FBT Daily Devotional: Genesis 23

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

We are going to be looking at Genesis 23. You know, somehow we jump back into time. Let's read Genesis 23. And um I was reading this and I was like, y'all talk about. But um the title of it would be Living Like the Burton. And so that's gonna give a level of focus what Indian draw out of the scriptures and went dive in deeper. Living like the promise is certain just simply means acting in faith today for what God has guaranteed tomorrow. So when we're looking at Genesis 23, doesn't look super exciting, as I as I mentioned when I dive into it. Um, but one thing for sure, um, based off where it takes place at, I'm like, okay, what can can come inside this chapter? You know, there's no miracles, no angels, or no dramatic covenant moments or things like that. Though we're talking to a man whom God has made a covenant with, but in this verse uh or this chapter that I say, um, it opens with death instead. Sarah dies at 127 years old, and of course, Abraham mourns for her. Um, and then he does something that would be unexpected is that he buys land, so he doesn't buy a city, it's not a whole kingdom, but instead, the land he buys, he buys a grave. But what looks like it's a burial place, just a burial purchase, it's actually a faith declaration. And this is diving into the how it's because this is the first piece of the promised land Abraham ever legally owns. Because the promise starts with the grave. When we look at Genesis 23, verses two, this is all gonna be out of the NKJV. Um let's start at verse 2 where it says so Sarah died in Kerjath, Arba, um, and that is Hebron in the land of Canaan, and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. So it shows, of course, grief is real, and faith does not erase the sorrow. But when we watch what Abraham does next in verse 4, it says, I am a foreigner and a visitor among you. Give me property for a burial place among you that I may bury my dead out of my sight. Excuse me. So he calls himself a foreigner, yet this is the land God promised him. Um, he doesn't yet he doesn't yet possess it, but he speaks with certainty. So then he insists on paying full price for it. And when we look at going down to verses 16, and Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed out the silver, 400 shekels of silver, currency of the merchants. So he refuses a free gift. And why was this? Because faith doesn't manipulate the promise. That's what we can kind of look at it as being, because faith secures it with integrity. He felt that it was right to purchase it in full. And well, let me not get ahead of myself. Um, when the closing of that, let's just say, legal part of that exchange is verse 20. When we see so the field and the cave that is in it, where sorry, I'm gonna read that again. Sorry for clearing my throat so much, but when we're looking at the the text again, it says, So the field and the cave that is in it were deeded to Abraham by the sons of Heth as property for a burial place. So it was deeded to him, simple enough, um, as a burial place. But this is the first like legal ownership as we're talking about of the promised land. Um, not a palace or like we said, not a city or a kingdom, but it's a grave. However, Abraham is living like the promise is certain. So think about this. Just when y'all thought I didn't have a song, I got a song today. So um, think about the hook from graves into gardens. It says, You turn mourning to dancing, you give beauty for ashes, you turn shame into glory. You're the only one who can. Genesis 23 is the beginning of that lyrics essentially. When we look at it like Abraham is standing in ashes, standing in the mourning and over a grave, but he buys the land like he already sees generations multiplying. So he's standing at a grave, but prophetically it's a garden. He's planting Sarah in promised soil. So because he believes God can turn graves into gardens, that is where that connection takes place. Um, so if we were to have even some applications as well, let's think about this. A question for us Are we living like the promise is certain? Because sometimes, you know, it may not feel like it's certain. But are we living like it despite their God has promised the growth, the calling, the fruitfulness, uh, even eternal life and hope of resurrection? But sometimes life feels like it's Genesis 23, you know, with the uh the delay, the loss, grief, and the waiting. How many times people hate the the waiting period? Um, where you have seed time and harvest, and people don't want to do the time. Um, but one thing we see where Abraham does mention, he said, God, you promised me this land. Oh, I'm sorry. Though he operated as if he's saying, God, you promised me this land, it's almost like he could have been asking or stating, like, though you promised me this land, like why am I burying my wife here instead of ruling here? Or instead of something else, but instead he acts in confidence with the covenant. So another lyric from the song says, I'm not afraid to show you my weakness, my failures, and flaws, Lord. You've seen them all, and you still call me friend. So imagine that being Abraham, though he was grieving and weeping and stuff, weak, he was still believing. So living like the promise is certain, as we mentioned, does still mean like you invest even when you don't see full return yet, or obey even when emotions are heavy, and you still plant in seasons of up burial, um, you make decisions based on what God said, not just what you see. So, because graves are not contradiction of the promise, we can say that they're often the soil where the promise takes root. So, graves not being a the contradiction of the promise, but yet they're often the soil where the promise takes root. And so when we look at the teaching of this chapter, it still pulls out something powerful, whereas the the first piece of the promise comes through a grave, unexpected. Um, and centuries later, there's another similar connection, another grave would become the doorway to a greater promise, a promise that is fulfilled in Jesus. When we see that God specialized in turning burial places into let's say a breakthrough place, so the way that we should live is like again, the promise is certain. We buy the land, as we mentioned, the investment, we plant the seeds. Um, but ultimately we are standing in faith because he still is the only one who can turn graves into gardens. So if you haven't noticed what that song is, for those who may have heard of it or haven't, um the song that I'm recommending to you guys that I am actually going to throw into the chat, um, as I often do, for you to listen to it whenever and wherever you like to stream music, but a simple YouTube link will get you started. Um, and it is now inside the chat, and I'll just post it when we get back as well, just in case anybody missed it. But um, yeah, so copy that. It's uh Grayson Gardens uh with Elevation Worship and Brandon Lake. And so I was gonna give y'all the hip-hop version um by KB, but you know, maybe another time. Uh I was like, I'll just go this route. But in conclusion, um when they sing, this was like one of my favorite parts of it, is you turn graves into gardens, you turn bones into armies, you turn seas into highways, you're the only one who can. You're the only one who can. Yeah, y'all know that too. Um and it should remind you that in Genesis 23, that how it wasn't the end of the promise, it was the first seed in the soil. So simple enough, we will be able to end it there, and um we can go off into break rooms. Thank you for your time.