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So, Genesis chapter 23. This is about Sarah's death. So, Sarah dies and then really this whole chapter is just dealing with Abraham buying this piece of land for a burying place for Sarah. And so, let's get into it. And so, this is going to be a simple sermon. Nothing too crazy tonight. So, it's still worth it. I mean, obviously everything is profitable and it's not like we can't go through simple chapters sometimes. But here in verse one it says, And Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old. These were the years of the life of Sarah. And Sarah died in Kirjeth Arba, the same as Hebron, in the land of Canaan. And Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. And so, we see here that she's a hundred and twenty-seven years old when she dies. That would make Abraham a hundred and thirty-seven, right? Because she was ninety years old when she had Isaac and how old was Abraham? A hundred. So, they're ten years different. And so, obviously they're getting up in years. Abraham, what we'll see later is Abraham is actually going to marry some, he's going to have another wife and have kids, which you don't really think about. It's kind of just like this, a few verses where he kind of talks about that. But that's interesting to me. We'll get to that. But this is his wife and it's kind of interesting that he obviously married Hagar, but that didn't work out, obviously, as we saw with how she was cast out with her son. But this is his wife right here, Sarah. And so, she dies in a place called Kirjeth Arba and it says the same as Hebron. So, a lot of times when you're going through Genesis, what you'll find out is they'll say the name of a place and then they'll say, but it's known as this. Or it'll say like the name that it's known of now, but it used to be this. So, it'll say like Luz and then it'll go on to tell you what that's talking about, like Jebus, Jerusalem, and all these other things, right? And so, in this case, Kirjeth Arba, the reason it's called Arba, go to Joshua chapter 14. So, just to kind of give you an idea, where is Hebron? And you may already know that thinking about David the King, well, I'll show you that. But what we're going to find out is that this is in Canaan, where she died, right? It says, in the land of Canaan. And it's actually in where, it's where the tribe of Judah was at. And so, but it's going to tell us that, so Joshua, if you know Joshua, the book of Joshua is where they're going into the promised land and they're fighting these battles, but then it goes into like half of the book of Joshua. It's all about the land being split up by lot to different tribes, okay? So, Joshua, you read the first part of it and you're like, this is exciting stuff, you know, the walls of Jericho falling down and these different battles. And then it's just like, here, let me show you all the cities and all the, you know, like all these places that are being, you know, given by lot. And you're just like, oh man, you know, it's like chronicles or something. And so, but anyway, there's information in here to see what we're dealing with. And so, remember we saw Moriah, we saw Mount Moriah, where is that at? Jerusalem. We saw that in the Bible. And so, I think it's good, it's important to understand where these places are at. But in Joshua chapter 14, verse 13, what we're going to see is that Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, is going to be getting this place, this Hebron, as an inheritance. And so, in verse 13, so Joshua 14, verse 13, it says, And Joshua blessed him and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance. Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite unto this day, because that he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel. And the name of Hebron before was Kirjeth-arba. Notice why. Which Arba was a great man among the Anakims, and the land had rest from war. So why was it called Kirjeth-arba? It's named after a man, Arba, who was the father where we're going to see, when I go to Joshua 15, it is actually going to clarify this a little more. So, do you remember what the Anakims were about? What was the big thing? Why were the Anakims brought up? If you remember that phrase, the Anakims, what is it? They're giants, right? The Anakims. And so, obviously you have the Emims and the Zuzumims and all that stuff. There was the Anakims, that's when they went in to go spy out the land, remember it was the Anakims that they were afraid of, because they were like grasshoppers in their sight. Obviously that was a figure of speech because they weren't 500 foot people. Obviously there's people out there that believe that though, I mean you have to say that, that they weren't 500 feet, they weren't 45 feet, they were giants in the fact that if you think of Goliath was a giant, and he was 9 feet tall or so, close to 10 feet, which is still huge, right? I mean even today, I mean today in our standards that would be tall, right? And so, well Joshua 15 verse 13, notice what it says. Joshua 15 verse 13, it says, and unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh he gave a part among the children of Judah. So do you see that? Now what's interesting about Caleb is that he wasn't naturally born into Judah, and so that's why he keeps saying that the Kenizzite, and it says that he had given a part of the children of Judah, and it says, according to the commandment of the Lord, to Joshua, even the city of Arba, the father of the... That's why it was called Kirjeth Arba, and that's what you'll see a lot of times, you know, these different cities were named after him. You think of Samaria was named after Shechem or whatever, and so like the mountain of Samaria was named after the person Shechem or whatever. And so there was different names, obviously that's how they got their names, but that's interesting, but it shows us where is this place at? It's in Judah. Now if you don't believe that, you'll believe the fact that when... Where did David reign for seven and a half years? Or where he reigned in Jerusalem, in Hebron. So we know that's in Judah. And go to 2 Samuel chapter 2 and verse 11. 