Genesis 25
Now in this packed chapter, I think we would do well to take it in sections and pass what comment we may on each part as we proceed. Let us therefore look for our beginning in the first five verses. The first thing we note is that Abraham took a second wife after the death of his beloved Sarah. She was a fertile woman who bore him six sons. It is important to note as we do now that in verse 5 & 6 we see that Abraham made provision for his sons, while being mindful of important place that Isaac occupied as the promised son through whom God's blessings would flow. See here also the earthly wisdom of Abraham who sends these same sons away to a far place where they might prosper without any temptation to act against Isaac in jealousy when he inherited all that his Father had.
Let's move on then if you are following this in your bibles to verses 7 - 11. There are several things to note in these verses. Firstly note that Ishmael although sent away from the family home and lands appears here to have returned home to mourn the death of his father and to deal along with Isaac with his burial.
We are told in verse 7 that Abraham died at the age of 175. It would appear that Abraham lived for many years in peace and quiet, with nothing of note happening in his life. You know that's the way that it often is as we serve God, there are tremendous struggles and high points and yet there may also be long quiet years of routine service to the Lord where from an earthly point of view nothing much happens in our lives, except the proof of our daily faithfulness.
There are two more points we should draw out before moving on. You will see that verses 7 & 8 in the GNB simply read, Abraham died at the ripe old age of a hundred and seventy five. We get a much greater sense of this if we read it in the full text as we find it in he NIV: "Altogether, Abraham lived a hundred and seventy five years. Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, and old man and full of years he was gathered to his people."
Matthew Henry has some really helpful comments on this, although writing as he did three hundred years ago his quotations are from the AV. He writes:
"He gave up the ghost. His life was not extorted from him, but he cheerfully resigned it; into the hands of the Father of spirits he commended his spirit. He died in a good old age, an old man; so God had promised him. His death was his discharge from the burdens of his age. Hew as full of years, or full of life. He did not live till the world was weary of him, but till he was weary of the world; he had had enough of it, and desired no more. A good man, though he should not die old, dies full of days, satisfied with living here and longing to live in a better place. He was gathered to his people. His body was gathered to the congregation of the dead and his soul to the congregation of the blessed. Death gathers us to our people. Those that are our people while we live, whether the people of God or the children of the world, are the people to whom death will gather us."
This paints a lovely picture of a true Christian death. When we gladly give up our lives into the blessed hands of God, knowing that we go to a far far better place, knowing that we go to be gathered to our own -that is our fellow believers in the kingdom of heaven. What regenerate soul can do anything other than long with all his or heart to be in heaven!?
Lastly in this section note the content of verse 11 : After the death of Abraham, God blessed his son Isaac. Do you see how the blessing is passed on? How the promise is being kept? The sacred light of truth, the plan of salvation is being passed on through the specific plan and blessing of God. It is important to see not only what is happening spiritually in the working out of God's plan, but also to realise that is form this point of view that history is being written in these chapters so that between verses 12 & 18 we find an account of the children of Ishmael, which while important is not part of the story of God's specific dealings with mankind to bring about the salvation of mankind through our Lord Jesus Christ. And so it is that the story passes quickly on to the the birth if Esau and Jacob. This is well known story and we have all been appalled in the past at the way in which Esau treats his inheritance so lightly and how the promise of God to Rebecca that Jacob will be the torch bearer of truth comes true. I don't want to dwell today in our precious time together on this aspect of the story. Rather I want to focus on the 20 year barrenness of Rebecca and its solution through prayer. This of course carries echoes of last week when we dwelt almost exclusively on the role of prayer in leading our lives. And I would in passing simply draw your attention to that fact...Isaac prays, the Lord hears and answer is given. Now do not suppose that the Lord needed to be persuaded to do this. Do not think the Lord did not know what was needed. Rather this illustrates our need to cooperate with the plan of God and we can only do that when we actively seek the Lord an know the Lord. Matthew Henry has some interesting comments on this:
"Now concerning Jacob and Esau, we are here told that they were prayed for. There parents after they had long been childless obtained them by prayer. He prayed for his wife, some read it that he prayed with is wife. Note husbands and wives should pray together." What good sound advice we have here from Matthew Henry. Marriages made in heaven are built on prayer together and for one another. There is a tradition among th Jews that Isaac at length took his wife to mount Moriah, where God had promised that he would give Abraham many descendants. Do you recall the promise,"I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the skies and as the sand on the seashore." There on Mount Moriah in his prayer for Rebecca and with Rebecca asked for the promise that had been made in hat very place to be fulfilled. It is a tradition of course and not part of scripture but there is nothing in it that would stop us believing it to be true.
In all of this we must marvel at the loving provision of God for all things. All of this being worked out in history so that Jesus can come and Jesus can bring eternal life. All of it is being done in a very really sense so that we could sit here today and hear the Good News and respond to the call of God and thus know the joys of heaven and eternal life. No matter where we turn in scripture we are convicted by the gracious and loving provision of God for his people and for us.