“She died in Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.”
~ Genesis 23:2
Hi James and Ellen,
Did you know a guy, gal or kid who died? Have you ever been to a funeral? It is a sad time when a guy, gal or kid dies. It can be a difficult time for some guys, gals and kids when a guy, gal or kid who they know really well dies. Abraham was really sad when Sarah died. Moses recounts in Genesis 23 what happened when Sarah died. Sarah died in Kiriath Arba or Hebron in the land of Canaan. Hittite people group’s guys, gals and kids lived in the land of Canaan. When Sarah died, Abraham needed a place to bury Sarah. Abraham knew about a cave that was owned by a Hittite guy. The cave was called the cave of Machpelah, Abraham wanted the very best place around in which to bury Sarah. Abraham went to the gateway that led into Kiriath Arba – which is where over 4000 years ago legal matters were transacted, to ask about buying a piece of land. The Hittite guys tried to flatter Abraham by calling him a prince among them. Abraham was very wealthy. Abraham owned a lot of animals. Abraham and Sarah moved around a lot – living in a tent wherever they went. Sarah was 127 years old when she died. No guy or gal lives to be 127 years old today. Abraham and Sarah had one kid – Isaac, who had to have been about 25 years old when his ma died. The Hittite guys who were living in the Kiriath Arba area were glad to give Abraham to bury his wife whatever land he wanted. Abraham told the guys that he was hoping to buy the cave of Machpelah along with the land where the cave of Machpelah was located. A Hittite guy by the name of Ephron owned the field where the cave of Machpelah was located. Ephron was one of the Hittite guys who were sitting at the gateway that led into Kiriath Arba. When Ephron heard Abraham say that he would like to buy the cave of Machpelah as well as the field where the cave of Machpelah was located, Ephron told Abraham that he would give him the field so that he could bury Sarah in the cave of Machpelah. Abraham insisted that he really did want to buy from Ekron the field where the cave of Machpelah was located. Ephron finally agreed to sell to Abraham for 400 shekels of silver – which was an outlandishly high price, the field where the cave of Machpelah was located. One shekel of silver was the weight of silver that was paid 4000 years ago as a salary for one month’s work. The field where the cave of Machpelah was located along with the trees that were in the field did not begin to be worth 400 shekels of silver but . . . Ephron even had the 400 shekels of silver that were being paid to him by Abraham for the field where the cave of Machpelah was located weighed in the Kiriath Arba market place – which means that Ephron probably was able to rip off Abraham even more because of his really wanting to bury Sarah in the cave of Machpelah.
How would you feel if someone who you really loved dies? Verse 2 says this about Abraham when Sarah died, “She died in Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.” When your grandpaa’s grandpa died, your grandpaa was a young kid. Your grandpaa’s grandpa had been very sick for some time with lung cancer. Your grandpaa remembers going to his grandpa’s house when your grandpaa’s grandpa could only lie in bed and . . . until your grandpaa’s grandpa died, your grandpaa had never been around a guy or gal who had died. Your grandpaa’s memory of the day when his grandpaa died was that it was a very hot, muggy Sunday afternoon in July. The house and farm where your grandpaa’s grandpa and grandma lived was an easy walking distance from the house and farm where your grandpaa grew up as a kid. Your grandpaa will never forget walking with his dad and ma from the house where your grandpaa’s grandpa had just died to the house where your grandpa grew up as a kid. Your grandpaa remembers seeing tears running down his dad’s face as he, his dad and ma and the rest of the kids in his family were walking from the house where your grandpaa’s grandpa had just died to the house where your grandpaa, his dad and ma and the rest of the kids in your grandpaa’s family lived. Your grandpaa’s dad was really sad that his dad had just died.
Even though it is a sad time when a guy, gal or kid dies, it can also be a celebration time when a guy, gal or kid dies. When your grandmaa and grandpaa moved to Chicago in August of 1974 so that your grandpaa could study at Moody Bible Institute, your grandmaa and grandpaa rented a house. After living for a couple of months in the house that they were renting on the west side of Chicago, your grandmaa and grandpaa ran out of money to pay for the house’s rent and to buy food. It was a Moody Bible Institute rule that your grandmaa could not work to earn money because she had a couple of small kids – your dad and Aunt Lynn, to care for while your grandpaa was studying. When your grandmaa and grandpaa moved from Aberdeen, South Dakota to Chicago for your grandpaa to begin studying at Moody Bible Institute, your grandmaa, grandpaa, dad and Aunt Lynn began attending church services at the Northwest Alliance Church. Your grandmaa and grandpaa were befriended by a mortician and his wife who also attended the church services at Northwest Alliance Church. Jim Day – who was the mortician, would embalm at the Zeiger-Mueller Funeral Home a guy, gal or kid who had died whose viewing would be at this funeral home. When Jim found out that the Zeiger-Mueller Funeral Home needed a guy and/or gal to . . . your grandmaa, grandpaa, dad and Aunt Lynn were the next two and a half years often around a guy, gal or kid who had died. Your grandmaa and grandpaa saw dead guys and gals with a smile on their faces because they had made a decision of faith while other guys and gals had a blank, scared or unhappy look on their faces because they had never made a decision of faith.
Genesis 23 (313)