This Land Is My Land

Please take your Bibles and open them up this morning to Genesis chapter 23.

Genesis 23 · chapter mention

!

Sarah lived 127 years.

These were the years of the life of Sarah.

And Sarah died at Kiriath Arba, that is Hebron, in the land of Canaan.

And Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.

And Abraham rose up from before his dead and said to the Hittites,

I am a sojourner and a foreigner among you.

Give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.

The Hittites answered Abraham,

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.

Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land.

And he said to them,

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 of 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 or a burying place.

Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites,

and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites,

of all who went in at the gate of his city,

Know, 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.

Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land,

and he said to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land,

But if you will hear me, I give the price of the field.

Accept it from me, that I may bury my dead there.

Ephron answered Abraham,

My lord, listen to me.

A piece of land worth 400 shekels of silver,

what is that between you and me?

Bury your dead.

Abraham listened to Ephron,

and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver that he had named

in the hearing of the Hittites,

400 shekels of silver,

according to the weight current among the merchants.

So the field of Ephron and Machpelah,

which was to the east of Mamre,

the field with the cave that was in it,

and all the trees that were in the field throughout its whole area,

was made over to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites,

before all who went in at the gate of his city.

After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife

in the cave of the field of Machpelah,

east of Mamre,

that is, Hebron,

in the land of Canaan.

The field and the cave that is in it

were made over to Abraham as property

for a burying place by the Hittites.

The grass withers,

the flower fades,

but the word of the Lord endures forever.

Father, we ask now once more,

would you speak?

Would you teach us?

Would you lead us through the preaching of your word?

Give us ears to hear.

May it land on fertile soil this morning.

We pray in Christ's name.

Amen.

You may be seated.

Christ, the sure and steady anchor

as we face the wave of death.

I was at a wedding several years ago,

and it's always interesting to me

to kind of analyze and see

what sort of scriptures are selected

to be read during the wedding ceremony

and what the vows are

that are pronounced by the husband and the wife.

And in this particular wedding ceremony,

the scripture that was supposed to be read

was from Ruth chapter 1 verse 16,

Ruth 1:16

which says this,

where you go, I will go.

Where you lodge, I will lodge.

Your people will be my people

and your God will be my God.

Very romantic.

But instead,

the reader mixed it up

and accidentally read the very next verse,

which says this,

where you die, I will die.

And there I will be buried.

It's not quite as romantic, is it?

It was funny.

We laughed about it afterwards.

You know, that's not really the time

that you really want to focus in on death

and being grim.

That's supposed to be a joyful time

celebrating a wedding.

But even so,

it was still appropriate,

I think,

if you think about it.

You know,

most weddings do have reference to death.

And most vows that are pronounced

have this ending at the end of it.

It's till death do us part.

Right?

And there's good biblical reason for that.

For one thing,

biblically speaking,

the promises

and the vows that you make to your spouse,

they end at death.

You are biblically released

from your vows in marriage.

You're free to go marry again

if you so choose.

That applies to everybody except Amanda.

I've told her

she has to remain a widow

if I go first.

But for another reason,

another reason,

perhaps the greatest reason,

is that marriage is meant to be a pointer

to an even greater union, isn't it?

Now, this temporary earthly marriage

is a case study,

is a lesson

in an even greater marriage

in the gospel

between Christ and his church.

Paul tells us in Ephesians 5

that the gospel is pictured,

it's shown forth

in the marriage relationship.

This temporary union

points us to an eternal union.

The joys we experience in marriage

point us to greater joys in Christ.

The grief and the loss

that we might experience

at the death of a spouse,

they're meant to point us

to greater and truer promises

that do not end in death.

Praise God,

his promises to us in Christ

are not till death do us part.

In fact, I think that seems to be

the main idea of our chapter this morning.

It's this,

God's promises to us in Christ

extend beyond the grave.

In our passage this morning,

Abraham has to do

one of the most difficult things

that anyone has to do in this life,

which is deal with the death of a spouse.

