Making a Covenant with Abraham (Part 7)
Read the series so far.
Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob (Part 1)
After Abraham
Having arrived at the crux of Abraham’s saga, which is the test of his faith as recorded in the twenty-second chapter, the story of Genesis moves to the death of Sarah and the purchase of a gravesite for her. Abraham bought the burial ground and the cave of Machpelah because although he had wealth, he was never a recipient of the land itself (cf. Gen. 37:1).
When the covenant was being solemnized God had told His servant he would go to his Fathers in peace, and his posterity would only claim the land after spending four hundred years in Egypt (Gen. 15:13-16, 18). This is the reason Abraham “waited for a city … whose builder and maker is God” (Heb. 11:10). He knew that he himself would not own the land of promise. Genesis 25:7-10 records Abraham’s death and burial.
Discussion
Holy vs Unholy Laughter: Calvin on Gen. 21.1-21
Body
“In Gen. 21 it is Abraham and Sarah who thus laugh wholly and holily in response to God’s goodness to them. Their laughter is prompted by God’s fulfillment (at last!) of his promise of a child to them.”
Discussion
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Discussion