Genesis 23
God had promised the land of Canaan to Abraham and to his seed for a possession when He called him out from Ur of the Chaldees (Gen 12:7). When Sarah died, Abraham went to the sons of Heth, the inhabitants of the land, and pleaded with them that he might buy a parcel of ground from them for a burying place (23:3-4).
The story that develops around this request is a very interesting one and provides us with a number of pictures and types concerning our Lord Jesus Christ. Here also we will see something of the uprightness and integrity of Abraham’s character, providing an example for believers today to follow.
Perspective
The first thing that we notice is Abraham’s perspective of his living among the inhabitants of the land of Canaan. He recognized that he was only a stranger and a sojourner among them. The idea of sojourn is to dwell as a stranger. By Abraham’s confession that he was a sojourner, or a pilgrim and a stranger, he was, in effect, declaring that he was looking for a better and a heavenly country (Heb 11:14-16). The writer of the epistle to the Hebrews said concerning Abraham that he “looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (11:10).1
We, too, as those who belong to Christ, are strangers and pilgrims in this world. Paul reminds us in the book of Philippians that “our conversation [citizenship] is in heaven” (3:20). Peter appealed to the believers to live as strangers and pilgrims, and to abstain from fleshly lusts that war against the soul (1Pe 2:11). While we live in this world, we ought not to love the world or the things of this world (1Jn 2:15) or be conformed to the ways of this world (Rom 12:2).
We should, then, set our affection on things above, not on things on the earth (Col 3:2). The apostle Paul also urged, quoting from the prophecy of Isaiah (52:11), “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you” (2Co 6:17). The writer of the epistle to the Hebrews exhorts us, “Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come” (13:13-14).
Position
It is evident that Abraham was highly esteemed by the children of Heth, because they refer to him as “a mighty prince” (Gen 23:6). Interestingly, the Lord Jesus is referred to as “a Prince and a Saviour” (Act 5:31) and “the Prince of life” (3:15). In Isaiah’s prophecy, He is called “the Prince of Peace” (9:6). The last mention of the Lord Jesus as a Prince is found in the book of Revelation, where He is appropriately called “the prince of the kings of the earth” (1:5).
Purchase
Abraham paid the full purchase price for the piece of land, witnessed by all who were present. The expression used concerning the silver that Abraham used for the purchase was “current money with the merchant” (Gen 23:16). This would remind us of Abraham’s honesty and integrity.
Ephron, the Hittite, felt that the 400 shekels of silver was not much between them. We could never put a monetary value on the purchase price paid in order that you and I might be redeemed. Peter tells us, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold … but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1Pe 1:18-19). The Lord Jesus willingly took our place on dark Calvary, bearing the punishment that our sins deserved. Paul wrote, “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Eph 1:7).
Possession
The silver was weighed and the transaction was completed. The field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, became the possession of Abraham. When the Lord Jesus cried from the cross, “It is finished” (Joh 19:30), it signified the completion of a transaction; the purchase price was paid in full, in His own most precious blood. Now, too, we who have been redeemed belong to Christ; we are His possession.
Paul wrote, “Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1Co 6:19-20).
Permanence
“The field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession” (Gen 23:20). All those who have been redeemed by precious blood have been made sure as the purchased possession of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul reminds us in the book of Ephesians that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise (Eph 1:13). The word “sealed” in that particular reference indicates the security and permanency of our salvation. There is also the thought of ownership implied in the context.
The Lord Jesus says in the Gospel of John that we have eternal life and that no one is able to pluck us out of His hand; neither is anyone able to pluck us out of the Father’s hand (10:27-29). Peter assures us that, based on the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, we are “kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1Pe 1:5).
Paul wrote in the book of Romans, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (8:38-39). We are made as sure as the blood of Christ can make us.
We see also that the purchase price included the field, the cave that was in the field, and all the trees that were in all the borders round about (Gen 23:17). This reminds us of the totality of the purchase; nothing was left out. So it is in our case. We have been saved from the penalty and power of sin, and one day we will be saved from the very presence of sin.
1 Bible quotations in this article are from the KJV.
