Genesis 23

The 23rd chapter of Genesis is the account of the buying of a cave. Who would want to invest in such a property, we might ask. Yet the story has its own poignancy, because the cave was bought as a burying-place, and it features often in the subsequent narrative of Genesis.

The Parting

The first aspect to the story was the death of Sarah, who lived for 127 years. She had come with Abraham out of the land of Ur, and had shared with him the blessings and the privileges of God's covenant salvation. The God who had promised to bless the families of the earth through Abraham, had blessed Abraham's family in a remarkable way, and had guided and directed them up until this point.

But now there was a separation, and an empty place in that home. Sarah was no more. God took her away, and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her (23:3).

Even our Lord himself knew the pain of bereavement and separation from loved ones. He entered into all our human experiences and emotions, and as he stood by the grave of Lazarus he wept, conscious of what death had done in the experience of mankind, and conscious of the pain and trauma of parting.

To be sure, the Christian Gospel gives great hope in death as in life. The message of the cross spells peace and assurance and hope for every child of God in the midst of the changes of life. We do not mourn as others who have no hope.

Yet we do mourn. We must never parade the triumph of the Christian Gospel as a triumphalism that ignores the real needs of the human heart, and the real issues of our human experience. The trauma of parting may be modified by Christian hope, but it is traumatic nonetheless.

We are weak and frail. Sometimes we find it extremely difficult to cope with bereavement and loss. People cope in different ways, of course, but we must always bear in mind that with the loss of loved ones, the emotions of people can be hanging by a thread, on a very slender threat at that. We must always take care to ensure that people have space to grieve and room to mourn. The possibilities of capitulating under pressure are enormous. There is great blessing in being able to weep.

The Burial

With great dignity, "Abraham stood up from before his dead". He acknowledged that he was a stranger in the land to which God had brought him, and he had a simple request: 'Give me property for a burial place among you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight'. His respect was so great among the inhabitants of the land that they allowed him to choose a burial place. He requested the cave of Machpelah, and Ephron the Hittite, who was willing to give it to Abraham, accepted four hundred shekels of silver as payment for the cave.

The psalmist could say in Psalm 116:15 that the death of his saints is a precious thing to God. They are as valuable to him in their deaths as they are in life. Their dust mingles with the dust of the ground and awaits final release from the bondage of corruption to the point where they will enjoy glorious liberty with all the sons of God.

Our burial places are important too. It is a thing of no small significance to inter the mortal remains of our beloved dead into the earth as seed is sown. What we sow is not exactly the same as what we shall reap. The sowing will yield a harvest, and the harvest will be plentiful when resurrection day dawns.

What a blessing to have a Saviour who has stepped inside the cave of death and burial. He was interred in a borrowed tomb, in a garden where no-one had ever been laid. His dead body continued under the power of death for a time. That was his humiliation. But he did it in order to destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and to destroy those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. He knows death from the inside - as an enemy destroyed on its own territory. Other religious leaders were alive and are now dead. Ours was dead, and is now alive, in the power of resurrection glory, victory and power.

The History

The story of Machpelah's cave is a moving and an emotional element of the Genesis narrative. Abraham himself was buried there by Isaac and Ishmael (25:9), and later Isaac and Rebekah were buried there, as was Leah (49:31). Finally, by his own request, and after the "grievous mourning of the Egyptians" (50:11), Jacob was buried there by his sons (50:13).

The cave of Machpelah became a poignant and moving symbol to the patriarchs who had graced the earth, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, with whom God had made and had renewed covenant. The blessings enjoyed by them, and the privileges bestowed on them, remained although they were gone.

Death is the result of sin, but hope is the result of grace. Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. May God grant us to lift our eyes beyond the things of time and sense, to the great realities of eternity, and to the God of all comfort and grace.