Week 32, Day 3: Death of Sarah
Today’s Reading: Genesis 23:1-20
Some thoughts from the reading…
In Genesis chapter 23, we read of the death of Abraham’s wife, Sarah. It is interesting to note that scripture does not make a big deal of the death of Sarah, but mentions her death almost in passing. It is evident that Abraham mourned his wife, as is clearly done for many biblical characters, but God did not spend a lot of time covering the death of the woman who was the mother of the great nation of Israel. We are not told why this is the case, but perhaps it is because the faithful should not view death as something so terrible. Of course, the death of a loved one brings on sadness, and we mourn. However, from the biblical perspective, the death of one of the main characters is merely the transition of that person from service here on earth to service before God in their eternal reward.
What is interesting in this chapter is that most of the space is filled with a discussion of Abraham’s purchase of a burial plot. Why is this so important? Consider that Abraham had been promised all of the land that he had walked on, and yet, he possessed nothing. In fact, this small field, with a cave in the end of it, was the only property that Abraham owned in the land of Canaan. Abraham would not see the fulfillment of all of the promises in his lifetime. In fact, he would see very little of the promises fulfilled. But, that didn’t change his perspective. He trusted in God enough to purchase this field for burying the dead of his family, knowing that it would be a part of his inheritance for many years to come.
Keep in mind this burial plot. We will see it mentioned a few more times as more relatives of Abraham are buried there. In a time of the wandering of the Patriarchs, men who had no home of their own, they had this small plot of land that belonged to them. It would not be until several hundred years later that Abraham’s descendants would truly possess this land.
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