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Genesis Chapter
Twenty-three
Genesis 23
Chapter Contents
The death of Sarah
Abraham applies for a burying-place.
(1-13) Sarah's burying-place. (14-20)
Commentary on Genesis 23:1-13
The longest life must shortly come to a close. Blessed be
God that there is a world where sin
death
vanity
and vexation cannot enter.
Blessed be his name
that even death cannot part believers from union with
Christ. Those whom we most love
yea
even our own bodies
which we so care
for
must soon become loathsome lumps of clays
and be buried out of sight. How
loose then should we be to all earthly attachments and adornments! Let us seek
rather that our souls be adorned with heavenly graces. Abraham rendered honour
and respect to the princes of Heth
although of the ungodly Canaanites. The
religion of the Bible enjoins to pay due respect to all in authority
without
flattering their persons
or countenancing their crimes if they are unworthy
characters. And the noble generosity of these Canaanites shames and condemns
the closeness
selfishness
and ill-humour of many that call themselves
Israelites. It was not in pride that Abraham refused the gift
because he
scorned to be beholden to Ephron; but in justice and in prudence. Abraham was
able to pay for the field
and therefore would not take advantage of Ephron's
generosity. Honesty
as well as honour
forbids us to take advantage of our
neighbour's liberality
and to impose
upon those who give freely.
Commentary on Genesis 23:14-20
Prudence
as well as justice
directs us to be fair and
open in our dealings; cheating bargains will not bear the light. Abraham
without fraud or delay
pays the money. He pays it at once in full
without
keeping any part back; and by weight
current money with the merchant
without
deceit. See how anciently money was used for the help of trade
and how
honestly it should be paid when it is due. Though all the land of Canaan was
Abraham by promise
yet the time of his possessing it not being come
what he
had occasion for he bought and paid for. Dominion is not founded in grace. The
saints' title to an eternal inheritance does not entitle them to the
possessions of this world
nor justify them in doing wrong. Ephron honestly and
fairly makes a good title to the land. As that which is bought
must be
honestly paid for
so that which is sold
must be honestly delivered and
secured. Let us manage our concerns with punctuality and exactness
in order to
avoid contention. Abraham buried Sarah in cave. or vault
which was in the
purchased field. It would tend to endear the land to his posterity. And it is
worth noting
that a burying-place was the only piece of the land which Abraham
possessed in Canaan. Those who have least of this earth
find a grave in it.
This sepulchre was at the end of the field; whatever our possessions are
there
is a burial-place at the end of them. It was a token of his belief and
expectation of the resurrection. Abraham is contented to be still a pilgrim
while he lives
but secures a place where
when he dies
his flesh may rest in
hope. After all
the chief concern is
with whom we shall rise.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Genesis》
Genesis 23
Verse 2
[2] And Sarah died in Kirjatharba; the same is Hebron in the
land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah
and to weep for her.
Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep — He did not only
perform the ceremonies of mourning according to the custom of those times
but
did sincerely lament the great loss he had
and gave proof of the constancy of
his affection. Therefore these two words are used
he came both to mourn and to
weep.
Verse 4
[4] I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a
possession of a buryingplace with you
that I may bury my dead out of my sight.
I am a stranger and a sojourner with you — Therefore I am
unprovided
and must become a suiter to you for a burying-place. This was one
occasion which Abraham took to confess that he was a stranger and a pilgrim
upon earth. The death of our relations should effectually mind us that we are
not at home in this world.
That I may bury my dead out of my sight — Death will make those
unpleasant to our sight
who while they lived were the desire of our eyes. The
countenance that was fresh and lively becomes pale and ghastly
and fit to be
removed into the land of darkness.
Verse 6
[6] Hear us
my lord: thou art a mighty prince among us: in
the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee
his sepulchre
but that thou mayest bury thy dead.
Thou art a prince of God among us — So the word is; not
only great
but good. He called himself a stranger and a sojourner
they call
him a great prince.
Verse 7
[7] And Abraham stood up
and bowed himself to the people of
the land
even to the children of Heth.
Abraham returns them thanks for their kind offer
with
all possible decency and respect. Religion teaches good manners
and those
abuse it that place it in rudeness and clownishness.