2 Samuel chapter 2 and verse 11. It's interesting that all the, you know, what we're going to see here is this is a burying place where all the patriarchs are going to be buried. That it's in Judah and Judah is the line in which Christ came through. You know, I don't think there's any coincidence that that's the case and that Jerusalem is in Judah and all this stuff, you know, as far as the southern kingdom of Judah and how that works out. But 2 Samuel chapter 2 and verse 11, it says, in the time that David was king in Hebron, over the house of Judah was seven years and six months. So it was in Judah. Hebron's in Judah and eventually he was up in Jerusalem, you know, once the whole thing with Ish-bosheth and all that stuff was taken care of. Then he reigned at 33 years up there. And so 40 years all together. And obviously when it says 40 years, you know, it's not necessarily to the T. Because in some places like this it'll say seven and a half years and some places it'll just say seven years. So sometimes it's a little more specific than others, but that shows you that when it says seven years it's not necessarily to the T. Because in other places it says seven and a half. Anyway, that has nothing to do with the sermon. But what I'm saying there is that it does show us where Hebron's at. And so there's another thing that we see here in verse 2 where it says that Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. So in Genesis 23 and verse 2, and I don't want you to over, you know, you got to think about what Abraham's going through and mourning and realize that there is a time to mourn and a time to weep. And, you know, I know especially if you're dealing with saved people that die you get into that mode, well, I shouldn't be sorry or I shouldn't be sad. And, you know, sometimes people take it too far, you know, where it's almost like you feel bad for being sad or you feel bad for, you know, sorrowing over something. But the Bible is very clear that there is a time to do that. In Ecclesiastes chapter 3, it's interesting because it says with, if you want to go to Ecclesiastes chapter 3 and verse 4, obviously, you know, this talks about all these different, you know, times and seasons for every purpose under the sun. But in Genesis 23 verse 2 it says that he mourned for Sarah and he wept for her. And it's interesting that in this list it covers weeping and mourning. And so to me that shows that there's a big emphasis on that. You know, so in Ecclesiastes chapter 3 and verse 4 says a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance. And so we need to know that there is a time to do these things. And Proverbs, I didn't write it down, but there's a proverb where it talks about he that singeth songs to him that is of a heavy heart is like one that takes away a garment in the cold of winter, you know. And I'm paraphrasing that. But it's kind of like if someone's really sad and you're just like singing some like happy song, oh, happy day, you know, like you're singing some like happy song to them, they're going to just be, it's not going to go over well. And that's not what you're supposed to do. And I've known people that have done that. I've known people that are, you know, they're trying, and their heart's in a good place. I'm not saying that they're like trying to make things worse, but it actually makes things worse. You know, if someone is really mourning over somebody and they're really in a state of sorrow, you know, you don't go in there and just like brush it off and try to just be really happy and joyful, okay. There's a time to mourn. And we need to mourn, we need to rejoice with them that rejoice and weep with them that weep. And Romans chapter 12 says that, Romans chapter 12 verse 15 it says rejoice with them that do rejoice and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceit. So we need to be of the same mind. And obviously I'm not saying that if someone's like in deep depression and heaviness, we need to like go and be at that state with them if it's not warranted, right. But if they're in sorrow and it's very warranted to be in sorrow, then we need to mourn with them. You know, we need to be there with them in that. And obviously we try to lift them up, we try to get them, but you don't just go up to them and, you know, just, I don't know, it's not, you just can't go up to them and just expect them to just jump out of it like that. And, and definitely don't condemn them for mourning either because people that don't properly mourn, it's not good. You know, sometimes you need to, you need to let that stuff out. You need to deal with that grief because if you hold it in, it's not good. Okay. And I believe the Bible's teaching that is that there is a time to weep. There is a time to mourn. And so we need to remember that and don't be ashamed if there's a time that you're feeling sorrow, but that shouldn't be continual, right? I mean, we have the joy of our salvation. You know, the fruit of the Spirit is joy, right? That's one of the fruits that it mentions. And so deep down, even in those times of sorrow, there should be that joy of, you know, salvation. But it doesn't mean that that's always going to be just bright and shining over anything that you're going