Life and death as a stranger

There's two Bible readings for this morning, both not in Genesis, one in Hebrews chapter 11

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

! verses 8 to 16, and the other will be 1 Peter chapter 2 verses 11 and 12.

1 Peter 2:11

We will start with the reading from Hebrews 11, 8 to 16.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive

as an inheritance, and he went out not knowing where he was going.

By faith he 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.

For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder

is God.

By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered

him faithful who had promised.

Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of

heaven, and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

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.

Now the second reading from 1 Peter, verses 11 and 12.

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which

wage war against your soul.

Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers,

they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

Morning everyone.

My name is Martin.

I'm one of the pastors here.

We're going to be looking this morning at Genesis chapter 23.

Genesis 23 · chapter mention

It would be a great help to you if you had your Bibles open at that passage.

And we'll look at some of the surrounding context as well.

But let's pray as we come to God's word.

Heavenly Father, we thank you that we can gather here this morning.

We thank you that you speak to us in the pages of the scriptures.

Please help us to turn our minds and hearts to your word this morning.

Enable me to speak clearly and truly.

And we pray that you would write your word on each of our hearts.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Well, sometimes Christians look different.

Sometimes we look a bit odd.

I wonder for anyone who has no background with anything Christian at all,

if they just came through the doors of church on a Sunday morning and sat amongst us,

as I hope they do, I wonder how they'd find the experience.

I remember once when, I think it might have been when I was at Bible College.

I can't exactly remember who gave this advice.

But let's say it was a lecturer at Bible College.

who suggested that, I think I remember who it was now, but it doesn't matter,

that for Christians, to get an understanding of what it's like for someone who's had no contact with church before

to walk into church, Christians, why don't you go and walk into a TAB?

I mean, some of us may have a background with TABs and gambling,

but I don't personally.

I think many of us wouldn't.

And if I walked into one, I would have no idea what to do.

I mean, there'd be screens, there'd be people around,

there must be a counter, I wouldn't know even where to start.

And some people walking through the doors of church will feel like that.

They can feel very different.

There's other things Christians are involved in that may not feel that different.

I was wondering, would a Christian soccer team look different from a non-Christian soccer team?

Could you tell the difference by looking at two soccer teams?

I think it might be hard.

I mean, maybe if you observe the two teams over a period of time, you might notice some differences.

Maybe you might start to notice that the Christian soccer team,

the soccer team where everyone's a Christian,

they don't ever blaspheme or say the name of Jesus in a sort of angry way.

Maybe they don't swear as much.

Maybe they're a bit kinder to team members when they make mistakes or fumble the ball or something.

Maybe over time you'd notice some differences.

Maybe not.

I don't know.

Some of you play soccer.

You can tell me.

But I think one of the times when the distinction between believers and non-believers is at its clearest,

is in the face of death.

In the face of death.

I have been to the funerals of those who aren't Christian,

and I've been to the funerals of those who are Christian, those who believe in Jesus,

and there is a very, very stark difference.

At the death of believers, there is hope amidst the grief,

a hope that is based on what is true.

Well, the passage before us today, Genesis chapter 23, is about death.

Genesis 23 · chapter mention

Death, the word for dying or the dead, or dead, occurs nine times in chapter 23,

which is more than any other chapter in Genesis.

Even Genesis chapter 5 doesn't have the word death as many times.

Genesis 5 · chapter mention

So it's about death.

But it's also, in fact, I'd say even more than it is about death,

it's about the distinctiveness of God's people.

Just like a Christian funeral today, the death of one of God's people in this chapter,

Genesis chapter 23, is an occasion for the display of their distinctiveness.

Genesis 23 · chapter mention

But I want to start with some context to help us place Genesis chapter 23.

Genesis 23 · chapter mention

We will get to the text of chapter 23 soon.

But I want to play some context,

and also to help sort of start to bring this series

that we've been looking at on the life of Abraham to a close.

We have one more talk next week on Genesis chapter 24,

Genesis 24 · chapter mention

but it's a long chapter.

It'll be school holidays then.

There's no grace kids.

The kids will be in.

