Genesis 23 Sarah Dies

Sarah dies after living 127 years. The last 37 as the mother of Isaac. She has been a helpmate, partner, and instigator as well as a cherished wife.

Sarah was a lot of things in her history with Abraham. She left Haran with him at the age of 65 and she never looked back. She went wherever Abraham chose to go. She willingly agreed to be called his sister whenever he felt danger lurked because of her beauty. She submitted herself to two different rulers to be their wife because of Abraham’s fears. She was rescued by God on both those occasions before she was touched by either of these men. She ‘helped’ God to give Abraham a son; and regretted it ever since. She laughed at God’s promises for herself while still holding out hope for them for Abraham. She dethroned and removed her rival. She reared a child in her 90’s! ANYONE who has had children knows the energy THAT takes. And she maintained her beauty for at LEAST 90 years while not using that beauty to control or manipulate others.

There are only three times when we see something wrong or unpleasant in Sarah’s story. The first time is her jealousy of Hagar and Ishmael. That lasted from the moment Hagar became pregnant until the day she had Abraham send them away. She treated Hagar so spitefully that Hagar ran away while she was carrying Ishmael.

The second time we see her ‘bad’ side is when she blamed Abraham for the problems between her and Hagar. His reaction to their problem was to tell Sarah she could do whatever she liked to Hagar; thus the spiteful treatment the rest of the time they shared the camp.

The third time we see something ‘shameful’ from Sarah is when she laughed about God’s prophecy for her life. The laughter itself wasn’t the biggest sin; lying about it was. Abraham laughed too, but he moved from that ‘unbelief’ moment into faith. Faith so strong in God’s promises that he was FULLY willing to kill his son because God asked him to. Until the moment we see Sarah actually pregnant with Isaac, we don’t see her moving beyond unbelief.

After waiting so long for a child, I fully believe that Isaac was her world! When we looked at the story of Isaac being weaned, we saw Sarah wanting to keep him at her breast and young forever. She, of course, KNEW that he had to grow up; but who doesn’t want just a little more time with the precious baby smiles and smells? “If they could just stay little ‘til their Carters wear out.” (Carter’s children’s clothing commercial jingle.) My oldest had growth issues and I sang the opposite. We bought Sears Toughskins because he wore his clothes so long that they did wear out. They were “guaranteed for life.”

Back to Sarah. I wonder how Isaac was on his clothing. Sorry, I couldn’t help that one. Now, truly back to Sarah. We are not told that Sarah was ill before her death. We aren’t told of any conflicts after Hagar left. And we are pretty sure that Abraham and Isaac didn’t share their experience on the mountaintop with her! We also don’t see her pushing for Isaac to get married. At the age of 37, one might think she would. But Abraham doesn’t even start looking for a wife for him until right after Sarah dies. Could it be that she was still trying to keep him ‘a baby’?

With such a long ‘introduction’ and ‘inspection’ of Sarah, I want to join the final chapter of her life in our story today. We will see a little of her last years and then how Abraham honors her. Let’s join in and see where the Spirit takes us today.

 

Sarah LOVES her family. She loves doing things for Isaac. He is her ‘baby’. Everything she does is either for Isaac or Abraham. She honors him every day; from the way she fixes her hair, to the way she entertains his guests. She is always willing to do whatever he asks of her. Only twice in their marriage did she ‘take the reigns’ in a decision. The first was foisting Hagar on Abraham and the second was ending that ‘mistake’.

With Isaac, she has been much more involved. She waited 90 years to finally fulfill the desire of her heart to be a mother. She deserves to hold onto that special relationship a little tighter. Other women have many children. Sarah has only the one. And he will forever be her baby.

Isaac has just celebrated his 30^th birthday. “Where has the time gone” wonders Sarah. She can still see the memories of his birth, weaning, going off to ‘work’, bringing home his first kill, and so many other special moments in his life. Each one brings her joy and pride in her son’s accomplishments. But they also brought her closer to this day. The day that her son asks for a tent of his own.

