Living in The Light of Eternity
Genesis 23:1-20
Message #14
Abraham and Sarah had been married for over one hundred years. It had been sixty-two years since they left UR together.
Sarah had been Abraham’s soul mate the entire journey
From their home in UR all the way to Canaan
Back to Egypt and given into a harem
Then back to Canaan
Then back into another harem in Philistine territory.
Sarah was at Abraham’s side for every milestone - every event
She was there for the Covenants and Promises
She was there for the greeting of Melchizedek
She made Lunch for the Lord and His Angels
She was there for the Sodom and Gomorrah event
She was there for The Renaming - the Promises - the Laughing
She was there (by explanation) for the offering of Isaac
And she had also been part of the problems, especially with Hagar and Ishmael.
Sarah was a huge woman of faith
She’s listed in Hebrews Chapter 11 (the Hall of Fame of faith)
She’s named as an example for Christian women in 1 Peter 3
and used as an example of God’s grace in Galatians 4
But now, after one hundred years of marriage and sixty-two years of wandering with her husband, today Sarah dies and is buried right in the heart of the Promised Land. This chapter is about faith and death, and this chapter is about living in the light of eternity.
For the most part, we try to hide from death, don’t we? Often refusing to even discuss it, and so we are often not prepared for it.
But in Ecclesiastes 7, Solomon says this.
Ecclesiastes 7:2 (NLT)
2 Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties. After all, everyone dies— so the living should take this to heart.
Ecclesiastes 7:4 (NLT)
4 A wise person thinks a lot about death, while a fool thinks only about having a good time.
Guys, the best time to think about death is while we’re still alive.
When we really think about our death, it causes us to really think about what we are living for. When we start considering that dash that’s so famous in funeral messages, when we start considering the dash between our birth and our death, it causes us to ask big questions and wrestle with big answers.
Genesis 23:1–2 (NLT)
1 When Sarah was 127 years old,
2 she died at Kiriath-arba (now called Hebron (HeavRon)) in the Land of Canaan. There Abraham mourned and wept for her.
Death is always difficult. There’s always a sense of loss and sadness, and it’s okay to grieve the death of a loved one. We have this double-edged sword where we grieve for those who remain, and we celebrate for those in Christ who are with Christ. But, if that loved one has received eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ, then 1 Thessalonians 4:13 says, We don’t grieve like those with NO HOPE because God makes it clear in the Bible that death is the beginning of living in eternity. And that’s hard to say because eternity means no time. There is no time passing in eternity. So, it’s hard to say death is the beginning of eternity. But death for us is that transition; it’s the moving from the temporal to the eternal. It’s a glorious thing for the believer. And so, talking about death gives us a chance to think about living our lives in the light of eternity.
Sarah and Abraham both died without seeing the fulfillment of God’s promise on earth (besides the birth of Isaac). The promise was their descendants would be too many to number and that they would have this Land of Canaan, that this would be their Land. They died not seeing any of that fulfilled, but they didn’t expect to see the fulfillment of God’s promises on earth because Abraham and Sarah were living beyond this temporal world. They were living in the light of eternity.
What does that mean – “Living in the light of eternity”? It’s not this weird cultural thing. It’s not a heresy, not a prosperity gospel that God exists to make your life good now. This life is gone in an instant – faster than the snap of the fingers. You can’t define how short it is in the light of eternity. James says it’s a vapor; it goes like the morning mist. It’s a puff of smoke. It’s gone so fast.
Living in the light of eternity means we understand this is not our permanent home. We look past the horizon to what lasts forever – eternity. We know we are only passing through this fleeting life, and in a moment, we could be in eternity. It’s having our eyes fixed instead on our permanent home, our eternal home, not the temporal home that we just happen to be passing through. It’s a matter of focus. It’s really hard because we live in a material world. And we put God in our material world, and God’s like, “Are you kidding me? This world is – oh! It’s gone.” Eternity is eternal; it’s outside of time. And while we are here, we live like we are headed there, to eternity.
Look at how Hebrews Chapter 11 explains how Abraham was living in the light of eternity.