through. So, but going on here, really this whole chapter is just about the fact that Sarah dies and he's trying to find a place to bury her. So he's so journeying here and this really shows us that he doesn't have any possession. You know, there's nowhere, like he has nowhere to bury her. So he's pretty much just renting the land, so to speak. And he has all kinds of cattle and goods and all this stuff, but he's just a sojourner. And, you know, the Bible talks about how Abraham, God didn't give him any possession. And if you think about it, in this passage, God didn't give him this possession. He bought it with money. So that doesn't happen until later. It doesn't happen until Moses, you know, brings him out of Egypt and then Joshua brings him into the land. And God gives him that possession that he promised. But let's read this passage here. And I know we just read it, but in starting there in verse three, it says, And Abraham stood up from before his dead and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying, I am a stranger and a sojourner with you. Give me a possession of a burying-place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight. And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him, Hear us, my lord, thou art a mighty prince among us, and the choice of our sepulchres, bury thy dead. None of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead. And Abraham stood up and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth, and communed with them, saying, If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me and entreat from me to Ephron the son of Zoar, that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath which is in the end of his field. For as much money as it is worth, he shall give it me for a possession of a burying-place amongst you. So what we see here is that basically he's saying, I need a place to bury my dead. And they said, you basically could pick any sepulchre that you want. And so, you know, he's in very good rapport as far as the people that he's living around, obviously, for them to say that, like whatever sepulchre you want, we won't hinder you, you know, bury your dead. But he doesn't want to just borrow someone's tomb and he doesn't want to just, you know, basically put his wife in someone else's tomb. And so, and if you know sepulchres, obviously that's what Jesus put in, so we're not talking about digging a hole and putting them in a hole, this is where they'd have something like in a rock or something and you would walk into it and put the body in there. It's still burying it, but it's different, you know, it's not like you're digging a hole and then putting a tombstone on it. So, but basically what he's saying here is, I don't want to just borrow, you know, I don't want to just, you know, put my wife in someone else's sepulchre. And he's saying that he's wanting a burying-place and he's calling for this Ephron. And it says in verse 10, Ephron dwelled among the children of Heth, and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham and the audience of the children of Heth, even of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying, Nay, my lord, hear me. The field give I thee, and the cave that is therein I give it thee, in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee, bury thy dead. So now Ephron's coming up, because he kind of invoked Ephron, he's like, I want to talk to Ephron, you know. And Ephron's like, hey, I'll just give it to you, because he's wanting this cave of Machpelah and the field that's associated with it. And Ephron's just like, hey, it's yours, you know, because he's saying I'll give you money for this, I'll buy it. And that's why he says, Nay. He's like, no, I'll give it to you. And Abraham doesn't want to do that, though. He doesn't want to take a gift. And, you know, it reminds me of when, remember when David, when he numbered the people, and then the destroyer was there to, you know, with his sword drawn, and he was the angel of the Lord, I believe. It was either the destroyer or the angel of the Lord. And he had Ornan, the Jebusite, and he had, you know, basically ready to strike, and God stopped him, and that's where he said, at the threshing floor of this place of Ornan, he went up to him and said, hey, I'm going to buy, I'm going to pay for this place, you know, to do sacrifice here. And that's where the temple, that's where, you know, the house of God was built. That's where Solomon built the house of God later on. But you remember, he said, I'll give it to you, and I'll give you sacrifices, too. And David's like, no way, you know, I'm not going to, I'm not going to give sacrifice in the Lord if it costs me nothing. Okay? And so Abraham, it's kind of like that a little bit here where he's saying, no, I don't want you to just give it to me. I want to pay you for it. Okay? And think about this. If you think about what Sodom and Gomorrah, you know, or Sodom, remember when he saved the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, and he, they wanted to give him all kinds of goods and everything, and he said, no, lest you say that Abraham was made rich by, you know, the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah and stuff. So I believe that's the same kind of thing that's applying here, is he doesn't want handouts. He doesn't want, he doesn't want anybody to say, hey, I gave you this, you know, and it's kind of like a way of staying independent from people to where you don't owe them anything. And even though it would be a gift, there's still like, you know, in the sight of men anyway, obviously with God, we don't owe him anything if he gives us a gift. But in the sight of men, you know, usually if you give a gift, there's