Pointing Ahead

Genesis 23:1-20

The negotiation between Abraham and the Hittites for the purchase of a burial place may seem almost amusing to us, especially as the man Ephron is able to appear generous while at the same time naming a price for his field. But there is something more significant here. “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, passed to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, in the presence of all who went in at the gate of his city” (Genesis 23:17-18). Though it is only a field, some trees, and a cave, the people of God now had a legal and binding presence in the “promised land.” Abraham owned property there and the transaction appears to have been well documented.

But it took a death—Sarah’s–to bring about this opportunity. In fact Sarah’s tomb foreshadows that which will happen as the story of God’s people continues. The entire land would one day belong to the chosen people whom God would free from Egypt. And centuries after that the death and burial of Jesus Christ would also point ahead to that which was to come. Jesus’ tomb, like Sarah’s, was merely a point along the way. The story continues to this day and beyond. Death in Christ is not a defeat for the believer any more than Sarah’s death ended God’s covenant with her offspring or Jesus’ death ended his identity as God. Clearly it takes more than a grave to confound God’s will.

Prayer: Lord, help us to trust in your promises, even in the face of death or loss, that we may give glory to your name at all times. In Jesus’ name. Amen.