Hebrews 11:9–10 (NLT)
9 And even when he (Abraham) reached the Land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise.
10 Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.
This is real! Heaven is real. The world we live in now, it’s opaque. You see it, but you have to see through it because this isn’t the real world for us. Heaven is.
And then referring to the heroes of the faith in Hebrews Chapter 11.
Hebrews 11:13 & 16 (NLT)
13 All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth . . .
16 But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
They saw it all from a distance – over the horizon, beyond the horizon and welcomed it. Living in the light of eternity is setting our sights beyond the horizon of this life. It’s setting our sights on our Heavenly home where the City of God has been prepared for us. It’s setting our sights on what is real, not what is temporal and false.
And so, as Paul says in Philippians 4, whether we’re abounding here or abasing, whether we have plenty or suffering need – it’s gone in a moment. Whatever it is, that’s how fast it’s gone. But the City that God’s building for us, it’s eternal. The place that God is making for us is eternal, and it’s real. The devil has convinced us so much that it is some kind of not real place. And so, setting our sights on our heavenly home where the City of God is, it gives us a different perspective about everything.
Philippians 3, verse 20, echoes this.
Philippians 3:20 (NLT)
20 But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.
That’s what we’re waiting for. We are passing through this world, and we’re knowing God, and we’re making him known, and we’re being led, and he’s providing, and we’re just being transformed into his image. But ultimately, we are eagerly waiting to take on our citizenship of Heaven. That doesn’t mean that we want to die. But it means that our focus is there. That is living in the light of eternity!
This is why we have put our faith in the Lord Jesus. It’s not so that he’ll give us a better car, or a better spouse, or a better job. We put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and we ask him to forgive our sins so we can stand in the presence of a perfectly holy God. There is a point in time when we realize that is what is important. We live in the light of eternity.
We want to make that great exchange with Jesus that 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, where he becomes sin for us, and we become the righteousness of God in him so that we can live for eternity in the presence of a perfectly holy God, as citizens of Heaven. That changes the perspective. It changes our perspective, and so we don’t so much ask God to give us this day our daily bread – and that’s good to do – but it’s not our focus. Our focus is, I trust you, Lord, for the daily needs. But my sights are set beyond the horizon of this world. That’s really big.
When you’re living in the light of eternity, when it’s time to pack up here, we want to be sure that we are moving to our heavenly home. I’ve seen a lot of people die. I’ve stood by a lot of bedsides. And I want you to know, it’s different when someone has the confidence of Heaven in them. It’s different.
Abraham and Sarah were living for a future glory. They knew they would receive the full promise in Heaven. The promise for their descendants was here on earth, but the promise for them was in Heaven. That is living in the light of eternity.
And so, Abraham does something here that would be a testimony to God’s eternal promise from Abraham’s generation to our current generation today. It starts in verses 3-4 of Genesis 23.
Genesis 23:3–4 (NLT)
3 Then, leaving [Sarah’s] body, he said to the Hittite elders (who controlled the Land at that time),
4 “Here I am, a stranger and a foreigner among you. Please sell me a piece of Land so I can give my wife a proper burial.”
Abraham knew his descendants would be here in this Land, and he wanted Sarah to be buried here, which would be a permanent sign for generations to come that this was the Promised Land that God had given to Abraham and his descendants through Isaac.
And so, Abraham would have gone to the city gate where all business is transacted, and he humbly asks to buy property to bury his wife Sarah, both so Sarah can be buried in the Promised Land and as a sign of Abraham’s faith to future generations because he knew that this Land would one day belong to his own descendants through Isaac.
Genesis 23:5–6 (NLT)
5 The Hittites replied to Abraham,
6 “Listen, my lord, you are an honored prince (OR Prince of God) among us. Choose the finest of our tombs and bury her there. No one here will refuse to help you in this way.”
Now what we’re about to see here is a customary approach to negotiations in the Middle East, and in many ways, it is still customary today.
