The Lord Be With You Today!
Genesis 23:2a
She died at Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan,
(Abraham and Sarah had been obedient to the Lord
Who had called them to the Promised Land where she lives out her life.
Her death here in this place is important as it fulfills the custom of the day
that her burial place would establish Abraham and his lineage in this land
and indicates Abraham's continued presence in Canaan.
Her death here also points ahead to the Israelites'
eventual and much later entry into the Promised Land.
Arba was the father of Anak of the Anakim who later were so fearsome
in the eyes of ten of the twelve spies who went in
to spy out the Promised Land and its inhabitants
that they said these men were like giants
and they, the spies, were like mere grasshoppers.
Their fears spread and caused the Israelites to choose
not to rely on the Lord or to take Him at His Word
that they would be victorious over the inhabitants of the Promised Land,
a choice that resulted in their wandering for forty years in the wilderness.
But the reference to the Anakim doesn't end there.
Later after the eventual, successful conquest of the Promised Land,
Caleb alone, at 85 years of age, after Joshua had granted him
the choice land of Hebron for his earlier faithfulness,
the very area that had caused such earlier, debilitating fear in his companions,
went in to the land and defeated these giant inhabitants himself.
How does this small geographical detail about Sarah's burial site
and the later references to this same place
have anything to do with us today?
It is yet one more testament to the way the Lord weaves together
even the small, seemingly irrelevant details of our lives
as He works out His plans for us and for those around us.
Kiriath Arba had been a turning point for Israel
as the people were walking out God's plan for the nation.
After diciplining His people in the wilderness, He brings them back
to this very place of their earlier fear where they had been defeated,
strengthens one man to overcome the enemy,
and makes His people possess the land.
Today, the Lord still helps us overcome the "Anakim" in our lives,
Now the Lord gives us victory over whatever once caused us
to shrink in fear and defeat and plants us in Hebron
as His land of promise to us.)
May the Lord richly bless you this day!
In Christ's love,
Blessings!
Sally
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