Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis. Tonight is study #12 of Genesis, chapter 23, and we are going to read Genesis 23:16-20:

And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant. And the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, and the cave which was therein, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all the borders round about, were made sure Unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of his city. And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre: the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan. And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a buryingplace by the sons of Heth.

We have talked a lot about the field. We spent a good deal of time looking at what the Bible has to say concerning this field and what it represents, but we have not spoken much about the cave that was in the field. This goes back to Genesis 23:9:

That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field…

And it says in Genesis 23:11:

Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee…

So the cave is mentioned five times, I think, in this chapter. In the Bible, the number “five” typically identifies with the atonement, and the atonement relates to the grace of God. It can also identify with judgment because the atonement was really the judgment of God upon sin. So five times God refers to the cave that is in the field of Ephron that Ephron sold to Abraham. Abraham purchased the field, and we have seen that the field represents the world, according to the parable in Matthew 13. We understand that picture, but what would the “cave” that is in the field or in the world represent?

You know, this is where the Bible really gets difficult and interesting, because we should be trying to follow the line of spiritual thinking. Of course, we do that with our thinking on a natural level all the time, as we want things to fit together in a logical, reasonable kind of way. Our minds are trained to do that, but often our minds are not trained to do this with spiritual things and, yet, it should be. This is why Mr. Camping’s teachings were so good and, yet, so rare, because even people within the churches and congregations during the church age, for the most part, were carnally-minded. They were very natural-minded, and they were very comfortable looking at the plain, literal meaning, like the grammatical and historical aspects of the Word of God. They were very uncomfortable with the spiritual pictures, but from time to time they might even see that Isaac was a type of Christ or David was a type of Christ. You can read that of theologians of the past and theologians of the present. But what was very rare in what Mr. Camping would try to do in his Bible studies was to follow through with the spiritual types and figures. It is pretty obvious that David, whose name means “beloved,” is a type of Christ, but as David was written about in the Bible and as God described historical events concerning David, like the account of David and Goliath, if David was a type of Christ and he slew the giant, what does the giant represent? What do the five smooth stones that he picked up and put in his shepherd’s bag represent? First, we have to ask the questions. What about the number “five”? What about the giant and the valley? All these things need to be questioned. What is the spiritual meaning? The opening is that David is a type of Christ, so we go from there to the next aspect of spiritual understanding. Goliath could be a type of Satan, and it is true that Christ slew Satan, and so forth. And we start to develop a spiritual picture, and we come away with spiritual riches from what God has hidden in His Word. So the more questions we ask, the better, because it leads to greater spiritual understanding.

So we have to ask a question here. What does the cave in the field represent? We know that the cave was the actual burying place. Sarah was not going to be laid in the open field. No – the cave was the burying ground, and the cave was in the field, so that is helpful to us. So really what Abraham wanted all along was the cave. He wanted to own the cave, so he could bury his dead, and in order to get the cave to bury his dead, he had to buy the field the cave was in. So the field was not the main object of the whole transaction. The cave, in relationship to Sarah, was the main object in this historical account.

And we know it was a burying place. It was where the dead would go, and that is not limited to this chapter. We find in chapter 49 a reference to the same cave, and it is additional information. Jacob was about to die, and it says in Genesis 49:29-33:

And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace. There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah. The purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the children of Heth. And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.

Here, again, there is a reference to the cave, and it was not only a burying place for Sarah, but for Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah, Leah and now Jacob. It is a burial site. It is a sepulchre where the dead are buried.

We will not read too much here, but in Joshua 10 there were five kings. And, again, the number “five” is mentioned, just as the cave was mentioned five times in Genesis 23. Here, there are five kings that hid themselves in a cave. It says in Joshua 10:22-23:

Then said Joshua, Open the mouth of the cave, and bring out those five kings unto me out of the cave. And they did so, and brought forth those five kings unto him out of the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon.

These kings were alive, but hiding in a cave, so maybe this does not relate to a cave being a picture of death? But, hold on, because Joshua did put these five kings to death, and we read in Joshua 10:26-27:

And afterward Joshua smote them, and slew them, and hanged them on five trees: and they were hanging upon the trees until the evening. And it came to pass at the time of the going down of the sun, that Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees, and cast them into the cave wherein they had been hid, and laid great stones in the cave’s mouth, which remain until this very day.

