Gen 23:1 And Sarah was a hundred and seven and twenty years old: these were the years of the life of Sarah.
Gen 23:2 And Sarah died in Kirjath-arba; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.
Gen 23:3 And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spoke unto the sons of Heth, saying,
Gen 23:4 I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a burial place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.

Here Abraham was promised all this land and yet he was respectful enough of the present inhabitants that he wanted to purchase land for burying his family members. He knew the land would be given to his seed after him but he was not high-minded and arrogant about that fact but just waited and trusted God to bring it about in His own time. 

Gen 23:5 And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him,
Gen 23:6 Hear us, my lord: thou art a mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchers bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulcher, but that thou mayest bury thy dead.
Gen 23:7 And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth.
Gen 23:8 And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight; hear me, and entreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar,
Gen 23:9 That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field; for as much money as it is worth he shall give it me for a possession of a burial place amongst you.
Gen 23:10 And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth: and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, even of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying,
Gen 23:11 Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead.
Gen 23:12 And Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land.
Gen 23:13 And he spoke unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt give it, I pray thee, hear me: I will give thee money for the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there.
Gen 23:14 And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him,
Gen 23:15 My lord, hearken unto me: the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that between me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.
Gen 23:16 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.
Gen 23:17 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
Gen 23:18 Unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of his city.
Gen 23:19 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.
Gen 23:20 And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a burial place by the sons of Heth.

These men recognized that Abraham was favored of God and that having him dwell near and to treat him kindly would probably grant God's favor to them also. They were willing to give Abraham this place of burial without receiving any money.

Abraham though would have none of that. Just as he refused to receive any rewards offered to him by the King of Sodom, he also refused this free place of burial but insisted on paying for it.

How different was Abraham to many spiritual leaders today who think they are entitled to fleece the flock of God and take from poor widows even. Some of them live in huge mansions and think that God has blessed them in those things.

Abraham was rich and God did bless him with riches and increase but he didn't get rich by taking from someone else. His riches didn't possess him. He did not devour widow's houses. I believe he would have been just as happy having very little but he needed a lot to be able to give support and substance to all his herdsmen and their families. His heart wasn't in his riches.

Being rich is not a sign of being in favor with God for there are many rich men who do not even believe in God. This is a false teaching. A poor man can be just as pleasing to God if he loves God with all his heart. Putting guilt on people to give and telling them that they will be cursed of God is not a New Testament teaching. It is better to encourage giving with love rather than intimidation.

Its better to give because we love God's work and love those that do God's work, not because we are afraid of a curse or we are giving to get back what we give. It may be that we may increase but that should never be our motive.

We see in Abraham a good example of one who prefers other people to himself as we saw in the case of Lot. We saw an intercessor in prayer also in the case of Lot and we see someone who trusted God for his needs instead of taking anything from the kings and rulers around him. He didn't want to be in debt to anyone but God.

When we read the Old Testament we can learn from their mistakes and benefit from the results we see when they are in obedience to God. We see what led to the coming of Christ and God's plan to bring us to the time when Christ came to die for our sins. We see God preserve the seed from which Christ is to come through miraculous means. We can see clearly also that because of the coming of Jesus Christ many things change for the better. There is a better way to be saved that changes the whole natural of those who believe. When one is born again by God's spirit he or she is a new creation. It is not just a religion, it is a change in the inner heart of man.

Because of Christ women have been held in higher esteem. Because of Christ slavery was abolished in many places. Because of Christ the standard of living is improved. It took lots of blood, sweat and tears but many things changed after Jesus came. Not always has the church been what it should be for they did much evil during the middle age time period but I don't give credit for any good to the church but to Christ and His influence. He is good.  Abraham was the one chosen of God to bring the promised one to the world and make a way for not just Israel but all others to be saved as well.  When we study the life of Abraham, we can see what God saw in him and why he was chosen of God even though he messed up at times. 

Genesis 24