Verse 11
[11] Nay
my lord
hear me: the field give I thee
and the
cave that is therein
I give it thee; in the presence of the sons of my people
give I it thee: bury thy dead.
The field give I thee — Abraham thought he
must be intreated to sell it
but upon the first mention
without intreaty
he
freely gives it.
Verse 13
[13] And he spake unto Ephron in the audience of the people
of the land
saying
But if thou wilt give it
I pray thee
hear me: I will
give thee money for the field; take it of me
and I will bury my dead there.
I will give thee money for the field — It was not in pride
that Abraham refused the gift; but 1. In justice. Abraham was rich in silver
and gold
and therefore would not take advantage of Ephron's generosity. 2. In
prudence. He would pay for it
lest Ephron
when this good humour was over
should upbraid him with it.
Verse 15
[15] My lord
hearken unto me: the land is worth four hundred
shekels of silver; what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.
The land is worth four hundred shekels of silver — About fifty pounds of
our money
but what is that between me and thee? - He would rather oblige his
friend than have so much money.
Verse 20
[20] And the field
and the cave that is therein
were made
sure unto Abraham for a possession of a buryingplace by the sons of Heth.
A burying place — 'Tis worth noting
1. That a
burying-place was the first spot of ground Abraham was possessed of in Canaan.
2. That it was the only piece of land he was ever possessed of
tho' it was all
his own in reversion. Those that have least of this earth find a grave in it.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on
Genesis》
23 Chapter 23
Verse 1-2
Abraham came to mourn for Sarah
and to weep for her
Abraham in the house of mourning
What lessons would such a man as Abraham learn in this house of
mourning?
I. THAT IN VIEW
OF THE AWFUL FACT OF DEATH THE LITTLENESS OF HUMAN LIFE IS SEEN.
II. TO REALIZE THE
FACT OF HIS OWN MORTALITY. “I may be the next to go.”
III. TO FEEL THAT
THERE IS A LIFE BEYOND.
IV. THE SACREDNESS
OF SORROW FOR THE DEAD. (T. H. Leale.)
Mourning for the departed
The true mourning a sanctified feeling of death.
1. A fellow-feeling of death with the dead.
2. An anticipation of death or a living preparation for one’s own
death.
3. A believing sense of the end or destination of death to be made
useful to the life. (J. P. Lange
D. D.)
Lessons
1. On Mount Moriah we find Abraham doing God’s will; here we find
him suffering it.
2. Look at Abraham buying a grave; the best man of his age here
bargains for burial ground. Ponder well this transaction
and consider that in
return for four hundred pieces of silver Abraham gets a burying-place.
3. The behaviour of the children of Heth calls for appreciative
notice. They treated Abraham with generous pity and helpfulness.
4. Man’s final requirement of man is a grave. In the grave there is
no repentance; the dead man cannot obliterate the past.
5. Abraham mourned for Sarah. Consecration to God’s purpose does not
eradicate our deep human love; say
rather
that it heightens
refines
sanctifies it. (J. Parker
D. D.)
A break in the home circle
Perhaps we who lead briefer and
at the same time
more stirring
and varied lives
with rapid change and a multitude of interests to divide
attention
cannot fully realize how the members of such a home circle as
Abraham’s grew into each other
or how one out of such a circle would be
missed. Through long unbroken periods they lived constantly together
and were
everything to one another. Of society
except that of their own slaves
there
was little or none. The round of easy occupations which made up their shepherd
life left ample leisure for domestic converse. It was inevitable that their
lives should grow together as if welded into one. Husband and wife
parent and
child
must have moulded one another’s character to an extent hardly possible
in other states of society. Stronger natures impressed themselves upon feebler
ones. The older generation made that which succeeded it. The experiences and
the teaching of the aged father created an unwritten family code
which ruled
alike his son and his grandson. Each memorable incident in the family annals
crystallized itself
no doubt
through constant repetition
and passed down
with hardly any change of form as part of the family tradition. From such a
close circle of relations the disappearance of one loved and familiar face
would leave a blank never to be filled and scarcely ever to be forgotten. This
must have been especially the case when death made its first breach in the
family
and
at the ripe age of a hundred and twenty-seven years
Sarah
princess
wife
and mother
fell asleep. Her death made Abraham a lonely man.
