Study From the Book of Genesis,23

Study From the Book of Genesis,23

Today we study chapter 23 of the Book of Genesis. I choose one biblical principle and its lesson which is useful in Biblical Counselling.

Sarah died at the age of 127 years. She lived to see her son Isaac reach adulthood. Abraham had lived for a while near Hebron. At this point the name of Canaan would be particularly bitter to Abraham. None of the land was his. He negotiated for water and rights and herding privileges, but the land was not his; it belonged to the Canaanites.

The Hittites had their principal centre in Anatolia, modern Turky now.  But there were some enclaves of Hittites, the sons of Heth, in Canaan, and the region of Hebron was apparently one of them. It was Hittites that Abraham negotiated to buy a burial spot for his beloved wife Sarah.

The sons of Heth, responded with complementary words.   As the act of kindness, the Hittites let Abraham use one of their places for the burial of his dead family members. However, Abraham was not willing to Bury Sarah in a borrowed tomb, he wanted to have a place that would belong to the family long after his death. He wanted to purchase some property, Ephron of the Hittie responded to Abraham’s request by generously offering to give him what he sought, plus the nearby field as well. In any case, Abraham did not mean coins as we might think today. Coins were not invented until at least 650 B.C. Abraham offered a generous wight of silver. He could have received the property without any cost, but since he paid the agreed upon amount there could be no question at a later date.  

Structure

Verses: 1-20: Sarah death and burial.

Principle 40: verse 23:2: ---“So Sarah died ---in the land of Canaan, and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep on her.”

Lesson 40: God created us with emotions, nothing wrong in crying and weeping when a beloved one dies. But what is wrong is the bereavement extends to depression and despair. As believers we believe that when a beloved one passed away, he/she now is in a better place in heaven with Christ.8/2/2026.