And this problem of death,

it looms large here in this passage.

It looms large here in this world

cursed by sin.

But even so,

even in the presence of death,

we see the persistence

of God's promises.

This will be our outline this morning.

If you're taking notes,

it's two parts here.

First, the problem of death.

And second,

the persistence of God's promises.

First,

we see the problem of death.

And we see here in verses one and two.

Look there with me,

starting in verse one.

It says,

Sarah lived 127 years.

These were the years of the life of Sarah.

And Sarah died at Kiriath Arba

in the land of Canaan.

You know,

this continues that sort of cyclical refrain

that we heard all the way back in chapter five.

If you remember,

that was a fun chapter,

wasn't it?

It is a long list of life and death.

Adam lived 930 years,

and he died.

Seth lived 912 years,

and he died.

Enosh lived 905 years,

and he died.

On and on and on it goes.

It was a pretty depressing chapter that week,

if you were here for that.

It's an unavoidable reality

in the world that we live in,

isn't it?

The world in which we live

is cursed with the problem of death.

You know,

apart from the word of the Lord,

you will not really understand why.

You might just think that,

well,

death is just a natural part of life, right?

Well,

you live,

you age,

you die,

the fittest survive,

the longest.

That's just how life works.

Death is a natural part of life,

right?

We who know the word

know better,

don't we?

Death is not natural.

In fact,

death is about the most unnatural thing

that there is.

We are not designed by God to die.

Death is a stranger.

It's an intrusion into God's design.

And we remember why,

don't we?

As we look all the way back

to the beginning

of the book of Genesis,

there's a reason for this thing

called death.

What is it?

Death came into the world

because of what?

Because of sin.

Genesis chapter 2,

Genesis 2 · chapter mention

God gives Adam and Eve

a command

and a consequence.

Do not eat from the tree

of the knowledge

of good and evil

for consequence

in the day

that you eat of it.

What does he say?

You shall surely die.

Death on a physical level

and death

on a spiritual level

both exist

in the world

because

of sin.

So Paul tells us

in Romans 5

that death came into the world

through one man's sin.

Death spread to all

because all sinned.

He says in chapter 6,

the wages of sin

is death.

We ought to recognize death

for what it is.

It's a terrible enemy.

And it's a constant reminder

for us

of the seriousness

and the widespread nature

of sin.

And it's a universal problem,

isn't it?

Well, this problem,

all people,

all people

come into the world

spiritually dead.

And all people

eventually

will be

physically dead as well.

Who can escape it?

It comes for everybody.

Death is the great equalizer

of all people.

It doesn't really matter

if you're rich

or poor.

Sometimes it doesn't matter

if you're young

or old.

In good health

or not in good health.

Sometimes it seems

random.

It doesn't matter

if you're educated

or uneducated.

If you're important

in the eyes of the world.

If you're unimportant

in the eyes of the world.

All people

are under

this curse

of death.

This is what the writer

of Ecclesiastes

tells us.

He says,

the same event,

death,

happens to the righteous

and the wicked,

to the good

and to the evil,

to the clean,

to the unclean.

And to him

who sacrifices

and him who does

not sacrifice,

as the good one is,

so is the sinner.

And he who swears

is as he who shuns

an oath.

At some point,

death comes

for everybody.

And here,

after 127

good long years,

it is Sarah's time.

Now just think about

how significant

this death is.

John Currid

points out that

this death,

this is the first

death and burial

recorded in Hebrew history.

Now this is a big deal.

Sarah is incredibly

significant,

isn't she?

Abraham gets most

of the attention

most of the time,

but just consider

how important Sarah is.

She's the mother

of the Jewish people.

She is the matriarch here.

She's the mother

of the promised

child Isaac.

She is Abraham's

beloved wife.

And yet,

for all of her significance,

death still finds her.

It's unavoidable,

isn't it?

Now I've referenced

Brian Johnson before.