It broke the final link to his ancestral home. It robbed him of the only one
who cherished with him a common memory of his father’s house and the happy days
of youth. She alone was left of those who
sixty-two years before
had shared
his venturous emigration from Haran. He was her senior by ten years; and her
removal must have come to him like a warning that before him likewise there lay
another emigration
more venturous than the last--one final journey into a land
still farther off. (J. O. Dykes
D. D.)
I. THE DEATH.
1. Of Sarah
princess. Kings and great men die. “Wealth cannot
deliver in the day of his power.”
2. The wife of a great man. Derives her chief dignity from this
connection. Little expected the honour that would befall her from this
marriage. The source of Abraham’s joy
as well as the occasion of some of his
sins.
3. The mother of the free. The ancestress of Jesus
and those who
believe in Him.
4. Died at Hebron = alliance. The alliance with Abraham dissolved
and her eternal alliance with Abraham’s God
and one who was before Abraham John 8:58)
now inaugurated. Happy are
those who compose the bride--the Lamb’s wife; the day of death is with them the
day of theirespousals. The alliances of earth
abandoned for a better and more
lasting one.
II. THE GRAVE.
1. A cave. We are of the earth
earthy. Dust
and must return to
dust.
2. Purchased. Abraham selected one that would receive his own
remains. (“The family meeting-place” is an epitaph at Pere la Chaise.) Men
sometimes think more of their sepulchres than of death; and make greater
preparation for the temporary repose of the body than the eternal rest of the
soul. It was all that Abraham purchased of the promised land. The country was
given to the living. The promised land of heaven for the living is a free gift
and there will be no bargaining for graves there. Man sells a place for the
dead
God gives a home for the living.
III. THE BURIAL.
“That I may bury my dead out of my sight.” The object that once most pleased the
eye must be put “ out of sight
” as a loathsome thing. Life
a fountain of
beauty and attractiveness. How glorious that world must be where they die no
more
and are never put out of sight. Those who die in the Lord
and are put
out of sight
will presently be in sight for ever. The aged man before the
grave of his wife. The parting is not for long. A few more steps
and he will
be at home with his princess for ever. But with all this Christian hope
the
loss of dear friends and the sunderings of long companionships is painful. At
such times may we be able to say
“Thy will be done.” Learn:
1. The great and good and best loved must die.
2. The earthly dissolution may be the beginning of our eternal
union.
3. It is little the world can furnish us besides a place to lie down
in at the end of the journey.
4. Happy are those who
being saved themselves
have a good hope of
meeting those who are “not lost
but gone before.” (J. C. Gray.)
Tears over the dead
In those tears of Abraham was anguish; but there might have been
remorse. Apparently Abraham had nothing to reproach himself with. Quarrels in
his married life are recorded
but in all he behaved with tenderness
concession
and dignity. In all things he had supported and cherished his wife
bearing
like a strong man
the burdens of the weak. But oh! let us beware.
There are bitter recollections which enhance the sorrow of bereavement and
change it into agony--recollections which are repeated to us in words which
remorse will not cease to echo for ever and ever. “Oh
if they would but come
again
I’d never grieve them more.” It is this which makes tears scald. To how
many a grown heart have not those childish words of the infant hymn gone home
sharp
with an undying pang! (F. W. Robertson
M. A.)
A burying-place
Constantine the Great
in order to reclaim a very worldly man
marked out
with a lance
a piece of ground the size of a human body
and then
said
“If you could increase your possessions till you acquired the whole
world
in a short time such a spot as this will be all you will have.”
Abraham buried Sarah his
wife
Abraham burying his dead
I.
CONSIDER HIM AS A MAN.
II. CONSIDER HIM AS A MAN OF BUSINESS.
1. His independence (Genesis 23:4; Genesis 23:6).
2. His exactness (Genesis 23:17-18).
3. His courtesy.
III. CONSIDER HIM AS A GODLY MAN.
1. He believed in immortality.
2. He believed that God would grant his posterity to inherit the
land.
3. He believed in a future state of blessedness for the righteous. (T.
H.Leale.)
