Now we have come through in the 22nd Chapter the final crisis in the life of Abraham.  Actually, you could not ask Abraham to go any farther than he’s gone here.  Not only to sacrifice his own son, but to go contrary to all the teachings he’d been given from God.  He had been taught that human sacrifice was wrong, and God does condemn it.  

ABRAHAM AND THE GOSPEL

But the important thing is that now God is making it clear that there will have to be a man to stand in the gap.  There will have to be a man that will be capable of becoming the Savior of the race if anyone is to be saved.  And so that is a great lesson that’s given to us in this.  

And as we went through the details of Abraham’s going to the mountain, actually right in the same area where the Lord Jesus himself was crucified, and that Abraham said God would provide Himself a Lamb.  And they found a ram and offered him.  But God did provide a Lamb 1900 years later in Christ, and now we find that God stayed his hand.  And why didn’t God let Abraham go through with it?  I think it’s self evident.  The fact of the matter is it was wrong, and God stopped Abraham.  God spared Abraham’s son, but God spared not His own Son, but gave him up freely for us all.

Now we find here in Verse 17 and 18, and I’ll read them again.

That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.  (Genesis 22:17-18)

Now we have here the fact that God says, “In thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”  Now what’s He talking about here?  What seed?  Well, if you go to Galatians 3:16, you will find that Paul interprets what “the seed” means.  And I’m reading now Galatians 3:16.

Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds  (That’s plural.), as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

You have the Bible’s own interpretation of this.  Now Paul says back in the 3rd Chapter of Galatians, the 8th Verse; he says:

 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen (Or the Gentiles) through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.  (Galatians 3:8)

All right.  When did God preach the gospel to Abraham? When God called upon him to offer his son Isaac upon the altar, that was the time that God preached the gospel to him because he says here, “In thy seed shall all nations be blessed.”  Well, that seed is Christ.  

And here we read in Verse 18 (of Genesis 22):

And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.

This is the gospel given to Abraham if you please.  

I would like to make this addition here because it’s something that is customarily passed by.  We assume that Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all of these Old Testament worthies, they were great men, but they’re not as smart as we are.  And they don’t know as much we know.  I’m of the opinion that Abraham knew a great deal more about the coming of Christ and gospel than you and I give him credit for.  In fact, the Lord Jesus said, “Abraham saw my day, and rejoiced.” (John 8:56)  So they must have known a great deal more than we give them credit for.  You see, God had revealed a great deal to Abraham, but the savior’s not yet come; he’s not coming, we know today, for 1900 years.  But here on top of Mount Moriah where Abraham offered Isaac is a picture of the offering of Christ, and even His resurrection; all of it is here.  Because after God called him [Abraham] to do it, it was three days before he even got down there.  And God gave him [Isaac] back to Abraham alive on the third day, so that you have the death and resurrection of Christ.  And Paul says God preached the gospel to Abraham.  That’s very important for you to nail down.

ABRAHAM RETURNS TO BEERSHEBA

Now we have as we come to Verse 19:

So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.

Now we find here that we have a little insight into the family of Abraham.  I’m not going into detail here, but let’s just read Verse 20 together.

And it came to pass after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah, she hath also born children unto thy brother Nahor….

Now he’d left him way back yonder in the land of Haran, and this is just a little side light on the family of Abraham.  Now this line will not be followed, but they will cross the line of Abraham a little later, and we’ll see that when we get to it.  But that is included here, and it’s not our purpose to go into this.  After all, if you read the rest of this chapter, you have quite an exercise in the pronunciation of names.  It’s a worthy subject, but not for our purpose.

CHAPTER 23

DEATH AND BURIAL OF SARAH

Now we come to Chapter 23, and as we come to Chapter 23, why we see the death of Sarah and Abraham’s purchase of a cave in which to bury her, and that’s the cave of Machpelah.  Now will you notice as we come to Chapter 23, we have first of all here the death of Sarah.

And Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old: these were the years of the life of Sarah.  And Sarah died in Kirjatharba; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.  (Genesis 23:1-2)

Now you have here the death of Sarah, and you’ll notice her age is given as 127 years old.  Now she was 90 when Isaac was born.  Now we’re told that when Sarah died in Kirjatharba, it’s Hebron.  And we’ll notice how Abraham even had to buy a cave in which to bury his dead in the very land that God had given him.  Now why didn’t he take her somewhere else to bury her?  Well, because the hope they have is in that land; that is, the hope of the future.  And I’ll move on down and read this because, although it’s the arrangement for a funeral and that’s not very exciting or very interesting, and it certainly becomes a little morbid to some; but it’s very important to see here a great truth.  Now I’m reading Verse 3.

And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying, I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a burying place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.  (Genesis 23:3-4)

Notice Abraham calls himself a stranger and a sojourner even in the Promised Land that God has promised to give him.  And Verse 5.

And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him, Hear us, my lord: thou art a mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchers bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulcher, but that thou mayest bury thy dead.  (Genesis 23:5-6)

Now this is a very generous offer of the children of Heth that lived in this land.  They said to Abraham, “You just pick your burying spot in any of our sepulchers, and that’s it.  We’d be delighted to have you.”  You see, Abraham had made a tremendous impression; “the mighty prince.”  This man influenced counted for something.  Verse 7.

And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth.  And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight; hear me, and entreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar, That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field; for as much money as it is worth he shall give it me for a possession of a burying place amongst you.  (Genesis 23:7-9)

Now the cave of Machpelah was the place Abraham wanted, but he wanted to buy it.  He wanted nothing given to him.  In other words, until God gave him that land, he would buy what he needed and what he wanted.  And now he actually buys a burying place.  Now again, I ask the question, “Why didn’t he take Sarah somewhere else and bury her?”  Well, he buried her there because it’s the land and the hope of the future is there.  

Now you are going to find as you go through the Bible that there are two great hopes and two great purposes God has.  He has an earthly purpose, and he has a heavenly purpose.  Now he has an earthly purpose—that is, with this earth on which you and I live, it’s going into eternity.  Now it’s going to be traded in on a new model; there’ll be a new heaven and a new earth, but there’s going to be earth, and it’s going to be inhabited throughout eternity.  Now that’s the promise that God gave to Abraham and those after him.  You see this earth on which you and I live, God’s not going to put it in the garbage can; it’s not going to be put out in one of these lots where you have all these wrecked cars.  God’s not going to get rid of it.  He intends to trade it in on a new model, and the new heavens and the new earth will go into eternity, and there will be people to inhabit it.  Now that was the hope of Abraham.  Abraham wanted to be buried in that land so that when the resurrection came, he and Sarah would be raised in that land.  And he never knew how many were coming after him, but they’re literally going to be millions going to be raised from the dead, and that’s their hope.  It’s an earthly hope.  And it will be realized.  

Now when our Lord yonder in the Upper Room said to these disciples who were schooled in the Old Testament, and they had the Old Testament hope, when he said to them, “Let not your heart be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in me.  In my Father’s house are many mansions (abiding places).  I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I’ll come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there ye may be also.”  (John 14:1-3)  Now that is the New Jerusalem.  That is something that He’s preparing today.  And that’s the place where the Church is going.  That will be the eternal abode of the Church.  Now that was brand new to these disciples, and I’m afraid it’s brand new to a great many Christians today.  God never told Abraham he’s going to take him away from this earth to heaven. He kept telling him, “I’m going to give you this land.”  Now Abraham believed God.  And that’s the reason now that he wants to be buried—wants Sarah buried in that land, and it’s a place for him to bury his dead.  He intends to be buried there, and he is buried there.  