Genesis 23:7–9 (NLT)
7 Then Abraham bowed low before the Hittites
8 and said, “Since you are willing to help me in this way, be so kind as to ask Ephron son of Zohar
9 to let me buy his cave at Machpelah, down at the end of his field. I will pay the full price in the presence of witnesses, so I will have a permanent burial place for my family.”
The word “permanent” in verse 9 refers to property by inheritance. Abraham is looking for a permanent marker, a permanent memorial, a permanent place to be a testimony to God giving him and his descendants this Land.
Abraham is addressing the city elders, but Ephron (the owner of this cave) was there.
Genesis 23:10–11 (NLT)
10 Ephron was sitting there among the others, and he answered Abraham as the others listened, speaking publicly before all the Hittite elders of the town.
11 “No, my lord,” he said to Abraham, “please listen to me. I will give you the field and the cave. Here in the presence of my people, I give it to you. Go and bury your dead.”
Again, this is negotiation Middle East style. Ephron says I will “give you” the cave and the field around it. What Ephron is really saying is if you want the cave, you have to buy the field too. And in the next verses, Abraham accepts purchasing the field as well.
Genesis 23:12–13 (NLT)
12 Abraham again bowed low before the citizens of the Land,
13 and he replied to Ephron as everyone listened. “No, listen to me. I will buy it from you (meaning the field as well). Let me pay the full price for the field so I can bury my dead there.”
Now, Abraham has said he will pay “full price” for both the cave and the field. So here, Ephron decides to push this negotiation to the limit.
Genesis 23:14–15 (NLT)
14 Ephron answered Abraham,
15 “My lord, please listen to me. The Land is worth 400 pieces (Sheckels) of silver, but what is that between friends? Go ahead and bury your dead.”
In typical Middle East negotiating style, Ephron says what is 400 shekels of silver between friends? Well, this is actually a massive amount of money, and Ephron probably did not really expect to get it. To give you an idea of how much money 400 shekels of silver is, the average annual income at the time was ten shekels. So, this was forty years of an average salary (about a quarter of a million dollars to us today). This is a hugely inflated price, but instead of Abraham haggling with Ephron, we read this in the following verses.
Genesis 23:16-18 (NLT)
16 So Abraham agreed to Ephron’s price and paid the amount he had suggested—400 pieces (shekels) of silver, weighed according to the market standard. The Hittite elders witnessed the transaction.
17 So Abraham bought the plot of Land belonging to Ephron at Machpelah, near Mamre. This included the field itself, the cave that was in it, and all the surrounding trees.
18 It was transferred to Abraham as his permanent possession in the presence of the Hittite elders at the city gate.
This was such a huge transaction in front of so many witnesses that it could never be refuted, which is just what Abraham wanted.
Abraham was living in the light of eternity, and he was putting his treasure where his heart was, which was in the Land God promised to his descendants.
And so, we read further.
Genesis 23:19–20 (NLT)
19 Then Abraham buried his wife, Sarah, there in Canaan, in the cave of Machpelah, near Mamre (also called Hebron).
20 So the field and the cave were transferred from the Hittites to Abraham for use as a permanent burial place.
This is the only Land Abraham ever bought in Canaan. God’s promise was that he would give this Land to the descendants of Abraham, and this cave and field were the first fruits of the inheritance God promised to Abraham’s descendants through Isaac. In fact, the Hebrew word in verse 20, Achussah translated as a “permanent burial place,” refers to property owned by inheritance and passed down to future generations.
And this burial cave and this plot of Land would become a rallying point for many generations.
Sarah was buried here first.
Then Isaac buried Abraham here with Sarah (Genesis 25)
Jacob buried his father Isaac (and Rebecca) here (Genesis 49)
Jacob (whose name was changed to ISRAEL) made his 12 sons (who became the 12 Tribes of Israel) promise that they would bury him here (Genesis 49)
And the 12 sons of Israel did bury Jacob here (Genesis 50)
Four hundred years later, Moses carried Joseph’s bones (one of the 12 sons of Israel) out of Egypt, and eventually, Joshua buried Joseph’s bone in Shechem – just north of Hebron, and David was anointed King over Judah in Hebron. This place became central to the Promised Land, and the burials of the Patriarchs here continue to stand as a testimony today that God has given this Land to the descendant of Abraham through Isaac.
