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.
—— Genesis 23:19——
Abraham’s beloved wife, who had travelled with him through all his sojourning, endured the testing of God alongside of him, and walked through trial and temptation with him, was dead. The freewoman (Gal. 4:23) had borne the promised seed through whom the Messiah would come, and now like Eve before her, succumbed to the death which sin brought into the world. The womb, which had been cursed at the fall, was yet the means whereby God would redeem the world.
Yet now Sarah and her womb were dead. Abraham, we are told in Genesis 23:2, grieves over her, and seeks a burial place for her among the sons of Heth (vs. 3-4). The sons of Heth haggle for a bit, and finally Abraham convinces them that he must purchase the field of Ephron for 400 shekels of silver, and use the cave of Machpelah as his burying-place (vs. 5-16).
[epq-quote align=”align-right”]The very first plot of ground which the father of faith owned in God’s promised land was a tomb.[/epq-quote]For the first time since God had promised the land of Canaan to him and his descendants, Abraham possessed territory in the promised land. Until that point, he had only been a nomadic sojourner, and treated as such by all the surrounding nations. However, the very first plot of ground which the father of faith owned in God’s promised land was a tomb.
The lesson for us is this: the blessings of inheriting the promised land always begin at a tomb. Would we have the blessing of tasting the fruit of God’s Spirit? Then we must reckon ourselves buried with Christ, dead with Christ, entombed with Christ, yet also risen with Christ. All things must be counted loss–as it were, beloved Sarah must die and go to the grave–before the blessings of the Promised Land are to be enjoyed. It is no accident either that the Christian eon began at a tomb as well and Christ’s rulership over all things began there.
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