Genesis Series #46 May 05, 2002
Title: Faith For The Future
Email: pastorsarver@yahoo.com
Website: www.newlifeinchrist.info
Welcome to New life in Christ. Today we continue with message #46 in our verse-by-verse study of the book of Genesis.
Read Genesis 22:1-20-23:20
Opening Prayer
Illustration: John Elway was for many years the quarterback of the Denver Broncos. Although he was a great quarterback, his team was not that great. So year upon year they experienced losing seasons and humiliation, while he endured numerous injuries. All of his efforts and faithfulness seemed to be useless. Despite their situation John Elway did not retire but kept on enduring the pain and the failure of football. Why did he keep going? Because he had faith for the future! He believed that eventually his faith would pay off and that they would win the Super Bowl. His belief was realized in 1998 when the Denver Broncos won Super Bowl 32. If he had not had faith for the future he would of missed that experience.
In the same way we, as Christians, must have faith for the future if we are to experience the fullness of God promises. We too will experience a life of difficulties. Often there will be very little to show for our years of faith in God. We need to have a faith for the future if we are to endure and press forward and ultimately experience God’s promises. Abraham had this type of faith. I will show you how this passage from Chapter 23 reflects Abraham’s faith for the future in a few minutes.
If my research is any indication; this chapter is one of the least preached and taught in the Bible. On the Internet and in my commentaries very little attention or information was given on this chapter. I can understand this avoidance because, at first glance, this chapter seems to have little to offer in the way of practical application. A preacher or teacher could easily struggle with proclaiming a message from this text. Nevertheless I believe that a closer look at this text reveals not only a practical message but also vital message to the Christian today.
I do not think this chapter is telling the Christian how to cope with the death of a loved one or how to engage in business practices. Some of the limited information I was able to ascertain from commentaries and Internet put much of the focus on these topics because of Abraham’s grief over Sarah’s death and because Abraham conducted business in acquiring the burial tomb. I do not think either of these topics is the main message of this chapter. I think the main emphasis of the story is that Sarah was buried “in Canaan” and that Abraham went to great lengths and cost to make this a certainty. This story is important because it shows us how Abraham actions reflected a faith for the future. To understand how Abraham’s actions reflected his faith for the future we have to understand the importance that people of that era placed on burial.
The ancient Israelites placed great importance in the location of their own or family member’s burial site. It was normal and greatly desired to be buried in one’s homeland i.e. where one’s family roots were. Genesis 22:20-24 reminds us that Abraham and Sarah’s family roots were in Ur. Abraham admits in Gen. 23:4 that he is an "alien and stranger" in the land of Canaan. Despite the importance of burial location, family roots, and Abraham’s current alien status he insist on burying Sarah in Canaan, even though doing so is very costly. Why?
The answer is because Abraham was not looking backward to where he came from, nor was he looking at his present situation in which lived in a tent because he did not possess even 1 acre of the promised land. Abraham’s was looking forward, in faith, to what God had promised! Thus the main point of Genesis 23 is not what Abraham did but rather why he did it.
Abraham’s recognized and believed that God’s promises are still in the future. He had a faith for the future and therefore he acted accordingly. Abraham had received very little of God promises in his earthly life and yet this story demonstrates that he continued to believe faithfully, despite many difficulties, because he had a faith for the future. He expected God to fulfill every one of His promises. In this way, Abraham’s serves as an example to Christians today, who also have been given “very great and precious promises” that we must wait to inherit.
I believe the main lesson in this text that believers need to learn can be summarized as follows:
I. God’s Promises To Us Are Primarily Future Realities.
In other words, most of the great things that God has promised His people will not be received in this life. This was true of Abraham and most of the other saints of God.
Read Hebrews 11:9,10,13-16,39
All of these references from Hebrews 11 on the nature of faith emphasize that the norm for God’s people is to look forward in faith for the primary fulfillment of God’s promises. They are to look beyond the grave. They are to have of faith for the future. This is the very nature of faith, which is to “be sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1)
I. God’s Promises To Us Are Primarily Future Realities.
Abraham’s recognizes this spiritual truth and therefore responded accordingly by burying Sarah in a land that they did not yet possess. Now let’s look at this passage verse-by-verse and see how Abraham’s actions reflect this certainty about God’s future promises.
