Genesis 25
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Background
Last week we trekked through the long story of Abraham’s servant obtaining a wife from Abraham’s homeland for Isaac. Isaac received Rebekah as his wife, and we discussed the importance of this happening.
1 Now Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah.
2 She bore to him Zimran and Jokshan and Medan and Midian and Ishbak and Shuah.
3 Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim and Letushim and Leummim.
4 The sons of Midian were Ephah and Epher and Hanoch and Abida and Eldaah. All these were the sons of Keturah.
5 Now Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac;
6 but to the sons of his concubines, Abraham gave gifts while he was still living, and sent them away from his son Isaac eastward, to the land of the east.
Let’s recall some important things that have recently happened:
Abraham was tested by God in the demand for Isaac to be sacrificed, and yet God spared him and provided a substitutionary sacrifice.
Abraham lost his wife Sarah and bought land with a cave so that she might be buried.
Abraham ensured the continuation of his promised lineage by obtaining a wife for Isaac.
We saw last week at the beginning of 24 that Abraham had been blessed in every way by the Lord. Sometime after the death of Sarah, at age 137 or above, Abraham took another wife.
TIMELINE
TIMELINE
An interesting side note: Hagar is not mentioned at all. The last time her story is detailed in Scripture was in 21.
Like Hagar, Keturah was considered a concubine and not a wife, as far as standing and privileges are concerned.
This had mostly to do with the children born to them, and their allotment of inheritance.
Like Ishmael, Abraham sent his sons born to him by Keturah to the east, away from Isaac. They received gifts but would have no part of Isaac’s inheritance.
This of course had to do with the promise made by God and His choosing of Isaac to receive the blessing.
19 But God said, “No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
10 Therefore she said to Abraham, “Drive out this maid and her son, for the son of this maid shall not be an heir with my son Isaac.”
11 The matter distressed Abraham greatly because of his son.
12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the lad and your maid; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for through Isaac your descendants shall be named.
Like Ishmael, these sons settled in the east, away from the Promised Land.
12 “He will be a wild donkey of a man, His hand will be against everyone, And everyone’s hand will be against him; And he will live to the east of all his brothers.”
One of Keturah’s sons, Midian, forms a tribe of some significance later on.
7 These are all the years of Abraham’s life that he lived, one hundred and seventy-five years.
8 Abraham breathed his last and died in a ripe old age, an old man and satisfied with life; and he was gathered to his people.
9 Then his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, facing Mamre,
10 the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth; there Abraham was buried with Sarah his wife.
11 It came about after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac lived by Beer-lahai-roi.
Abraham lived to be 175 years old, incredible by our standards but not unusual in his lifetime.
Of interesting note - Abraham died 4 years before his great-great-great-great-grandfather Eber.
His great-grandfather was Shem, Noah’s son, who actually outlived Sarah (2145).
Isaac would actually live longer than Abraham did.
This was a fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham:
15 “As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age.
God is faithful to keep His promises.
God is faithful to keep His promises.
He was buried with Sarah, with his 2 oldest sons present to bury him.
While they must have had an interesting and perhaps rocky relationship, it’s clear that Ishmael cared for his father.
As promised, God’s blessing transferred from Abraham to Isaac after Abraham’s death.
Ironically, Isaac lived at the well where Hagar was visited and cared for by God back in 16.
12 Now these are the records of the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maid, bore to Abraham;
13 and these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael, and Kedar and Adbeel and Mibsam
14 and Mishma and Dumah and Massa,
15 Hadad and Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah.
16 These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their villages, and by their camps; twelve princes according to their tribes.
17 These are the years of the life of Ishmael, one hundred and thirty-seven years; and he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people.
18 They settled from Havilah to Shur which is east of Egypt as one goes toward Assyria; he settled in defiance of all his relatives.
Ishmael was promised to be the father of 12 princes:
20 “As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.
Once again we see God faithful to His promises
19 Now these are the records of the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham became the father of Isaac;
20 and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife.
21 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived.
22 But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is so, why then am I this way?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.
23 The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the younger.”
24 When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.
25 Now the first came forth red, all over like a hairy garment; and they named him Esau.
26 Afterward his brother came forth with his hand holding on to Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob; and Isaac was sixty years old when she gave birth to them.
We see here that the events of last chapter concluded with Isaac being 40 years old. Some interesting information is revealed:
Like Sarah, Rebekah was barren for about 20 years, as we’ll see, until Isaac prayed for her.
Only God has the power to open and close the womb.
Furthermore, God chooses twins and siblings.
Rebekah would have no other way of knowing, besides asking God, that she was carrying twins.
Like Abraham and Hagar before her, God revealed the future of the lives of her children even before the children were born.
In a similar fashion, she is told that the younger will actually surpass the older.
This is backwards for the culture.
All children are a blessing, but having twins is a special blessing.
The firstborn, Esau, is named because of his being covered with red hair (“rough”).
His nickname later would reflect the red, Edom.
Jacob means “supplanter,” fitting for the fulfillment of Rebekah’s promise.
Isaac was 60 years old when he had his children. This means that Abraham would have still been alive to meet his grandsons.
27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a peaceful man, living in tents.
28 Now Isaac loved Esau, because he had a taste for game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
29 When Jacob had cooked stew, Esau came in from the field and he was famished;
30 and Esau said to Jacob, “Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished.” Therefore his name was called Edom.
31 But Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.”
32 Esau said, “Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?”
33 And Jacob said, “First swear to me”; so he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob.
34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
Fast-forwarding to Esau and Jacob growing up, Esau was a warrior and a hunter, but Jacob was a farmer and domestic.
Though they were twins, Esau was considered the firstborn. Isaac showed preference for his firstborn and for the food he provided.
Rebekah, however, remembered the promise that God had made to her regarding her sons, and knew Jacob would be the stronger of the two, so she showed partiality towards him.
Though this interaction may not mean much to us, it is historically a very interesting turn of events.
29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.
28 And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise.
The firstborn by right of birth would receive a double-portion of inheritance from the father. It was their charge to take over the father’s household.
16 that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.
Selling your birthright was considered both irresponsible and disrespectful.
Esau essentially looked at the here and now, and said it was more important than what is offered in the future.
There are some even today in the church who live in this same way.
18 For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.
18 For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ,
19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.
We are called to serve the LORD, not our own appetites.
We are called to serve the LORD, not our own appetites.
24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.
Jacob was not any more moral, but seeking that which was not rightfully his.
In spite of this, God knew this would take place and had chosen Jacob to be the father of the nation of Israel.
Jacob is beginning to live up to his name as supplanter.
APPLICATION
APPLICATION
God is faithful to keep His promises.
We are called to serve the LORD, not our own appetites..
Next week, we will continue with the story of Isaac.