Now that’s down at Hebron.  We made a trip down there, and over that spot today they have a mosque.  It’s a Mohamadan mosque.  Frankly, in that entire land when I was there, I never felt uncomfortable or just a little afraid except at Hebron.  We’d been warned to be very careful in Hebron, that there was a great deal of antagonism to the tourists and a great deal of antagonism to practically everyone.  And, of course, they let you in the mosque because it meant tourist dollars.  And we went in and looked down through a little hole in the floor down into the cave, and whether Abraham and Isaac and Jacob are buried there; Abraham and Sarah are supposed to be there.  Isaac and Rebekah are supposed to be there.  And Jacob is supposed to be there.  Rachel is buried on up at Bethlehem.  Now these men all buried in that land, why?  They’ve got a hope of being raised from the dead in that land.  That’s their hope someday.  They have an earthly hope.  Now our hope is a heavenly hope.  And I hope that that is made clear to you today, and you can see the importance of why Abraham’s dwelling on this so much here at this particular time.

And now he has this deal to buy the cave.  Now notice the transaction.

And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth: and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, even of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying, Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead.  And Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land.  (Genesis 23:10-12)

Now notice Abraham and the generosity of these people and of this man Ephron in particular.  “Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land.”  They certainly were polite in that day.  We get the impression these were cave men that carried clubs and clubbed each other.  May I say to you, if Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Old Testament saints, in fact the ones that are mentioned in this chapter, if they were in Los Angeles today and to go back and report to their folks, I think they’d say, “Do you know that the offspring are a bunch of cave men.  They’re highly uncivilized; they’re rude and they’re crude; and they’re a disgrace.”  I think they would say that of us today.  But we have the advantage, we can talk about them.  But the interesting thing is, notice how polite they are.  “Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land.”    Now Verse 13.

And he spake unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt give it, I pray thee, hear me: I will give thee money for the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there.  And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him, My lord, hearken unto me: the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.

And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.  (Genesis 23:13-16)

That is, the legal tender of that day.  

And the field of Ephron which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, and the cave which was therein, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all the borders round about, were made sure 18 Unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of his city.  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.  And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a burying place by the sons of Heth.  (Genesis 23:17-20)

And apparently that place today, with a mosque built over it, is the mosque there at Hebron.  And, by the way, it’s considered either the second or the third most important mosque of the world of Islam.  They have many beautiful mosques in Cairo and in other places.  Some of them that I’ve seen are absolutely beautiful.  But the ones that are the most important, of course, would be Mecca first and, I’m not sure whether this one at Hebron or the one in Jerusalem is considered Number Two.  But then the other one would be Number Three.  So you can see how important this is, because they all go back to Abraham.

Now that reveals the importance of this chapter, and it’s going to become important because Isaac is going to be buried here.  And Jacob will die way down in Egypt, and he wants to be buried here, and he is buried there by the way.  

CHAPTER 24 INTRODUCTION

A WIFE FOR ISAAC

Now we come to Chapter 24 and Abraham sends his trusted servant to get a bride for Isaac back in Mesopotamia in the land of Haran and the success of the servant in securing Rebekah.  And here’s one of those, let me say, beautiful chapters of the Bible.  It tells a lovely story; a very beautiful story, by the way!  

I want to begin reading—I will not get very far in this chapter, but we’re going to see a wonderful love story.  And again it will reveal that God is interested in the man that you marry, Young Lady, and he’s interested in the young lady that you marry, Young Man.  God’s interested in it.  

I believe that there’s two things that God has given to the human family.  One is marriage and the other’s capital punishment or, that is, human government.  God permits man to rule himself today, and that is something I think that’s universal.  And these are two very important things.  Now when these are broken, a government will fall apart.  You see the home is the background of any government.  God knew that, and he made that in marriage.  And we find the same things true relative to government; a government must have the power to take human life in order to protect human life.  That is the purpose of it, because human life is sacred.  That’s the reason God gave these laws.

Now He’s interested in your love story.  And it’s wonderful when you bring God into it.  You’ll find out that the first miracle our Lord performed was when he went to a wedding in Cana of Galilee.  I don’t know how many weddings he went to, but he went to that one.  And now as we come to this 24th Chapter: 

And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.  (Genesis 24:1)

Now he’s going to send his servant to get a bride for Isaac.  But we’ll have to save that until next time.  So, until next time, may God richly bless you, My Beloved!