When we read a statement like, “until this very day,” it is establishing an eternal principle; that is, these five kings are dead, and they will remain dead forever. You know, that is the definition of “eternal damnation.” It is eternal destruction or eternal death. Until relatively recently, almost everyone misunderstood the Biblical language of “hell” and the wrath of God upon the sinner. We saw language like “everlasting fire” or “everlasting death,” and we thought there must be a place called “Hell” that God would cast sinners for eternity. Joshua, a type of Christ, pronounced judgment upon these five kings, and the number “five” points to atonement, and the unsaved sinner must atone for his own sins, so when God destroys him in death, that is his atonement – the sinner pays for his own sin. But, of course, since he is a finite, fallen creature, he cannot arise from the dead and come back from the dead. He cannot overpower death, but death destroys him and, therefore, he is cast into a cave “unto this very day,” or forever. God is teaching us here about the nature of hell, because in the Bible “hell” and the “grave” are synonymous. Actually, the word “hell” is translated as “grave” in the Old Testament almost an equal number of times. So this was picturing hell or the grave for these five, indicating that they were dead.

But, again, we misunderstood and thought hell was place out there somewhere. What did we think about hell? There have been many wrong doctrines about the nature of hell itself. Some thought that when (unsaved) people died, they went down into the place called “Hell.” Where was that place? It certainly was not part of the earth, because they thought that upon death, a sinner was burning and suffering consciously (fully aware) in Hell, which was some mysterious “nether region” that was down there somewhere. They did not think that it was in the earth, but it was in some deep, dark place that God had ready-made for the sinners. That was the erroneous teaching of some during the church age. Others thought that Hell would not exist until the end, and on the last day God would destroy the earth, so Hell could not be part of this earth because it would be destroyed. But after the earth was destroyed, then God would cast unsaved men into a place called Hell that He would specially create. It was always very vague, mysterious and a “muddy” picture. It was not a clear image that we had because the entire doctrine is incorrect, but the idea was that it would be a place, some new creation of a despicable, horrible sort where the sinner would be cast and confined and never able to leave. It would be a place designed to afflict, torment and torture them for ever and ever. That Hell was removed from the earth. The Hell that was taught by some during the church age was also something away from the earth where you would go down to some nether region.

So this is interesting what God is saying here about the cave. Let us add another verse from John 11 when Lazarus died. We read in John 11:34-44:

And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him! And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died? Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.

I wanted to read all that because it is such a wonderful passage, but just as we read of Sarah, Lazarus was also put into a cave. Jacob was put into the cave. Abraham was put into the cave. Their wives were put into the cave. We know it is a temporary situation. In the case of Lazarus, it was very temporary – only four days. The number “four” would point to the universality of what is in view, which in this case is death. The people of God that die are placed in the ground or in the cave of this earth, and they have entered into hell in the sense that hell is the grave. And the four days that Lazarus was there, we could relate to the four hundred pieces of silver that was the purchase price of the field (and of the cave in the field), the completeness of the furthest extent.

But more than that, Jesus commanded them to take the stone away and He said, “Lazarus, come forth.” You see, He could do that because He is the owner – He purchased the field and the cave. Someone might respond, “Well, Jesus did not purchase this particular cave. You have your facts mixed up. You are confused. It was Abraham that purchased Sarah’s cave.” But, in the Bible, when God lays out a spiritual teaching, there is a spiritual truth that shines through. And He is telling us that it is a fact. It is the truth and it is reality. And the reality is that in the figure of Abraham, God is teaching that He bought the field and when He bought the field, He bought the cave as well. He owns the cave. What is the cave? It is the burying place. What do you put in the cave? The dead bodies are placed there, so it is a grave, as it says here in John 11:38: “Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave…” The cave is the grave. The cave is hell. It represents hell and Christ purchased the cave; He bought hell. This is why the reason the Bible tells us that He has the keys to the bottomless pit or as it says in Revelation 1:18:

I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

That is significant language because it was through His death and resurrection that the purchase of “hell” or “death” was accomplished. Again, it says in Revelation 1:18:

… and have the keys of hell and of death.

He has the keys. If your neighbor has his car parked in front of the house, can you get into his car and drive away? No – not if you are honest and you want to obey the law. First, you do not have the keys. Who has the keys? Your neighbor has the keys because he owns the car. What about your neighbor’s house? Do you just walk in, sit down and turn on the TV or go to his refrigerator and take something out and start cooking on his stove? No – it is not your house. First, the house door is probably locked, and you do not have the keys. The owner has the keys. And Jesus has the keys of hell and of death.

When Abraham purchased the cave along with the field, he was given ownership. He owned the cave, and that points to the incredible truth that God owns death. He owns it, and because He owns it, He can throw five kings into a cave, block it up and say, “Now you are dead forever more. You remain until this day, and you will never come out.” That is God’s business. It is His possession. He can leave men in a cave in the condition of death. Or, because He owns the cave and He owns death and hell, when His people die, God can say, “Lazarus, come forth.” Or, He can say to His people on the last day, “Rise,” and they will rise.

You see, this is a very important truth. Lord willing, we will talk about this more in our next study, and we will also talk about the location of the cave in the field. It is also extremely important in helping us to understand hell and death.