I don’t want to say you and I can’t go there. But we can’t safely go there. I’ve wanted to go every time we’ve ever gone. I’ve wanted to go to Hebron for this reason. But we can’t go there, and here’s why. This is such a powerful, powerful testimony to the God of the Bible and the story of the Bible, the Tomb of the Patriarchs, but here’s what happened.
In 600 AD, three hundred years after the Bible was what we call codified, after the Bible was fully in print, 600 years after the death of Christ, a guy named Mohammed wrote a book. And his book is called the Koran. And he told his people that the Tomb of the Patriarchs was taken over and defiled by the Jews, and it was supposed to be Ishmael and the descendants of Ishmael buried there. And so, this is happening, say, about 1500, maybe a little more 2000 BC.
And so, 2500 years later, Mohammed says – well, what he said was “Kill them all,” in love. We’ve been told Islam is a religion of love even by a former President. Islam is not a religion of love. There are some nice Muslims, there are. But they’re the ones that are not really big on killing you, even though the Koran tells them to. The Koran says this is our tomb; this should have been Ishmael’s. There’s been war at Hebron at the Cave of the Patriarchs since that time, since the Middle Ages, at least.
And so, now, there are two ways you can go there. You can go with a contingent of the Israeli Defense Forces (the IDF Army), or you can go disguised as a Muslim Arab. And I’ve really considered the second because I can’t get the contingent of Israeli soldiers. But I’ve considered that I can do it. The only problem is that I only know one phrase in Arabic, so I’d have to learn some Arabic. But I want to go so bad! I even looked yesterday. Is anybody going? Is anybody going? And the internet basically said, “No, not yet.” But someday, it will happen.
My point here is that is how central this event has become to today. Everything you read about in Hebron (which is a lot of terrorist stuff there) goes back to this chapter in the Bible. This is not a story. This is history. And it’s still happening today because inside that tomb is proof for 3500 years that the Land was given to Abraham through Isaac and Jacob and on to the 12 Tribes of Israel and to us spiritually.
Abraham made this moment of grief, of burying Sarah, the beginning of a testimony to the eternal promise of God because Abraham wasn’t living for this life. He was living in the light of eternity. He was living in God’s eternal promises even as he was passing through this temporal world.
And we can do the same thing.
Colossians 3:1–4 (NLT)
1 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. (living in the light of Eternity)
2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.
3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.
Your real life is hidden with Christ in God. Listen, you think this is your real life? It’s not. You were created in the image of God, Genesis 1:27 says. You are made as an eternal being, and God wants you with him for eternity. At any moment, that could begin. This life is see-through – Heaven is real.
4 And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.
That is living in the light of eternity! We can live in the growing light of eternity, knowing God better, knowing Jesus better and being transformed into his image, and preparing to be in his presence, OR we can live in the fading light to darkness of this world. It’s not that hard of a decision when you really get ahold of it.
Choosing to live in the light of eternity can be costly – in fact, it is costly because you have to not live in the light of this world, but it is worth whatever it costs.
Nothing can separate us from the inheritance that God has prepared for those who love him. Once you become a son or daughter of God, you cannot be “unadopted.” You are his son or daughter. You share in the inheritance of Jesus Christ and all of creation. And Romans 8 says nothing can separate you from that. Tell me about the stuff in this world – how fast can the stuff in this world vaporize? Or maybe the stuff in the world stays, but you vaporize. It can happen faster than the snap of your fingers. But in Heaven, it’s eternal.
Jesus Christ beat sin, and death, and the grave on your behalf, in your place. And Jesus offers to exchange with you your sin for his righteousness, ushering you into the presence of God for eternity, making you a joint heir in his inheritance of all creation, and making you a son or daughter of God and a citizen of Heaven.
Is that enough to cause us to live in the light of eternity? Is that enough for you to say, “Yeah. I need to think more about Heaven”? Yes! It’s enough.
This life is fleeting. It’s a vapor! And Jesus Christ has made a way for the end of this life to be the beginning of your eternal inheritance in the glory of God as a citizen of Heaven.
