Genesis 23:1

Genesis 23:1 says, And Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old: these were the years of the life of Sarah.  Verse two adds, And Sarah died in Kirjatharba; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.   Sarah lived long enough to see Isaac grow into a man.  She did not live long enough to see any more of God's promise fulfilled though.  Abraham mourned the death of Sarah.  They had been through a lot together, sometimes following God's plan in faith and sometimes following their own plan in doubt of God's ability to keep them safe.  Overall though, they had lived in obedience to God.  Verse three states, And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying,  Then verse four adds, I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a buryingplace with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.  After Abraham stood up from mourning Sarah, he knew he needed a place to bury her, and he was still just a sojourner in the land.  He didn't actually own any land.  Today, even if people own land, they often have to buy a place to bury their dead.  The truth is, no matter how much land we may own, we are all but sojourners in this world.  Like Abraham, even if a loved one dies, even as we mourn, we must get on with life.  Verse five says, And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him,  Verse six continues, Hear us, my lord: thou art a mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead.  The children of Heth, those that Abraham had asked about obtaining a burial place from, acknowledged that Abraham was a great man and offered to allow him to bury Sarah in one of their tombs.  Though Abraham wanted more than a borrowed tomb, this would have been enough.  No matter how large or elaborate our tomb, or grave site may be, it is but a temporary resting place.  When Christ returns, we will no longer have need of a burial place, because we will rise again.  Verse seven states, And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth.  Verse eight adds, And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight; hear me, and intreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar,  Verse nine concludes, That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field; for as much money as it is worth he shall give it me for a possession of a buryingplace amongst you.  Abraham talked with the sons of Heth and asked them to intercede for him with Ephron, the son of Zohar, about selling Abraham a cave.  Abraham did not demand that they do this, nor did he say that God had already promised this land to him.  Abraham was willing to buy the cave for however much Ephron asked.  We cannot demand that others give us anything simply because we are followers of Christ, but must deal fairly with them.  Verse ten says, And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth: and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, even of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying,  Then verse eleven adds, Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead.  Ephron, in the presence of many witnesses, offered to give Abraham the cave.  Ephron was being very generous to Abraham.  Verse twelve states, And Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land.  Verse thirteen adds, And he spake unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt give it, I pray thee, hear me: I will give thee money for the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there.  For whatever reason, Abraham did not want the land as a gift.  He was respectful in declining the offer of the cave as a gift and again asked that he be allowed to buy it.  Abraham may have not wanted to be indebted to Ephron.  We likewise should not allow ourselves to become indebted to anyone in this world because they have given us something, even if it is something that we need.  Verse fourteen states, And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him,  Then verse fifteen adds, My lord, hearken unto me: the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.  Ephron told Abraham what the cave was worth, and asked Abraham what was that amount worth between them.  I believe that he was basically saying that the cave wasn't worth enough for Abraham to worry about paying for it.  No matter how little or much something is worth, we cannot allow it to come between us and our belief about what God would have us do, and even though it wasn't stated, I believe that Abraham felt that it was God's will for him to buy the cave so that he would not be indebted to Ephron.  The next few verses simply refer to the transaction.  Verse sixteen says, And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.  Verse seventeen adds, And the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, and the cave which was therein, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all the borders round about, were made sure.  Verse eighteen concludes, Unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of his city.  Abraham bought the cave for the specified amount.  If we feel that taking something for free will somehow compromise our faith in God, we must not accept it.  I believe that Abraham simply did not want anyone to think that he owed them something.  Verse nineteen states, And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre: the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan.  Then verse twenty concludes, And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a buryingplace by the sons of Heth.  Abraham buried Sarah in Hebron in the land of Canaan.  He had successfully bought the burial place, even though God had promised him that he was to be the father of a great nation in a land that God would give him.  We should never use our relationship to God as a reason for taking something from anyone else.