So in a sense, I want to start to sort of simplify next week's talk

by starting to wrap up the series now

and showing what's happening as these chapters of Genesis,

this section of Genesis, draws to a close.

Because we are coming to a major transition point in the book of Genesis.

You may be aware that the book of Genesis is divided into parts,

into sections, which have the same kind of heading.

You know you're entering a new section

because you get this heading in the book of Genesis.

And some commentators call it the Toledot formula,

from the Hebrew word, Hebrew word Toledot,

which means generations.

The heading looks like this.

It's usually in this form.

These are the generations of, and then a name.

So the last time we've seen that heading in the book of Genesis,

and I think this passage will come up on the screen,

is way back in Genesis chapter 11, verse 27.

Genesis 11:27

Now these are the generations of Terah.

Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran,

and Haran fathered Lot.

And what followed that heading have been 14 chapters

focused on the life of Abram, Abraham,

one of Terah's sons.

Well, we're approaching, just keep that passage up there,

we'll talk about that a bit more in a moment,

but we're approaching the next headings in the book of Genesis.

So if you look ahead to Genesis chapter 25, verse 12,

Genesis 25:12

these are the generations of Ishmael,

followed by seven verses.

And then chapter 25, verse 19,

these are the generations of Isaac,

followed by ten and a half chapters under that heading.

Now this is also typical of Genesis,

where when we get to these different sections,

Genesis will deal briefly with the less important branch

of the family tree, family line, in this case Ishmael's,

and then at greater length on the more important branch, Isaac's.

You see the same pattern in Genesis chapters 36 and 37.

Genesis 36 · chapter mention

First Esau, one chapter, then Jacob, 14 chapters,

the rest of the book of Genesis from that point.

Now if you've been paying attention,

you might notice a couple of things.

So chapter 11, verse 27,

these are the generations of Terah.

The section of Genesis that follows isn't really about Terah,

it's about Terah's sons,

and in particular one of them, Abraham.

When we get to chapter 25,

we have these are the generations of Ishmael,

and these are the generations of Isaac.

Something's missing.

There's no heading in Genesis,

these are the generations of Abraham.

It's like, in a sense,

Isaac doesn't star in the book of Genesis

in the way that Abraham and Jacob and Joseph do.

But we're approaching this major transition.

What's going on in these two and a half chapters

before we reach it?

Well, in chapters 21 and chapter 22 of Genesis,

the story of Abraham has reached its climax.

Chapter 21, the birth of Isaac.

Chapter 22, the binding of Isaac.

The testing of Abraham's faith.

He's offering his beloved only son as a sacrifice,

and then God providing a substitute.

Those chapters, the birth of Isaac,

the offering of Isaac as a sacrifice,

and then God providing the sacrifice.

Through those, God sealed his covenant with Abraham

to bless all nations through Abraham's singular seed.

Those two events are really what the whole story of Abraham

had been building toward.

And what we have in chapter 22, verse 20,

to chapter 25, verse 11,

is a kind of coda to the story of Abraham.

In narrative terms, you could call it the denouement.

The main events have taken place.

This is just kind of tying up a few loose ends

and bringing some threads together.

Back in chapter 11, verse 27, we said,

now these are the generations of Terah.

Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran,

and Haran fathered Lot.

Now in chapter 11, verse 28, Haran died.

And Lot, Haran's son,

has featured at various points in Abraham's story.

So it's, you know, it's while Abraham is featured,

Lot's been there too.

Haran's heir has been there too.

But what about that third brother, Nahor?

In chapter 11, verse 29,

we're told he had a wife named Milca,

and then nothing more.

We hear nothing more about him,

Abraham's other brother.

But at the end of chapter 22,

he finally makes a reappearance.

Chapter 22, verse 20,

now after these things,

it was told to Abraham,

behold, Milca has also born children

to your brother Nahor.

Who was his firstborn?

Who was his brother?

And so on.

Eight sons by Milca,

and then four more by a concubine named Rumah.

So Abraham's brother, Nahor,

has been remarkably fruitful,

had all these sons.

In contrast to Abraham's single son by Sarah,

Isaac.

Well, let me try and show you

in a bit of an overview

how this coda to the story of Abraham works.