Circumstances connected
with Sarah’s burial
1. Observe the honour which the ancients paid to the dead. This
proves that they had a secret glimmer of immortality.
2. Observe the transaction with the children of Heth. A scriptural
precedent for exactitude in business.
3. Observe also how courteous phrases contain a higher excellence
than they mean. “What is that betwixt me and thee?” The children of Heth had no
intention whatever of being taken at their word any more than a man has now
when he calls himself your humble servant or bids you command him. We must go
back to an earlier age when phrases were coined and meant something
when gifts
were gifts and nothing was hoped for in return
in order to catch the life that
was once in our conventional phraseology. So now language preserves
as marble
preserves shells of hoar antiquity
the petrified phrases of a charity and
humbleness which once were living. They are dead
but they do at least this
they keep up memorials of what should be. So that the world
in its daily
language of politeness
has a record of its duty. Take those phrases
redeem
them from death
live the life that was once in them. Let every man be as
humble
as faithful
as obedient as his language professes
and the kingdom of
God has come!
4. Lastly
we find in connection with Sarah’s burial a Divine
provision for the healing of Abraham’s sorrow. He was compelled to exert
himself to obtain a place to “ bury his dead out of his sight.” Had he not had
to arouse himself and procure a grave for Sarah
he would have brooded over his
grief. This is the merciful plan of compensation which God has provided for us;
the necessities of life call us from our sorrow. All these merciful provisions
plainly show us that we are in a Father’s world. (F. W. Robertson
M. A.)
Machpelah
and its first
tenant
I. WE ARE FIRST ARRESTED BY ABRAHAM’S TEARS.
II. NOTICE ABRAHAM’S CONFESSION.
III. NOTICE ABRAHAM’S FAITH. (F. B. Meyer
B.A.)
I. IN ITS CONNECTION WITH SARAH IT IS A TOKEN OF RESPECT TO THE
DEAD. The body deserves this.
1. Because it has been the man’s dwelling-place.
2. Because it has assisted the soul to express itself.
3. Because it is destined for a higher and nobler service.
The purchased grave
II. IN ITS CONNECTION WITH ABRAHAM HIMSELF IT SHOWS THAT HE PREPARED
FOR DEATH.
1. It taught him that the highest earthly possessions terminate in a
grave.
2. It implies that he waited for death.
I. IN ITS CONNECTION WITH THE JEWISH NATION IT SERVES AS A MONUMENT
FOR THEIR INSTRUCTION.
1. Its purchase taught them that it would soon be theirs.
2. Its stillness taught them to be active.
3. Its solemnity taught them to seek that country where there is no
grave. (Homilist.)
The cave of Machpelah
I. ABRAHAM’S SORROW.
II. ABRAHAM’S PURCHASE. Strange possession to be the first portion in
the land which was promised! A place to bury the dead in--yet observe how this
very purchase is an act of faith and a pledge for the future fulfilment of
God’s promises.