Maybe you'll remember

that name,

Brian Johnson.

He's now famous

for his attempts

to not die.

He's done everything

to optimize

the years of his life

and to live

as long as he possibly can.

His life is about

not dying.

So he downs

about 54 pills

for breakfast.

He spends about

$2 million a year

avoiding death.

And I'm all for

healthy living,

right?

Eating right,

exercising,

optimizing your life.

That's all well

and good.

But church,

one day we will read

about Brian Johnson's death.

death.

No amount of money,

no amount of effort,

no amount of success,

no amount of prosperity

can ultimately end

the problem of death.

It is universal.

Now if you're depressed,

I want you to know

I do have good news for you.

We'll get there.

Okay?

I promise.

But we need to let

the reality of death

sit here with us

for a minute.

We need to understand

this is a terrible issue

that all people,

everybody in this room,

everybody in this town,

everybody in this world,

we all share this problem

in common.

We're all trying

to avoid it.

And we have to understand

that this curse of death

is real,

it's serious,

it's universal,

it is inevitable.

But we also see here

that it is profoundly sad.

Death is sad,

isn't it?

We've seen the presence

of death already

in Genesis,

but this is really,

this is the first time

we get to just sit

with its impact

for a little bit.

And we see here

in verse 2,

Abraham goes to mourn

!

For Sarah!

To weep!

For her!

I'm confident

every single one of us

can think of a time

when we have grieved

the loss

of a loved one,

a family member,

some of you a spouse,

some of you even a child,

a friend.

We should know

that it is right

to grieve

in the face of death.

It is okay,

even as Christians

who have hope

beyond the grave,

it is good

and right

and appropriate

to understand

the sadness

of death

and to grieve

and mourn

when it comes.

It's right

and appropriate

to do so.

We know Jesus himself

mourned,

he wept

at the tomb of Lazarus,

didn't he?

Christ himself

who knew exactly

what he was about to do

in raising Lazarus

from the dead,

Christ himself

who is himself

the resurrection

and the life,

Jesus felt

and experienced

the sadness

that you and I feel

in the presence

of death.

Jesus stepped

into that experience

and he knows

what it's like

to mourn

in the face

of death.

So we see here

that it's good,

it's right,

it's appropriate

to grieve

in the face of death

but praise God,

here's the good news,

church,

in Christ

we don't grieve

without hope.

Amen?

Yes,

death is a terrible enemy,

yes,

death is a terrible

universal problem,

yes,

death is profoundly

sad

but

we who know

the Lord

we face

death

differently

than those

who don't know

the Lord.

Why?

It's because

we believe

by faith

that God's promises

to us

in Christ

extend

beyond

the grave.

We're going to see this

here in our second point

this morning.

We see the problem

of death

now second.

We see the persistence

of God's promises.

Abraham believes this.

Abraham clearly believes

that God's promises

extend beyond the grave.

We saw that last week,

didn't we?

God commands him

to sacrifice

that which is

most precious

to him,

his beloved son

Isaac.

He is willing

to do so

in obedience

to the command

of the Lord.

Why?

Why?

We saw from

Hebrews 11

he believed

that God

was able

even to raise

him from the dead.

That promise

of God

would not be

nullified

by the presence

of death.

We see that same

faith in the promise

of God

is active

here again

in the rest

of this passage

and his behavior

and what he's doing

here.

It's all rooted

in this belief

God's promises

don't end

at death.

Look there

to verse 3.

Abraham ends

his time of mourning

for Sarah

and now he needs

to bury her.

But that's a problem

isn't it?

Because he doesn't

actually own

any land

here yet.

You remember

God's called him

out of his homeland

to come here

to the promised land.

God has

promised this land

to him

but it's not

actually his yet.

He doesn't own

any of the land

and now he's got

a body on his hands

and he doesn't

know what to do.

He needs to bury it.

So verse 3

Abraham rises up

from before his dead

and he starts speaking.

He says to the Hittites

I am a sojourner

and a foreigner

among you.