I've got a diagram that will come up on the screen.

Because I want you to see

how these chapters of Genesis are woven together.

The main events,

and can we just have that diagram up on the screen?

Yeah, thanks James.

The main events are chapters 23 and chapter 24.

In chapter 23,

Abraham seeks to acquire a tomb for Sarah.

In chapter 24,

Abraham seeks to acquire a wife for his son Isaac.

Isaac is not mentioned in chapter 23.

Sarah is not mentioned in chapter 24

until we get to the final verse of chapter 24,

which you can look at,

chapter 24, verse 67,

where we read,

then Isaac brought her,

her being Rebecca,

his new wife,

then Isaac brought her

into the tent of Sarah,

his mother,

and took Rebecca,

and she became his wife,

and he loved her.

So Isaac was comforted

after his mother's death.

Can you see how that verse

kind of binds together,

sort of links together,

chapters 23 and chapter 24?

They seem completely separate,

but then this final verse

just brings them together.

In chapter,

the end of chapter 22,

as you just saw,

we have that list of Nahor's children

by his wife Milcah

and his concubine Ruma.

Now on the one hand,

that's providing background

for chapter 24

because Nahor's family

are going to feature in chapter 24.

That's where Abraham sends a servant

to go and find a wife for Isaac.

But they also,

they also kind of are balanced

by the beginning of chapter 25,

we read that Abraham took another wife

whose name was Gerturah,

and she bore him,

Zimran,

and a list of six sons.

Chapter 25, verse 6,

5 and 6,

Abraham gave all he had to Isaac

but to the sons of his concubines,

Gerturah and Hagar,

Abraham gave gifts

and while he was still living,

he sent them away

from his son Isaac.

So we've seen all these sons

born to Nahor

and now all these sons,

other sons,

born to Abraham.

Now when did this happen?

Now it's possible that Abraham

took this second wife,

who's also Gerturah,

she's also called a concubine,

after the death of Sarah.

If that's the case,

then Abraham took her

when he was 137 years old.

Which is possible,

but I think it's also possible

that actually she's been there

in the background

at a much earlier stage,

it's just that Genesis

deliberately hasn't mentioned her.

It's sort of left it until now

to even mention this other woman

and these other sons.

Whatever the case,

we're seeing this remarkable fruitfulness

but it's set against

this remarkable fruitfulness.

All these sons

is in contrast to the one son

who will be the heir

of Abraham's legacy

and the blessing

that's been given to him.

And so,

in chapter 25,

from verse 7

to 11,

when we read

at last of Abraham's death

at 175 years,

this section of,

this whole section,

this whole section of Genesis

finishes in verse 11,

after the death of Abraham,

God blessed Isaac,

his son

and Isaac settled

at Beelahairoi.

It's this masterfully woven narrative

that draws together

all these bits and pieces,

these threads,

showing the passing

of God's blessing

to the next generation,

from Abraham

to Isaac.

But we're going to focus

our attention today

on verse 23

and next week

on verse 24

and today we're going

to focus on

another idea

that links together

these two chapters

which is that

which I mentioned

at the beginning

of the talk

and that is

the distinctiveness

of God's people.

Let's go back

to chapter 23,

verse 1.

We'll step through it now

from chapter 23,

verse 1.

Ah,

we can get rid

of that diagram.

We won't need that again.

We can get 23,

verse 1

and we will step

through it from there.

Sarah lived 127 years.

These were the years

of the life of Sarah.

Now Sarah's the only woman

named,

the only woman in the Bible

whose age we are told

at the time of her death.

Verse 1 doesn't use

the word death,

rather it uses

the word life twice

but it's structured

in such a way

that verse

to show that

Sarah's life

was finite.

The words

the life of Sarah

start and end

the verse

and kind of wrap around

the 127 years

that was its span

as beginning and end.

127 years,

verse 2,

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.

Sarah isn't by any stretch

the first person

to die in the Bible

but she is the first person

in the Bible

whose death is mourned.

And so we see here

the story of Abraham

and Sarah

intersect in this

personal and visceral way

with the story

of Adam and Eve.