like this idea of like, you owe me one kind of thing. And Abraham's kind of, no, I'm paying you for it. Whatever it's worth, I'll give you that. And that's where he's coming back to him here. And notice in verse 12, and Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land. And he spake unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land saying, But if thou wilt give it, I pray thee, hear me. I will give thee money for the field, take it of me, and I will bury my dead there. And Ephron answered Abraham saying unto him, My lord hearken unto me. The land is worth four hundred shekels of silver. What is that betwixt me and thee? Bury therefore thy dead. So you can see Ephron, it seems like he's got a good spirit about this. He's basically saying, it's worth four hundred shekels of silver, but what's that between us? So he's still like, he doesn't, he's not, you can tell like he's not wanting the money, you know, for the field. He's just wanting to give it to him. But Abraham's like, no. And notice Abraham, he's like, here you go. You know, and he's like going to shell it out. Because in verse 15 it says, My lord hearken unto me. The land is worth four hundred, or I'm sorry, in verse 16. And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron, and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant, and the field of Ephron which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, in the field, and the cave which was therein, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all the borders round about were made sure. Unto Abraham for possession, and the presence of the children of Heth before all that went in at the gate of his city. And after this Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre, the same as Hebron, in the land of Canaan. And the field and the cave that is therein were made sure unto Abraham for possession of a barren place by the sons of Heth. Now what's interesting about this is that this is going to be coming up later on. Because other, Isaac's going to, Abraham's going to be buried there, Isaac's going to be buried there, Jacob's going to be buried there, and all their wives are going to be buried there. Except for Rachel, she was buried by a tree. But that's just because I think they were not there when that happened. So, but go to Genesis 49 and you'll see that. But if you're reading through Genesis as we go through Genesis we're going to see this coming up about the children of Heth, Ephron, you know that he bought it, and this burying place that he bought, and it's brought up in Acts chapter 7. So this is something that's brought up a lot. But in Genesis chapter 49, this is right after he gives his, you know, basically he says in the last days he's talking about what's going to take place with the 12 tribes of Israel and all that stuff. And then it goes into this in verse 28. So Genesis 49 verse 28, it says, All these are the 12 tribes of Israel, and this is it, that their father spake unto them and blessed them. Everyone according to his blessing he blessed them. And he charged them and said unto them, I am, I am to be gathered unto my people, bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of, with the field of Ephron the Hittite for possession of a burying place. So obviously that's exactly where he buried Sarah, but notice what it says in verse 31. There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah. So you see how they're all buried there, except for Rachel. It's interesting that it says, he didn't say Leah my wife. You can still tell that Rachel was like, to him was his wife. But it's interesting because Leah gave birth to Judah. And obviously Judah is where the line of Christ came out of. And obviously Joseph, there was a great line that came through there. And even Benjamin's linked in there with Judah as far as that goes. But it says in verse 32, the purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the children of Heth. And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed and yielded up the ghost and was gathered unto his people. And so this is a very important thing. This is a very important place, you know, when it comes to all the patriarchs. And it goes all the way to Genesis. And in Acts chapter 7 it talks about it. So anytime anything is brought up in the New Testament, it's probably an important place. Okay? And Acts chapter 7 and verse 15, obviously this is the sermon of Stephen. He was full of the Holy Ghost and he was ripping face. He was actually just giving a historical outline of the Bible and then he ripped face. You know, at the end of it he just started ripping their face off. And then they stoned him to death. But Acts chapter 7 verse 15 it says, So Jacob went down into Egypt and died, he and our fathers, and were carried over into Sychem and laid in the sepulcher that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Amor, the father of Sychem. Okay? And so this is the same place that we're dealing with that they were all buried there. Now another, I believe Joseph was actually buried there. Now go back to Genesis chapter 50. Genesis chapter 50. Because, now it doesn't say that. It doesn't say that he was buried in this place. But there's something that's brought up and it's interesting that it's always brought up that they took Abraham's body, or I'm sorry, they took Joseph's body out of Egypt when they left to bury him in his own land. In Canaan, right? And to me it would just make sense that they would bury him with his father. You know, in the cave of Machpelah. You know, so to me that makes sense but it doesn't really say that outright. But I do want to show you this, that they, that he gave commandment before he died saying, when