She knew in the back of her mind that this day would come, but she kept pushing it away. Isaac had broached the subject a few times but Sarah had always been able to deflect it. Even when Isaac began pulling away in his early years of adulthood, Sarah managed somehow to pull him back to her.

Today that ‘pulling away’ would not be stopped. Abraham had put his foot down.

“Ima. I’m old enough to be married. All I asking for is your permission to have my own tent” pleads Isaac.

Sarah reaches out to grasp Isaac’s hand in both of hers as he stands before her. She would pull him into her lap if he would allow it.

“I still need you here with me. You are such a help, bringing the wood and carrying things for me” replies Sarah. “Besides, who will help me care for your abba, if he falls ill? I’m not as young as I used to be.”

“You can have the servants do that ima. Abba is in excellent health and so are you. I need to begin building a life as a man. As my OWN man.” Isaac gently but with purpose pulls his hand from Sarah’s and takes a few steps back.

“But…” Sarah starts as she raises her arms to reach out to him again.

“Enough” says Abraham in a stern tone.

Sarah drops her hands in her lap. Her shoulders fall as if they were deflated. Isaac faces his abba who has just come in. He didn’t see his entrance. He wonders if he will be helped or hurt by his presence. Will his abba stand with him or with his ima?

Abraham had noticed Isaac’s struggle. He is well older than most young men who have moved from their parent’s tent AND gotten married. A man needs his privacy as well as room to grow. Abraham has been reluctant to force Sarah to loosen her hold, as she had waited so long to be a mother. But the time has come. One other deciding factor is the growth he has seen in Isaac himself. Isaac is actually standing his ground with Sarah and not bowing to her pleas. THIS is new. THIS needs to be rewarded. Isaac is not being disrespectful; simply standing up for his own needs.

Abraham moves into the room and calls both his closest family members to join him on his cushion. Sarah quickly rises and moves to the area where serious family talks seem to occur. Her face beams at Abraham, believing he will support her.

Isaac’s shoulders initially slump in resignation, then he straightens them again. He resolves to see this matter decided in his favor. He joins his parents and only grudgingly sits after his abba pats the cushion next to him.

Abraham smiles as his son takes the seat offered. “He is a good boy. No. He is a good man” thinks Abraham while Isaac settles himself.

Abraham addresses Isaac first. “You have grown into quite a man my son. I am very proud of the way you conduct yourself, in all matters. I thank God every day for your heart; how it honors both your ima and me. Not all sons show this.”

Isaac readies himself to speak as Abraham speaks of honoring his ima but Abraham puts out his hand to stall him.

“You have a God given need to pull away at your age. But your ima also has a God given need to hold fast and protect you. Both have their time and place.”

Abraham turns to face Sarah. “You are a wonderful ima; from the moment Isaac was first discovered in your womb until this very day. You will continue to be a wonderful ima for the rest of your life. But part of being a good ima is knowing when to let go. Our son is a babe no longer. He is a full-grown man.”

Sarah’s expectant victory is dissolving right before her eyes. A tear begins its silent trek down her face, hovering on her jawline until a second one adds its weight to it and they both fall into her lap. Sarah would love to dissolve into tears and cry out that it is too soon, but even she knows her husband is right. She still won’t admit it though. To do so would be too hard. Instead she becomes angry and defiant.

Sarah throws her hands in the air in a dismissive gesture. “FINE. Move out! Move to the other side of the camp. Or to the other side of the WORL for all I care!”

Isaac is grateful for his abba’s support as well as stunned by his ima’s response. He is torn. How is he supposed to respond? If he gives in, he will NEVER be allowed to be a man. And if he follows the path of growing up, his ima may never forgive him. Isaac looks back and forth between his parents, not knowing what to do.

Abraham sees the cost to both of the people he loves. He will set this right for both of them. Room to grow while still being near enough to see each other every day. “Isaac will not be moving to the other side of the world, or even to the other side of the camp…”

Isaac’s heart begins to sink. His father is going to tell him that he must remain in their tent.