III. ABRAHAM’S HOPE (Hebrews 11:13-16). We Christians to whom more light has been granted concerning
the hopes of “the heavenly city” beyond this earthly life can see how
in Jesus
Christ and His gospel
the sorrow for the dead and the fear of death are
changed into thankfulness and hope. In Christ’s death
burial
resurrection we
trace an upward course to life eternal. Death is conquered. “Paradise” is the
peaceful resting-place of those who “sleep in Jesus.” Heaven is the final
fulness of joy. (W. S. Smith
B. D.)
Death and burial
Abraham declares himself a
stranger and a sojourner in the land
and humbly prays for a burying-place to
bury his dead
once so dear and so lovely
“out of his sight”; expressing thus
a sad
universal
and most humiliating fact
that death “changes the
countenance” of its victims
as well as “sendeth them away”; and so changes
them that disgust succeeds to delight
terror to affection; and so dreadful is
the mixture of the memory of past beauty and the sight of present decay
that
the survivor needs no exhortation to hide his friend in the grave
but with
eager haste commits parent
or child
or brother
or wife
or lover
into the
dust
and almost rejoices as he shuts the coffin to know that that disfigured
countenance he shall see no more. What a strange view of the power and mystery
of death is implied in the thought of not hatred
but love
crying out for the
eternal removal of its object out of its sight! But often it is not the mere
physical rottenness which awakens this desire; often
too
there arise painful
agonizing
terrible thoughts on the sight of a departed friend. The whole of
the past history of the friendship or love; its first commencement and the joys
connected with it; the trials and troubles
perhaps partial estrangement or
complete alienation for a time
which darkened its progress; the exquisite
pleasures
or no less exquisite pangs
which alternated; benefits received from
the departed which were unrequited
or injuries done to them which were never
fully repaid; every harsh look or word on the side of the living remembered
while on that of the dead all but their smiles and kindness are forgotten; the
scenes of the sick-bed; the last farewell on the brink of eternity; all these
heartquaking
melting
rending images arise
and clustered around and pictured
as they are on the mirror of that pale face and shut eye
might drive to
insanity and howling despair
were it not that a veil for that mirror of past
joy became sorrow
and past grief became distraction
has been provided
in the
merciful lid of the coffin--a lid which henceforth only the worm
the eye of
imagination sometimes venturing to peep into darkness
but as speedily
withdrawing the gaze
and the light of the last morning
shall be able to
penetrate. (G. Gilfillan.)
Significance of behaviour
in the presence of grief
Circumstances test the
true quality of men. Irreverence in the presence of grief is an infallible sign
of the deepest degeneracy; it marks the ultimate deterioration of the human
heart. On the other hand
to be chastened by sorrow
to be moved into generous
pity and helpfulness
is to show that there is still something in the man on
which the kingdom of Jesus Christ may be built. Never despair of any man who is
capable of generous impulses. Put no man down as incurably bad
who will share
his one loaf with the hungry
or give shelter to a lost little one. Poor and
crude may be his formal creed
very dim and pitifully inadequate his view of
scholastic theology; but there is a root in him which may be developed into
much beauty and fruitfulness. For this reason
I cannot overlook the genial
humanity and simple gracefulness of this act of the Hittites. (J. Parker
D.
D.)
Ephron and Abraham--a
life-like picture
It was quite in accordance
with Eastern usage that Abraham did not apply directly to the proprietor of the
plot in which the cave lay
Ephron by name
the son of Zohar
but made interest
with him through the leading men of the city. Courtesy required
too
that
their consent should be secured for the proposed arrangement. The whole
narrative
which is most minute
wears the strongest local colouring. Abraham’s
respectful attitude
his repeated prostrations with his face to the ground
the
polite hospitality of the townsmen
the difficulty in coming to a bargain
the
offer of Ephron to waive the question of price
his indirect mention of the
four hundred shekels
the conclusion of the sale at the city gate in the place
of concourse
the weighing of uncoined rings or ingots of silver which served
for a medium of exchange
and the copious phraseology as of a legal document
by which
before witnesses
the cave
with the field
the fence around it
and
the trees on it
were all conveyed in perpetuity to their new owner--these
particulars correspond
we are assured by Dr. Thomson
a competent witness
to
what may be seen at this day in Eastern bargain-making. It is true that
nowadays the courtesy is merely formal
and such generous phrases as those of
Ephron and his fellow-citizens are grown very hollow indeed. Still
it seems
questionable to conclude
as Dr. Thomson himself has done
that they meant no
more in that simple age
when the ceremonies of intercourse were newer and more
truly reflected its spirit. Besides
it is hardly fair to place an occasion
like that before us quite on a level with the ordinary chaffering of an Arab
market-place. One must take care
no doubt
not to read all the incidents of a
story
which is sacred as well as ancient
through such an unreal light as will
invest them with fictitious dignity. On the other hand
we may equally err if
in our efforts to be realistic
we rob the record of its native dignity
or
vulgarize the manners of antiquity because the manners of to-day are vulgar. (J.