Abraham and Sarah

are in Canaan,

not Eden.

But humans were not

created for death

and so the fitting response

to death

is to mourn

and to weep

as Abraham does here.

We mourn

when people die

because any death

is a loss.

Any death,

the death of any person,

any human being

made in God's image

is the unravelling

of something good.

The unravelling

both of the individual person

but also

of all the relationships

that they're part of.

When someone dies

there is a void,

an empty,

frayed space

in human community.

We mourn

when someone dies

and our mourning says

this is not the way

it is supposed to be.

But most of chapter 23

is not about

mourning Sarah,

it is about

burying Sarah

or rather about

Abraham's attempts

to acquire

a burial site.

And the negotiations

Abraham enters into

go through a series

of three exchanges.

You can see that

on your outlines,

three exchanges

in each of which

Abraham makes a request

and receives

an offer.

So first exchange,

the request comes

in verses 3 and 4.

And Abraham

rose up

from before his dead

and said to the Hittites,

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.

Now let's think

carefully about

Abraham's request here

because as we've seen

in previous chapters,

the art of biblical

narrative is to convey

much

in a few words.

Abraham says,

I am a sojourner

and a foreigner

among you.

When Jen and I

moved to Newcastle

20 years ago,

we were told

when we moved here

it would be

20 years

before we became

Novocastrians,

like before we were

accepted as

Novocastrians.

It was 20 years now.

It's our 20th year

and I've got to say

Newcastle feels

like home.

We've bought a house,

we've at different times

sent kids to school,

we've played in

sporting teams,

joined gyms,

been part of the community.

Most of the time,

if Jen or I

go somewhere

around Newcastle,

we will bump

into someone

we know.

I don't think

there is actually

nowhere

on the planet

that I could live

that would feel

more like home

to me now

than Newcastle.

By the time

of Sarah's death,

Abraham had been

living in the land

of Canaan

for 62 years.

62 years!

And here is

how he saw himself.

I am a sojourner

and foreigner

among you.

A sojourner,

I'm passing through.

This is not my home.

A foreigner,

I'm an alien,

I don't belong.

He saw himself

as an outsider

at the mercy

of the Hittites,

and the other people

living in the land.

And so he said,

give me property

among you

for a burying place.

The key words there

are give and property.

You think the Australian

housing market

is bad?

Well,

Abraham's

137 years old,

he's lived in Canaan

62 years

and he's still

on the rental treadmill.

But now he wants

a piece of land

he can call his own.

Property.

Nothing big,

nothing flashy,

in fact,

not even a house

to live in.

He just wants a grave.

He just wants a tomb.

Somewhere he can bury

his dead out of sight,

but a burial place

that would be his,

that would belong

to him.

Abraham lived in Canaan

as a sojourner,

but he wanted

to bury Sarah

on his own land.

How would the sons

of Heth respond,

the Hittites?

Verse 5.

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.

First notice

the contrast

in what they call

Abraham

and what he called

himself.

They call him

Lord.

They say,

you're a prince

of God

among us.

The word prince

there is a title

for a chieftain

or a ruler.

Abraham may not

have owned land,

but he was wealthy.

Perhaps the Hittites

even recognised

that God

was with him.

They call him

a prince of God.

Abraham

described himself

as someone lowly.

The Hittites

described him

as someone mighty,

someone honoured.

But what did

they actually offer?

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.

Now on the face

of it,

this is a generous

offer.

The choicest

of tombs,

none will withhold

from you.

It's an open

invitation.

Bury Sarah

wherever you like,

whichever tomb

you want.

The best of tombs.

You have complete

freedom of choice,

Abraham.

But as often

in business

negotiations,

what is not

said can be

even more important

than what is

said.

For example,

here the Hittites

do not use

the word

give,

nor do they

use the word

property.

And notice

the possessive

pronouns,

the choicest

of our tombs.

None of us

will withhold

from you

his tomb.

What they're

offering,

Abraham,

is not a piece

of property

which would

become his,

but a place

in their

tombs.

That Sarah

would be

interred

in one of

their burial

places.

