Even today, we may face the trial of having to offer up what is most important to us: “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac” (Gen 22:2). If we have the faith to offer up what is most important to us without holding anything back in times like this, our trials will turn into great blessings.
3. The Death of Sarah (Age 127) and Purchase of the Cave of Machpelah (Gen 23:1–2), 2029 BC, 53rd Year of the Covenant of the Torch
Abraham’s age, 137; Isaac’s age, 37
Genesis 23:1 states, “Now Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah.” Adam died at the age of 930, but there is no record of when Eve died. Likewise, there are no records of the death of any other patriarchs’ wives; thus, Sarah’s death was the exception. Genesis 23 is entirely dedicated to the account of Sarah’s death and burial. This serves as an attestation to the greatness of her faith. Ever since Abraham set out from Ur of the Chaldeans, their lives together was a continuous sojourn. Yet, she faithfully stayed by him regardless of the circumstances (Gen 17:16; Heb 11:11–12).
Sarah was Abraham’s most faithful companion in his journey as a wanderer (1 Pet 3:6). She was with Abraham for 62 years after she departed from Ur of the Chaldeans with Abraham at the age of 65. She ended her life as his companion at the age of 127 and was buried in the cave of Machpelah (Gen 23:19). Her life was neither easy nor void of mistakes. Yet, she believed in God and considered Him faithful (Heb 11:11). She lived her life to fulfill the work of salvation and became a good example for all believers.
Abraham buried his wife in the cave of Machpelah (Gen 23:18–19). When Abraham first entered Canaan, he was called a “Hebrew” (Gen 14:13), meaning “to cross over,” because he had crossed over the Euphrates River from Ur of the Chaldeans. Abraham, who had been treated like a foreigner by the Canaanites, said of himself, “I am a stranger and a sojourner among you” (Gen 23:4). Thus, it is possible to imagine the difficulty when Abraham tried to purchase a tract of Canaanite land. However, upon Sarah’s death, Abraham proposed buying land for his wife’s burial from the sons of Heth (Gen 23:3). To his surprise, Ephron, a leader among the sons of Heth, offered to give the cave to Abraham at no cost (Gen 23:11), but he declined the offer and bought the land from Ephron for 400 shekels of silver.
This was an act of faith based on the covenant of the torch. He placed a seal on the land of Canaan as a sign that it belonged to the Israelites, thus establishing the first step toward ownership of the land that God had promised to them.
Faith is having a firm trust in God’s promise, looking toward it, and actually working to fulfilling it (Heb 11:1). Through the small cave of Machpelah, Abraham looked upon the enormous land of Canaan, which God had promised to him. The name Machpelah means “double cave,” and it became a family burial place for Abraham’s family. Besides Sarah, other people of faith—Abraham (Gen 25:9), Isaac (Gen 49:31), Rebekah (Gen 49:31), Leah (Gen 49:31), and Jacob (Gen 49:29–33; 50:13)—were buried there. Jacob, the last one to be buried at Machpelah, had died in Egypt, but his body was carried all the way to Canaan to be buried in the same cave. Years later, Moses used this same cave located in the Promised Land where their forebears of the covenant were buried, to justify leading the Israelites out of Egypt.
God’s promise regarding the land of Canaan began to bear fruit with the purchase of Sarah’s burial place. The burial of the ancestors’ bones in Canaan was like a seed of faith that was planted into the minds of Abraham’s descendants and allowed them to believe that the land of Canaan is their Promised Land where they must return.
4. The Marriage of Isaac and Rebekah (Gen 24; 25:20), 2026 BC, 56th Year of the Covenant of the Torch
Abraham’s age, 140; Isaac’s age, 40
When Abraham became old and well advanced in years, he sent his servant Eliezer to find a wife for Isaac, who was to inherit the covenant. By God’s providence, Eliezer met Rebekah, who was the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram and the sister of Laban (Gen 25:20). Bethuel was the son of Nahor and Milcah (Gen 22:20–23) (see Reference 1: “Abraham’s Genealogy”).
Laban and Bethuel realized that this marriage had come from God and consented to the marriage (Gen 24:50–51). Rebekah also consented to leave right away with Eliezer, although leaving her homeland for the distant land of Canaan must have been a difficult decision. She was essentially obeying God’s will in saying, “I will go” (Gen 24:58). She departed immediately, rejecting her family’s suggestion that she stay another ten days (Gen 24:55).
Isaac was meditating when Eliezer brought Rebekah (Gen 24:63). He was praying that his marriage would be established according to God’s will. When Rebekah came, Isaac married her, and the marriage was a consolation for him after his mother’s death (Gen 24:67).
Chapter 9
The History of Jacob and Esau
1. The Birth of Jacob and Esau (Gen 25:19–26), 2006 BC, 76th Year of the Covenant of the Torch
Abraham’s age, 160; Isaac’s age, 60
Ages of the godly ancestors at the time: Shem, 550; Shelah, 415; Eber, 385
Isaac married Rebekah at the age of 40, and he had no children for the first 20 years of his marriage to her (Gen 25:20, 26). Isaac was probably deeply distressed that he did not have a son to fulfill God’s covenant. He earnestly prayed that his wife would conceive a child (Gen 25:21). The word used for “to pray” in Genesis 25:21 is rt;[‘
Isaac persevered in prayer for 20 years, and at last God heard his prayer, and Rebekah bore him twin sons, Esau and Jacob, when he was 60 years old (Gen 25:21–22). While Isaac was praying, Abraham must have sympathized with him and prayed together with him for the fulfillment of God’s covenant. In the past, God said to Abraham, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him” (Gen 17:19). Abraham most likely prayed with Isaac and consoled him, since he was once in the same situation when his wife was barren.
Abraham had Isaac at the age of 100, and Isaac had Jacob at the age of 60. Since Abraham lived 175 years, three generations—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—lived contemporaneously for 15 years (Heb 11:9). While dwelling in the tents together, Abraham taught Isaac and Jacob the Word of God. Passing down his faith to his descendants was the duty for which Abraham was called and part of his holy obligation to fulfill the covenant (Gen 18:18–19).
Because Jacob spent much time in the tents, being educated in faith by his grandfather Abraham, he yearned to complete the work of God’s eternal inheritance (Gen 25:27).
Today, the church is God’s tent. Mary enjoyed sitting at the foot of Jesus to listen to His Word, and Jesus acknowledged her by saying, “For Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:42). Like Jacob and Mary, we too must choose to listen to the Word and yearn after it so that “the good part” we choose may not be taken away as in Luke 10:39, “And she had a sister called Mary, who moreover was listening to the Lord’s word, seated at His feet.”
2. The Death of Abraham (Age 175) (Gen 25:7–8), 1991 BC, 91st Year of the Covenant of the Torch
Abraham’s age, 175; Isaac’s age, 75; Ishmael’s age, 89,