1386-Sabbath_School_17May_Tue

Believes Unasp - Sabbath School

The Death of Sarah
In Genesis 22:23, we see the report of the birth of Rebekah, which
anticipates the future marriage between Isaac and Rebekah (Genesis 24).
Likewise, the report of the death and burial of Abraham’s wife, Sarah
(Genesis 23), anticipates his future marriage with Keturah (Gen. 25:1–4).
Read Genesis 23. What function does the story of Sarah’s death and
burial play in the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham?
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The mention of the death of Sarah after the story of the sacrifice of
Isaac suggests that she might have been affected by this incident, which
almost cost her son’s life. In some way, Sarah also was involved in the
“test” with her husband, just as she was in his travels and his occasional
lapses in faith (Gen. 12:11–13).
Though we don’t know how much Sarah knew about the incident
after it occurred, we can infer that she probably learned of it eventually.
Sarah was not the kind of woman who would keep quiet on matters
that were of significance or were disturbing her (compare with Gen.
16:3–5; Gen. 18:15; Gen. 21:9, 10). Her absence and her silence, and
even the timing of her death following that dramatic event, say more
about her relevance to the events than did her physical presence. The
fact that Sarah’s old age is mentioned (Gen. 23:1), in echo to Abraham’s
old age (Gen. 24:1), shows her importance to the story.
In fact, Sarah is the only woman in the Old Testament of whom the
number of her years is mentioned, which could show her involvement
in the story even after the fact. The focus on the purchase of Sarah’s
burial place (which covers most of the chapter), rather than on her
death, emphasizes the connection with the Promised Land.
Already, the specification that she died “in the land of Canaan” (Gen.
23:2) underlines the rooting of Sarah’s death in God’s promise of the
land. Sarah is the first of Abraham’s clan to have died and been buried in
the Promised Land. Abraham’s concern about himself, “ ‘a foreigner and
a visitor’ ” (Gen. 23:4, NKJV), and his insistent argument with the sons
of Heth, show that Abraham is interested not just in acquiring a burial
place; he is primarily concerned with settling in the land permanently.
Read Genesis 23:6. What does this tell us about the kind of repu-
tation Abraham had? Why is this important in understanding
what he was used by the Lord to do?