The Death of Sarah
Text: Genesis 23
Core Idea: Like Abraham, we will face death, disappointment, and days that feel painfully ordinary – but even there, God calls us to trust Him, obey Him, and lift our eyes to the better country He has prepared. Then, let’s live as sojourners – holding Christ tightly and walking by faith until the day He brings us safely home.
INTRODUCTION
We’re continuing our journey through the Book of Genesis – tracing how God’s plan of salvation began. And last week, we walked through one of the most intense and emotionally charged moments in all of Scripture – where God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice Isaac, his only son, whom he loved. Now, I shared that this was not punishment but refinement – a test designed to deepen Abraham’s faith, not destroy it. But considering how shocking the command was, it would’ve been perfectly understandable if Abraham had resisted or refused to obey. And yet he did obey – not because he understood God’s plan, nor because he felt emotionally ready, but simply because he trusted the God who had never failed him. He walked up that mountain believing that, if necessary, God could even raise Isaac from the dead. And the moment Abraham lifted the knife, God intervened and provided a ram in place of Isaac. So, Abraham came down the mountain with this truth carved into his heart: that the God who tests His people is also the God who provides for His people. Now, compared to Genesis 22, today’s chapter may feel slow, ordinary, even tedious. There’s no miracle, no dramatic build-up, no divine interruption. It’s a simple story of death and burial – which is why it’s so easy to overlook its importance. But if Genesis 22 shows us faith in a moment of radical obedience, Genesis 23 shows us faith in the everyday, painful, ordinary moments of life. If Genesis 22 shows Abraham’s surrender, Genesis 23 shows Abraham’s endurance. So, with that in mind, please turn your Bibles to Genesis 23 – let me read this for us.
1 Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old. 2 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. 3 Then Abraham rose from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites. He said, 4 “I am a foreigner and stranger among you. Sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead.” 5 The Hittites replied to Abraham, 6 “Sir, listen to us. You are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb for burying your dead.” 7 Then Abraham rose and bowed down before the people of the land, the Hittites. 8 He said to them, “If you are willing to let me bury my dead, then listen to me and intercede with Ephron son of Zohar on my behalf 9 so he will sell me the cave of Machpelah, which belongs to him and is at the end of his field. Ask him to sell it to me for the full price as a burial site among you.” 10 Ephron the Hittite was sitting among his people and he replied to Abraham in the hearing of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city. 11 “No, my lord,” he said. “Listen to me; I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. I give it to you in the presence of my people. Bury your dead.” 12 Again Abraham bowed down before the people of the land 13 and he said to Ephron in their hearing, “Listen to me, if you will. I will pay the price of the field. Accept it from me so I can bury my dead there.” 14 Ephron answered Abraham, 15 “Listen to me, my lord; the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver, but what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.” 16 Abraham agreed to Ephron’s terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weight current among the merchants. 17 So Ephron’s field in Machpelah near Mamre – both the field and the cave in it, and all the trees within the borders of the field – was deeded 18 to Abraham as his property in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of the city. 19 Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre (which is at Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 20 So the field and the cave in it were deeded to Abraham by the Hittites as a burial site.
Amen. This is the Word of God for you today.
Let’s go through this passage under three headings:
· THE DEATH
· THE NEGOTIATION
· THE BURIAL
1) THE DEATH
The chapter begins by informing us that Sarah, Abraham’s wife, died at the age of 127. Here, we see how important Sarah is in the redemptive story because she’s the only woman whose age at death is recorded in the Bible. Many Christians admire Mary as a model of faith – and she absolutely is. But interestingly, Scripture never explicitly calls us to imitate Mary – and yet Sarah is constantly presented to us as an example to follow. For example, Isaiah 51:1-2 says, “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the LORD: Look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth.” Here, God was basically saying, “If you want to understand faith, if you want to see what trust looks like in long and hard seasons, look at Sarah.” In Hebrews 11:11, Sarah is honored as a woman who “considered Him faithful who had made the promise.” And in 1 Peter 3:5-6, Peter points to Sarah as an example of hope, courage, and godly character – and declares, “You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.” So, Scripture repeatedly holds Sarah up as a pattern of faith for God’s people to learn from – a woman who stumbled but repented, endured and ultimately trusted the Lord. And this woman of faith was now gone. Verse 2: “Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.” The Hebrew word for “mourn” refers to loud lamentation – which means that Abraham, the father of faith, cried loudly, openly, and unashamedly. He was in great sorrow. This is understandable because, if the timeline is correct, Abraham and Sarah were married for over 100 years – and every place Abraham pitched a tent, Sarah was there. Think with me. She had left everything familiar to follow Abraham into the unknown when God first called him out of Ur. She walked with him through famine, danger, and uncertainty. In fact, twice, she had to suffer through his lies that put her at risk – but she never gave up on him. She stood by him in his deepest failures. She was there when Abraham defeated the coalition of kings and rescued Lot. She was there the moment their names were changed and the moment God marked them as His. She carried her own burdens, regrets, and doubts – which is why she tried to take matters into her own hands by bringing Hagar into the family. And though this had fractured their marriage, God mercifully healed their relationship and restored their intimacy. So, together, they learned to wait in barrenness – and together, they witnessed that nothing is too hard for the Lord as Isaac was born to them. All that to say, she was his lifelong companion, his partner in faith, and his closest friend through every chapter of his story. And now she was gone. Of course, he wept.