“He will instead move to a place of his own within the inner portion of the camp. But he will not move until he has a suitable tent sewn.”

Sarah’s anger dissipates as she expects it to take a couple more years before Isaac has a ‘suitable tent’. She has time to ‘adjust’ to this new development.

Isaac’s eyes light up. His abba has ruled. All that is left is for him to ‘have a suitable tent’. What neither of his parents know, or so he believes, is that he has been working on this very task for some time now. He has been tanning and stitching the hides together of the animals he has brought into the camp to feed his family. His closest friend has been working with him on it in the evenings as well as storing it in his tent until the day Isaac is finally granted permission to move out on his own.

Abraham has seen his son at work on his tent. He even knows that it is nearing completion. He has said nothing so far. He was waiting for this day; the day when Isaac stood his ground. “Yes. It is time” thinks Abraham as he looks with pride on his son.

Isaac rises from his pillow. “Thank you abba. I will work diligently and make you proud.” Before leaving he bends down and gives his ima a kiss on the cheek. “I love you ima. I’m sorry if I hurt you. But…” He stops there because he doesn’t want to open any more wounds.

After Isaac leaves, Sarah turns her attention to Abraham. “Thank you for making sure I have time to prepare. I suppose it should take him about a year to be ready.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that” cautions Abraham. “However long it takes, we need to BOTH support him. This is an important milestone in our son’s life that we need to honor AND allow.”

“You are right, as always, my husband. I just wish it wouldn’t have come so quickly.”

“Sarah, ALL the other boys his age have long since moved from their parents’ tents. It is NOT too soon. It is long overdue.”

“Still…” says Sarah with a wistful look.

Abraham leans over and gives Sarah a kiss on her forehead. He then rises. He still has matters to attend to in the field. He only came to the tent because he knew Isaac was building up to this moment today. He could see it in the way he worked and occasionally slipped close enough to hear him practicing his answers to his mother’s resistance. When he noticed Isaac was gone, he assumed that he would find him here; embroiled in a battle with Sarah.

Sarah begins her preparations for their evening meal. Her heart isn’t light, but it isn’t as heavy as it could have been. She is resigned to make the most of the time she has left with Isaac under her roof. “I think I will make Isaac’s favorite meal” she says to herself. Satisfied with her partial victory.

Isaac KNOWS better than to spring the nearly completed tent on his mother that day or even the next. He is trying to decide what the appropriate length of time should be. As he and his friend Caleb are working on it one evening, Abraham strolls up to them. Isaac nearly jumps out of his skin at the sound of his abba’s voice.

“Making good progress I see” comments Abraham.

“Abba! I didn’t see you there.”

Abraham chuckles. “That’s pretty obvious by the way you jumped. Don’t let me interrupt you. I just thought I’d stop by and see how it is going.”

Isaac’s cheeks burn with shame at deceiving his abba. Anyone can see that this is NOT the beginning of a new tent, but one nearing its completion.

Abraham sees the flush of his son’s cheeks and surmises the reason for their color. “I have know for some time of your labors.”

“You have? Why didn’t you say something?”

“Because I was waiting until YOU were ready to say something.”

“Does ima know?”

“NO. So I would suggest you take a month to ‘create a suitable tent’, or she will figure it out” Abraham says with a smile.

Isaac smiles back at his abba. “Thank you abba. I will do just that.”

Six weeks have passed since Abraham has ruled on Isaac’s moving out. Isaac has spent his evenings ‘working on his tent’. Sarah is still treasuring each day she has Isaac. Abraham has been slowly introducing the idea that the tent construction may not take as long as Sarah expects.

Isaac has dragged out finishing his tent as long as he can stand. It’s time to present it to Abraham for inspection. Isaac picked a spot close to his friend, Caleb and set his tent up. He wants it to be perfect before he ‘presents it’ to his abba. He sewed himself a new pallet from skins and stuffed it with dried grass. He even put in a few herbs to keep any bugs away. Caleb gave him a pillow his ima had made for him that he didn’t really need. All that was left was to place the cooking fire. He wasn’t too worried about that because he suspected that his ima would insist that he eat with them every night.