Sarah had been Abraham’s soul mate the entire journey
From their home in UR all the way to Canaan
Back to Egypt and given into a harem
Then back to Canaan
Then back into another harem in Philistine territory.
Sarah was at Abraham’s side for every milestone - every event
She was there for the Covenants and Promises
She was there for the greeting of Melchizedek
She made Lunch for the Lord and His Angels
She was there for the Sodom and Gomorrah event
She was there for The Renaming - the Promises - the Laughing
She was there (by explanation) for the offering of Isaac
And she had also been part of the problems, especially with Hagar and Ishmael.
Sarah was a huge woman of faith
She’s listed in Hebrews Chapter 11 (the Hall of Fame of faith)
She’s named as an example for Christian women in 1 Peter 3
and used as an example of God’s grace in Galatians 4
But now, after one hundred years of marriage and sixty-two years of wandering with her husband, today Sarah dies and is buried right in the heart of the Promised Land. This chapter is about faith and death, and this chapter is about living in the light of eternity.
For the most part, we try to hide from death, don’t we? Often refusing to even discuss it, and so we are often not prepared for it.
But in Ecclesiastes 7, Solomon says this.
Ecclesiastes 7:2 (NLT)
2 Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties. After all, everyone dies— so the living should take this to heart.
Ecclesiastes 7:4 (NLT)
4 A wise person thinks a lot about death, while a fool thinks only about having a good time.
Guys, the best time to think about death is while we’re still alive.
When we really think about our death, it causes us to really think about what we are living for. When we start considering that dash that’s so famous in funeral messages, when we start considering the dash between our birth and our death, it causes us to ask big questions and wrestle with big answers.
Genesis 23:1–2 (NLT)
1 When Sarah was 127 years old,
2 she died at Kiriath-arba (now called Hebron (HeavRon)) in the Land of Canaan. There Abraham mourned and wept for her.
Death is always difficult. There’s always a sense of loss and sadness, and it’s okay to grieve the death of a loved one. We have this double-edged sword where we grieve for those who remain, and we celebrate for those in Christ who are with Christ. But, if that loved one has received eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ, then 1 Thessalonians 4:13 says, We don’t grieve like those with NO HOPE because God makes it clear in the Bible that death is the beginning of living in eternity. And that’s hard to say because eternity means no time. There is no time passing in eternity. So, it’s hard to say death is the beginning of eternity. But death for us is that transition; it’s the moving from the temporal to the eternal. It’s a glorious thing for the believer. And so, talking about death gives us a chance to think about living our lives in the light of eternity.
Sarah and Abraham both died without seeing the fulfillment of God’s promise on earth (besides the birth of Isaac). The promise was their descendants would be too many to number and that they would have this Land of Canaan, that this would be their Land. They died not seeing any of that fulfilled, but they didn’t expect to see the fulfillment of God’s promises on earth because Abraham and Sarah were living beyond this temporal world. They were living in the light of eternity.
What does that mean – “Living in the light of eternity”? It’s not this weird cultural thing. It’s not a heresy, not a prosperity gospel that God exists to make your life good now. This life is gone in an instant – faster than the snap of the fingers. You can’t define how short it is in the light of eternity. James says it’s a vapor; it goes like the morning mist. It’s a puff of smoke. It’s gone so fast.
Living in the light of eternity means we understand this is not our permanent home. We look past the horizon to what lasts forever – eternity. We know we are only passing through this fleeting life, and in a moment, we could be in eternity. It’s having our eyes fixed instead on our permanent home, our eternal home, not the temporal home that we just happen to be passing through. It’s a matter of focus. It’s really hard because we live in a material world. And we put God in our material world, and God’s like, “Are you kidding me? This world is – oh! It’s gone.” Eternity is eternal; it’s outside of time. And while we are here, we live like we are headed there, to eternity.
Look at how Hebrews Chapter 11 explains how Abraham was living in the light of eternity.
Hebrews 11:9–10 (NLT)
9 And even when he (Abraham) reached the Land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise.
10 Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.