Give me property

among you

for a burying place

that I may bury

my dead

out of my sight.

He makes his request

and then he enters

into a little bit

of bargaining here.

And notice how

all of this goes down

at the gates

of the city

in the presence

of all the people.

Did you notice

he kept telling us that?

In the presence

of all the people.

In the presence

of all the people.

In the presence

of all the people.

Why is he doing that?

It's because this is

a legal transaction

that's happening here.

In fact the end

of the passage

there in verses 25

onward

it reads kind of

like a legal document.

The front gate

is basically

the courtroom

of the ancient

near east.

Anything judicial

or official

would be happening

right here

in the presence

of many witnesses.

Abraham's making sure

that everything

that's said here

is formalized

and ratified

is official

is all above board

and there's no

under the table

exchange here.

So the Hittites respond

and they respond

graciously.

Verse 6

They say

hear us my lord

you are a prince

of God among us

bury your dead

wherever you want

and none of us

will withhold from you

their own tomb

to hinder you

from burying your dead.

Take your pick.

So Abram

again bows down

he makes his request

a little bit more specific

he says

if you are willing

that I should bury

my dead

out of my sight

well then

hear me

and entreat for me

Ephron

the son of Zohar

that he may give me

that cave

of Machpelah

which he owns

it's at the end

of his field

and let me pay him

full price

and let him

give it to me

in your presence

as a property

for a burying place.

