Read Genesis 23, Nehemiah 12, Matthew 16.
This devotional is about Genesis 23.
God repeatedly made promises to Abraham that he would own and inhabit a vast amount of land. Consider:
- Genesis 12:1: “The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.“
- Genesis 13:14-15: “The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, ‘Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. 15 All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever.'”
- Genesis 15:7: “He also said to him, ‘I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.'”
- Genesis 17:8: “The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you.”
So, again and again, throughout his life, God promised Abraham that he would father a great nation and that he and the great nation he fathered would own, occupy, and control every bit of land that Abraham saw and walked on.
But, here in Genesis 23, Abraham’s wife Sarah died, and Abraham had no place to bury her dead body. Despite all God’s grand promises of land, Abraham didn’t own any land at all, not even a grave plot, even though he was a very old man.
So, Abraham had to buy land to bury Sarah and we read about his negotiation and purchase here in Genesis 23. Abraham went on to live for another 38 years*, but he never purchased any more land, nor did he take any land by warfare. The grave plot he bought here in Genesis 23 was all the land that Abraham ever owned in his life.
Did God fail to keep his promise to Abraham? No, God has not failed to keep his promise. The fulfillment of the promise was always designed to be fulfilled long after Abraham died. Consider Genesis 12:6-7: “Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The LORD appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your offspring I will give this land.'” God’s land promises to Abraham were going to be fulfilled in the future, and Abraham understood that.
God’s people did come to occupy that land eventually and the nation of Israel occupies a lot–but not all–of that land today. But God’s promise is still not really fulfilled. Notice this verse back in Genesis 17:8: “The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.” Israel may occupy the land today, but they live there in unbelief. They still have not received their Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And that’s the key to understanding God’s promise to Abraham. When Jesus returns, he will defeat God’s enemies and establish his kingdom in the part of the world we know as Israel. Jewish people, and Gentiles, will worship Jesus our God and he will reign over us as king.
Jesus said that Abraham is still living (see Luke 20:37-38). Like all believers, Abraham’s dead body will be raised to life and he will live in Jesus’s kingdom with him and with us. Then all God’s promises to him will be fulfilled. Literally fulfilled.
Now, here is our hope: In this life, we may be disappointed. We may live our whole lives and die without receiving things we want from God and have asked God for in prayer. Don’t be discouraged and don’t give up your faith in Jesus. Abraham believed God in faith right up until he died and his faith will be rewarded. So will yours! Believe God’s promises by faith and keep believing them, knowing that they will be kept in eternity.
Here’s the math: Here in Genesis 23:1, we’re told that “Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old.” Abraham was ten years older than Sarah, which we learned in Genesis 17:17. So, when Sarah died at age 127 (Gen 23:1), Abraham was 137. According to Genesis 25:7, Abraham was 175 when he died. Thus, he lived 38 years more after Sarah died.