Isaac takes one final look around his tent. Once he is satisfied, he goes to his parent’s tent. “Ima, abba, I have a surprise for you!” calls Isaac as he approaches.

Sarah is near the door, working on her sewing while the light is good. She watches Isaac as he approaches. “My boy. He is so handsome” she thinks.

Abraham comes from deeper within the tent. Once he reaches Sarah, he offers her his hand to help her rise from her cushion. Sarah is getting on in years but those years are having a hard time catching her. She is still just as beautiful as ever; at least in Abraham’s eyes. And she really doesn’t need his assistance, he just likes to offer it whenever the situation suits.

Isaac stands just outside of the tent he has called home for the last 30 years. Maybe not the exact same structure but within the same confines of family. He is bouncing on the balls of his feet with excitement for the next chapter in his life.

“We’re here. What is your surprise. From the looks of you it must be pretty spectacular” offers Abraham. He is pretty sure he knows what it is, but he is not about to spoil it for his son.

“Follow me please” invites Isaac.

Isaac leads his parents just a few rows away to the place where his tent stands. “It’s finished!” He sweeps his hand before his tent in a grand gesture of presentation.

Sarah stares wide eyed. She is speechless.

“This looks amazing!” Abraham offers.

“Would you like to see inside” offers Isaac.

“I know I would” says Abraham. “Come my love. Let’s see the tent our son has constructed for his first home.”

Abraham propels Sarah forward a step before she rouses from her shock. Then she follows Abraham inside as Isaac holds the door for both of them. When Isaac enters, he makes sure the door is held open by a thong sewed into the side.

“I know it’s a little dark in here right now, but I was hoping you would help me make some candles ima.”

Sarah brightens at this idea. “I could help you make some holders for them too. It’s not good to let a candle sit without protecting. It could start a fire if not positioned carefully.”

Isaac nods. “That would be greatly appreciated ima.” Isaac looks at his father’s face as Abraham inspects the seams in the hides.

“This is some pretty fancy stitching. I don’t think I’ve seen tighter seams anywhere. Not even in your ima’s sewing.”

“Let me see” said Sarah while moving to inspect the seam Abraham is looking at. “You abba is right again; as usual.”

“I made them to be water tight. I used animal fat on the laces to soften them for stitching. Once the fat dried, the lacing shrunk, making the seams even tighter” beams Isaac.

“I never thought of that” replied Abraham.

“It also makes it so that not even light can penetrate it. Thus, the need for candles.”

“You better arrange to have someone wake you in the morning, or you won’t even know that the day has started while here in the dark” Abraham offers.

“That shouldn’t be a problem. Caleb makes enough noise to wake the dead, and the smell of cooking ALWAYS gets me out of bed” Isaac chuckles.

“When do you plan to move in” asks Sarah with a hint of sadness in her voice.

Isaac hears her sadness. He thinks about telling her he would wait a day or so, but doesn’t believe it would be any easier. Instead, he will make a quick break. It’s easier for him this way. “I planned on sleeping in here tonight. I can move my clothing in tomorrow. And we can work on candles after the Sabbath… if that is agreeable to you.”

Isaac could kick himself for adding on that last part, but he is trying to be respectful. He is hoping that his ima doesn’t grab onto his last words and try and hold him fast a little longer.

Sarah heard the words. She remembered her almost blowing it with weaning Isaac. She almost gave in on the day of his weaning ceremony so she could get him to sleep. And she remembered his abba’s pride as he crossed that milestone. She knew she had to let him cross this milestone too. “It really is time. Let him have this” thinks Sarah to herself. She smiles at Isaac and nods her head. “That sounds like a good plan.” Sarah sees the tension leave Isaac’s shoulders. “I wonder if he knows I can read him like a book” Sarah muses.