Now, the author didn’t have to add this detail in Scripture – the fact that Abraham mourned and wept for Sarah. He could’ve just informed of her death – and moved on to the next part of the story. But he didn’t rush past this moment. He intentionally slowed the narrative down. Why? Because this, too, is part of the life of faith. At times, we will have these mountaintop moments when God does something incredibly amazing – intervening and providing as He did in Genesis 22. But after mountaintop moments can come the valleys – after great victories, deep sorrows can swallow us up. And yet we’re called to remain faithful not just in those spectacular moments, but also in our ordinary, quiet, and even painful seasons. This is important to point out because many Christians wrongly assume that strong faith means staying emotionally steady, composed, or unfazed by pain. Some believe that if they truly trusted God, they should “move on” quickly when sorrow hits. But Scripture clearly teaches that faith doesn’t silence grief – true faith brings grief into the presence of God. Faith doesn’t mean pretending that everything is fine when it’s not. Faith doesn’t mean suppressing emotions. Faith actually gives us the courage to grieve honestly before God, knowing that, as it says in Psalm 34:18, “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” In fact, this is exactly why Jesus Himself wept at the tomb of Lazarus. Think about it. If the perfect Son of God cried in the face of death, then tears are not a sign of weakness or immaturity – they’re just a sign that you love, that you feel, that you’re human because losses are painful. Brothers and sisters, if you find yourself in the valleys today, don’t hesitate to grieve honestly before God. For some of you, this may be the grief that comes from delayed dreams or unanswered prayers. For others, it may be the grief that comes from a broken marriage, a rebellious child, or a health diagnosis you did not expect. For some, it may be the grief that comes from the hardship of life, the hopelessness of a situation, or even the death of someone you deeply loved. Whatever it is, you don’t need to pretend like you’re strong. You don’t need to put on a smile to hide your pain. You don’t need to carry sorrow alone. Faith gives you permission to weep – and confidence that God will meet you there. So, come to God with honesty and tears, for He’ll comfort you and give you peace.
