Abraham buries Sarah

(Abraham stakes his claim)

Abraham the PioneerAgainst the tide: Babel – or Canaan?Comfort zones: nation, culture, race

(Chap 22:20-24: back home?)Sense of destiny: a big vision for his lifeHard vs Easy: Sodom or Canaan?Pioneer vs settler: nomad or landed gentry?Historically: huge legacyTwo narratives: human living – but another story

Key moments in Abraham’s life

Bethel

Shechem: ‘shouldering

responsibility’

Bethel: ‘house of God’

Beersheba: ‘well of oath’

Moriah: ‘chosen by the

Lord’

Hebron: ‘united company’

Altar 1:Promise

Altar 2:Intimacy

Altar 3:No return

Altar 4:Possession

At Hebron (Machpelah)

What God had promised (12:1-3; 13:14-17)What Abraham gotHebron (united company) Mamre (manliness) Machpelah (double portion)

Abraham and the dominant culture

Something different about Abraham (v6, 21:22)

Generous offer (5,11): but… 1. Beholden 2. Still an alien

Abraham insistsThe System

Abraham stakes his claim!The only part he ever owned: & descendantsA failure! (Jesus too): only makes sense through the resurrectionLeaving it to God to fulfil (already proved, ch 22)When God came…Abraham would already be there!A downpayment (2 Cor 1:22)A commitment to this earth: not just ‘heavenly’

“Abraham lived in the present in the light of the future. His future inheritance did not lessen his

present obligations; it established his priorities”

Are we sojourners or residents?

How do you square these statements:1. We are sojourners in the world: don't

belong here (1 Pet 2:11, Luke 9:58, John 17:16, Heb 11:9)

2. We are inheritors of the earth: God will give it all to us – not just ‘spiritual, other-worldly’ (Gen 12:3, Matt 5:5, Rom 4:13, 8:17, 1 Cor 6:2, Heb 11:16)

Turns out we’re both sojourners or residents!

Future world Future prioritiesSpiritual realitiesGod’s perspective

This world

Present concernsMaterial involvementsHuman interests

What do you do when God doesn’t deliver?

Leaving your comfort zone(s)No offspringNo landThe very things that were promised are unfulfilledAbraham’s responses – but he learnsThe stakes are higher than you think!

Abraham’s legacy/heritage

Promised the land (the world!)But saw nothing (except one field/cave)Nothing deterred him (Rom 4:19-21)Huge legacy/heritage: Jesus – us – the world!Beyond his lifetimeYou may not see it in your lifetime!! (Lull, two praying women)

Hebrews 11:8-16By faith Abraham went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land. He was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God… These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

“As servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: as sorrowful,

yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having

nothing, yet possessing everything” (2 Cor 6:10)