Incident at Kiryat Arba

newton3005

Well-Known Member
Jun 29, 2019
647
166
60
newburgh
✟113,997.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Kiryat Arba is today a location in the southern portion of the West Bank near Israel. In Biblical times this area is in the land of Canaan. It is here that Abraham’s long-lived wife Sarah died, according to Genesis 23.

After Abraham mourned for Sarah, he approaches the Hittites who lived in that area and says to them in Verse 4, “I AM A SOJOURNER AND FOREIGNER AMONG YOU; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” The Hittites respond in Verse 6, “Hear us, my lord; YOU ARE A PRINCE OF GOD among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb to hinder you from burying your dead.” Abraham asks in Verses 8 and 9 to bury Sarah in land owned by Ephron, and that he would pay full price for the land. He meets Ephron, who tells him in Verse 11 that he would GIVE him the land, but Abraham insists in Verse 13 on paying the full price. Ephron in Verse 15 says the land is worth a trifling sum as between him and Abraham, and Abraham agrees to pay after the sum is named.

My guess is that the land was worth more than 400 shekels of silver, but perhaps in a show of hospitality Ephron asks for a nominal amount.

This could have ended badly. The Hittites, under today’s standard in certain well-known places, could have had Abraham arrested for illegal entry, not believing that Abraham was privy to God in any manner or degree; instead they show some degree of hospitality to Abraham, “a sojourner and a foreigner.” Many years later, Jacob and his family would be “strangers in the land of Egypt,” according to Leviticus 19:34.

Have times really changed, to the point where things mentioned in the Bible don’t matter? Moses in Deuteronomy 7:9 says, “Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, TO A THOUSAND GENERATIONS...” One of those “commandments” is Leviticus 19:34 which says, “You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, FOR YOU WERE STRANGERS IN THE LAND OF EGYPT: I am the LORD your God.” You can see a sort of irony, the irony being the hospitality given to strangers like Abraham and the Hebrews.

Did not Jesus say that he comes to uphold the Law and the Prophets? Leviticus 19:34 is widely regarded to be a Law Jesus has in mind when he proclaimed his second great commandment of loving your neighbor as yourself.

Do we, in the face of Deuteronomy 7:9 and the coming of Jesus, have a right to declare that the Bible is obsolete regarding the way to treat strangers? Of course, we should protect our households, whether our household be for one family or for an entire nation. And the Bible allows us to defend ourselves against our enemies if they are a threat to us. But it seems that our xenophobic tendencies have made us believe that every stranger is an enemy!

Even if this were true, did not Jesus say to love your enemies when they are not attacking us? Did he not imply that if you see your enemy stuck on the side of the road, being unable to harm anyone, that you should help him get back on his feet? Perhaps in this day and age that may be too hard to swallow, I don’t know...

But I ask again...Has the Bible become obsolete so that now we should regard all strangers as our enemy? Has it become obsolete that we are to presume that all strangers are not God-fearing, nor would they ever be, or that there are no longer any “angels unawares” to entertain among the strangers we see, as there were in Lot’s time? Has the Bible become obsolete such that we are no longer required to ‘spread the word of God,’ as Jesus says in Matthew 28:18-20 to his first disciples?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Emmylouwho

HeffersonDavidos

Active Member
Sep 21, 2019
31
11
Peoria
✟16,548.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Private
Politics
US-Others
Don't quite get the gist of your argument. Are you are using this passage
to make an argument about say welcoming illegal immigrants? If so, it
seems a bit of a stretch.

You say:
"The Hittites, under today’s standard in certain well-known places, could have had Abraham arrested for illegal entry, not believing that Abraham was privy to God in any manner or degree;.."

But this interpretation does not seem to be in keeping with the text. Abraham was
known to these people, and his presence was ACCEPTED BEFORE he bought the burial plot.
He was not an "illegal" sneaking across a border "wall" (smile Trumpies), nor an illegal with
a pocketful of fake documents sometimes undercutting American workers at the local level.

To the contrary, Abraham was respected and welcome among them. This is proved by
the biblical text that says:

"Hear us, my lord: thou art a prince of God among us: in the choicest of our sepulchres bury thy dead.."

This is totally different from today's example of the burdened, hiding, dodging
illegal immigrant, whether said immigrant be from Mexico, or from Ireland. (In the
1980s and 1990s tens of thousands of illegal Irish "disappeared" in the United States
for example). I have more respect for hard working illegal immigrants by the way
that some of these loud, "patriots" who seem to find plenty of time for anything but
real work.

Abraham did not have to sneak around. They knew who he was. He was a man with
resources, with gravitas, with a track record of good works. He was welcome among
them -so welcome- that they would let him have any burial space for free. Now that's
respect.

So the situation is totally different if you are making an 'illegal' immigrant point.
There is of course a case for general kindness to strangers. But this does not have
to mean unfettered free-for-all inflow, or uncritical acceptance of such. Ancient
Israel did not have tens of thousands of Amalekites flowing across its borders every
year, nor would it have accepted such.

But that aside, there is a key spiritual message of the passage. Even though Abraham had
tons of prestige among the Hittites, he insisted on paying for the burial plot,
a good general principle for Christians- that they not be beholden to people
in the world, no matter how friendly those people may be at the moment.
The Hittites were some hard case hombres. They would not be so welcoming or
friendly to other tribes and peoples they encountered in later centuries.

Same principle had to be learned by the Hebrews in Egypt. Things started out
pretty favorably- they had a great deal with Joseph and a friendly Pharaoh.
It was easy street. But then the world around them changed- and life became
harsh, oppressive and bitter. This too is a general spiritual lesson Christians
have to learn about living here on earth. What looks good now may turn to bitter
ashes later. Hence the need to stay focused not on this material world, but on
that world beyond, access to which they have through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus.
This is the true "takeaway" from the cave at Kiryat Arba.

As you quoted Matt 28- if Christians are to "make disciples of all nations"- spiritual
independence of this material world, and a focus on the that to come, is one of the
crucial messages to convey, as part of that mandate.
 
Upvote 0