Schoolmaster to Christ
GENESIS CHAPTER 23
Schoolmaster to Christ
GENESIS CHAPTER 23
Scripture Reading: Genesis 23 (KJV)
In this little section of Scripture, the Holy Spirit sets a beautiful exhibition before us of the mode in which the man of faith should carry himself toward those of the world. While it is true that faith makes us independent of those of the world, it is no less true that faith teaches us to walk honestly toward them. We are told to "walk honestly toward them that are without" (1 Thess. 4:12); "to provide things honest in the sight of all" (2 Cor. 8:21); "to owe no man anything" (Rom. 13:8). The 23rd chapter of Genesis is worthy of special notice, because it provides sufficient attention to these mighty precepts. It opens with the death of Sarah, and introduces Abraham in a new character – a mourner. "Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her." The child of God must meet such things; but not as others. The great fact of resurrection offers relief, imparting a peculiar character to his sorrow (1 Thess. 4:13, 14). Faith causes us to stand at the grave of a brother or sister in the happy consciousness that death shall not long hold its captive, "for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." The redemption of the soul secures the redemption of the body; the former we have, the latter we wait for (Rom. 8:23).
Is it possible, that in purchasing Machpelah for a burying-place, Abraham expressed his faith in resurrection? "He stood up from before his dead." Faith cannot keep death in view for long; it has a higher object, blessed be the "living God" Who has given it. Resurrection fills the vision of faith; and, in the power thereof, faith can rise up from the presence of death. There is much conveyed in this action of Abraham. We seek to understand its meaning more fully, because we are prone to be occupied with death and its consequences. Death is the boundary of Satan's power; but where Satan ends, God begins. Abraham understood this when he rose up and purchased the cave of Machpelah as a sleeping place for Sarah. This was the expression of Abraham's thought in reference to the future. He knew that in the ages to come, God's promise about the land of Canaan would be fulfilled, and he was able to lay the body of Sarah in the tomb, "in sure and certain hope of a glorious resurrection."
The sons of Heth knew nothing about this. The thoughts filling the patriarch's soul were entirely foreign to the uncircumcised children of Heth. To them it seemed a small matter where he buried his dead, but it was by no means a small matter to him. "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." No doubt it appeared strange to them to make so much ado about a grave; but, "beloved, the world knoweth us not, even as it knew him not." The finest traits and characteristics of faith are those that are most incomprehensible to natural man. The Canaanites had no idea of the expectations that caused Abraham's actions on this occasion. They had no idea that he was looking forward to the possession of the land, while he was merely looking for a spot in which, as a dead man, he might wait for God's time, and God's manner – the morning of resurrection. He had no controversy with the children of Heth; so, he was prepared to lay his head in the grave, allowing God to act for him, with him, and by him.
"These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth" (Heb. 11:13, NKJV). This is truly an exquisite feature in the life of faith. Those "witnesses," of whom the writer is speaking in Hebrews 11, not merely lived by faith, but even at the end of life, they proved that the promises of God were as real and satisfying to their souls as when they first started. That is why we believe that Abraham’s purchase of a burying place in the land was an exhibition of the power of faith not only to live, but to die. Why was Abraham so particular about this purchase? Why was he so anxious to make good his claim to the field and cave of Ephron on righteous principles? Why so determined to weigh out the full price "current with the merchant"? Faith is the answer. He did it all by faith. He knew the land was his in prospect, and that in glory his seed would possess it, and until then he would not be a debtor to those who were yet to be dispossessed.
So, we view this beautiful chapter in a twofold light; first, as setting before us a plain, practical principle, regarding our dealings with the men of this world; and second, as presenting the hope that should always animate the man of faith. Putting both of these points together, we have an example of what the child of God should always be. The hope set before us in the Gospel is a glorious immortality; and while it lifts the heart above every influence of nature and the world, the Gospel furnishes a high and holy principle with which to govern our dealings with those of the world. "We know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." What is the moral effect of our hope? "Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure" (1 Jn. 3:2, 3). If we are to be like Christ by and by, we should seek to be as like Him now. Therefore, the Christian should always seek to walk in purity, integrity and moral grace in view of the worldly souls surrounding us.
So it was with Abraham, in reference to the sons of Heth. His deportment and conduct, as set forth in our chapter, seems to have been marked with pure elevation and disinterestedness. He was "a mighty prince among them," and they would have certainly done him a favor; but Abraham had learned to take his favors only from the God of resurrection, and while he paid them for Machpelah, he looked to God for Canaan The sons of Heth knew the value of "current money with the merchant," and Abraham knew the value of the cave of Machpelah. It was worth much more to Abraham than it was to them. To them, the land was worth "four hundred shekels of silver," but, as the earnest of an everlasting inheritance, it was priceless to Abraham. And, because it was an everlasting inheritance, it could only be possessed in the power of resurrection. Faith sends the soul onward into God's future; faith looks at things as God looks at them, and estimates things according to the judgment of the sanctuary. Therefore, in the intelligence of faith, Abraham stood up from before his dead, and purchased a burying-place, significantly setting forth his hope of resurrection, and of an inheritance founded thereon.
