Good Morning “You Who Seek to Live Above Reproach.” Today we are in Genesis 23. We get a little taste of Abrahams desire to function above reproach.
“Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old. She died at Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.”
Genesis 23:1-2 NIV
It always hurts when we lose
someone we love. Imagine spending 100 years with someone then having to say goodbye. Sarah and Abraham had been though a lot! They saw struggle and testing and blessing and grace.
Abraham makes it clear, he wants to honor her by burying her quickly. He needs to buy piece of land to bury her. The back and forth negotiation you read here would have been typical for the day. Honor was huge - on both sides. The song and dance begins with, you can have any land you want for free. Everyone knew that any honorable man would not receive land for free. They all knew that wasn’t going to happen.
As the discussion continues it’s clear Abraham has his eye on a particular cave. As he asks for accommodation to buy it - the owner speaks up. “I’ll give you the field and the cave that is in it.” This is interesting because he knows first of all Abraham must pay for the land to preserve his honor and secondly the field is large enough it would come with tax liability. Abraham would now have to pay tax on ground he really didn’t need. Just the cave would not have had tax. The land mass of just the cave would have been too small.
As they are doing the negotiation dance, the owner throws out 400 shekels like it’s no biggy. What’s that to men like us… take the land. Actually… Silver was considered much more valuable then, this could have been as much as $56,000. 400 shekels is A LOT for a burial plot. The land would have been worth closer to 40 shekels and everyone knows it including Abraham. Ephron is simply trying to capitalize on Abrahams mourning and urgency to honor his wife. Ephron would have expected Abraham to try to tactfully respond with a lower offer without being dishonoring.
Check out what Abraham does… right there in public… in front of everyone. Without argument or further negotiation, with honor, a light is shined on Ephron’s character.
“A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.” Proverbs 22:1 NIV
Think about the way the land deal ended. What would the deal say about Ephron? What about Abraham? Where do we put our value in dealing with people?
Dig in guys! Love you all!
“Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old. She died at Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.”
Genesis 23:1-2 NIV
It always hurts when we lose
someone we love. Imagine spending 100 years with someone then having to say goodbye. Sarah and Abraham had been though a lot! They saw struggle and testing and blessing and grace.
Abraham makes it clear, he wants to honor her by burying her quickly. He needs to buy piece of land to bury her. The back and forth negotiation you read here would have been typical for the day. Honor was huge - on both sides. The song and dance begins with, you can have any land you want for free. Everyone knew that any honorable man would not receive land for free. They all knew that wasn’t going to happen.
As the discussion continues it’s clear Abraham has his eye on a particular cave. As he asks for accommodation to buy it - the owner speaks up. “I’ll give you the field and the cave that is in it.” This is interesting because he knows first of all Abraham must pay for the land to preserve his honor and secondly the field is large enough it would come with tax liability. Abraham would now have to pay tax on ground he really didn’t need. Just the cave would not have had tax. The land mass of just the cave would have been too small.
As they are doing the negotiation dance, the owner throws out 400 shekels like it’s no biggy. What’s that to men like us… take the land. Actually… Silver was considered much more valuable then, this could have been as much as $56,000. 400 shekels is A LOT for a burial plot. The land would have been worth closer to 40 shekels and everyone knows it including Abraham. Ephron is simply trying to capitalize on Abrahams mourning and urgency to honor his wife. Ephron would have expected Abraham to try to tactfully respond with a lower offer without being dishonoring.
Check out what Abraham does… right there in public… in front of everyone. Without argument or further negotiation, with honor, a light is shined on Ephron’s character.
“A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.” Proverbs 22:1 NIV
Think about the way the land deal ended. What would the deal say about Ephron? What about Abraham? Where do we put our value in dealing with people?
Dig in guys! Love you all!
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