Now,

I mean,

it's possible

that the

Hittites

are being

insincere,

that they're

sort of making

a show of

being courteous

and generous

and so on,

but actually

they're withholding.

They want

to maintain

their monopoly

on the land

and deny

Abraham any

opportunity to

get even his

tiny share,

portion of it.

You could

read chapter 23

and that would

make sense,

but on balance

I don't think

that's the case.

I think,

at least at this

point,

their words

are sincere.

What they're

proposing is

in essence

that they

would treat

Abraham as

one of their

own.

They know

Abraham's a man

of substance,

they want

closer ties

with him.

Abraham

sees himself

as a foreigner

and a sojourner,

they see him

as a prince

of God

in our midst.

They want

Abraham to

be one of

them and

whichever

Hittite got

to share

his tomb

with the

great Abraham

would be

honoured by

the association.

Well,

let's look

at the next

request and

see if that

fits,

the second

exchange

in verse

7.

Abraham

rose

and bowed

to the

Hittites,

the people

of the

land.

Now,

notice in

verse 3,

Abraham

rose and

spoke to

the Hittites,

now he

rose and

bowed.

A physical

gesture of

respect,

deference,

abasance,

a word that

can even be

used of

worship.

He bowed

to the

Hittites,

now further

described as

the people

of the

land.

We

remember

that this

land,

which

currently

belonged to

the

Hittites

and others,

is the

land that

God had

promised

Abraham

and his

descendants.

God would

give it to

them in

time.

And

verse 8,

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

for a

burying

place.

Abraham

names the

burial place

he wants,

the cave

of

Machpelah,

currently

belongs to

Ephron,

the son

of Zohar,

but Abraham

doesn't merely

ask that he

can bury

Sarah there,

which had

already

effectively been

offered in

verse 6,

to bury

her wherever

he liked,

Abraham

emphatically

wants to

purchase it

for the

full price,

not a

gift,

but fairly

purchased,

let him

give it to

me,

not share

it with

me,

but transfer

it to

me,

in your

presence,

a legally

binding

contract,

taking place

at the

gate of

the city

where

business

transactions

occurred,

as property,

Abraham

would own

it.

How would

Ephron

respond?

Verse 10,

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 the

city.

See how

many times

we're hearing

the word

Hittites

in that

verse?

No,

my Lord,

hear me,

I give

you the

field,

and I

give you

the cave

that's in

it.

In the

sight of

the sons

of my

people,

I give

it to

you,

bury

your dead.

Three

times

Ephron

now says

I give,

and in

fact,

not just

the cave,

but the

field as

well.

In the

sight of

my

people,

there are

witnesses,

implied

there's

no need

for

payment,

this is

my

gift

for

you,

you

don't

need

to

pay

Abraham.

Now

why did

Ephron

make

this

offer?

Well,

I think

there are

four

possibilities.

Let me

talk through

the four

of them.

Was

it about

tax

levies

on the

land?

Now

some

commentators

suggest

that

according to

later

Hittite

law,

if you

gave away

a small

part of

your land,

the person

who received

the small

part wouldn't

have to pay

the taxes

on the

land,

but if

you gave

away a

large

part or

the whole

thing,

the person

who received

the land

would have

to pay

the taxes.

Just

acquiring

a small

part didn't

bring any

tax obligation

with it.

So maybe

Ephron doesn't

want to just

give a small

part, he

wants to

give the

field as

well,

so that

Ephron is

relieved of

the tax

obligations of

the land.

I mean,

that's

possible,

right?

I don't

think that

is likely

the explanation

because that

law is

later,

it's not

exactly clear

how it

would have

applied at

this time,

and the

earning potential

of the land

would primarily

be with the

field, not

the cave,

so Ephron is

offering to

give away

something valuable,

people, and

I don't

think Israelites

reading Genesis

would have

that sort

of later

Hittite law

in their

minds as

they read

this text

anyway, so

I don't

think that's

the explanation

here.

Okay, second

possible

explanation,

possibly if

there's no

purchase price,

could Ephron

or his sons

contest the

legality of

the exchange

later?

I mean,

maybe they

want to

leave open

to the idea

that they

could come

back at a

later stage

and say,

well,

Abraham didn't

pay for it,

now we want

it back.

