Context No. 2686 of 4322 · Genesis

Genesis 23:1-6: in context

1Sarah lived one hundred twenty-seven years. This was the length of Sarah’s life. 2Sarah died in Kiriath Arba (also called Hebron), in the land of Canaan. Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her. 3Abraham rose up from before his dead and spoke to the children of Heth, saying, 4“I am a stranger and a foreigner living with you. Give me a possession of a burying-place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” 5The children of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, 6“Hear us, my lord. You are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the best of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb. Bury your dead.”

Sarah dies at Hebron, and Abraham, who has followed God's promise for a lifetime, comes to mourn and weep for her. Then he rises from beside his dead and does something ordinary and heavy: he goes to buy a place to bury her. He calls himself "a stranger and a foreigner" among the Hittites, though they honor him as "a prince of God" and offer their finest tomb.

Sit with the irony. This is the man promised the whole land, and he owns none of it. The first piece of ground he will ever hold as his own is a grave. Faith often waits like this, holding a promise for the whole country while possessing only a burial cave, a down payment on something the next generations will inherit. Abraham grieves and buys and keeps trusting, all at once.

Can I keep trusting a promise while I hold, so far, only a small and sorrowful piece of it?

Sources

Hebrews 11:13: "These all died in faith, not having received the promises... having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth."
Genesis 23:20: "The field, and the cave that is in it, were deeded to Abraham for a possession of a burying-place."
Acts 7:5: "He gave him no inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on. He promised that he would give it to him for a possession."