“Then Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spoke to the sons of Heth, saying, “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.”
Genesis 23:3-4
Abraham’s words go deep, “I am a foreigner and a visitor among you”, tell us of his mindset at the moment. Technically Abraham had spent a long enough time in this area of Hebron, as well as developed in financial status to be able to have a piece of land and be considered a resident, however, Abraham hasn’t purchased land up to this point and now we get a peek at his perspective of himself and his latest situation.
Something happens to your perspective the moment a loved one dies. Relationships that seemed to have such a strong connection are ripped from our hands; the people we thought would go on with us forever suddenly leave. Where did they go? Questions like this often follow death, and thoughts about the eternal begin to mix in with your current thought process. You see, when loss happens it brings a very real contrast between temporary and eternal. The love that you had for someone becomes longing, and that longing desires to continue with those that have passed. I believe this was the meaning of Abraham’s words. The moment Sarah died, home wasn’t home for Abraham, it didn’t matter how much wealth and security he had, death plays no favorites and claims whomever… whenever it pleases.
In the same way we as believers in Jesus Christ have a similar longing, a love that is eternal made to wait upon the temporary. The difference is that Jesus has told us that He is not bound by death, He rose again defeating death and sits at the right hand of God in heaven preparing for us a heavenly home where things that were once temporary are eternally secure. We’re told that Abraham had this understanding:
“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance…By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God…These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”
Hebrews 11:8-16
The Bible teaches us that through our faith in Jesus Christ we not only hope for, but we are certain of our eternal destiny. We declare on earth where it is we choose to make home, and in the same way that preparations are made for us when we book into a hotel, we see that preparations are made for us in heaven by our heavenly host, the builder and maker, God.
