He remembered the sunlight glittering in her hair when he first saw her, the radiance of her face on her wedding day, the softness of her touch, and the grace of her caress. Memories passed through his fingers like pearls on a string. As the old man wept over the body of Sarah, he must have remembered all those wonderful times. I think it was in the spring, for even back in those days in the spring a young man's fancy turned to what the young women had been thinking about all winter! "Boy meets girl" was the same wonderful story back in the days of Abraham some 4,000 years ago as it is today. I think he saw in his mind's eye that beautiful girl who captured his heart long, long ago. All the dear, sweet days come crowding in upon us again as they must have to Abraham here. As you perhaps already know, if you have wept with Abraham, the well of grief is fed by the springs of memory. It may be very instructive for us to spend a few moments here with Abraham as he bows over the body of Sarah. I think this reveals the depth of his grief and love for this woman. But the only time the record reveals that he wept was when Sarah died. His heart was torn with anguish when he had to offer Isaac upon the mountain. He was heartbroken when Ishmael was sent out. This old man has gone through many, many bitter disappointments and times of heartbreak in his career. It is remarkable that this is the only time we are ever told that Abraham wept. As the place names indicate, it is in the place of "fatness" of soul and richness of fellowship with the Lord that Sarah, this woman of beauty and faith, dies.Īs was customary in those days, the body of Sarah was placed in a tent all by itself and into that tent goes Abraham alone to weep and mourn. In one respect this was a wonderful place to die. By this time the little family of Abraham, Sarah and Isaac had moved back from Beer-Sheba to Hebron, under the oak of Mamre, where they had first lived when they came into the land of Canaan - rather like going back to their honeymoon cottage - and here Sarah died. Sarah was one hundred and twenty-seven years old when she died, and her son Isaac is now thirty-seven. ![]() These accounts of Abraham's trials follow consecutively in the sacred record, but they are separated by many years of blessing, tranquility and peace. Probably about seventeen years have passed between Chapter 22 and Chapter 23. And Sarah died at Kiriatharba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. Sarah lived a hundred and twenty-seven years these were the years of the life of Sarah. The first two verses of Chapter 23 bring us into the shadow of heartache and death: ![]() As we sometimes sing in the old hymn, "There is a light in the valley of death now for me, since Jesus came into my heart." ![]() ![]() He is walking through the valley where death has cast its shadow, but we shall see as we read this chapter that there is a light which always shines in the dark shadows in the life of a man of faith. In Genesis 23 we stand beside Abraham now, as he weeps at the grave of Sarah. What a bitter day it is when a man buries his wife! It is perhaps the lowest point ever reached by the human spirit, and the sunset for him of all earth's hopes and expectations.
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