Sarah's Death and Burial

Buying a Plot, Advancing the Plot
(Genesis 23, Preaching: Pastor Nathan Snyder, February 1, 2015)

Abraham’s wife whom he has loved for many years, who has been his companion through many travels and trials, has now died.  We live in a fallen world where death is all too common.  Those whom we love are taken from us or we are taken from them.  This was never God’s original design for his world.  Scientists might argue that death is part of the necessary order of things.  God’s word says otherwise.  Death entered the world through sin.  Thus it is good to grieve the loss of those whom we love.  Grieving the loss is good, because the loss itself is not good.  Abraham lost his wife and life companion, and he wept for her.

Did Abraham despair in his grief?  No.  Did he give up on life?  No.  He had work to do.  The majority of this chapter is focused on his efforts to secure a plot of land from the local people where he could bury Sarah.  In the next chapter we will see Abraham working to secure a wife for his son Isaac.  In this world full of sin and death there are times to mourn.  But there is never a time to give up on life.  We may need to take a break from certain things at times, to grieve or to rest or to heal, but we must never take a break from hoping in God.

Sarah, Abraham, and their descendents all died without seeing God’s promises come to complete fulfillment.  Yet their hope was beyond this life (Hebrews 11:13-16).  They awaited the coming heavenly kingdom.  There is something important we need to understand here about the hope Abraham had, and that we have.  True hope is not escapism.  Escapism says, “This life is meaningless to me.  My hope is in heaven.”  If Abraham had had this attitude, he wouldn’t have bothered to work so hard to buy a plot of land from the Hittites.  When they offered to give him a tomb, he would have just taken it. Instead, he negotiated to buy a plot.  God had promised to give all this land to Abraham’s descendents.  Abraham uses the occasion of his wife’s death to secure the first plot of promised land for himself and his descendents.  Abraham would also be buried here, as would Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah.  Abraham’s hope was in God’s coming heavenly kingdom, and it was a hope that he would only fully realize after death.  Yet this hope motivated him to stay engaged in kingdom work.  The securing of the land God had promised was essential to the fulfillment of God’s promises and therefore essential to bringing in God’s heavenly kingdom.  Abraham could not just give up on life and wait for heaven.  He had kingdom work to do now.  By purchasing this plot from the Hittites, Abraham was honoring Sarah, he was expressing their shared faith that God would give this land to their descendents, and he was actually advancing God’s plan of redemption.  Abraham was advancing the plot of God’s story of redemption.

We also have kingdom work to do.  Everything we do, sharing the gospel, training up the next generation, spreading the love of Christ to a dying world, even mundane tasks at our jobs or at home done for the glory of God, matter.  Our hope in God’s coming heavenly kingdom should motivate us not to despair of this life but to recognize that everything we do in this life matters in eternity.  God is advancing the plot of his redemptive story through us and through our actions and words.

Put the Word to Work: We face painful loss with grief and hope.  Our hope motivates us to action now, for we have kingdom work to do.  Life here and what we do with it matters.

Memory Verse from the Psalms of Ascents: Psalm 127:2 – It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.

Gospel Reading: Matthew 18:7-9 – Temptations to sin

A Cup of Water from the Everlasting God

The Lord Will Provide – Part 1

(Genesis 21:22-34, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, January 18, 2015)

[22] At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do. [23] Now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my descendants or with my posterity, but as I have dealt kindly with you, so you will deal with me and with the land where you have sojourned.” [24] And Abraham said, “I will swear.”

Abraham was a special servant of the Lord in his day, prior to the conquest of Canaan. See Romans 12:18 for similar New Testament direction. Throughout the account of his life we observe the Lord's deliverance and blessing of this man who received the Lord's covenant promises. Here a king from another people group observes, “God is with you in all that you do.” He seeks blessing through a covenant association with God's people. This desired peace between neighbors is based on God's commitment to Abraham and Abraham's public commitment before God. Abimelech says, “Swear to me here by God.” Abraham responds, “I will swear.” But would Abimelech be true to a covenant based upon the name of Abraham's God?

[25] When Abraham reproved Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech's servants had seized, [26] Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until today.” [27] So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant. [28] Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock apart. [29] And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?” [30] He said, “These seven ewe lambs you will take from my hand, that this may be a witness for me that I dug this well.” [31] Therefore that place was called Beersheba, because there both of them swore an oath. [32] So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army rose up and returned to the land of the Philistines.

The agreement between the Lord's people and their neighbors was tested by a dispute concerning water. Abimelech claimed ignorance concerning the matter. Abraham did not challenge the claim, but reaffirmed his own covenant commitment with a solemn ceremony. Abraham provided the animals for the ceremony as a gift—a gesture of goodwill with the hope that Abimelech would be a man who would be true to his solemn word. This was a public recognition by Abimelech and his people that the well in question had been dug by Abraham's servants and was to be considered Abraham's. Abimelech agreed and the place became known by the oath that was made that day. (The words for “oath” and “seven” are similar in Hebrew.)