Abraham is very pleased with the ease with which this transition occurred. He is proud of both Sarah and Isaac. “Would you like to have dinner with us tonight? It doesn’t look like you have a cooking area set up.”

“Actually, I was hoping that I could join you for evening meal until I get that sorted out” offers Isaac as he rubs the back of his neck.

Sarah laughs. “You are welcome at our table anytime and for as many meals as you want. Who else will I get to eat my specials date cakes.”

“Hopefully I still do” Abraham offers in a false indignant voice.

All three laugh and then head off to Abraham and Sarah’s tent for evening meal.

Isaac swears that this was the night his ima started to decline in health. He blames himself for it, but Abraham continues to tell him that it is just part of the natural aging process. And Abraham refuses to allow Isaac to be wooed back into the family tent by Sarah’s complaints.

At first Abraham thought Sarah’s ‘aches and pains’ were a way to bring Isaac ‘home’, but they have continued for months. The healer doesn’t seem to know what is causing Sarah’s troubles. He gives her powders, and herbs to help rebuild her strength and oils to massage away the stiffness. They don’t cure her, but they at least let her move about easier for a time.

Mornings are the worst. Rising from her pallet is getting more difficult each morning. Her aches in places she didn’t even remember she had! She has a servant massage in oils every morning to loosen her joints. By midmorning Sarah is her cheerful self again. She has cut back on her tasks and handed all but preparing the evening meal over to her servants. She still insists on cooking dinner because that is when Isaac is sure to come by.

When Isaac comes today, he and Caleb are bringing something special for Sarah. It is a bed like they have in the homes of kings. Isaac made it especially for Sarah.

“Hello ima” Isaac shouts as he nears the tent. “I come bearing a gift. One that will hopefully make mornings a bit easier for you.”

“What is that you are carrying” asks Sarah with a wrinkled brow.

“It is your surprise. A bed. One that will cradle you while you sleep.” Isaac moves the tent door to the side with one hand while trying to hold the bed steady. “Maybe I should have assembled it here” he calls to Caleb.

“I told you so” sing song’s Caleb.

Sarah laughs at the two men as they struggle to get the bed through the door. She has also moved away from the tent for safety!

By the time the two friends get the bed through the door, they have gathered an audience. Everyone is curious to know the source of all the shouts and occasional curses.

With the bed now inside the tent, Isaac moves his parent’s pallet from its place. He puts the upper layers of the pallet on the bed for a little more comfort. He is not sure what to do with the lowest layer as it is old and threadbare. That is actually the reason Sarah has it on the bottom. It provides a layer of protection from the ground but is also concealed nicely.

Abraham was one of the spectators to the two men’s struggle. When he first arrived, Sarah had asked him if he was going to help. His answer made her laugh all over again. “I’m having too much fun enjoying watching them” he said.

When everything is ready to Isaac’s satisfaction, he steps to the door and invites his parents in. “If you will follow me my lord and lady.”

Sarah smacks him lightly on the arm as she passes inside. She looks skeptically at the frame standing in her sleeping place. Abraham goes over to examine it more closely. The platform standing there is six inches above the ground and has animal hides stretched on it.

“Are we supposed to sleep on this” Abraham asks.

“Yes abba. The hides will support you above the ground. It is both soft and free from the cold that seeps in during the night” explains Isaac.

Abraham reaches down and touches tests the sturdiness. “It feels sturdy.” Abraham looks to Sarah; “Do you want to try it?” he asks with his hand extended out to her.

Sarah hesitates and Isaac takes her by the arm and leads her to her new bed. “It’s perfectly safe ima. Caleb and I both tested it. And I’m working on one for myself.”

Sarah sits on the edge of the bed and is pleased that she doesn’t have to go all the way to the floor. She then turns and lies down on the bed. “This is nice.” She sits back up and rises from the edge. “And that was MUCH easier than getting out of bed in the morning!” She steps over to Isaac and gives him a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you for thinking of your old ima.”