This is real! Heaven is real. The world we live in now, it’s opaque. You see it, but you have to see through it because this isn’t the real world for us. Heaven is.
And then referring to the heroes of the faith in Hebrews Chapter 11.
Hebrews 11:13 & 16 (NLT)
13 All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth . . .
16 But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
They saw it all from a distance – over the horizon, beyond the horizon and welcomed it. Living in the light of eternity is setting our sights beyond the horizon of this life. It’s setting our sights on our Heavenly home where the City of God has been prepared for us. It’s setting our sights on what is real, not what is temporal and false.
And so, as Paul says in Philippians 4, whether we’re abounding here or abasing, whether we have plenty or suffering need – it’s gone in a moment. Whatever it is, that’s how fast it’s gone. But the City that God’s building for us, it’s eternal. The place that God is making for us is eternal, and it’s real. The devil has convinced us so much that it is some kind of not real place. And so, setting our sights on our heavenly home where the City of God is, it gives us a different perspective about everything.
Philippians 3, verse 20, echoes this.
Philippians 3:20 (NLT)
20 But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.
That’s what we’re waiting for. We are passing through this world, and we’re knowing God, and we’re making him known, and we’re being led, and he’s providing, and we’re just being transformed into his image. But ultimately, we are eagerly waiting to take on our citizenship of Heaven. That doesn’t mean that we want to die. But it means that our focus is there. That is living in the light of eternity!
This is why we have put our faith in the Lord Jesus. It’s not so that he’ll give us a better car, or a better spouse, or a better job. We put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and we ask him to forgive our sins so we can stand in the presence of a perfectly holy God. There is a point in time when we realize that is what is important. We live in the light of eternity.
We want to make that great exchange with Jesus that 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, where he becomes sin for us, and we become the righteousness of God in him so that we can live for eternity in the presence of a perfectly holy God, as citizens of Heaven. That changes the perspective. It changes our perspective, and so we don’t so much ask God to give us this day our daily bread – and that’s good to do – but it’s not our focus. Our focus is, I trust you, Lord, for the daily needs. But my sights are set beyond the horizon of this world. That’s really big.
When you’re living in the light of eternity, when it’s time to pack up here, we want to be sure that we are moving to our heavenly home. I’ve seen a lot of people die. I’ve stood by a lot of bedsides. And I want you to know, it’s different when someone has the confidence of Heaven in them. It’s different.
Abraham and Sarah were living for a future glory. They knew they would receive the full promise in Heaven. The promise for their descendants was here on earth, but the promise for them was in Heaven. That is living in the light of eternity.
And so, Abraham does something here that would be a testimony to God’s eternal promise from Abraham’s generation to our current generation today. It starts in verses 3-4 of Genesis 23.
Genesis 23:3–4 (NLT)
3 Then, leaving [Sarah’s] body, he said to the Hittite elders (who controlled the Land at that time),
4 “Here I am, a stranger and a foreigner among you. Please sell me a piece of Land so I can give my wife a proper burial.”
Abraham knew his descendants would be here in this Land, and he wanted Sarah to be buried here, which would be a permanent sign for generations to come that this was the Promised Land that God had given to Abraham and his descendants through Isaac.
And so, Abraham would have gone to the city gate where all business is transacted, and he humbly asks to buy property to bury his wife Sarah, both so Sarah can be buried in the Promised Land and as a sign of Abraham’s faith to future generations because he knew that this Land would one day belong to his own descendants through Isaac.
Genesis 23:5–6 (NLT)
5 The Hittites replied to Abraham,
6 “Listen, my lord, you are an honored prince (OR Prince of God) among us. Choose the finest of our tombs and bury her there. No one here will refuse to help you in this way.”
Now what we’re about to see here is a customary approach to negotiations in the Middle East, and in many ways, it is still customary today.
Genesis 23:7–9 (NLT)
7 Then Abraham bowed low before the Hittites
8 and said, “Since you are willing to help me in this way, be so kind as to ask Ephron son of Zohar
9 to let me buy his cave at Machpelah, down at the end of his field. I will pay the full price in the presence of witnesses, so I will have a permanent burial place for my family.”