2) THE NEGOTIATION
Verse 3 – after mourning, Abraham rose to secure a burial site for Sarah. Now, what follows may seem a bit dry and irrelevant – an unnecessary detail to the flow of the story. Then, we can’t help but ask: Why is this here? Why did the author spend 16 verses describing where and how Abraham acquired the burial site? If all Scripture is truly God-breathed, what was the point of this passage? What can this text teach us today? It may not be clear to see – but this actually shows us that Abraham was acting in faith. Let me explain. Sarah died in Hebron – which is a city in the promised land. Now, at this point, Abraham didn’t own a single piece of that land yet – but because he firmly believed that God would, one day, fulfill His promise and give this land to his descendants, he was determined to bury her there – a place where his people were going to be. So, he went to the Hittites, who were living in the region, and said, verse 4, “I am a foreigner and stranger among you. Sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead.” In Abraham’s day, land wasn’t bought and sold the way it is today. Land belonged to families, not individuals – which means that it stayed within clans and was passed down through generations as inheritance. It was rare to see people sell their land. Foreigners like Abraham could rent or graze their animals in the land, but they couldn’t purchase property. This is why the Hittites offered the use of a tomb – but not ownership. They said in verse 6: “Sir, listen to us. You are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb for burying your dead.” But this was not good enough for Abraham – he didn’t want a loan. He didn’t want a borrowed grave. He wanted a stake in the land God promised. In fact, he asked specifically for the cave of Machpelah owned by an individual named Ephron. Now, Ephron was present while this public negotiation was taking place – so he stood up and said in verse 11, “Listen to me; I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. I give it to you in the presence of my people. Bury your dead.” From our perspective, this offer to give the land sounds like he was being generous. But in that culture, this wasn’t a literal offer. In that culture, you didn’t directly demand payment – that would feel cold or dishonorable. So, you began with a gesture of exaggerated generosity before naming the real price. In fact, everyone at the city gate would’ve known that this was just part of negotiation – that Ephron wasn’t giving it away for free. And sure enough, in verse 15, he named the price: 400 shekels of silver. This may not mean much to us today, but in Abraham’s time, this was an enormous amount. In those days, one shekel was about a laborer’s monthly wage – which means that 400 shekels equaled to roughly 33 years of wages. Today, that would be the equivalent of millions of dollars. Now, scholars speculate that he offered a ridiculously high price thinking that they’ll further negotiate the price. But Abraham didn’t negotiate. He didn’t argue. He weighed out the silver and paid right away “according to the weight current among merchants” – which basically means that he used standardized, honest commercial weights. In other words, he paid the full, fair, legitimate amount – no shortcuts, no haggling, no hidden terms. He wanted this purchase to be unquestionable and honorable. Now, he obviously knew he was getting ripped off in this transaction – but it didn’t matter. Abraham was willing to pay whatever the cost to secure a legal, permanent ownership of the land. Why? Because he had staked his hope and life on God’s promise. Then, this was more than just a real estate transaction – it was an act of faith. It was as if he was declaring: “God will keep His promise. And I’m going to make sure that my family will be here when He does, even if it costs me a fortune.” And this became the first legal foothold of God’s people in the Promised Land – the first piece of Canaan Israel ever owned.
Now, what does this mean for us? Corrie Ten Boom said, “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” That’s exactly what Abraham was doing. He negotiated for this burial site not because he saw the full fulfillment of God’s promise, but because he trusted the God who made the promise. Then, that’s what we should do as well: learning to take the next faithful step even when the promise seems far away. So, let me ask you: Where is God inviting you to act, trust, and obey – not because you see results, but because you see Him? For some of you, this step of faith might be praying persistently for a child or spouse who seems far from God – trusting that His grace is stronger than their rebellion and apathy, trusting that our God is a God who doesn’t want anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9). For others, this step of faith may be confessing a sin you’ve kept hidden for years – believing that you won’t be met with shame but with the promise that God is faithful and just to forgive if we repent (1 Jn. 1:9). It could also mean that you’re faithfully fighting against temptation – trusting that God will provide a way out as He promised in 1 Corinthians 10:13. Maybe it’s continuing to serve quietly in the background – believing that the heavenly Father who sees in secret will reward you (Matt. 6:4). For others, it’s giving generously even when finances feel tight – trusting God to supply all your needs according to His riches in glory (Phil. 4:19). Maybe it’s sharing the gospel with someone – resting in the promise that His Word will not return empty (Isa. 55:11). Or it could mean casting your anxieties on Him instead of trying to take matters into your own hands – knowing that He’ll care for you (1 Pet. 5:7). I could go on and on with these examples – but the point is that faith is not wishful thinking. Faith is obedience rooted in the character of God. Faith invests in the future God promises, not the future we can see. Then, that’s what we should do as well – let’s cling to His promises and live faithfully, even if it costs us greatly.
3) THE BURIAL
After the negotiation, Abraham buried Sarah in the field he purchased – and the chapter ends with a simple statement in verse 20: “So the field and the cave in it were deeded to Abraham by the Hittites as a burial site.” Now, this may sound like just a confirmation of the transaction – but the Book of Hebrews helps us understand what was going through Abraham’s mind as he buried his wife. Hebrews 11:13-16 says, “All these people [referring to Abraham, Sarah, and their descendants] were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country – a heavenly one.” In other words, when Abraham stood over Sarah’s grave, he wasn’t just grieving – he was looking beyond the grave. He believed that this wasn’t the end. He believed that death wouldn’t have the final word. He believed that there was a better country waiting for them. He believed that God would, one day, conquer death itself. No wonder Abraham called himself a foreigner and a stranger on earth – he knew that this was not his home. Hebrews 11:10 says, “[Abraham] was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” Even in the face of death, even when the promise looked far away, Abraham trusted God. And because he did this, Hebrews 11:16 says, “Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.” Imagine that. The God of the universe looked at Abraham and said, “I’m not ashamed to be your God, for you believed in Me. And because you believed in Me, you will one day enter the city I’m preparing for you – a heavenly city that is better than any country on earth.”
