The Death of SarahIn Genesis 22:23, we see the report of the birth of Rebekah, whichanticipates the future marriage between Isaac and Rebekah (Genesis 24).Likewise, the report of the death and burial of Abraham’s wife, Sarah(Genesis 23), anticipates his future marriage with Keturah (Gen. 25:1–4).Read Genesis 23. What function does the story of Sarah’s death andburial play in the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham?__________________________________________________________________________________________________________The mention of the death of Sarah after the story of the sacrifice ofIsaac suggests that she might have been affected by this incident, whichalmost cost her son’s life. In some way, Sarah also was involved in the“test” with her husband, just as she was in his travels and his occasionallapses in faith (Gen. 12:11–13).Though we don’t know how much Sarah knew about the incidentafter it occurred, we can infer that she probably learned of it eventually.Sarah was not the kind of woman who would keep quiet on mattersthat were of significance or were disturbing her (compare with Gen.16:3–5; Gen. 18:15; Gen. 21:9, 10). Her absence and her silence, andeven the timing of her death following that dramatic event, say moreabout her relevance to the events than did her physical presence. Thefact that Sarah’s old age is mentioned (Gen. 23:1), in echo to Abraham’sold age (Gen. 24:1), shows her importance to the story.In fact, Sarah is the only woman in the Old Testament of whom thenumber of her years is mentioned, which could show her involvementin the story even after the fact. The focus on the purchase of Sarah’sburial place (which covers most of the chapter), rather than on herdeath, emphasizes the connection with the Promised Land.Already, the specification that she died “in the land of Canaan” (Gen.23:2) underlines the rooting of Sarah’s death in God’s promise of theland. Sarah is the first of Abraham’s clan to have died and been buried inthe Promised Land. Abraham’s concern about himself, “ ‘a foreigner anda visitor’ ” (Gen. 23:4, NKJV), and his insistent argument with the sonsof Heth, show that Abraham is interested not just in acquiring a burialplace; he is primarily concerned with settling in the land permanently.Read Genesis 23:6. What does this tell us about the kind of repu-tation Abraham had? Why is this important in understandingwhat he was used by the Lord to do?