Tues.’s Devo - Abraham’s First Land Purchase

Read: Genesis 23:1-24; 24-51; Matthew 8:1-17; Psalm 9:13-20; Proverbs 3:1-6
Sarah died and Abraham knew something about death that we don’t ever hear about. In the Old Testament, the people who died went to a place called Sheol. It is mentioned 65 times in the Old Testament. It was an abode under the earth for the departed. It had different levels and today, God established a city of refuge in Sheol which was an underground city for the righteous to sleep awaiting their resurrection. Sometimes it is described as being dark with prison cells and other times as a place of rest and sleep. Wherever you were buried on earth determined where you would rest under the earth. Abraham bought his one and only piece of land on the earth to bury his ancestors. It was the cave of Macpellah which later became Hebron which became a city of refuge on earth and under the earth.
Isaac needed a bride so Abraham sent his oldest most-trusted servant. This man stood for the Holy Spirit who went out to do his master’s bidding. God worked with this servant to find the right mate for Isaac - Rebekah. She turned out to be Abraham’s great niece. The servant found her beside a well. A well represents a deep place of the spirit. Many things happen in the Bible around wells. The New Testament talks about wells of salvation springing up. This virgin drew water from this well and shared it abundantly. She was blessed abundantly in return.
In Matthew Jesus performed a most significant miracle. The Jewish leaders had agreed that there were three certain miracles that only the Messiah would be able to do. One of them was to heal a man born blind, another was to heal a Jewish leper, and the other was to heal a man who had a dumb spirit. Today, Jesus heals a leper who was a Jew. That is why he told him to go show himself to the priest. He wanted them to know he had done this. There was a certain ritual the priest had to go through when a person was healed of leprosy found in Leviticus 14. It had never been performed and everything about the ritual pointed to the cross.
Today we also see Jesus heal the son of a Gentile. It was always the plan to save the world.
We trust in You with all our hearts and will not lean on our own understanding. We will acknowledge You in all our ways and let you make our paths straight.