The word “permanent” in verse 9 refers to property by inheritance. Abraham is looking for a permanent marker, a permanent memorial, a permanent place to be a testimony to God giving him and his descendants this Land.
Abraham is addressing the city elders, but Ephron (the owner of this cave) was there.
Genesis 23:10–11 (NLT)
10 Ephron was sitting there among the others, and he answered Abraham as the others listened, speaking publicly before all the Hittite elders of the town.
11 “No, my lord,” he said to Abraham, “please listen to me. I will give you the field and the cave. Here in the presence of my people, I give it to you. Go and bury your dead.”
Again, this is negotiation Middle East style. Ephron says I will “give you” the cave and the field around it. What Ephron is really saying is if you want the cave, you have to buy the field too. And in the next verses, Abraham accepts purchasing the field as well.
Genesis 23:12–13 (NLT)
12 Abraham again bowed low before the citizens of the Land,
13 and he replied to Ephron as everyone listened. “No, listen to me. I will buy it from you (meaning the field as well). Let me pay the full price for the field so I can bury my dead there.”
Now, Abraham has said he will pay “full price” for both the cave and the field. So here, Ephron decides to push this negotiation to the limit.
Genesis 23:14–15 (NLT)
14 Ephron answered Abraham,
15 “My lord, please listen to me. The Land is worth 400 pieces (Sheckels) of silver, but what is that between friends? Go ahead and bury your dead.”
In typical Middle East negotiating style, Ephron says what is 400 shekels of silver between friends? Well, this is actually a massive amount of money, and Ephron probably did not really expect to get it. To give you an idea of how much money 400 shekels of silver is, the average annual income at the time was ten shekels. So, this was forty years of an average salary (about a quarter of a million dollars to us today). This is a hugely inflated price, but instead of Abraham haggling with Ephron, we read this in the following verses.
Genesis 23:16-18 (NLT)
16 So Abraham agreed to Ephron’s price and paid the amount he had suggested—400 pieces (shekels) of silver, weighed according to the market standard. The Hittite elders witnessed the transaction.
17 So Abraham bought the plot of Land belonging to Ephron at Machpelah, near Mamre. This included the field itself, the cave that was in it, and all the surrounding trees.
18 It was transferred to Abraham as his permanent possession in the presence of the Hittite elders at the city gate.
This was such a huge transaction in front of so many witnesses that it could never be refuted, which is just what Abraham wanted.
Abraham was living in the light of eternity, and he was putting his treasure where his heart was, which was in the Land God promised to his descendants.
And so, we read further.
Genesis 23:19–20 (NLT)
19 Then Abraham buried his wife, Sarah, there in Canaan, in the cave of Machpelah, near Mamre (also called Hebron).
20 So the field and the cave were transferred from the Hittites to Abraham for use as a permanent burial place.
This is the only Land Abraham ever bought in Canaan. God’s promise was that he would give this Land to the descendants of Abraham, and this cave and field were the first fruits of the inheritance God promised to Abraham’s descendants through Isaac. In fact, the Hebrew word in verse 20, Achussah translated as a “permanent burial place,” refers to property owned by inheritance and passed down to future generations.
And this burial cave and this plot of Land would become a rallying point for many generations.
Sarah was buried here first.
Then Isaac buried Abraham here with Sarah (Genesis 25)
Jacob buried his father Isaac (and Rebecca) here (Genesis 49)
Jacob (whose name was changed to ISRAEL) made his 12 sons (who became the 12 Tribes of Israel) promise that they would bury him here (Genesis 49)
And the 12 sons of Israel did bury Jacob here (Genesis 50)
Four hundred years later, Moses carried Joseph’s bones (one of the 12 sons of Israel) out of Egypt, and eventually, Joshua buried Joseph’s bone in Shechem – just north of Hebron, and David was anointed King over Judah in Hebron. This place became central to the Promised Land, and the burials of the Patriarchs here continue to stand as a testimony today that God has given this Land to the descendant of Abraham through Isaac.
