Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev19991212.htm

GENESIS: THE SOURCES OF GOOD AND CALAMITY IN OUR ORIGINS
Part III - God's Ongoing Program Of Countering Man's Apostasy At Babel
N. Round Thirteen - Trusting God When Facing This Life's Mortality
(Genesis 22:20-23:20)
  1. Introduction
    1. Living by faith transcends looking for God to supply food, clothing, health and wealth so we can sustain life in the here-and-now. The fact is that this life is a short window of existence, and it ends all so quickly.
    2. In Genesis 22:20-23:20, Abraham exampled how we can face this life's mortality in faith in what is perhaps the greatest expression of faith for a believer.
  2. Trusting God When Facing This Life's Mortality, Genesis 22:20-23:20.
    1. Late in Abraham's and Sarah's lives, they heard news that could have caused them homesickness, 22:20-24:
      1. After the test where Abraham had to offer Isaac up as a sacrifice, Abraham heard that his brother back in Paddan Aram around Haran saw the expansion of his family, Genesis 22:20-24: (B.K.C., O.T., p. 6 6)
        1. We know from Genesis 11:31 that Abraham had a brother, Haran, probably the founder of Haran in northwestern Mesopotamia near the headwaters of the Euphrates.
        2. He married Milcah before Abraham left him and entered Canaan, Genesis 11:31.
        3. Meanwhile, Abraham heard that Milcah and Haran had produced some sons, among whom was Bethuel, the father of a daughter named Rebekah, Genesis 22:20-23.
      2. Having missed seeing these offspring come along could have left Abraham and Sarai wishing they could be back with these relatives to catch up with the expanding family and introduce Isaac to his relations!
    2. However, though Sarah soon died after hearing this news of the extended family in Haran, Abraham broke with his homeland in FAITH in God's provisions for his resurrection, Genesis 23:1-20.
      1. The dead of Abraham's day were buried in their "native land," Ibid., Bib. Know. Com., O.T.
      2. However, though recently having been reminded of the extended family life they missed back in Haran by their sojourn in Canaan, Abraham moved at great cost to himself to bury Sarah in Canaan:
        1. When Sarah died (Gen. 23:1-2), Abraham sought to buy a burial plot in Canaan for Sarah, 23:3-4.
        2. The Canaanites agreed to this, so Abraham tried to purchase as Sarah's burial site only the cave of Machpelah from Ephron, the Hittite, Genesis 23:5-9, 10a.
        3. However, Ephron drove a hard bargain, stating he would sell both the field and the cave to Abraham for his burial site which he could require according to Hittite law, Genesis 23:10b-11, Ibid.
        4. Though a foreigner and grieving over his wife, Abraham did not quibble over this deal, but paid a high price of 200 ounces of silver for the cave and its field, Ryr. St. Bib., KJV ftn. to Gen. 23:15-18.
      3. Having purchased the field as an "outsider" in a land already promised to him by God, Abraham buried Sarah in the cave, forever breaking ties with his native homeland in Paddan Aram, Genesis 23:19.
      4. In this way, Abraham showed his desire for himself to be buried in that foreign land of Canaan, 23:20.
      5. This move pictured Abraham's hope in the future RESURRECTION as opposed to THIS LIFE:
        1. God had promised Abraham that he would die, but that his descendants would return to the land of Canaan after captivity in Egypt, Genesis 15:15-16.
        2. This promise had come on the heels of Abraham's asking when he himself would come to possess the land instead of remaining so long in it as an alien, Genesis 15:8.
        3. Thus, God had implied that Abraham would inherit the land after his death in the resurrection.
        4. So, in hope of the coming resurrection, Abraham broke earthly ties with his native land and opened up a new burial plot in Canaan anticipating attaining the land in the resurrection. (Heb. 11:39-40)
Lesson: In the face of this life's mortality when having to deal with his beloved wife, Sarah's death, Abraham looked FORWARD to the life to COME rather than BACKWARD to his NATIVE LAND, for he hoped for the inheritance in the life to come more th an what this life had to offer!

Application: The ultimate expression of faith in God is our choice to invest in the life to COME rather than the life that HAS BEEN on this earth: if we believe in ETERNAL life as did Abraham, our focus will likewise be in the FUTURE rather than in the PRESENT or PAST of our earthly sojourn!