I guess

that's

possible,

I think

that is

possible,

and from

Abraham's

perspective,

maybe it's

a less

secure

exchange

if he

doesn't

pay the

full price,

but this

may be

part of

the

explanation.

Third

possible

explanation,

maybe what's

taking place

here is a

social

pantomime.

I mean,

Ephron could

make the

offer,

which would

win

Ephron's

social

credit for

being so

generous,

to give

away the

land and

the cave,

but it

would be an

outrageous

breach of

social

etiquette for

Abraham to

accept the

offer,

so Ephron

can make

the offer

risk-free,

knowing that

Abraham's never

going to

accept it.

Again,

I think that's

possible,

but I don't

think it's the

best explanation.

I think the

most likely

explanation for

why Ephron is

offering to give

the cave and

the land is

that Ephron

wanted to

place Abraham

in his

debt.

Legally,

formally,

he would

be giving

the cave,

giving the

field for

nothing,

a generous

gift,

but in an

honour culture,

a gift given

like that

wouldn't

necessarily be

a no-strings-attached

gift.

Financially,

Abraham would be

debt-free.

Socially,

Abraham would be

obligated to

Ephron.

The gift would

form a bond

between the

two, a

sense of

duty,

less tangible

than money,

but actually

stronger and

deeper and

more enduring.

In other

words,

Ephron is

again offering

what the

Hittites had

offered in

verse 6,

a way of

honouring,

answering Abraham's

request that

would result in

Abraham and his

family moving

a few steps

closer to

being one

with the

Hittites.

One clue

that persuades

me this is

how we

take this

chapter comes

actually in

the beginning

of the next

chapter.

Look at

chapter 24.

Remember I

showed you

how these

two chapters

are linked?

Look at

chapter 24

verses 1

to 4.

This is

where Abraham

begins to

look for a

wife for

his son.

Chapter

24.

Now Abraham

was old,

well advanced

in years,

and the

Lord had

blessed

Abraham in

all things,

and Abraham

said to

his servant,

the oldest

of his

household,

who had

charge of

all that

he had,

put your

hand under

my thigh

that I

may make

you swear

by the

Lord,

the God

of heaven

and the

God

of earth,

that you

will not

take a

wife for

my son

from the

daughters of

the Canaanites

among whom

I dwell,

but will

go to my

country and

to my

kindred and

take a

wife for

my son

Isaac.

See,

chapter 23

is about

land,

chapter 24

is about

descendants,

a wife for

Isaac,

but in

both cases

Abraham

recognised

that his

family must

remain distinct

from the

people of

the land.

If he

accepted the

Hittites

offer to

share a

tomb or

to receive

land free,

a free

gift of

land,

if he

took a

wife for

Isaac from

among the

Canaanites,

either of those

things are

the kind

of moves

that step

by step

would see

Abraham's

family and

Abraham's

descendants merge

in with the

Canaanites and

cease to be a

distinct line.

So look at how

Abraham answered

Ephron with his

third request,

the third

exchange in

verse 12.

verse 12.

Then Abraham

bowed down

before the

people of

the land.

Notice he's

now,

he's gone from

rising to

rising and

bowing,

now just to

bowing.

Abraham bowed

down before the

people of the

land and he

said to

Ephron in the

hearing of the

people of the

land,

he said to

Ephron in the

hearing of the

people of the

land,

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

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

The Hittites tried to forge union, but Abraham insists on distinction.

He insists on paying the price for the field.

Now, before we move on to Ephron's offer in verses 14 to 15, let's spend a few minutes thinking about this.

What we see in Genesis is that Abraham and Isaac and their descendants were called to be distinct from the nations for the sake of the nations.

God's not against the nations, far from it.

God called Abraham, God made covenants with him for the sake of the nations.

So that through Abraham's seed, all the families of the earth might be blessed.

But Abraham's family couldn't bring blessing to the nations by blending with the nations.

They needed to remain distinct.

The heirs of God's promises, the chosen channel for his blessing would need to be a holy people.

Called to be separate.

Called to be different.

Called to be distinctive.

