Genesis 23:12-16
Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land. And he said to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, “But if you will, hear me: I give the price of the field. Accept it from me, that I may bury my dead there.” Ephron answered Abraham, “My lord, listen to me: a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.” Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants.
Tag: Having power doesn't mean you abuse others.
Abraham was a powerful man in the Mideast. He was a man of wealth and of war. He possessed many servants and much goods. On top of this, he had a reputation as a man of God. Note what the Hittites said to him when he wanted to buy a cave in their land to bury his wife, Sarah:
Genesis 23:6
“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 did not abuse his power. He was willing to pay the full price for the cave. If he had simply taken the cave he would have abused his power. Instead he was willing to do just as everyone else had done. This was a real indication of Abraham’s godliness. Abraham was willing to set aside what others may have thought they were entitled to have. Character is both developed during times like this, but also demonstrated. God expects us to show Christ like character. We are not to flaunt our status as believers over others. We are not to act superior to others. Abraham gives us a great example of being a true follower of Christ. Note:
Philippians 2:3-7
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
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