亚伯拉罕和撒拉是全宇宙中最好的夫妻。他们真正彼此相爱，从来没有想到离婚或分居。亚伯拉罕失去了妻子，对他和以撒都是一大损失。以撒是他母亲的爱子，亳无疑问，她非常爱他。以撒三十七岁还没有结婚，与他母亲同住。他四十岁结婚的时候（创二五20），圣经甚至告诉我们，他在母亲的帐棚里结婚（创二四67）。忽然，亚伯拉罕与撒拉，撒拉与以撒之间的爱中断了，因为作妻子和母亲的撒拉，被不正常的死取去了。因着这个，亚伯拉罕受了很大的苦。
你若读亚伯拉罕的历史，你会看见神总是取去他的东西。罗得与他分开，以利以谢被弃绝，以实玛利被赶出，以撒在祭坛上献给神。然后他亲爱的妻子死了。亚伯拉罕经历了何等的试炼和苦难！照着我们天然的观念，亚伯拉罕与神这么好，不该遭遇这些事。在创世记二十二章，以撒献给了神，又在复活里归还了亚伯拉罕。在亚伯拉罕同妻子撒拉并儿子以撒享受喜乐生活的当儿，忽然亚伯拉罕喜乐的因素撒拉被取去了。这家庭的喜乐在于作妻子和母亲的撒拉。撒拉一死，这家的气氛、生活和喜乐都被取去了。这对亚伯拉罕是何等的苦难！
我们是蒙神呼召的人，不该盼望在地上有喜乐的生活。我们必须跟随亚伯拉罕的脚踪，仰望更美的家乡，仰望一座有根基的城（来十一10，16）。我们在地上短暂的生活，乃是客旅的生活。因此，亚伯拉罕不大留意他的住处，不过搭了一座帐棚。他是客旅，是寄居的，仰望一个永久的住处。
亚伯拉罕过了三十八年没有撒拉帮助的生活（创二五7-8）。在圣经里，三十八这数字是受苦、试炼和试验的数字。以色列人在旷野受了三十八年的试炼和试验。我们已经看见，以撒在四十岁结婚。在圣经里，四十这数字也是试炼、试诱和试验的意思。这章还有另一数字，就是四百，是十倍的四十。在圣经里首次用四百这数字，是在创世记十五章十三节，在那里神告诉亚伯拉罕，他的后裔要受患难四百年。在二十三章十六节这里我们读到，亚伯拉罕用四百舍客勒银子的代价买了坟地。这指明是一种试验、试炼和受苦。
亚伯拉罕为撒拉哀恸哭号，因为他失去了他的喜乐和家庭生活。译为“哀恸”和“哭号”的希伯来文，原意远超过仅仅哀恸并哭号。亚伯拉罕老年丧妻，受苦太深，极其伤痛。三十八、四十和四百这些数字，指明他极大的受苦。
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Abraham’s Suffering – Gen. 23:6
Two Things Needed to Fulfill God’s Purpose — The Second Item is the Land
Abraham and Sarah were the best couple in the whole universe. They truly loved one another and never thought of divorce or separation. For Abraham to lose his wife was a great loss to him and to Isaac. Isaac was his mother’s beloved son; undoubtedly, she loved him very much. Isaac was not married at the age of thirty-seven and was living with his mother. When he married at the age of forty (Gen. 25:20), the Bible even tells us that he married in his mother’s tent (Gen. 24:67). Suddenly, the love between Abraham and Sarah, and between Sarah and Isaac, was cut off because Sarah, the wife and mother, was taken away by an abnormal death. Because of this, Abraham suffered greatly.
If you read Abraham’s history, you will see that God was always taking things away from him. Lot separated from him, Eliezer was rejected, Ishmael was cast out, and Isaac was offered to God on the altar. Then his dear wife died. What trials and sufferings Abraham underwent! According to our natural concept, since Abraham was so good with God, he should not have encountered these things. In Genesis 22, Isaac was offered to God and returned to Abraham in resurrection. While Abraham was enjoying a happy life with his wife Sarah and his son Isaac, suddenly Sarah, the factor of Abraham’s happiness, was taken away. The joy of that family depended on Sarah, the wife and mother. Once Sarah died, the atmosphere, the living and the joy of that family were taken away. What a suffering this was to Abraham!
We are those who have been called by God, and we should not expect to have a happy life on earth. We have to follow in the steps of Abraham, looking for a better country and looking for the city which has foundations (Heb. 11:10, 16). Our brief living on earth is a sojourning life. Therefore, Abraham did not pay much attention to his dwelling place but merely pitched a tent. He was a traveler, a sojourner, looking for a permanent dwelling place.
Abraham lived for thirty-eight years without the help of Sarah (Gen. 25:7-8). In the Bible, the number thirty-eight is the number of suffering, trial and testing. The children of Israel suffered trials and testing in the wilderness for thirty-eight years. We have seen that Isaac married at the age of forty. In the Bible, the number forty also means trial, temptation and testing. There is another number in this chapter, four hundred, which is ten times forty. The first time the number four hundred is used in the Bible is in Genesis 15:13, where God told Abraham that his descendants would be afflicted for four hundred years. Here in chapter 23:16, we read that Abraham paid the price of four hundred shekels of silver for the burying place. This indicates a kind of testing, trial and suffering.
Abraham mourned and wept for Sarah because he had lost his joy and family life. The Hebrew words translated “mourn” and “weep” mean much more than merely mourning and weeping. Abraham lost his wife in his old age; he suffered deeply and was extremely sorrowful. The numbers thirty-eight, forty and four hundred indicate his great suffering.