I die, when you leave this place, and he prophesied of that, saying that they were going to depart out of Egypt. When you leave this place, take my bones with you. And that was something that was fulfilled. So Genesis chapter 50 and verse 24. Genesis 50 verse 24, it says, And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die, and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from hence. So Joseph died being 110 years old, and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. So we see here that he was put in a coffin in Egypt when he died, but he said, you shall carry up my bones from hence when you're taken out of here. We'll go to Exodus chapter 13, because this is where it takes place. Exodus 13 and verse 19. While you're reading that, in Hebrews chapter 11, the one thing that's said about Joseph in Hebrews in the Hall of Faith is this, By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel, and gave commandment concerning his bones. That's the one thing that was said about Joseph in that list of things of faith. And obviously he had faith that they were going to leave Egypt, and faith enough to where he said, I want you to take my bones out of here. And so, and if you think about what Egypt represents, and you think about what we're going to get into in a minute about what burying people, what that even represents, or why do we bury people, if you think about Egypt, Egypt usually, it's called the iron furnace, and the wilderness usually represents the world, but in the promised land represents heaven and stuff like that. So what's the iron furnace represent? Hell. But you think about taking your bones out of there, meaning the resurrection, you know, and you can think about how that would represent that, about pulling them out of the fiery furnace so to speak, but we're out of the grave. And so, and obviously the grave is different than hell, right? But one's with the soul, one's with the body, and all that. But in Exodus chapter 13 verse 19 it says, And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had straightly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and you shall carry out my bones away hence with you. So you see that Moses fulfilled that. And Moses, you know, basically kept that oath that Joseph said hundreds of years before, right? And so how long did they sojourn in Egypt? Four hundred and thirty years. And Joseph lived to a hundred and ten, right? That's what, that's, yeah, he lived to a hundred and ten. Yeah. I don't know why I was thinking a hundred and twenty. A hundred and ten. Yeah, he lived to a hundred and ten, and he was what? He was seventeen when he was sold into, you know, into, you know, they sold him into Egypt and all that stuff. And basically he was like thirty years old. So I mean, you think about that, that was, you know, seventy or eighty years or something like that around there when they were sojourning in Egypt. Now obviously you gotta give some time there for the famine and all that when they finally got into there. But all that to say is that that's still like, you know, three hundred and some years. And then they kept that commandment that he gave them right after that. So, but why do we bury people? You know, when I think about this passage he keeps talking about burying people, burying people, burying people. And why don't we just burn them? Because what does it represent to bury somebody? It's representing dealing with the resurrection. And you think about this, this is something that Jesus brought up. Go to John chapter twelve. Because in John chapter twelve here I believe he's talking about himself personally, about him dying and rising again. But obviously that's going to happen to us. Notice what he said, and he's relating this to plants, to corn. John chapter twelve verse twenty-three it says, And Jesus answered them, saying, The hours come that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone, but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. Now he's talking about himself because if he doesn't die, then he's going to be alone. Right? Because he's God, and you know, he'll always be, but he can't bring many sons unto glory, you know, as it talks about through his sufferings if he doesn't die. And so obviously his death, burial, and resurrection is what causes any of us to be begotten from the dead, and any of us to rise from the dead, or any of us to be saved. And so, but notice it likens it unto the corn of wheat falling into the ground and dying. So you think of like putting a seed in the ground, it dies, but then it brings forth a plant, and that brings forth much fruit. Right? And so what do you do when you bury somebody in the ground? You're planting them, so to speak, in the ground, and eventually that seed is going to rise. And you say, well, that's weird. Well, that's what the Bible teaches here, and that's, you know, why do we bury people? Why don't we just burn everybody? And here's the thing, if someone was burned, if they burn my body after I die, I can't control that, right? So I'm not saying that like someone's burned, they're not going to have a resurrected body, you know? I'm not saying that at all, right? Because people die and you never find their body sometimes, or they get it disintegrated, or whatever, right? So I'm not saying anything like that, but what I'm saying is we do it for a reason, right? We bury people for a reason. It's not just to be morbid or anything like that. It's just the fact that that's what this represents. The thing is most heathen cultures and religions, they burn bodies. And so it's a heathen practice to burn bodies. Unless you were in a case where a whole bunch of people were dying and then you had to get rid