O. Dykes
D. D.)
Sarah’s tomb
Around the grotto which
thus became the sepulchre of Abraham’s family
and which afterwards was to
receive
not only his own dust
but that of his son and grandson with their
wives
there has grown up an interest as enduring
and an obscurity as deep as
attach to any grave on earth save one. The piety of some unknown age
probably
Jewish
erected round the spot massive walls of noble masonry
which still
exist. Inside these walls the devotion of early Christians consecrated a
church
and over the church the devotion of the Mussulman a mosque. The gates
of that mosque
the famous Haram of Hebron
had been closed against Western
unbelievers for six centuries
when with extreme difficulty access to it was
procured for the Prince of Wales and his suite in the year 1862. What they saw
inside an enclosure so jealously guarded has been told with his accustomed
precision of statement by Dean Stanley. Railed off
each one within its
separate chapel
there lie the coffin-like shrines to which are attached the
venerable names of Sarah and Abraham
of Isaac and Rebecca
of Leah and Jacob.
These
however
are only empty monuments. The real tombs
if they exist at all
must be sought beneath the floor of the building
in the rocky cavern
underground. To this vault a trap-door in the pavement promises to give access;
but as yet its darkness remains unvisited and unviolated. So far as could be
ascertained through such a brief and partial inspection of the mosque
it is clear
that the contents of that sacred place answer exactly to the requirements of
the scriptural narrative. Unfortunately
more than this cannot be said. It is
reserved for some explorer more fortunate than even the Prince of Wales to
disclose the well-kept secret of the tomb of the patriarchs. (J. O. Dykes
D. D.)
Sarah’s tomb
Only one European
Pierroti
an Italian architect in the service of the Sultan
has ever seen more
than the floor of the upper chamber
with its six tawdry erections
placed
there in accordance with a practice usual in Mahometan sepulchres. Pierotti
daringly pressing after the chief Sanon
or priest of the mosque
when he was
entering the lower story on a special occasion
found the entry was by a
horizontal door in the porch. First a carpet
then a grated iron door
was
lifted; after which a narrow stair appeared
cut in the rock. Undeterred by
blows and violence
he managed to descend this far enough to see into the lower
cavern in a northern direction
and to notice sarcophagi of white stone; the
true tombs of some of the illustrious dead
in striking corroboration of the
statement of Josephus
that they were of fair marble
exquisitely wrought.
There can be little doubt
indeed
that the remains of the three generations of
patriarchs and their wives
Rachel alone excepted
still lie safely in this
their venerable sepulchre. (C. Geikie
D. D.)
Origin of money
When he required this
sepulchre
he offered so much money we are told-shekels of silver-and this
money was weighed. This informs us that silver came so early as this period of
the world to be currency. I mentioned
I think
before
that the earliest money
was cattle. Hence
the Latin word pecunia
from which our expression pecuniary
transactions is derived
comes from pecus
which means cattle. And it is very
singular that in the Greek language every word that is used for purchase or
property is a derivation from some other word denoting an animal. Thus the
Greek word αρνυσθαι
which means
“to bargain
” is derived from a Greek word that
means a lamb. Again
πωλεω
to sell
is
derived from the word used for a colt. Again
the Greek word ωνεομαι
to profit
comes from a word signifying an ass. Again
the Greek
word προβιας
revenue
is derived from the Greek word προβατον
sheep or cattle. In short
all the words in Greek and Latin that
mean property transactions
buying and selling
are derived from cattle
and
the earliest figures that were struck upon ancient coins were figures of
cattle. A man was said to be possessed of so many thousand oxen or sheep
and
when they entered into a bargain
they gave so many sheep or so many oxen to
the person from whom they were purchasing. Here
for the first time
we have
silver introduced as currency-that which
in fact
is still the currency of the
greatest portion of the nations of the earth-gold being restricted to very few
countries
as the representative of property-mainly
I believe
in this
country; whereas on the continent it is
I believe
chiefly silver (J.