Now that the excitement is over, they move to the table. “Caleb, please join us” entreats Sarah.

Caleb gladly agrees as he is not that fond of his own cooking.

Three days later, Isaac calls on his ima to see how she is doing with the new bed.

“I have to admit that it is easier rising in the morning.”

Isaac sensed that she is holding something back. “What’s wrong ima? You can tell me”, he urges her.

“Well, when your abba and I lie on the bed together, we wind up smashed against one another. Like berries is a scarf. It takes some work to untangle ourselves. Now if we were newlyweds this would be more fun!”

“I didn’t even consider that.” Isaac goes to the bed and thinks about the issue. “I think if I put a support in the middle, you would each stay in your own places.” Isaac quickly rushes to find exactly what he needs to fix this issue.

Sarah shakes her head as she watches him hurry out the door. “That boy is always rushing around like a fly trying to sample every dish in a banquet.”

When evening comes, Isaac is back with a long piece of wood and some thong lashings. He has also brought Caleb along to help him. It took the two of them a little bit to actually accomplish what Isaac had in mind. When they are finished there is a lump down the center of the bed to create two compartments for each of the occupants.

Abraham and Sarah try the new arrangement that night. They don’t fall on one another, but when one of them moves, it moves the other. And when one leaves the bed, the other sinks a bit. But they are not tangled with one another anymore.

Isaac comes by to check on their comfort after the new modifications. Sarah is reluctant to say anything negative but Isaac can read his mother as well as she can read him.

“What is it ima? I know there’s something you’re not telling me.”

Sarah finally tells him about the shifting of the bed.

“Let me think on this” says Isaac as he goes back out to the herds. That evening he reappears with a needle and lacing.

“What are you doing now” asks Abraham.

“I’m trying to perfect the bed” he answers. Isaac carefully finds the center of the skins and begins to sew it to the support. “If this doesn’t fix it, I don’t know what will” thinks Isaac.

“Try this ima” encourages Isaac.

“This is perfect!”

“It is” agrees Abraham as he lies beside Sarah with neither of them sinking.

When Isaac checks back in another few days, Sarah has no concerns to raise at all. “I LOVE IT” she shouts. It has made her mornings easier.

But it didn’t solve the issue of Sarah’s declining strength. It only held it off for a while.

Isaac continues to come up with new ways to lessen Sarah’s discomfort for the next six years. All she has to do is voice a new concern and Isaac is there with some new way to address it. Sarah is so thankful for Isaac’s mind and his loving heart. He truly has made her life more bearable. But even his inventions can’t stop the march of time and the wearing out of Sarah’s body.

The last year of Sarah’s life, Isaac spends most of his evenings with his ima. He knows her life is coming to an end. Abraham is so proud of his son. His heart is pure gold. He is almost envious of their relationship; almost. He loves Sarah more than life itself. In his heart, she is second only to God himself. He knows that it won’t be long before she is gone.

Isaac has just come in from the herds. He stops long enough to wash before hurrying to his ima’s bedside. She has been asleep much of the time lately. The healer says it could be any day now.

Isaac quietly slips into his parent’s tent and goes to sit beside his ima as she lies in the bed he made for her. Today, she opens her eyes and smiles at him. A tear comes to his eye and he bends down to kiss her cheek before she can notice it.

“Isaac; my babe” Sarah says in her raspy voice.

“Not so much of a babe anymore” replies Isaac with a smile.

Sarah nods her head and closes her eyes again. Isaac knows she is still awake because of the rhythm of her breathing.

Isaac notices that his mother’s hair is all tangled. “She would never allow this” he thinks. “Would you like me to brush your hair” Isaac asks. This is something she used to ask him to do whenever she had a headache in the evenings.

Sarah nods her head again and a sweet smile plays at her lips.

