The Book of Genesis
Day 210
Ge 23:1 Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years;
these were the years of the life of Sarah. 2 So Sarah died in Kirjath Arba
(that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah
and to weep for her. 3 Then Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spoke to
the sons of Heth, saying,
A little Bible trivia for you. Sarah is the only woman in
the Bible whose age at the time of her death is recorded. Having given birth to
Isaac at the age of 90 (possibly 91) Isaac was 37 years old when his mother
passed. She was a special woman indeed.
She had been through a lot with Abraham and now he weeps and mourns for his
loss.
Even though this weeping and mourning can make bystanders a
little uncomfortable, nonetheless, it is a beautiful thing to observe. I still remember the reaction of my
father-in-law when his wife of many years passed away. Oh the sadness. Oh the pain
as he wept and sought to touch her body one last time as she lay in the open
casket.
This is the way it should be. This is the natural reaction
of a married couple who by the power of God in holy matrimony have become one
flesh. The death of a spouse is a ripping away, a virtual separation of two
souls who had become one!
Jesus, speaking about this mystical union in Mt 19:4 said,
“Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and
female,' 5 "and said, 'For this
reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and
the two shall become one flesh'? 6
"So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has
joined together, let not man separate."
Any separation of the union of man and woman, whether it be
death or divorce is painful, and we would do well to understand the depth of
this pain. It ain’t easy folks. It’s one of the reasons God hates divorce
because it does violence to what was suppose to be the seamless garment of the
union between man and wife. And it causes great pain to both parties.
Mal 2:16 says,
"For the LORD God of Israel says That He hates divorce, For it
covers one's garment with violence," Says the LORD of hosts.
"Therefore take heed to your spirit, That you do not deal
treacherously."
We may put on a bold front, but underneath it all, there is
an inexplicable pain that accompanies the tearing apart of man and wife. So
weep and mourn my brother! Weep and mourn my sister. This is a natural reaction
to the ending of a marriage.
Seek reconciliation whenever possible. The Holy Spirit
speaking through the Apostle Paul in 1Co
7:10,11 reminds us “ A wife is not to depart from her husband. 11 But even if she does depart, let her
remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to
divorce his wife.”
In Abraham’s case, reconciliation was impossible, he was
widowed. Note what he did then after a
time of weeping and mourning. “He stood up from the dead,” that is he moved on
with his life when reconciliation was impossible. He mourned and moved on.
This is not to say that the pain and tears won’t return,
they likely will, and each time they do, they reminds us of the power of the
mystical, miraculous union of man and woman in holy matrimony!