I don’t want to say you and I can’t go there. But we can’t safely go there. I’ve wanted to go every time we’ve ever gone. I’ve wanted to go to Hebron for this reason. But we can’t go there, and here’s why. This is such a powerful, powerful testimony to the God of the Bible and the story of the Bible, the Tomb of the Patriarchs, but here’s what happened.
In 600 AD, three hundred years after the Bible was what we call codified, after the Bible was fully in print, 600 years after the death of Christ, a guy named Mohammed wrote a book. And his book is called the Koran. And he told his people that the Tomb of the Patriarchs was taken over and defiled by the Jews, and it was supposed to be Ishmael and the descendants of Ishmael buried there. And so, this is happening, say, about 1500, maybe a little more 2000 BC.
And so, 2500 years later, Mohammed says – well, what he said was “Kill them all,” in love. We’ve been told Islam is a religion of love even by a former President. Islam is not a religion of love. There are some nice Muslims, there are. But they’re the ones that are not really big on killing you, even though the Koran tells them to. The Koran says this is our tomb; this should have been Ishmael’s. There’s been war at Hebron at the Cave of the Patriarchs since that time, since the Middle Ages, at least.
And so, now, there are two ways you can go there. You can go with a contingent of the Israeli Defense Forces (the IDF Army), or you can go disguised as a Muslim Arab. And I’ve really considered the second because I can’t get the contingent of Israeli soldiers. But I’ve considered that I can do it. The only problem is that I only know one phrase in Arabic, so I’d have to learn some Arabic. But I want to go so bad! I even looked yesterday. Is anybody going? Is anybody going? And the internet basically said, “No, not yet.” But someday, it will happen.
My point here is that is how central this event has become to today. Everything you read about in Hebron (which is a lot of terrorist stuff there) goes back to this chapter in the Bible. This is not a story. This is history. And it’s still happening today because inside that tomb is proof for 3500 years that the Land was given to Abraham through Isaac and Jacob and on to the 12 Tribes of Israel and to us spiritually.
Abraham made this moment of grief, of burying Sarah, the beginning of a testimony to the eternal promise of God because Abraham wasn’t living for this life. He was living in the light of eternity. He was living in God’s eternal promises even as he was passing through this temporal world.
And we can do the same thing.
Colossians 3:1–4 (NLT)
1 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. (living in the light of Eternity)
2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.
3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.
Your real life is hidden with Christ in God. Listen, you think this is your real life? It’s not. You were created in the image of God, Genesis 1:27 says. You are made as an eternal being, and God wants you with him for eternity. At any moment, that could begin. This life is see-through – Heaven is real.
4 And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.
That is living in the light of eternity! We can live in the growing light of eternity, knowing God better, knowing Jesus better and being transformed into his image, and preparing to be in his presence, OR we can live in the fading light to darkness of this world. It’s not that hard of a decision when you really get ahold of it.
Choosing to live in the light of eternity can be costly – in fact, it is costly because you have to not live in the light of this world, but it is worth whatever it costs.
Nothing can separate us from the inheritance that God has prepared for those who love him. Once you become a son or daughter of God, you cannot be “unadopted.” You are his son or daughter. You share in the inheritance of Jesus Christ and all of creation. And Romans 8 says nothing can separate you from that. Tell me about the stuff in this world – how fast can the stuff in this world vaporize? Or maybe the stuff in the world stays, but you vaporize. It can happen faster than the snap of your fingers. But in Heaven, it’s eternal.
Jesus Christ beat sin, and death, and the grave on your behalf, in your place. And Jesus offers to exchange with you your sin for his righteousness, ushering you into the presence of God for eternity, making you a joint heir in his inheritance of all creation, and making you a son or daughter of God and a citizen of Heaven.
Is that enough to cause us to live in the light of eternity? Is that enough for you to say, “Yeah. I need to think more about Heaven”? Yes! It’s enough.
This life is fleeting. It’s a vapor! And Jesus Christ has made a way for the end of this life to be the beginning of your eternal inheritance in the glory of God as a citizen of Heaven.