Read Genesis 22:20-24
Abraham was reminded of his family roots apparently just before Sarah’s death. Her death would have reminded Abraham of how little he had actually received of God promises currently. He would also have been reminded that his death could not be very far away. This could be a very trying moment for Abraham’s faith. Certainly this news from home would have tugged at his heartstrings and inclined him to go home to be with his family rather than wandering amongst strangers. Even today I have seen many people who retired to live in Florida, but when a spouse has died return to be with their families up North. Abraham had the opportunity to return to his former homeland but he did not, rather he remained in Canaan - Why? Abraham had a faith for the future because he recognized that…
I. God’s Promises To Us Are Primarily Future Realities.
In faith he believed that God would one day fulfill his promise of making Canaan his land and his home. As Christians, we too will have to exhibit the same kind of faith because there will be times when our old life in the past pulls at our hearts. We will look around and say, "What has a life of faith in God gotten me?" or "Where are all those promises of God?" There will be the temptation to quit and go back to the way things were. That is when we need to look at Abraham’s example and keep our faith by remembering that God’s promises are primarily future realities. We must have a faith for the future. You must have a confidence in God that goes beyond even this life for the fulfillment of His promises.
Read Genesis 23:1,2
Note that Sarah died “in the land of Canaan” and that Abraham mourned for her there thus indicating that news from home had not persuaded Abraham’s to return. Even though Abraham’s was a great man of faith this did not mean that his life was exempt from great difficulties. He still had to suffer hurt, loss, and pain at Sarah’s death. When know from the book of Hebrews the Abraham was looking forward in faith to eternity, but this did not keep him from weeping at Sarah’s death. It is normal for believers to be sorrowful over the death of a Christian loved one, even though they know and expect to be with them for eternity. Stoicism in the face of the loss of a loved one is not a Christian attitude.
I believe these verses remind God’s people that, as we go through this life awaiting the fulfillment of God’s promises in the future, we will undergo difficulties. We are told this in Acts 14:22 which says, “We must go through many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.” We will endure difficulties but we can endure them in faith as Abraham’s did. Abraham did not just mourn but also reflected on God’s promises concerning the future and this is what motivated him to now make the effort to purchase a tomb in the land of Canaan. We are to do the same when we encountered difficulties. We are to have of faith for the future. We are to keep our faith and our focus on eternity because...
I. God’s Promises To Us Are Primarily Future Realities.
Read Genesis 23:3-9
Abraham, in faith, wishes to “stake his claim” in the Promised Land by buying a cave which was used traditionally as a tomb. The Hittites are currently in control of this area of Canaan so Abraham proceeds to make the request of them. Again this is a reminder of how little of the promises of God that Abraham had actually received at this point. He did not even own enough land to bury his wife but rather he had to buy it from a people who were cursed by God. (Genesis 9:24,10:15) The same is true today where it often seems that unbelievers are better off than believers, but God people should not be discouraged about the current situation because...
I. God’s Promises To Us Are Primarily Future Realities.
The Hittites offer to "loan" Abraham’s any tomb he desired in verse 5 but Abraham clarifies in vs. 6-9 that he wishes to purchase a tomb at "full price" and therefore "own" the land. This is important because Abraham could have saved a lot of money by borrowing a burial site. Why did he insist on purchasing a tomb? Because when we borrow something it is only temporarily ours and must be returned, but when we own something it is a permanent possession. Abraham wished to express that the land of Canaan was to be his home and not merely a stopping-off place. This was an act of faith in the future fulfillment of God promises. His planning demonstrated his faith! We too are to live with the same certainty of God’s promises being accomplished, despite how impossible and distant they may seem at the present. We are to have a faith for the future because…
I. God’s Promises To Us Are Primarily Future Realities.
Read Genesis 23:10-20
This passage reflects a typical way of doing business in ancient cultures. The offer to “give” Abraham the cave was nothing more than a culturally courteous way of beginning a business deal. Ephron was certainly not being generous to a grieving man. In fact the price and terms of the sale indicate that Ephron was greedy and unfair. First, Ephron insists that the cave and the field be sold to Abraham. This is important because under Hititte law whoever owned the field have to pay taxes on the whole property. Abraham’s only needed the “cave at the end of the field” (Verse 9) but Ephron gives Abraham a raw deal. Secondly, the price Ephron asks for the field is exorbitant. Many centuries later Jeremiah buys a field for only seventeen sheckles of silver. (Jeremiah 32:9) nevertheless Abraham bought the field according to those extremely unfair terms and price.
This passage is certainly not telling Christians how to do business! Why would Abraham make such a bad deal? Because he had faith for the future. He firmly believed that his descendants would own it all one day and so he was willing to invest quite heavily in the land, by faith. He was determined to pay any price for Sarah to be buried in Canaan because he really believed God’s promises. The way he or we spend our money is certainly one indicator of the validity of our faith!
In verses 19-20 we are again reminded that Sarah was buried in Canaan in a field and cave that Abraham had purchased and possessed the deed for. Both of these acts, Sarah’s burial and Abraham’s legal purchase of the land, remind us that Abraham had a faith for the future. He was not looking at his current situation but at God’s promised future. As believers we also should be looking forward in faith not backwards or at the present situation because…
I. God’s Promises To Us Are Primarily Future Realities.
Closing Prayer