Verse 10

says Ephron

was there

and he's

listening to this

so he speaks up

again

verse 10

says

in the hearing

of all the Hittites

know my lord

hear me

I'll give it to you

I give you the field

and I give you the cave

that's in the field

in the sight

of all the sons

of the people

let me give it to you

bury your dead

that seems incredibly

generous

doesn't it

Abraham only asked

for the cave

and now Ephron

says

I'll just give you

the field

and the cave

but really

we should

recognize

that

this is a little

bit of posturing

here

this is how

negotiation

was done

here in the ancient

near east

in this culture

they want to appear

to be gracious

and giving

so he says

you can have it

but really

in the back

of his mind

he is fully

expecting

Abraham

to come back

and offer to pay

and in fact

that's exactly

what he does

again he bows

down

and he says

again

quote

in the hearing

of all the people

of the land

let me pay for it

I'll give you the price

whatever it is

and so Ephron

again responds

my lord

listen

really

a little piece

of land

worth

I don't know

exactly

400 shekels

of silver

what's the big deal

don't worry about it

it sounds

it appears

so gracious

doesn't it

but what's he doing

he's naming

his price

and honestly

the price

is not

good

this is not

a discount

it's like

if he said

a new car

worth

about

200 grand

what's that

between us

right

but Abraham

he hears him

name the price

he knows

all the witnesses

are all around

they've all heard

him name his price

he doesn't even

haggle at all

he weighs it

all out

exactly what

Ephron named

again in the hearing

of everyone

there at the gate

he pays him

exactly what

he asked

and now

the deal

is done

Abraham is a

proud owner

of a new cave

in the promised land

so now verse 7

the field

of Ephron

the whole field

with the cave in it

all the trees

that were in the field

the whole area

all of this

was made over

to Abraham

as a presence

as a possession

in the presence

of the Hittites

before all

who went in

at the gate

of the city

it isn't much

and it cost him

a fortune

but just think

about the significance

of that transaction

now this

is the

first

official

piece of property

that Abraham

owns

in the promised land

and if you look

ahead

you'll see

it would prove

to be a pretty

good investment

Abraham buries

Sarah here

eventually

Abraham will be

buried here

then Rebecca

will be buried

here

then Leah

will be buried

here

then Jacob

will be buried

here

all here

in this tomb

but I have a question

and maybe you're

wondering the same

thing

right

why did Abraham

go through

all of this

trouble

to bury

Sarah

here

think about

that

for a minute

he

has

a homeland

right

why go

through all

the trouble

to negotiate

with the Hittites

as a foreigner

with no property

to his name

Abraham

his wife

is dead

it seems

like a natural

thing to do

just to pick up

and go back

home

go back

to Ur

of the Chaldeans

go back

to be around

your people

your family

mourn for her

and bury her

there

why is he

so insistent

to buy

a cave

and a field

at such a

large sticker

price

why did he

not turn

back

here's the

answer

Abraham

believes

in the

promises

of God

you remember

the promises

do you remember

what God

promised

Abraham

God

promised him

a child

promised

offspring

not just

one

but he

promised

a multitude

of offspring

more numerous

than the stars

of the sky

more numerous

than the sand

on the shore

now Isaac

is here

this proof

of God's

faithfulness

but it's just

one child

the fullness

of the promise

has yet to come

in Abraham's life

he does not

see the stars

in the sky

multitude

here

does he

he doesn't

see the fullness

of the fulfillment

of God's

promise

does he

God

promised

Abraham

land

the land

of Canaan

as far as

he could see

from east

to west

and north

and south

God

promised him

this land

and now

finally

he gets

this little

sliver

of fulfillment

it's not much

just a cave

just a field

just some trees

but it's something

he has a piece

of land

here in Canaan

Abraham

doesn't turn

back home

because God

promised him

this land

would be his

he believes

him

more specifically

Abraham believes

that these

promises

extend

even

beyond

the grave

think about it

Abraham's

going to be dead

within 40 years

how easy

would it have

been for him

just to go

home

bury his

wife

live out

his years

around his

kinsmen

die in

peace

but that

seems like

a reasonable

thing to do

doesn't it

it's clear

to me

nothing is

clear to

Abraham

he is not

going to

get to

enjoy the

fullness

of these

promises

in this

life

is he

Abraham

won't get

to see

the multitude

he won't get

to enjoy

life

in the

promised

land

not now

but he

does this

because he

believes

by faith

that even

death

cannot

nullify

the promises

of God

listen again

to what

it says

in Hebrews

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

chapter 11

the passage

that was read

this morning

it says

by faith

he

Abraham

went to

live in

the land

of promise

as in a

foreign land

living in

tents

with Isaac

and Jacob

heirs

with him

of the

same

promise

why

verse 10

for he

was looking

forward to

the city

that has

foundations

whose designer

and builder

is God

is that

Canaan

no

keep reading

these all

died in

faith

not having