of those bodies so you don't have disease, you know, that's obviously a life and death situation where you're dealing with that, then you need to be burying them. And that's why we do that. That's why it would be a Christian thing to do to bury a body. And so, but go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Like I said, this is a short sermon because this is really just about burying Sarah and the fact that he bought this land to do that. But I just want to show you, you know, why do we bury people? What does that represent? It represents the resurrection. It represents how you die but then you rise from the dead. And so that's why we bury people. And you think about David, it talks about David how his sepulcher is with us unto this day but he has not ascended into heaven, right? And so it's that picture of sowing the natural body and you're going to be reaping the spiritual body. And so in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 35, notice what it says. It says, but some man will say, how are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die. Sound familiar? With the corn of wheat? And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be but bare grain. Sound familiar? It made chance of wheat or of some other grain. But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him and to every seed his own body. So that's why we bury people because it represents the sowing of the seed, so to speak. And you can think of your body as a seed, a corruptible seed, but it's not going to, when you think about the difference between the seed that goes in the ground and what it produces, right? And that's what a picture of it, you think of, you know, that heaven's like a grain of mustard seed. But then after it's grown, it's the largest among herbs, right? And birds make their lodge and the, make their nests in it, right? And so that's what the picture, and that gives you an idea of the difference between your body and the spiritual body, right? Think about what you're putting in the ground compared to what comes out. And you can just kind of imagine a little bit about the upgrade that we're all going to be getting when it comes to our bodies. And so it's not the same, you know, our spirit, our physical body is not the same as our spiritual body, but we're going to look the same, right? Jesus looked the same. It's not like, he was in a spiritual body when they saw him, when they handled him and, you know, and saw him with their eyes, even though the modals don't think that they have ever seen Jesus. But they did see him, right? And the fact is, is that, you know, he still looked the same. And I believe Moses and Elijah looked the same, and they weren't even in spiritual bodies. You know, you think of people that are in heaven now, I don't think they look like specters, you know, like as far as like, you know, it's not like Ghostbusters. It's not like we're going to turn into slimers or something like that. You know, we're going to look like what we're supposed to look like. We're going to look like people. And, you know, people that don't have their bodies yet, obviously it's going to be a little different, you know, if they're just souls up in heaven. But, you know, the spiritual body is going to be that much better. And so that just kind of gives you a picture of it. But go down to verse 53, 53, because it kind of keeps going into that a little bit. Because it says in verse 53, for this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, and then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. And so we see that, you know, O grave, where is thy victory? So if you're burning the bodies, where is the grave? Right? And again, I'm not saying that people that get their bodies burned, they're not going to be in the resurrection. But this is obviously the picture as far as the grave, you know, the dead in Christ shall rise. Rise, right? That means that they're in the ground. And so, you know, death is swallowed up in victory. And that's why, you know, the last enemy to be destroyed is death. And why is it only at the white throne judgment, the great white throne judgment, that that's pretty much being said, right, after the thousand-year reign? Because there are going to be still people that are going to be resurrected after that. And we have the first resurrection, which is everybody up till Jesus comes, from the foundation of the world up to Jesus comes. But then you're going to have the gleaning, so to speak, of those that are in the thousand-year reign. And so when that happens, all those that are dead have risen. And that's where we have the sum to everlasting life, the sum to everlasting contempt, because when that resurrection happens, there's going to be the resurrection of the saved, but then there's also going to be the resurrection of damnation of all those that are in hell. All the unbelievers from the foundation of the world to the end of the world are going to be resurrected. And when that means resurrected, that means their soul and their body are going to come back together, and then they're going to be cast into the lake of fire. And we kind of already talked about that and the fact that they don't have a spirit anymore. And if you think about the soul, the body without the spirit is dead. So I believe the soul without the spirit would be dead too. Therefore, they're dead still, even though their soul and their body are together. And so that shows that picture, obviously, of all coming out of the graves, all this stuff. And so that's been a Christian practice from the very beginning. As we see here with Abraham, he wasn't burning his life, you know, or anybody else for that matter. We see from the very beginning