Friends, the Bible clearly tells us that Abraham isn’t the only foreigner and stranger on earth – every believer shares that identity as well. This world is not our home. Our jobs, houses, achievements, and possessions – none of them are ultimate. They all will, one day, pass away. We will bury our loved ones. We will stand in places where the promises are yet to be fulfilled. We will feel the ache of living in a world that is broken by sin and scarred by death. But like Abraham, we’re called to look toward a better country. Philippians 3:20 says, “Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” Brothers and sisters, this life is temporary – which means that we shouldn’t plant our roots too deeply here. We shouldn’t cling too tightly to the things we’ll one day leave behind. In fact, let me say it this way: We’re meant to feel a little restless in this world. We’re meant to feel like we don’t quite fit. But that restlessness doesn’t mean that something’s wrong with us. This is not a problem to be solved – it’s just a reminder that we’re made for another world. And here is our hope: Abraham believed God could conquer death – but in Christ, God has conquered death. Abraham buried Sarah, believing in resurrection – but Jesus entered the grave and walked out three days later with resurrection power. And His resurrection guarantees that every grave will one day be emptied, every tear wiped away, and every believer welcomed home. So, as you journey through life, through your joys and sorrows, remember who you are: You’re a sojourner longing for home. You were not made for this broken world. You were made for the presence of God. And because Christ defeated death, heaven is not a distant dream. It’s your true homeland – a place you will be when He calls you home. But this resurrection hope shouldn’t just prepare you for future – it should also reshape everything about you right now – your priorities, your decisions, your fears, and your lifestyle. You shouldn’t cling to everything now, as if this life is all you have. This resurrection hope will enable you to risk, forgive, serve, sacrifice, and persevere because your hope is ultimately anchored in eternity. The truth is that we will still grieve in this world. We will still face hardship, still suffer, and still walk through valleys. But the resurrection tells us that suffering is temporary while Christ’s kingdom is eternal. His joy is eternal. And His presence is eternal. Meditate on this daily because when this reality of eternity grips your heart, fear will lose its power over you, bitterness will dissolve, selfishness will weaken, and hope will rise again so that you can confidently live a life worthy of the gospel. Resurrection is not just a doctrine – it’s a power that frees us to live differently now. Then, let me ask you: Are you living in such a way that resurrection hope is visible? Or are you living as if this world is all there is? Are your decisions truly shaped by eternity, or by the urgent pressures of the present? Part of the reason many Christians feel stagnant or spiritually exhausted is because their vision is too small. They’re living for 70-80 years on earth instead of their eternal life in heaven. They’re living for earthly comfort instead of heavenly joy. If this is you, ask God to cultivate a longing in your heart for the life to come because that is the life worth investing in.
CONCLUSION
Lighthouse family, like Abraham, we will face death, disappointment, and days that feel painfully ordinary – but even there, God calls us to trust Him, obey Him, and lift our eyes to the better country He has prepared. Then, let’s live as sojourners – holding Christ tightly and walking by faith until the day He brings us safely home.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1) Abraham, the father of faith, mourned and wept. What does this teach us about the place of grief in the Christian life? Where in your life are you tempted to suppress grief rather than bring it to God? What is one sorrow, disappointment, or unanswered prayer that you’ve been carrying alone?
2) Why was Abraham determined to bury Sarah in the promised land, even though he didn’t yet own any part of it? How does this negotiation reveal Abraham’s faith in God’s promises, even though he didn’t see their fulfillment in his lifetime? Where is God inviting you to act, obey, or take a next step even before you see results? What promise of God do you need to cling to as you take that step?
3) According to Hebrews 11:13-16, how did Abraham view himself in this world? How does this illuminate his actions in Genesis 23? How does the identity of being a foreigner and stranger on earth challenge the way we tend to think about comfort, possessions, and plans? What is one area of your life that needs to be shaped more deeply by the hope of eternity?
