DAY 4: Abraham and the Hittites: A Gift to a Prince: Genesis 23

Hey Ladies,
Sorry this one is late...

Cave of Machpelah

Think of a promise you have from God, something you believe God will bring about. It could be heaven, forgiveness for your darkest sins, the comfort of never being alone. What do you do when that promise is unfulfilled after years of waiting? When God promises are still in the future, what can we do to show that we believe? This passage definitely answers these questions... God promised Abraham many things, like we found it in the last passage, God promised Abraham a son in his old age, and it happened. God also promised him a land for his people forever. But Abraham didn't even own an acre of land, he was basically a nomad living in tents and moving from place to place.

The first  thing that  strikes me in this passage is that Sarah lived to be 127. And to my knowledge she is the only woman in the Bible whose age at death is recorded. This gives us a measure to how important she really was. After mourning Sarah's death, Abraham looks for a place to bury her, and he bargained with sons of Het (Hittites). I'm not going to lie, this was a hard passage to tackle, after reading it I had to enlist the help of some    of some study Bibles.

Even though the first two versus deal with Sarah's death, making the main purpose how to deal with the death of a loved one (this would make sense because it is in the devotional called 30 stories of love and friendship). I actually think that the focus of this story is on Sarah being buried in Canaan, and how Abraham went through great lengths to make this a certainty. This demonstrates how Abraham's actions reflect a faith for the future. Abraham did not just mourn but also reflected on God's promises concerning the future and this is what motivated him to make the effort to purchase a tomb in the land of Canaan. We are supposed to the same things when we come a across difficulties (well, not purchase a tomb).  We are to have faith for the future. We are to keep our faith and our focus on the bigger picture, eternity.

This story demonstrates that Abraham continued to believe faithfully for the future and act accordingly. He expected God to fulfill every single one of his promises, In this way, Abraham serves as an example to us who have also been given promises we must wait to inherit them. Later on in the passage (when Abraham acknowledges he is stranger) Abraham realizes that Canaan was not his home.. He was living for his future home beyond the grave. Do you live as if your home is here in Herndon, Chantilly, Southriding, Oakton, (your town here). Are you caught up with your life here and now that you don't live for the eternal? I do it all the time, it is soooooo easy to get caught up with your life here and now, but God wants us to live for tomorrow. It is ok to remind ourselves that our goal is to live our life as "pilgrim" on the way to our true home HEAVEN!

What are your thoughts?

I hope you all had successful SATs
Anne