received the

things promised

but having

seen them

and greeted

them from

afar

and having

acknowledged

that they

were strangers

and exiles

on the earth

for people

who speak

thus

make it

clear

that they

are seeking

a homeland

if they

had been

thinking

of that

land

from which

they had

gone out

they would

have had

opportunity

to return

but as

it is

they desire

a better

country

that is

a heavenly

one

therefore

God

is not

ashamed

to be

called

their

God

for he

has

prepared

for them

a city

church

Abraham's

promised

land

and

our

promised

land

is much

bigger

much

better

much

more

glorious

than

Canaan

and here

he gets

just the

smallest

sliver

of what

God

has in

store

for him

but Abraham

believed

by faith

God's

promises

to him

extend

even

beyond

the grave

do you

believe

that

do you

believe

that God's

promises

to you

do not

end at

death

but will

blossom

and multiply

in ways

that we

can hardly

fathom

in the

age to

come

do you

believe

that

Abraham

didn't

quite

know

how

but by

faith

he trusted

yes

God's

promises

will

not

fail

every

word

of the

Lord

will

prove

true

he

will

accomplish

all

that

he

promised

Abraham

didn't

clearly

see

how

the

church

on

this

side

of

the

cross

we

do

where

do

we

look

for

assurance

of

all

of

God's

promises

where

do

we

look

to be

reminded

that

even

death

can't

overcome

his

promises

to

us

that

his

word

is

good

and

trustworthy

and

true

no matter

what's

gained

or lost

in this

life

where do

we

look

church

we

look

to

Christ

Jesus

to

see

God's

promises

extend

even

beyond

the

grave

what's

the

answer

to

the

problem

of

death

there's

only

one

Christ

Jesus

has

conquered

sin

and

overcome

the

grave

he

has

lived

sinlessly

the

only

person

not

to

earn

death

by

his

sin

and

yet

he

died

in

our

place

and

rose

from

the

grave

to

save

sinners

like

us

by

faith

in

him

do

you

want

to

know

the

solution

to

the

problem

of

death

it

is

Christ

Jesus

the

Lord

Christ

is

the

resurrection

and the

life

we know

that

God's

promises

to

us

extend

beyond

the

grave

because

Christ

himself

is

living

proof

and

so

we

say

with

Paul

in

Romans

Romans 8 · chapter mention

chapter

8

nor

angels

nor

rulers

nor

things

present

nor

things

to

come

nor

height

nor

depth

nor

anything

else

in

all

creation

will be

able to

separate us

from the

love of

God

in

Christ

Jesus

our

Lord

Christ

has

conquered

death

for us

and

because of

this

we

we

get

to

look

forward

to

the

future

fulfillment

of

all

of

God's

promises

at

his

return

you know

Christian

the

challenge

for us

is that

you and

I like

Abraham

we do

not

enjoy

the

fullness

of

God's

promises

to us

in

Christ

not

yet

not

in

this

life

we

get

little

slivers

of it

just

little

little

foretaste

of it

yes

we have

his

spirit

in

full

measure

yes

we are

sons

and

daughters

of

God

right

now

yes

we

get

taste

of

victory

over

sin

we

have

glimmers

of

joy

we

get

these

partial

pictures

of

our

fellowship

with

one

another

and

our

fellowship

with

him

but

Christian

don't

you

know

the

fullness

of

these

promises

is

yet

to

come

don't

you

know

that

there

are

greater

and

more

glorious

truths

yet

to

be

fulfilled

!

hardly

begin

to

imagine

in a

place

without

the shroud

of death

and the

weight

of sin

when Christ

returns

you

and I

and all

who are

in Christ

will finally

and fully

know the fullness

of God's promises

to us

in him

don't

you

long

for

that

day

God

has

promised

you

Christian

you

will

be

glorified

in his

presence

can you

imagine

that

God

has

promised

you

Christian

you

will

be

freed

completely

from the

presence

of sin

in your

life

can you

even

imagine

God

has

promised

you

Christian

death

will

be

no

more

grief

and sadness

will be

swallowed

up

God

has

promised

you

eternal

life

with

him

and

with

one

another

in a

multitude

that no

one

could

count

more

numerous

than

the

stars

in the

sky

dwelling

together

in the

true

promised

land

the

new

heavens

the

new

earth

and

the

age

to

come

our

hope

beyond

the

grave

is

tied

up

with

a

king

who

conquered

the

grave

as

long

as

he

lives

God's

promises

to

us

live

with

him

this is

good

news

for us

church

one day

we believe

Christ

will come

for his

bride

we will

feast

with him

at the

wedding

supper

of the

lamb

don't

you

long

to

be

there

and

we

will

enjoy

the

fullness

of

his

presence

with

us

for the

rest

of

eternity

truly

for us

to live

as

Christ

to die

is

gain

do

you

believe

that

I was

putting

our

boys

to bed

the other

night

and you

get

every

now

and

mostly

it's

chaos

right

every

now

and

then

you

get

these

sweet

moments

sometimes

at

bedtime

I

was

competing

with

one

of

them

about

who

loved

the

other

one

more

right

we

do

that

and

he

said

dad

I

will

love

you

even

when

you're

dead

and I

was able

to say

son

I'll

love

you

even

when

I'm

dead

it's

a promise

it's

a promise

that can

only

be kept

in

Christ

the

power

of

the

resurrected

Lord

eternal

life

in the

age

to

come

God's

promises

to

us

do

not

end

at

death

life