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Gen. 23:2 "And
Sarah died in Kirjatharba; the same is
Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham
came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for
her." The place of Sarah's death was
Kirjatharba, also known as Hebron in the
land of Canaan.
The names of
the city and the country in which Sarah died
tell us a story about death. The name
Kirjatharba means "city of the four
(giants)." The name Hebron means "seat of
association." The name Canaan means "one
that humbles and subdues."
In the book of
1 Samuel chapter 17 there was a giant by the
name of Goliath. Goliath was a type of
Satan. Goliath had four sons who were also
giants. Kirjatharba was the city of four
giants. Goliath was the father of four
giants. Satan was declared to be a murderer
from the beginning. The four giants that
Satan brings against us are sin, death,
hell, and the grave. From these four giants
we have no power to overcome them. They have
total control over us.
Hebron means
seat of association. When Adam transgressed
in the Garden of Eden he was our federal
head representing all of his posterity. We
all are associated with the results of
Adam's transgression. By succumbing to the
enticements of the serpent, Adam brought
himself and all mankind under the curse of
the law of sin and death. He brought us to
have the four giants rule over us: sin,
death, hell, and the grave.
Canaan means "one that humbles and subdues."
The very knowledge of death humbles us and
causes us to realize that we cannot overcome
the bondage of death. We are subdued by
death.
It is only
through the covenant work of Jesus Christ
that we are delivered from the four giants.
Through the atoning blood of Christ and his
subsequent resurrection from the dead that
we are delivered from sin, death, hell, and
the grave. Thanks be to our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ, who has given us the victory
over these great giants.
Abraham's Purchase of a Burial Site
When Sarah died, Abraham purchased form the
children of Heth a place to bury Sarah:
"Gen. 23:12 "And Abraham bowed down himself
before the people of the land. 13 And he
spake unto Ephron in the audience of the
people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt
give it, I pray thee, hear me: I will give
thee money for the field; take it of me, and
I will bury my dead there. 14 And Ephron
answered Abraham, saying unto him, 15 My
lord, hearken unto me: the land is worth
four hundred shekels of silver; what is that
betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy
dead. 16 And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron;
and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver,
which he had named in the audience of the
sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of
silver, current money with the merchant. 17
And the field of Ephron, which was in
Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the
field, and the cave which was therein, and
all the trees that were in the field, that
were in all the borders round about, were
made sure 18 Unto Abraham for a possession
in the presence of the children of Heth,
before all that went in at the gate of his
city."
In the process
of time, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and
Rebekah, and Jacob and Leah were all buried
in this possession of a burying site that
Abraham purchased for four hundred shekels
of silver.
Four hundred
is closely associated in the scriptures with
the subject of bondage. A part of the
bondage that the elect come face to face
with is death and the grave. Silver is
associated in the scriptures with the
subject of redemption. Thus, the deliverance
from the bondage of death and the grave is
found in the redemptive work of Jesus
Christ.
In the history
of humankind, the vast majority of people
have never seen anyone delivered from death
and the grave. From the viewpoint of what we
see with our eyes, no one who goes down into
the grave ever returns into the land of the
living. This bondage of death and the grave
strikes fear in the hearts of men. This fear
of death torments the hearts of men (1 John
4:18). Not only does the grave hold its
occupants, but also the fear of death
subjects the living all of their lifetime to
the bondage of death (Heb. 2:15). One only
need visit a funeral service to see the fear
that many who are present are expressing in
their faces.
There is
deliverance for the elect children of God
both from the bondage of the grave and from
the fear of death. Job expressed his belief
in the resurrection from the grave: Job
19:23 "Oh that my words were now written! oh
that they were printed in a book! 24 That
they were graven with an iron pen and lead
in the rock for ever! 25 For I know that my
redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at
the latter day upon the earth: 26 And though
after my skin worms destroy this body, yet
in my flesh shall I see God:" Thus, Job
believed that the same flesh that the skin
worms destroyed would one day see God!
Our
deliverance from the bondage of the grave
and from the fear of death is found in the
covenant work of Jesus Christ. This covenant
is stated in Rom. 8:29, 30: "For whom he did
foreknow, he also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his Son, that he
might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he
also called: and whom he called, them he
also justified: and whom he justified, them
he also glorified." This covenant promise is
such that it overcomes the wages of sin,
which is death through the justifying blood
of Christ. In addition, this covenant
promise delivers us from the bondage of the
grave in that we will one day stand
glorified before God.
Therefore,
through this covenant promise, we have hope
that the end of this life is not to lie in
the grave forever, but that the very flesh
that goes to the grave Christ will resurrect
from the grave and present to God in a
glorified state. For this promise to be
fulfilled Jesus came and delivered us from
the curse of the law of sin and death. Heb.
2:14 "Forasmuch then as the children are
partakers of flesh and blood, he also
himself likewise took part of the same; that
through death he might destroy him that had
the power of death, that is, the devil; 15
And deliver them who through fear of death
were all their lifetime subject to bondage."
For those who
understand this covenant promise death and
the grave no longer hold the torment over
them that they once had. Their hope in the
resurrection is very precious unto them.
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