Genesis 23
The Good News Bible gives a very clear and simple account of the events surrounding Sarah's death and burial. It does however lose a lot of the finer points. The place of Sarah's death is actually Kiriath Arba - known today as Hebron. This was the highest town in Israel some 3,000 feet above sea level and situated 19 miles south west of Jerusalem, although of course in those days the land was not Israel and there was no Jerusalem, although the place where Isaac was to be sacrificed is often identified as the site of Jerusalem. In this cave that Abraham buys and its surrounding field, there would eventually be buried not only Sarah but also Abraham and Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah and according to the Roman Jewish Historian Josephus all the sons of Jacob with the exception of Joseph were buried there also.
Also missing in the GNB are some important facts, namely that Abraham was not with his wife when she died, we are not told exactly where he was but simply that he had to go and mourn. We also lose the fact that Abraham came a fell to the ground beside his wife and wept. And only when that had been done did he go and make arrangements for her burial. This whole passage is interesting historically for what it teaches us about the practice of death and burial in ancient times....and indeed the whole strange way of doing business that is recorded here in such detail in this chapter.
However as we bid farewell in the story to Sarah, whose name means princess, let us take some time to reflect on this lady.
Sarah has gone faithfully with Abraham through all the ups and downs of his long life. She like her husband was blessed by God and through Isaac she shared with Abraham in founding the Jewish nation.
Isaiah talks of Sarah in Chapter 51. He writes words of encouragement and comfort to the people of Jerusalem: The Lord says,"Listen to me, you that want to be saved, you that come to me for help. Think of the rock from which you came, the quarry from which you were dug. Think of your ancestor, Abraham, and of Sarah from whom you are descended..." Sarah is held up here as an example of those who trust in God, those who walk in faith.
Paul writes of Sarah in a most interesting way in Romans: Chapter 9 from verse 6 onwards we read, "I am not saying that the promise of God has failed; for not all the people of Israel are the people of God. Nor are all Abraham's descendants the children of God. God said to Abraham, "It is through Isaac that you will have the descendants I promised you." This means that the children born in the usual way are not the children of God; instead the children born as a result of God's promise are regarded as the true descendants. For God's promise was made in these words; "At the right time I will come back, and Sarah will have a son." Do you see therefore the important position Sarah holds as the mother of the children of promise? The type of the children of God. Not by natural means but means of faith.
We have here again and again laid before us the example of faith. It is the faith of both Abraham and Sarah that the writer of Hebrews makes special note. It is faith today that makes the difference. Faith not works or practice or tradition but the real living faith we are called upon to have in the Lord Jesus.
However let us turn now to see what Peter has to say about Sarah in his first letter. Now this teaching given by Peter is not popular today, but I do not intend to dwell on secular fashions and views. We are a biblical people. The people of God. The children of God by virtue of faith. We are sons and daughters of Abraham. We listen to God and we obey even when it flies in the face of the current values of society. So listen then to Peter, "In the same you wives must submit to your husbands so that if any of them do not believe God's word, your conduct will win them over to believe. It will not be necessary for you to say a word, because they will see how pure and reverent your conduct is. You should not use outward aids to make yourselves beautiful, such as the way you do your hair, or the jewellery you put on, or the dresses you wear. Instead your beauty should consist of your true inner self, the ageless beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is the greatest value in God's sight. For the devout women of the past who placed their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful by submitting to their husbands. Sarah was like that; she obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are now her daughters if you do good and are not afraid of anything."
So Sarah is also held up as an icon of the role of a wife in Christian marriage. Sarah didn't sit in Ur when Abraham said we have got to move, God is calling me, and say well excuse me but I am not moving it will interfere with my career prospects. Nor can we argue that she was merely culturally conditioned. This relationship between Abraham and Sarah portrayed for us over many decades in Genesis is an illustration useful to us in reaching the biblical understanding of marriage. Is it any wonder then that people today who live in open rebellion against the things of God should also hold views that are quite opposite to those contained in the Bible about the male and female roles in marriage? However this is not a sermon on marriage and there is much more would need to be said if we are to understand the Biblical point of view, especially in relation to the proper role of the husband.
What we might appropriately finish on today is to note that here in Genesis 23 we have a good example of proper grieving and mourning. Abraham mourns. He weeps. And then he makes the proper arrangements for the burial. There is no record here of excess grief. No record of devastation. Grief is terrible burden but for the Christian that grief must always be balanced by the sure and certain knowledge of the Resurrection. We are not to mourn as those do who have no hope. We have a hope. We have a promise. A promise that began when God called Abraham and of course Sarah to follow him with all their hearts and minds and souls.