GENESIS

Notes on Genesis 25

• Genesis 25:1 Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah.
• 2 And she bore him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah.
• 3 And Jokshan begot Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim.
• 4 And the sons of Midian; Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah.
• 5 And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac.

We may wonder at the wisdom of these things. Perhaps Abraham was lonely after the death of Sarah. They were together a very long time. Yet, he bore other sons only to send them away knowing that God wanted the inheritance to become Isaac's alone.

• Genesis 25:6 But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country.
• 7 And these are the days of the years of Abraham's life which he lived, a hundred threescore and fifteen years.
• 8 Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.
• 9 And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre;

We see the death of Abraham temporarily bringing Isaac and Ishmael together. I long to see both nations at peace. For some reason the descendants of Ishmael hate the Jews. I heard the other day that a Jew is not allowed to set foot in Saudi Arabia. It is so sad to see all this hate. Nothing world leaders or the American presidents can do will ever help. We tend to make it worse. It will take the coming of Jesus Christ into their lives to change this. Only the power of the Holy Spirit can cause us to love those we formerly hated. All peace attempts are vain until the heart is changed by the gospel. Notice though that Abraham did not send his other sons out empty but gave them gifts.

• Genesis 25:10 The field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth: there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife.
• 11 And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahai-roi.
• 12 Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, bore unto Abraham:
• 13 And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam,
• 14 And Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa,
• 15 Hadar, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah:
• 16 These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their towns, and by their castles; twelve princes according to their nations.
• 17 And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, a hundred and thirty and seven years: and he gave up the ghost and died; and was gathered unto his people.

He died among his family and friends fulfilling God's promise to Hagar.

• Genesis 25:18 And they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, that is before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria: and he died in the presence of all his brethren.

This country is Arabia today.

• Genesis 25:19 And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son: Abraham begot Isaac:
• 20 And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan-aram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.
• 21 And Isaac entreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was entreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.

We see here that Rebecca is also barren like Sarah before her and had trouble conceiving. The Lord seems always to make the impossible possible by the prayer and faith of those that seek Him. Isaac knew that he was to have children to fulfill the promise given to his father, Abraham. They must have wondered at times is they had misunderstood God's promise.

• Genesis 25:22 And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the LORD.

Not only did Rebecca have one baby but two was within her womb. Only one would be chosen to become the line from which Christ was to come and that was Jacob later called Israel. God renamed him like he renamed Abraham years before.

• Genesis 25:23 And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.

Isaac erred when he tried to give this blessing to Esau instead of Jacob in later years. 

God promised Rebecca that two nations was in her womb but that the second born would be the one to excel and rule.

• Genesis 25:24 And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.
• 25 And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.
• 26 And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bore them.
• 27 And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.
• 28 And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.

That must have been a cute thing to see at the time. Jacob having a hold on Esau's heel at their birth. Yet having favorites among our children isn't always a good thing.

Guys like their sons to be men and rugged outdoor people. Jacob was probably closer to his mother. Rebecca probably remembered that Jacob was the one to receive the promised inheritance from God and kept a close eye on him. This is natural. Esau was a self-made man who could take care of himself. These are great men but they seem to be less dependent upon the Lord than those that are weaker and know they need the Lord.

The world admires the powerful and those that are a big success but God sees the heart. Isaac and Rebecca's favoritism though causes problems for the children and favoritism will still result in hurt and trouble in today's world also. We must try to love our children equally and not favor one above another because it will hurt them. Jacob's favoritism for his son Joseph that we will study later, was the main cause of Joseph being hated by his brothers and was persecuted by them.

• Genesis 25:29 And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint:
• 30 And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.
• 31 And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.

No doubt his mother informed him that the birthright was to be his. He probably should have just trusted God to make things turn out right though. This was the first time Jacob began to use a little trickery. It is commendable that Jacob desired the blessing of God. The inheritance was more than the land around him. The inheritance was spiritual. The salvation of the whole world was to come through the seed of Abraham through Isaac and then through Jacob later to become Israel. However, sometimes we try to help God and that gets us into trouble.

Jacob knew the birthright that was usually given to the firstborn was rightly his. He wanted this right. Esau was hungry and let his feeling overtake him. He sold his birthright for a bowl of food. Here is what the New Testament book of Hebrews has to say about Esau.

• Hebrews 12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
• 15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
• 16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
• 17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

He sold out for temporary things. He was a man of the flesh rather than a man of the spirit. Jacob did much wrong and paid for the wrong that he did but he was a man after the spirit. The spiritual things of God were important to him although he and his mother tried to help God bring it about instead of trusting God to work it out in His own time. Just as Sarah and Abraham made this mistake also before them, they took matters into their own hands and did questionable things to bring about the will of God.

This came back to haunt Jacob in later times just like the mistakes of Sarah giving Abraham Hagar to have a child by, came back to haunt them. We make mistakes and do things that cause us trouble many times but the underlying factor here is that they desired to have the promise of God fulfilled in them and they held the promises of God in high esteem. Esau would have sold his birthright quickly if a better offer was to come along. He didn't realize what he lost until it was taken from him.

• Genesis 25:32 And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?
• 33 And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he swore unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob.
• 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.

As we read these stories in the Old Testament it sometimes looks as if the innocent ones are guilty and the guilty ones are innocent. We can't help feeling sorry for Esau, Ishmael and others who was left out. Yet God sees the heart and sees what we can't always see. We must however, never follow after and repeat the mistakes of Jacob, Abraham and Isaac. They suffered for their mistakes. We will see that in the studies to come. Every deception that Jacob had a part in will come back to haunt him later when he has to put up with Laban, his future father in law. His mistakes though do not change the will of God concerning Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God chose them to bring us the way of salvation.

Sin takes us to hell. Sin is what is the caused the whole trouble for all mankind from Adam until this present day. The law given through Moses showed us how serious sin was but the law condemned us even more. It could not take away those sins. There had to be a way that would change the inner man and make him or her different in spirit.

One was coming through the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that would bring about this change. This seed was to be through a woman. This seed was to come through a virgin birth. This birth was brought about by the power of the Holy Spirit and not by man. When this child came, He would have to be sacrificed to make a pure offering for the sins of all mankind.

Animal sacrifices only pointed to this time. All who would believe in this promised one would be saved and cleansed from the sin that was destroying their souls. There is no other way of salvation or Jesus Christ would not have had to die. When we simply believe in Jesus by showing our faith in turning from sin and turning to Him, we receive this Holy Spirit that comes within us to give us power to live a changed life. We are born again by the spirit and have inherited salvation which is eternal life. This is done by faith and not works. We can't earn this by rituals, law keeping or any other religious acts including baptism.

We are saved by faith in this chosen one, Jesus Christ, the Yeshua Ha'Mashiach.

There is no other way to be saved from sin and inherit life eternal. Without Jesus we are still in our sins and they are held against us on the day of judgment. Yet God so loved all of us that He made a way for us to escape that judgment against us. John chapter 8 is a good chapter to show the necessity for faith in Jesus Christ as the "I Am" of the Old Testament. DC

Genesis 26