A Life Fulfilled, a Promise Unfinished

Introduction

Upon finding a wife for his son we now see Abraham completely leave the story tonight in his death. Through the ending of his life we see a few things about his life that are a fitting conclusion. The only thing about his life though is that it does not seem complete. There were so many promises and there was so much happening, what is to become of all of that? That is what we will begin to seek to understand tonight. Abraham’s life is fulfilled but the promises are unfinished.

Lets now turn to Genesis 25.1-18 and read the ending of the life of the great patriarch.

Genesis 25:1–18 ESV

Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. Abraham gave all he had to Isaac. But to the sons of his concubines Abraham gave gifts, and while he was still living he sent them away from his son Isaac, eastward to the east country. These are the days of the years of Abraham’s life, 175 years. Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people. Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre, the field that Abraham purchased from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried, with Sarah his wife. After the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac his son. And Isaac settled at Beer-lahai-roi. These are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s servant, bore to Abraham. These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, named in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael; and Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their villages and by their encampments, twelve princes according to their tribes. (These are the years of the life of Ishmael: 137 years. He breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people.) They settled from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt in the direction of Assyria. He settled over against all his kinsmen.

This section of text can be clearly divided into a few sections. The first shows us that Abraham had more children with another wife but he recognized that Isaac was the chosen child and though he took care of all these other children he ultimately sent them off and gave all that he had to Isaac. An interesting note on this too is that many of these other kids become nations that oppose Israel. So in part they contribute to fulfilling the promises.

After this we see that Abraham dies at a good age and after having a good life. His two top sons Ishmael and Isaac come together to lay their father to rest in the cave that he bought, the only part of the promised land that is currently owned. After this burial we find that Isaac is blessed and is living in the land that Abraham dwelled in.

The section finished with the generations of Ishmael. It is clearly stated that he is not the chosen son but God promised to take care of him and here we see that God did take care of him. This is the conformation of the fulfillment of the promise that was made to Abraham.

Tonight we are going to look at the life of Abraham through the light of this passage and we are going to see that he lived a life blessed by God, his life and ultimately death was marked by faith, and the promises to him were partially fulfilled. Lets pray and then begin to dive in.

A Life Blessed by God

Abraham lived a life that was blessed by God. It says that he died at a good old age and was full of years then he was gathered to his people. This is a true mark of his life.

When we look back on his life we can see that it was truly marked by God’s blessing. In the beginning of his story he was called out of a pagan land to follow the true God with great promises and blessings. He went through life and there were hardships but it is hard not to see the blessings and care of God on his life through it all. Think for example the protection when he was in a foreign land, or when he rescued Lot from an army that defeated three kings and he did it with his little nomadic group, think about how God listened to him in the case of Sodom, think of the wealth that Abraham acquired along the way, then finally think of the blessing of offspring at a old age. Each step of the way there was God’s blessings and when he died it can be properly said that he was full of years.

So seeing the life of Abraham and how it was blessed by God we should ask what were the essential components of this? There are two essential components of Abrahams blessing and the first was Gods choosing of him. There was no reason that God should have called Abraham over somebody else, he did it of his own free will. There was nothing that Abraham did to be chosen by God this was not an interview to see who God would bless and use to start his special nation.

The second part is Abrahams response of faith. Abraham was called by God and the Bible tells us that all who are called will be justified and we are justified through faith. Abraham is a man of great faith but before he had that he was chosen and called by God.

This is a picture of salvation! Abrahams blessing flows out of his salvation. Now I don’t want you to get confused here. I am not saying that people who are saved are going to gain riches and be protected like Abraham but you see that those things meant nothing to Abraham. What meant more than anything to him was his relationship with God, that is the true blessing. Take for example one of his biggest blessings, Isaac. At the command of God he was prepared to sacrifice him!

For another example look to Paul in the New Testament. If you were to ask Paul if he lived a life blessed by God he would say absolutely. Paul was beaten, imprisoned, stoned, shipwrecked, and more! This is because the blessing is not an earthly one but rather a heavenly one.

This is a life that is blessed by God.

A Death Marked by Faith

The next thing that we see in Abraham’s fulfilled life is a death that is marked by faith. We will not spend a ton of time here because he just saw how closely his faith tied in to his blessed life but there is one part that we want to make sure we see. Abraham’s sons come together and they bury him on the burial plot that we just recently saw him purchase. Even in death Abraham had faith in the promises.

In the ancient world where you were buried was significant. Abraham wanted to be buried here because he knew that God promised him that this would be his land. His sons had faith in this too as they buried him here and Isaac becomes a man of great faith in the very near future. He will share in some of the mistakes of his father but in some ways he holds even stronger to his faith.

Abraham lived a life marked by faith but he also had a death that was marked by the very same faith.

A Promise Partially Fulfilled

As we wrap up tonight we need to spend some time considering the promises made to Abraham. These promises were land, seed, and blessing. There was also the promise to care for Ishmael. We see that the promises to care for Ishmael are fulfilled here at the end of this section as we have the generations of Ishmael. A testament to his life and descendants. But what about the other 3?

First we have land. Abraham only ever had a sliver of the land that was promised to him and that sliver was his burial plot. He never saw the complete fulfillment of taking the land. The thing is though in a few books you will see the nation of Israel taking the land but they do not take it all either! They leave some of it because they do not want to go through the work of taking it or they are just content with what they have. This promise will be totally fulfilled in the millennial reign of Christ on the earth that we wait for as seen in Revelation 20.

When it comes to offspring or seed we see Isaac. There are also all of the other kids that Abraham had but to this promise our focus is Isaac. Abraham saw him but no others. There are the physical descendants and the spiritual children of Abraham. In the end times God will save a remnant of the physical descendants of Abraham so that they too will be spiritual descendants and those of us who are not Jews will get to enjoy this as well. This again finds its complete fulfillment in this future kingdom where Christ reigns.

Then finally blessing. This is seen throughout Abraham’s life and throughout the history of the nation of Israel. We see that in Christ all the nations of earth will be blessed, this comes from the salvation that he brings and the kingdom that will come.

As you can see, these promises are not finished in Abraham. This covenant will be passed down and we will see the complete fulfillment of it when Christ returns. Abraham was not worried that he did not see the complete fulfillment of all that was promised to him because his eyes were set on something higher.

Conclusion

So as we close tonight we need to think about where our faith lies. If it is in anything but Christ we will miss the blessings that he offers us. More than just missing the blessings of him being your God and getting to take part in the blessings promised to Israel, without faith in Christ you will receive the punishment you deserve as an enemy of him.

Our sin separates us from him and his blessings and makes us an enemy of him. Through a trusting belief in Christ which we call faith you can be forgiven and brought back into right relationship with God and then you can live a life fulfilled.