Cumming
D. D.)
Abraham at Machpelah
What I wish to emphasize
here is the open
manly honesty of Abraham. There was no cheapening of the
price--nothing of “It is naught
it is naught
saith the buyer: and when he is
gone his way
then he boasteth.” Here were only civility
courtesy
and
integrity. He did everything in a business way
but he had respect for others
as well as for himself. He recognized that there was another hearer than the
multitudes assembled at the city gate
even God Himself
and he did not choose
that He should hear anything of rudeness
or selfishness
or dishonesty from
his lips. Oh
how much more pleasantly business would be conducted among
ourselves if we were to act in this way! But too many of us are constantly on
the watch for an advantage! The seller’s maxim too frequently is the selfish
one of the Romans
“Caveat emptor”--“let the buyer look out for
himself.” And the buyer
on his side
is too frequently just as eagerly anxious
to over-reach the seller. It is far too often “diamond cut diamond”
between them. But that both are bad does not excuse either
and God is
listening to both. Ah! if we all remembered that
our stores would be different
places from what they often are
and business would rise to its ancient and
irreproachable renown. Faith in God--such faith as Abraham had-that is still
the great necessity of life. For pureness
for integrity
for liberality
for
courage
for courtesy
this is what we mainly need. It is as true to-day as when
John wrote the words
“This is the victory that overcometh the world
even our
faith.” (W. M. Taylor
D. D.)
Courtesy
It is related of Pope
Clement XIV. (Ganganelli)
that when he ascended the papal chair
the
ambassadors of the several states represented at his court waited on him with
their congratulations. When they were introduced
and bowed
he returned the
compliment by bowing also; on which the master of the ceremonies told his
highness that he should not have returned their salute. “Oh
I beg your pardon
”
said the good pontiff
“I have not been pope long enough to forget good
manners.”
Civility
When old Zachariah Fox
the great merchant of Liverpool
was asked by what means he contrived to
realize so large a fortune as he possessed
his reply was
“Friend
by one
article alone
in which thou may’st deal too if thou pleasest--civility.” (Moral
and Religious Anecdotes.)
Courtesy to enemies
After the battle of
Poitiers
in which the Black Prince fought and defeated the French king
the
prince waited upon his captives like a menial at supper; nor could he be
persuaded to sit at the king’s table. This was quite in accordance with the
chivalry of the day. (Little’s Historical Lights.)
Verse 4
I am a stranger and a sojourner among you
Strangers in the earth
I.
THE
EXHORTATION. A true Christian’s life should be that of a stranger and a
sojourner.
1. Such persons are at once recognized. Marks of nationality may be
more or less prominent. Sometimes the foreigner wears a strange costume
and
speaks a strange language; and sometimes these things are studiously avoided;
he assumes our dress
converses in our dialect; nevertheless
there is always
something about him which bespeaks “the sojourner.” And so should it be with
the Christian.
2. These peculiarities will be observable in all the common business
of life. Not
indeed
in any disregard of useful industries and occupations. A
wise foreigner
passing through a strange country
will make the best use of
his time
mingling with its inhabitants
studying its institutions
observing
its manners and customs
examining minutely its improvements in science and
art
perhaps investing largely in its agricultural implements
and mechanical
machinery
and scientific apparatus
and many of its products and fabrics
ornamental and useful. He may for the time appear
more even than native
citizens
attentive to and engrossed by such matters; nevertheless
every man
who deals with him perceives that his interest in them is that of a sojourner
who examines and purchases with a view to some use or enjoyment in his own
distant land. Just so should it be with the Christian.
3. These marks of a foreigner will be manifest in all the pleasures
of life.
4. A foreigner may be known by the opinions he forms and expresses
of all things that surround him. Many such things
which to us
through custom
and familiarity
seem proper and consistent and natural
will often strike him
strangely. This point is finely illustrated in Oliver Goldsmith’s “ Citizen of
the World.”
II. As A
CONSOLATION. If we are “strangers and sojourners on earth
” then--
1. Our better portion and grander heritage and home are in heaven.
Like the patriarchs
we should “look for a city whose maker is God!” and
like
the apostles
should rejoice to think that presently we shall be “absent from
the body and present with the Lord.”
2. Strangers and foreigners think ever and most tenderly of their
distant native lands. Of the dear doors that will open
and the loved voices
that will welcome them
when
having accomplished the ends of their brief
sojourn in those stranger-scenes
they cross the ocean
and cast anchor in
distant harbours
and go ashore to their own cities. And herein they should be
our models. Good as Christian life may be on the earth
yet there are better
things in heaven. (The Preacher’s Monthly.)
The believer and the world; or
Abraham the stranger and sojourner
We shall attempt the task of analysing the relations which Abraham
sustained to his heathen neighbours. We perceive at once that they were those
of entire friendliness
but of absolute separation. We shall follow
therefore
this simple division of the subject of this chapter.