[33] Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God. [34] And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines.The provision of water was a matter of life and death to the the ancestors of the Messiah. Until the final establishment of the kingdom of God in the return of Christ, the righteous must live in peace with those who do not approach God through the Name above all names. Like Abraham, we seek peace and pursue it, yet our trust is not in the agreements that we are able to secure with men. We plant our trees with hope in the promises of God, and we call on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God. That is how we live as servants of Jesus in a world of covetousness. John 4.

Put the Word to Work: Be of good cheer. Christ has overcome the world. He will provide.

Memory Verse from the Songs of Ascents—Psalm 127:1a – Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.

Gospel Reading—Matthew 17:24-27 – The temple tax

More than a joke...

The Source of Eternal Refreshment

(Genesis 21:8-21, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, January 11, 2015)

[8] And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. [9] But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing. [10] So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.” [11] And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son. [12] But God said to Abraham, “Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for through Isaac shall your offspring be named. [13] And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring.” [14] So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.2000 years before the birth of Jesus, the Lord was working through His servant Abraham. God made it clear to Abraham that His promise to bless all the people groups of the earth would come through Abraham's miracle son, Isaac, the child of his elderly wife, Sarah. “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”

Did this mean that God did not have any plan for Ishmael and his mother Hagar? No, the Lord would make a nation of this son who would also be known as the offspring of Abraham. Yet for a time the two boys would be separate, one who would be the father of the Jews through his son Jacob, and the other who would be the father of several tribal peoples. The plan of God had not changed. The promised “Seed of the woman” would come from one chosen Man. Hope for everyone else, including the descendants of Ishmael, would be found not in mocking the Chosen One, but in union with Him. One day, Jews and Gentiles would dwell together again in one tent.

[15] When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes. [16] Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, “Let me not look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. [17] And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. [18] Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” [19] Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. [20] And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow. [21] He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

The Lord spoke to Hagar. God would have a tender regard for her and her son. Yet it would be many centuries before the descendants of Ishmael would find their way into the tent of the Almighty. One day, the descendants of Ishmael would find living water through Jesus.

Put the Word to Work: The Lord has a saving plan for all His elect through Jesus Christ. That plan begins for any people group when they find the pathway to life in the Jewish Messiah. Ethnic pride that resists the only way to eternal life is not commendable; it is madness. Mocking and persecuting the Lord of glory and His church is not the road that leads to life. Jesus is.

Memory Verse from the Songs of Ascents—Psalm 126:6 – He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.

Gospel Reading—Matthew 17:22-23 – Jesus again foretells death, resurrection

Shouts of Joy

The Joy of New Life in a World of Sorrow

(Genesis 21:1-7, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, January 4, 2015)

[21:1] The LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as he had promised. [2] And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him.

God's promises will be fulfilled. The Lord had been speaking to Abraham concerning His descendants for many years. The pathway of patience was very challenging. The elderly couple slipped here and there, but God never faltered.

Most recently, the Lord had given Abraham and Sarah a specific time when Sarah would have a son (Genesis 18:9-15). Now the miracle had taken place. Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son. Promise fulfilled. Yet the Lord had so much more, not only for Abraham and Sarah, but for all the people groups on the earth.

[3] Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac. [4] And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. [5] Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. [6] And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” [7] And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

In between the specific promise of “this time next year” and the birth of Isaac, other events had transpired. An entire region had been destroyed and a very small remnant from that region had been preserved. Abraham had looked over what had once been a fruitful valley, and now the signs of the Lord's hatred of sin were everywhere. Would a new day dawn?

They named the baby Isaac according to the Word of the Lord in Genesis 17:19-21. Laughter was born in a world of futility and loss. This can only come from the Lord. When we find a way to laugh that is not cynical but full of heavenly joy, it must be the Lord.

Abraham circumcised his son in obedience to the Lord's command (Genesis 17:12). The sign of the Lord's covenant promise was administered to Isaac when he was eight days old. This sign of a promised curse for covenant disobedience could only be sanely administered with the hope of God's provision of a substitute. In due time the Lord would give His perfectly obedient Son who would be cut off for our sake on the cross so that we might live on in the hope of the resurrection. Circumcision was always about justification by faith (Romans 4:9-12).

Sarah's reaction to the birth of their son was not only for her, but for all of us who have been given hope through Jesus. The Lord has given us a great down-payment of a coming day when we will have shouts of joy. But can we live patiently and faithfully as we wait for the Lord?

Put the Word to Work: The celebration of new life in a world under a sentence of death is an act of faith and faithfulness. Only through faith in Jesus can we possess any credible hope of eternal life. Walking in that hope now is a command of God for the believer and a gift of His sustaining heavenly grace. The life of both faith and faithfulness is for those who have been marked by the waters of heaven through the gift of the Spirit of God.

Memory Verse from the Songs of Ascents—Psalm 126:5 – Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!

Gospel Reading—Matthew 17:14-21 – Jesus heals a demon-possessed boy