Genesis 23

We are born to die. Some accept that, and some go to death kicking and screaming. The death of somebody we love can be harder to face than our own. Abraham has just lost Sarah to death. He is grieving, yet he must go on living. Part of his living is a responsibility to see to Sarah’s burial.

Abraham meets with the leaders of the land he is living in. He asks them for a place to bury Sarah. They were very generous in their response. Death is something we all have in common. Most people are generous and compassionate at the time of death. Abraham thanks them for their generosity, but he is not looking for charity. He is a man of great wealth and he can well afford to purchase a burial plot. Righteous men should be grateful for the generosity of others, but they should never take advantage of it. God does not desire his children to take charity that they do not need. The world should never think God’s children are lazy or freeloaders. Abraham makes clear he wants to buy the cave of Machpelah. He asks the leaders help in negotiating a price.

Ephron offers the cave and the field that it bordered to Abraham has a gift. Once again Abraham insisted upon paying the full price for the property. The deal was made and Abraham paid a price for the land immediately. Vs.20 “The field and the cave in it were deeded over to Abraham by the Hittites as a [permanent] possession and burial place.” This was the first and only land ever owned by Abraham in the land of Canaan. Abraham bought it with some of the wealth God had blessed him with. It was but a down payment on God’s promise to give all of Canaan to Abraham’s descendants.

In the midst of the grief of death God was working. The final destination of the righteous is not a cave, or a hole in the ground. The final destination of the righteous is a heavenly home with many rooms. Our final destination is the presence of God.