Genesis 23

Sarah lived 127 years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. ² And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. ³ And Abraham rose up from before his dead and said to the Hittites, ⁴ “I am a sojourner and foreigner among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” ⁵ The Hittites answered Abraham, ⁶ “Hear us, my lord; you are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb to hinder you from burying your dead.” ⁷ Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land. ⁸ And he said to them, “If you are willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me and entreat for me Ephron the son of Zohar, ⁹ that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns; it is at the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me in your presence as property for a burying place.”

¹⁰ Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites, and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, of all who went in at the gate of his city, ¹¹ “No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the sight of the sons of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead.” ¹² Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land. ¹³ And he said to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, “But if you will, hear me: I give the price of the field. Accept it from me, that I may bury my dead there.” ¹⁴ Ephron answered Abraham, ¹⁵ “My lord, listen to me: a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.” ¹⁶ Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants.

¹⁷ So the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre, the field with the cave that was in it and all the trees that were in the field, throughout its whole area, was made over ¹⁸ to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, before all who went in at the gate of his city. ¹⁹ After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. ²⁰ The field and the cave that is in it were made over to Abraham as property for a burying place by the Hittites.

Creatures are contingent. Creatures who have sinned against their holy Creator are most certainly contingent, only breathing by the mercy of their kind Creator who desires their repentance.

In Genesis 22 Moses recounts the history of God’s testing of Abraham. The test consisted of God’s commanding Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. God’s command was therefore in direct conflict with his promise that through Isaac would come about a great nation that would bless all other nations.  As Israel first listened to this account, they would have sensed the contingency of their own lives, as they imagined Isaac bound on the altar with a knife barreling down towards his throat. They would have been relieved when the angel of the LORD declared that Abraham need not touch Isaac and that through Isaac the covenant for creation’s renewal would continue. (The covenant with Abraham can be termed “the covenant for creation’s renewal,” as that is God’s purpose for entering into this covenant: to renew all of creation back to its original harmony). Yet, God’s command could still be kept, for the LORD provided a ram to be sacrificed in Isaac’s place. Not only so, but the ram was provided in the exact place (Moriah) that would later be the location of the temple where the LORD accepted the sacrifices of Israel for their sins. Even more significant is that just outside the walls of the same city is where the LORD provided a sacrifice on behalf of the life of his people: Jesus Christ, crucified outside the walls of Jerusalem.

The Sacrifice of Isaac, by Marc Chagall, 1966

The covenant of creation’s renewal could only continue through Isaac, Israel and Jesus’ people today because of the LORD’s provision. Jesus Christ, the Ram of God, sacrificed in the place of the people of God so that God’s good intentions for the nations can be accomplished by his grace and through his people. If the ram had not been provided, then the covenant promises could not have been accomplished and the world would have reverted back to Genesis 11. But I wonder if we really believe that. Do we really think that without the offspring of Abraham the world would revert back to the chaos of the Tower of Babel? Do we really feel the full impact of what was on the line as Isaac was on the altar? Do we sense the need for the Church, or do we think that the world will get along just fine by virtue of good governments, good schools and strong individual responsibility and hard work? Have we slipped into thinking that individual responsibility and ingenuity are the answer to the world’s problems? If so, we ought to be reminded that the LORD is the one who provides for the world’s true, deepest problems – and he does so through Jesus Christ: who gives life to his people for the sake of renewing creation by God’s power.

Questions for Conversation

• Can you think of a movie, TV show or recent book in which the answer to the world’s problems came through individual responsibility and ingenuity?
• How would you counter that philosophy using the book of Genesis and God’s covenant with Abraham?
• This passage can be troubling. If you are troubled by it can you explain why? Does knowing that this is a test of Abraham help you? How?
• Where would you go in the Scripture to defend God’s honor regarding child sacrifice?
• How does this passage help you to better understand God the Father’s intention in Christ’s sacrifice?