that burying somebody is very scriptural, it's very Christian. It's something that, you know, obviously God is referring to over and over again. Jesus was buried, you know, and so he was put into a sepulcher. And obviously you don't have to have a sepulcher, you know. We don't have to mine out a hole into this hillside over here. That'll be our, you know, how churches have those, they have their little graveyards or whatever on the outside. We'll just have a sepulcher right there. We'll just put a big stone, you know, we roll over and stuff. Anyway, no, we're not going to do that. But it also shows too with this passage on the fact that, you know, the family kind of burying places, right? To be buried with your fathers, they were gathered. And this is something that's throughout. I mean, you think about all the kings that would die, they slept with their fathers. And usually sleeping is talking about just death, physical death. So you think about their body going to sleep with their fathers and going to their father's tomb. Some people didn't get the, you know, they didn't bury them with their fathers because they were a disgrace. And so, you know, it's just very biblical with being buried and not being cremated. Okay. And so, you know, that's what the Bible teaches in this passage. I mean, there's really not that much besides that that I see, you know, pulling out anything extra spiritual here. With this, it's just very simple. You know, his wife died, he mourned for her, he found a place or a cave to bury her in, and he bought it for money. And so, this is another example, just like the kings in Sodom, or the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah and those kings that he helped out, really just to help out his nephew, right? That he wouldn't accept any spoil from them. And in this case, he wouldn't accept getting it as a gift. He had to pay for it. And so, Abraham's a very honorable man, but he also just, above reproach in the fact that he doesn't want anybody to say that anybody made him rich besides God. And so, there's nothing wrong with accepting gifts, okay? But this wasn't like a gift, right? It's not like, it's not like He-more came up and said, hey, I got this field and this cave, I just want to give it to you. That's not what he did, right? Abraham's looking for something. He needs it. And so, that's the case where I'm going to pay money for it. And so, I tend to do that, but if someone gives me a gift, if it's just like, hey, I want to give you this, I'll accept it because I don't want to be rude. And obviously, I'm not against getting things or anything like that, but if I said I need to do this, or sometimes people will be really nice and they'll help out. I know people that would work on cars that are really nice and they're like, oh, you know, don't worry about it. But like, no, I want to pay you. You know, the laborer's worthy of his hire, right? You did me a service, I want to pay you, you know, because you're worthy of that and I don't, you know, you don't want to get into that mentality where you just take handouts all the time. And I'm not against, okay, I'm not saying that's wrong or sinful, but I personally like to pay for what labor someone gives me, you know? Now, if it's just a straight up gift and they're just like, hey, I want to give you this, that's different than doing a service for me, you know? And so anyway, that's what I see with Abraham in this aspect, but it's interesting that he's just like, no, I'm going to pay you, tell me how much it is, right? And 400 shekels of silver, I didn't look up how much that would be today, but that seems like a lot, right? 400 shekels of silver, I mean, I had to look that up later, I didn't get a chance, but that seems like it'd be a good chunk of change for, but I don't know how big the place was. It was just a field, but who knows how big that field is. I don't think it was like all of Hebron, you know what I mean? Like I think it was just a field that was in Hebron, you know, and this cave that was associated with it. And so, but that's Genesis chapter 23, it's very simple. Obviously it would be sad that Sarah died and all this, so we're kind of getting, we're going out from Abraham and Sarah and we're going to be going into Isaac because chapter 24 is really all about Isaac finding his wife, and actually more so about Abraham's servant finding a wife for him. So that's what you need, young men, you know, the single guys, you know, is like you need, you need to get somebody to just go find you a woman and bring her back to you, right? Just kidding. But Isaac, but Isaac was also 40 years old when he got married. So, you know, that's, you know, you may just want to go to the Philippines and find your wife like some other Baptists have done. So I'm just giving you a hard time. But yeah, so chapter 24 is a long chapter, but it's also just kind of repeating a lot of stuff too, like was said. So don't get daunted by that. We won't be here extra long next week or anything like that. But anyway, Genesis chapter 23, great chapter. Let's end with a word of prayer today. Heavenly Father, we thank you for today and just pray that you'd be with us as we go home and be with us throughout the rest of this week. Pray that you'd help us to get our jobs done, get everything we need to get done. And Lord, just thank you for your word. And even just a passage like this, very simple, but Lord, just a truth of understanding why we bury people. Why don't we do cremation or anything like that to see the biblical aspects of just little things like that in our lives and to know that we're doing what you want us to do. And Lord, we love you and pray all this in Jesus Christ's name. Amen.