Tabor Baptist Church

Introduction

• Two chapters remaining:
• Sarah's Death and Burial
• Abraham finding a wife for Isaac
• The last 2 chapters cover 70 years of his life
• Why this detail in this chapter
• The authenticity of the Bible
• The only woman in the Bible who name, place of burial and age is recorded
• Death is a taboo subject - the Psalms tell us to 'number our days'
• Our lives can be taken at any time
• What a wonderful reaction from the Christians showing such love and forgiveness
• What a contrary to extremist Islam
• Sarah's death should cause us to ask 'what after death'?
• We need to think about our eternal destiny
• Sarah died in faith - She is in glory
• What will be our legacy when we die?
• Sarah was a godly wife - the apostle Peter writes about her

The Preciousness of Sarah's Death

• "Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of His saints"
• Death is a sorrowful time
• Death is an enemy that we each must face
• For those who have faith in Jesus, death is different, they are taken up into God's presence
• Sarah had lived a long life
• She had stuck with her husband in difficult situations
• She had moved around a lot, living the life of a nomad
• She had known division with Lot
• She had faith to conceive and miraculously gave birth age 90 - Heb 11:11
• She had died "in faith" - Heb 11:13
• She had a "good testimony" - Heb 11:39
• But consider:
• She doubted
• She tried to force the hand of God - have a son by her maidservant Hagar
• She treated Hagar harshly
• She laughed at the promise of God
• Yes she did all these temporarily but God saw her unswerving faith
• She lived in faith and died in faith
• Think how we fail
• Sarah was probably ashamed of the time she laughed, of how she acted with Hagar
• God forgave all of her sin - by the blood of Jesus (not the sacrifice of animals)
• The preciousness of Sarah as used in many examples in Scripture
• Look back to Abraham and Sarah - Isa 51:1-2
• The godly woman (of whom Sarah is an example) - 1 Pet 3:4-6
• Sarah was not ashamed to call Abraham 'lord'
• Sarah a symbol of the New Jerusalem - Galatians
• The preciousness of Sarah to Abraham
• Abraham came to mourn and to weep
• He spent much time remembering her in great sadness
• They spent so much time together
• People who love God have tender hearts and feel things keenly
• Consider the example of Jesus weeping for Lazarus

The Place of Sarah's Death

• Hebron - in the heart of the Land - Gen 13:14-15
• Abraham had dwelt here and he met with God - Gen 13:15
• The place where he had met with Melchizidek
• Many of the family including Abraham and Issac would be buried in Hebron
• It is a place of faith and promise
• Caleb wants Hebron as he spies out the land
• David spent 7 years reigning in Hebron before he went to Jerusalem
• What does the name of your church mean?
• Consider the example of Hebron church in Brazil

The Practicalities of Sarah's Death

• Abraham did not let his grief overtake him
• He had faith
• Death should not cause Christians to stagnate
• We have hope in the living God
• Abraham asks for property to bury his dead
• They consider him a prince
• He bows down before them (as the culture of the day) and asks for the cave of Ephron
• He pays full price so he may have the title deed and claim ownership forever more
• Jeremiah bough a field for 17 shekels of silver
• David bought the land for the temple for 50 shekels of silver
• Abraham pays 400 shekels for this land
• Abraham does things properly and acts according to the law of the land
• Abraham bought the accompanying field, even though he just wanted the cave
• He did not want conflict
• As Christians we should be people of integrity
• We should do what is right and God will honour it

The Promise of Sarah's Death

• Heb 11:13-16
• For Sarah death was not the end - God had prepared a city for her (and all the people for God)
• Her death was the promise of something far greater
• Abraham and Sarah did not see Jesus - we have the revelation of Jesus
• Death was conquered
• When we die our spirit shall go to God and when Jesus comes again we will rise again
• Death has no sting or terror for the Christian
• God will accept us
• Death was not the end for Sarah
• When Christ comes, He will come with all the saints including Sarah and Abraham
• Help us to abide in Christ that when we die our legacy might be a good one