All around, as Ephron and the Hittites beckoned to Abraham, the nations would beckon to Israel, join with us.

Intermarry with us.

Become one with us.

Worship with us.

And when at last the promised seed of Abraham came, in due course, when the prince of God, in whom the nations would find blessing, came, the offers did not stop.

The offer of the easy path to glory.

Look, all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

All these I will give you.

If you'll fall down and worship me.

The offer of fame and recognition.

Lord, everyone is looking for you.

The offer to prove himself in the world's eyes.

Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.

The offer to be a conquering Christ, not a suffering Christ.

Far be it from you, Lord.

This should never happen to you.

The offer to have others defend him.

Lord, shall we strike with the sword?

The offer to defend himself.

Will you not speak to me?

Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?

The offer to escape.

If you are the son of God, come down from the cross.

He saved others.

Let him save himself if he's the Christ, the chosen one.

The seed of Abraham came and the offers did not stop.

But the seed of Abraham could not save others if he saved himself.

He couldn't be the kind of Christ God called him to be if he was the kind of Christ they asked him to be.

He couldn't help the nations if he was like the nations.

Of course, in many ways, Jesus had to be one of us.

Made human.

Sharing flesh and blood with us.

Tempted in every way as we are.

But he also had to be different from us.

Without sin.

Separate.

Spotless.

Undefiled.

The Holy One of God in our midst.

The righteous one.

Who suffered for the unrighteous.

Jesus could only bless the nations by being distinct from the nations.

And there's a sense in which that's true even of us, the people Jesus has saved.

The New Testament calls us saints.

Holy ones.

People who are called to be a part.

Set apart by God.

Of course, we've become holy ones in a different way to Jesus.

He's holy one by virtue of his own, by his own virtue and merit.

We're holy ones only because we've been sanctified in him and by God's spirit.

We've been washed.

We've been purified.

We've been made holy.

Set apart by God.

But redeemed people are transformed people.

And to bless the nations, we must be distinct from the nations.

You are the salt of the earth, Jesus said.

But if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?

It's no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.

You are the light of the world.

A city on a hill cannot be hidden.

Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand and it gives light to all in the house.

In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Or as we heard earlier from 1 Peter,

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh which wage war against your soul.

Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honourable so that when they speak against you as evildoers,

they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

Like Abraham, we live in this world as sojourners and foreigners.

This is not our home.

And who you vote for is not going to change that.

Whether Australia is multicultural or monocultural is not going to change that.

That we are sojourners and foreigners is not a political accident.

It's a theological given.

This is not our home.

And every week, perhaps even every day, we will face offers from the world.

Offers from the people of the land.

Join with us.

Be like us.

Make your home with us.

The world will offer you what Christian ethicist Andrew Cameron calls false inclusion.

I mean, that's what's being offered to us.

False inclusion.

Belonging.

The examples I'm about to give are partly mine and partly borrowed from his.

Your office common room is dominated by grumbling about managers or the sarcastic mockery of customers.

They expect you to join in.

In your trade, everyone does business cash in hand.

That's just the way things work.

It keeps paperwork down.

It keeps the customers happy.

You've just been given a promotion.

The boss sends you out to start giving quotes.

What do you do?

In the playground, a circle of girls giggles about another girl's odd habits and unflattering fashion.

They look your way, inviting you to join in.

It's Pride Month and your coach hands out rainbow armbands for everyone to wear during the game.

He holds one out to you.

A board meeting drifts towards a decision that camouflages an injustice or makes more money at the expense of some wider community good.

Your vote is in doubt.

You need to speak.

They're eyeballing you.

The pressure we face in moments like that is extreme.

There is a powerful drive to fit in.

To become one with the people of the land.

But salt that loses its saltiness is good for nothing but being trampled underfoot.

A lamp put under a basket cannot be seen.

To bless the nations, we must be distinct from the nations.

But when we are, there will be a cost.

Let's look at Ephron's final offer to Abraham in verse 14, the third offer.

Verse 14, Ephron answered Abraham,

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 weights current among the merchants.

Abraham had declined Ephron's gift.

But now Ephron names his price 400 shekels of silver.