I. HIS
FRIENDLINESS. Mark you
not his “ friendship.” Let it not be implied that there
was any agreement of his principles with theirs
any community of interests
between them
or any sympathy in character. He was indeed their friend
but he
was not their fellow
and in his friendship there was no fellowship whatsoever.
Their life was abhorrent to him. Their practices were such as gave him the
greatest pain. The neighbours of Abraham were cruel
covetous
and licentious
beyond the very conception of the vast majority who live in Christian lands
to-day. But Abraham never ceased to be on friendly terms with them. He never
manifested towards them an amicable disposition
treated them with noticeable
courtesy and did them signal favours. But Abraham always kept the peace
and
never made an enemy among them all. Some of the stories are exceedingly
beautiful
as illustrating the existing friendliness. Look
for example
at
that of the covenant between Abimelech and Abraham. The feelings which
neighbouring chiefs entertained toward Abraham is nowhere better shown than at
the time of the sack of Sodom and the capture of Lot and his family. But this
was not all. His magnanimity took a higher form and his friendliness was of
nobler nature than could possibly have been displayed in any affair of temporal
character. Those heathen lay upon his heart. No one ever pleaded for guilty men
as Abraham did--save only their Divine Saviour. A praying friend is the best
friend
and such was Abraham!
II. Is it
possible
then
for one who shows such friendliness to the ungodly
to be also
ABSOLUTELY SEPARATE
from them? Yes
Abraham made it plain: so plain that it
was clear
not only in his own secret soul--as is so often the case; but clear
also to all among whom he sojourned. They would have been glad to have had him
identify himself with them. But he would not do so. Nearly seventy years he
lived among them; but he was not of them. He was a “confederate” only
never a
“compatriot”; a sojourner
never a citizen. As his separation from these
sinners is the important thing for us to study
note the following particulars
wherein it was manifested. Beginning with the simpler
observe that it
appeared--
1. In the food which he ate. A trifling thing
you say
but nothing
is trifling whereby the holy is set apart from the unholy. Leaven is produced
by fermentation
and fermentation is a species of corruption. Therefore Abraham
would have none of it. So
when the three angels appeared to him as he sat in
his tent door (Genesis 18:1-5)he was ready to entertain
them
and offered at once to “fetch them a morsel of bread” for their
“comfort.” Ah! it is worth our while to remember that in just such trifles
there is a vast difference between the clean and the unclean. As some one has
so wisely said
it is by trifles that we reach perfection
and perfection is no
trifle.
2. In his dwelling. It was a tent
which could be easily moved from
place to place. Had Abraham ever built a house
the whole meaning of his outward
life would have been destroyed. It would have indicated that he had come to
stay
and have rendered ridiculous his declaration
“I am a sojourner with
you.”
3. In his private business. His avocation was in keeping with his
mission
and his covenant relations to his God. He did not mingle with the
ungodly multitudes. The cities
with the glare and glitter of their iniquitous
life
had no attraction for him. Lot became covetous of their wealth
ambitious
for their preferment
and settled in Sodom; but Lot was not a party to the
everlasting covenant--not a “church-member.”
4. In his business transactions. He must needs have dealings with
men of the world; but he so dealt with them as to emphasize his separateness.
He became rich
but he never manifested any undue haste to be rich
nor took
any “ short cut” to fortune. Observe several illustrations. What a noble spirit
he manifested in the dissolution of the partnership existing between himself
and Lot. But his principles are more plain
if possible
in his transaction
with Ephron
the Hittite (Genesis 23:1-20.). The custom of the
country was not the law of his life. He was the only man in all the land who
conducted his business in this way.
5. Once more: his separation from the world appears in his conquest
of the world. Though Abraham was a man of peace
as we have seen
yet it seems
most appropriate that once
at least
in his long life
he should have
exhibited his peculiar power over the men and agencies of this world. It was
spiritual power for physical ends--something of which the world as yet knows
little. Chedorlaomer and his allies had sacked Sodom
and were hastening away
with the spoils and captives. (D. R. Breed
D. D.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》