Most of us do it.  We go out to eat together with family or close friends.  At the end of the meal, we have a friendly argument over who will pay the check. It becomes a friendly game of “who’s going to get the check first and pay” before anyone else does! 

“Let me get that.” “No, let me get that this time.” And the game begins of who will slyly get the check first and pay the bill the server lays down before anyone else sees what is going on while conversation continues. It’s a fun game we play among those we love and want to serve.

There is dignity and respect when we pay our own way, not depending on others.  However, in our next passage, we learn the customs of the inhabitants of Canaan.  We can’t help but notice the respect the Hittites have for Abraham who is grieving over the death of his beloved Sarah, but they also know he is a weakened state of mind—or is he?  Who’s going to pay for a burial site for Sarah?  Why is Abraham so insistent?

Genesis 23

The Death of Sarah

Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old. ² She died at Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.

³ Then Abraham rose from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites. He said, ⁴ “I am a foreigner and stranger among you. Sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead.”

⁵ The Hittites replied to Abraham, ⁶ “Sir, listen to us. You are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb for burying your dead.”

⁷ Then Abraham rose and bowed down before the people of the land, the Hittites. ⁸ He said to them, “If you are willing to let me bury my dead, then listen to me and intercede with Ephron son of Zohar on my behalf ⁹ so he will sell me the cave of Machpelah, which belongs to him and is at the end of his field. Ask him to sell it to me for the full price as a burial site among you.”

¹⁰ Ephron the Hittite was sitting among his people and he replied to Abraham in the hearing of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city. ¹¹ “No, my lord,” he said. “Listen to me; I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. I give it to you in the presence of my people. Bury your dead.”

¹² Again Abraham bowed down before the people of the land ¹³ and he said to Ephron in their hearing, “Listen to me, if you will. I will pay the price of the field. Accept it from me so I can bury my dead there.”

¹⁴ Ephron answered Abraham, ¹⁵ “Listen to me, my lord; the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver, but what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.”

¹⁶ Abraham agreed to Ephron’s terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weight current among the merchants.

¹⁷ So Ephron’s field in Machpelah near Mamre—both the field and the cave in it, and all the trees within the borders of the field—was deeded ¹⁸ to Abraham as his property in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of the city. ¹⁹ Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre (which is at Hebron) in the land of Canaan. ²⁰ So the field and the cave in it were deeded to Abraham by the Hittites as a burial site.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Honoring Sarah

Sarah had been a good wife to Abraham and a good mother to Isaac. Yes, she had her faults, as we all do, but God called her a princess (the meaning of her name). 

“God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. ¹⁶ I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” Genesis 17:15-16

Sarah was listed with other heroes and heroines of faith.  “And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise.” Hebrews 11:11 –Even though she chuckled upon hearing the news! 

The apostle Peter named Sarah as a good example of inner beauty for Christian wives to follow:

“For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.” 1 Peter 3:1-6

Paul illustrates the grace of God in the life of the believer with Sarah’s life:

“Now you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise…”  (Read Galatian 4 to get the full picture of the grace of God.  Grace, not earned works, is the gift of salvation to us because of Jesus.  Judaizers taught that Gentile believers had to obey Jewish laws to be saved. Paul wrote to correct this false teaching. As a result of God’s promise, Christ followers are children of God. As adopted children, believers can enjoy all the benefits of being in God’s family. One of those benefits is freedom from the bondage of legalism.

Sarah carried the promise of God because her faithfulness to God.

Like Abraham and Sarah, God’s people today are foreigners in this present world (See 1 Peter 1:1; 2:11). We live in temporary “tents” (2 Corinthians 5:1–8) which one day will be taken down when we move to glory! 

Who will pay the bill?

This was an artful manipulation by the Hittite leader to a grieving Abraham, a foreigner who he knew was rich and blessed.   Following the custom of the East, Ephron offered to give Abraham not only the cave but the whole field in which the cave was located. Of course, this was only a clever maneuver on his part, for he had no intentions of giving away a valuable piece of property, especially to a man as wealthy as Abraham. But Ephron’s reply gave Abraham two pieces of information: Ephron was willing to sell, but he wanted to sell the whole field and not just the cave. This sly negotiation allowed both men to achieve their objectives. 

There is more going on here as we dig deeper!

Abraham did not ignore the body but gave it a proper burial in view of the promised resurrection. When God saves us, He saves the whole person, not just “the soul.” The body has a future, and burial bears witness to our faith in the return of Christ and the resurrection of the body.  Scripture tells us that resurrection is not “reconstruction.” God will not reassemble the dust of the body and restore the body to its previous state. God promises us a new body! (1 Corinthians 15) Christian burial bears witness that we believe in a future resurrection!

Who ultimately paid the bill, in full, once and for all, for our salvation?  Jesus!

“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep”. 1 Corinthians 15:3-6

We must respond with the deep faith of Abraham and Sarahwho stood firm in their obedience to God.  Abraham’s weeping over his beloved Sarah displayed His love for her, not his lack of faith.  Buying a field to bury her, and later himself, displayed his hope of resurrection by God because of his relentless faith in God.  Abraham knew more than we think at first reading. Abraham was a Friend of God.

“And the scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,’ and he was called God’s friend.’” James 2:23

Therefore,

“‘Where, O death, is your victory?
    Where, O death, is your sting?’

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” 1 Corinthians 15:55-58

Savior and Lord,

Thank you, thank you, thank you for saving me—all of me for all of you! Great is thy faithfulness!

In Jesus Name, for Your glory, Amen