His speech is smooth.

I mean, what is that between you?

This little piece of land, what is that between you and me?

But actually, the price he nominates is steep.

It's hard to know exactly because we don't know how large this plot of land is that Ephron's selling to Abraham.

But we could compare it to other prices in the Bible.

The value of a slave in the book of Exodus is given at 30 shekels of silver.

The annual contribution to the tabernacle, half a shekel of silver.

A field that would be sowed with 220 litres of barley seed, 50 shekels of silver in Leviticus 27.

The redemption price for a firstborn son, five shekels of silver.

A gift offered to a prophet for an oracle in 1 Samuel 9, a quarter of a shekel.

A reward given to a soldier for killing an enemy king, ten shekels of silver and a belt.

Or a kind of hyperbolic reward, like a ridiculous amount of money, a thousand shekels.

The price David paid for the temple site and for some oxen to sacrifice there, 50 shekels of silver in 2 Samuel 24.

The price Jeremiah paid for a field during the siege of Jerusalem.

Now, admittedly, during the siege is probably not the best time for property prices if you're selling.

But 17 shekels.

17 shekels.

Given Ephron's immediate willingness to part with the field for nothing, it's probably not incredibly large.

His livelihood didn't depend on it.

But that alongside these other, you know, kind of prices we see in the Old Testament suggests to me that 400 shekels for this field is a high price.

Probably very high.

I mean, it was probably just Ephron's starting price.

Haggling would have been standard.

He expected Abraham to bargain him down.

Or maybe Ephron's like the, you know, the tradie who quotes you five times the price to fix some leaking pipes because he doesn't actually want to do it.

I mean, he names this ridiculously high price.

But Abraham doesn't bargain.

He just pays the price.

He doesn't want to give Ephron, the Hittite, any opportunity to claim that he has shown, that he has shown Abraham a favour.

Or to claim in the future that the payment was insufficient.

He pays the high price to be distinct from the nations, that he might be for the nations.

Likewise, whenever we offer, whenever we refuse an offer of false inclusion, it will cost us something.

There'll be a price we must pay.

You might lose some business or customers.

You might lose some opportunities.

It might cost you some friends, some friendships.

People will resent you at times.

People will, as 1 Peter 2 says, speak against you as evildoers.

But how can you help the nations?

How can we help the nations unless we are salt and light?

So, verse 16, Abraham weighed out for Ephron the full price.

And verse 17, the field of Ephron in 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.

Can you hear all the repetition in that section?

I mean, in a sense, the burial of Sarah is secondary here almost to the transfer of the land,

the acquisition of the land by Abraham.

This chapter is not only about burying Sarah, it's also about Abraham acquiring property in the land,

a small part of the land, just a tiny part, but a deposit that guaranteed what was to come.

As we have a deposit, a guarantee of our future inheritance in the Spirit of God who sanctifies us.

The offers were declined.

The high price was paid for the sake of what God had promised.

And when the world beckons you with its offers of false inclusion,

and when you bear the cost for saying no,

remember the one who said no to the challenge to come down from the cross,

the one who died alone, forsaken by all,

the one who bore the cost for you,

so that through him, the blessing of Abraham might come to all nations.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for our perfect, holy, spotless Lord,

who willingly gave his life for us,

who bore the cost of being apart from the nations,

so that he might be for the nations.

We thank you for Jesus.

We thank you that through him,

we come to receive the blessing that you've promised to Abraham,

that we have an inheritance,

an eternal inheritance prepared for us,

that we have our sins forgiven,

and we may call you our God and our Father.

We thank you for the blessing you've given to us through Jesus.

And we pray, Lord, that you would help us to be distinctive,

to live as salt and light in this world,

to say no to all the world's offers

that would be displeasing to you,

that would muddy our distinctiveness,

give us a desire to please you,

to live as your holy people,

to bear whatever cost may come,

and not just for you, Lord,

but as we seek to live distinctive lives in this world,

we pray that it would impact those around us,

that people would come to praise you,

they would glorify the name of Christ,

they would be drawn to what is different

because they can see that it is good.

We pray all this in Jesus' name.

Amen.