Isaac retrieves her brush and comes to sit at the head of her bed. He gently lifts her head and frees her long silver hair. It is much finer than it used to be, and much thinner. Carefully Isaac works the tangles out and brushes until Sarah’s hair shines. He is so focused on the task that he doesn’t realize his ima has stopped breathing until he tries to ask her if she wants him to braid it.

“Ima” Isaac quietly calls. When there is no response, he calls again a little louder. “Ima!” Still no response. Isaac puts his ear to his ima’s chest. He hears nothing but silence.

Isaac sits down and begins to sob. His sobs turn into mourning cries. His ima is gone.

The sound of Isaac’s wails are heard outside the tent by a servant. It was her job to tend to Sarah when her family wasn’t with her. The servant rushes to get Abraham. This is all she can do for her mistress now.

Abraham rushes back to his tent. He knows that Sarah is gone even before he reaches the door. His son needed him now. Together they would mourn for her.

The next day, Abraham went into the city of Hebron, near where they had been staying, to secure a place to bury Sarah. She was the wife of his youth, the mother of his son, his best friend, and his partner in all that God had called him to. She deserved a place of her own.

Abraham entered the city and went to the gate where the elders gathered to hear, and judge, matters of importance. Abraham was an honored man among the people. When he approached, all eyes were on him.

Pain was evident on Abraham’s face. All others waiting to be heard by the elders gladly stood aside so Abraham could address his concerns.

“I am a sojourner and foreigner among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight” (verse 4).

The elders understood his pain, and would do anything to help him. “Hear us, my lord; you are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb to hinder you from burying your dead” (verse 6).

Abraham was moved by their compassion. He knew the place he would like to have. He paid great respect to the elders by bowing down before them to ask for the place he desired. “If you are willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me and entreat for me Ephron the son of Zohar, that he may give me the cave at Machpelah, which he owns; it is at the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me in your presence as property for a burying place” (verses 8-9).

The very man whom Abraham was wanting to bargain with was in attendance that day. He was honored that Abraham had asked this of him. He came forward to address Abraham. “No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the sight of the sons of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead” (verse 11).

Abraham was not asking for a gift. He wanted to purchase the land so no man could lay claim to it later, saying that Abraham had taken advantage of the situation. Abraham bowed again before the elders, showing his respect again. “But if you will, hear me” I give the price of the field. Accept it from me, that I may bury my dead there” (verse 13).

Ephron appreciated Abraham’s willingness to pay for the land. It was a valuable piece of property, but not more valuable than the goodwill of this man; this prince of God. Ephron would name a reasonable price. “My lord, listen to me” a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that between you and me? Bury your dead” (verse 15).

Abraham readily agreed to this price and immediately brought out his purse and paid Ephron the full price he had named. This was a binding sale in the eyes of all. The property would pass to Abraham’s descendants.

All of Hebron turned out when Abraham buried Sarah. The number who mourned her passing could not be counted. But chief among those was Abraham and Isaac. Sarah’s struggle was ended. Theirs without her was just beginning.

 

I’m sorry that this story was so long. I felt compelled to include in it the changes in Isaac’s life and his love for his mother. I have no idea if Isaac ever ‘invented’ anything, but I bet he would have moved heaven and earth for his mother. We know that he didn’t even take a wife until after her death. (We will see that story tomorrow.) Is it possible that she really was holding on tight and didn’t want him to grow up?

Father God, thank You for bringing me into Your story. I don’t know how far from reality it is, but I trust that it honors You. I know I made Isaac and Caleb swear in frustration, but that is something that MANY people do under duress. I did today while trying to deal an issue that arose with my husband. I have asked him to forgive me and I’m asking You now too. Help me learn to use the new equipment much easier and to find laughter instead of frustration in the process. I KNOW You have helped me do just that on MANY occasions!

Father God, I also want to ask You to touch my mother. Actually, I ask that You touch both my parents. They are having health issues. I know that we all grow old and die, but I don’t want to lose either of them. There will come a day when I do, but please let that be far in the future. I cherish their love and support. Thank You for giving them to me; or me to them as the case may be.