did not grow crops here. Abraham did not build a fence and keep his cattle there. Abraham did not build a house to retire in on this land. Why would Abraham throw so much time, energy negotiating, his reputation, and money in a grave?
- “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:8-10). WE ARE DOING THE SAME THING!
- Did Moses see the Promised-Land? Where was he standing and what did he see in Luke 9:27-36?
Two Closing Questions
- What did this matter to Israel?
- What does this matter to me?
- Look to things unseen: OPBC is a cave. Like Abraham we should exhaust ourselves in using our time, money, and gifts sacrificially so we can die well like Abraham. “The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33). Abraham was spending money in preparation for his death. That is what we are doing here.
- Be an ambassador. Keep a “tent” mentality. Ambassadors do not live in their country or their home. Abraham and Moses depended solely on the mission God gave to them and to the Word of God. The Word of God led them through their assignment.
Look at Peter’s question in Matthew 19:27:
We can sense the disappointment from the ones who worked longest, got paid last, and were paid the same as those who came late.
Matthew 20:3 characterizes those sitting in the marketplace as “doing nothing.” He rescued them from meaningless endeavors and pointless living.
In Christ’s parable, those who have worked more grumble against the landowner when he gives equal pay to those who have worked less time. We often see this kind of resentment in Scripture. The grumblers’ attitude reflects that of the Pharisees who begrudges Jesus’ compassion for the tax collectors and prostitutes (Mark 2), the elder son who resented the welcome of his prodigal brother (Luke 15), and the religious leader who despised the honor given to a sinner whose only claim in heaven was that she loved Jesus much (Luke 7).
On the days when we are tempted to “tally up” our accomplishments, this is not a truth we want to embrace; but on other days, when a truer accounting of our weaknesses and failures threatens to crush us, this message is our only hope. Isn’t it true that we would be upset that the thief on the Cross received as much as we? Yet in this parable Jesus clearly teaches that an exact accounting based on our work is the very last thing we should want from God.
While Peter might have been tempted to think “that’s not fair.” In a few chapters Peter would be glad Jesus wasn’t “fair” after the rooster crowed three times.
Text above in blue is from Bryan Chappel’s book “Holiness by Grace” in the chapter “It’s Not Fair.”
- Remember the mission (The Great Commission and The Great Commandment). If we are all working for the same purpose, we will never have division. If you want a nice comfortable place to go to Church and visit, you will be uncomfortable when new people come. THE CHURCH, LIKE SANCTIFICATION, IS BOTANICAL, not A WIDGET. However, if you are in it to make disciples, more people present more opportunities. Be generous. Be hospitable. Get involved in people. Serve. The Church is not a widget. The Church is organic.
Richard Sibbes – We are not disquieted when we take off our clothes and go to bed at night. We trust in the providence of God to raise us. Why should we be disquieted when we put off our bodies and go to sleep? We are more likely to rise out of our graves than rise out of our beds in the morning.
Almighty, eternal, immortal God, our dwelling place our final satisfaction and reward, You are to be worshipped and treasured. Lord, we are aliens and strangers, sojourners and foreigners in this world. We confess our constant longing for this world and what it can provide instead of the world to come, Your kingdom to come and your pleasures and joys. Lord, forgive us from the sin of being satisfied with so little, with those things which will perish & fade away. Lord, reveal our shallow wants and ambitions for what they are. Create repentance by your mercy to give us hearts that long for our inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading, kept in heaven for us. Father, give us the desire of Abraham and Sarah and all the saints who have gone before us. A desire for a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Lord, cause us with great expectation, to look forward to that day when we will dwell with our eternal God where he will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for on that great and glorious day the former things, the temporary things so many live for today, will have passed away to the praise of your glory and renown. Amen & Amen.
- Shane Waters, Pastor of Sovereign Grace Baptist Church in Jacksonville
