FRIDAY, July 3, 2009                                                       READ: Genesis 25: 1 – 11                                                                                                        

ABRAHAM GAVE ALL THAT HE HAD TO ISAAC

MEMORIZE: “And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac. But Abraham gave gifts to the sons of the concubines which Abraham had; and while he was still living he sent them eastward; away from Isaac his son, to the country of the east.”         Genesis 25: 1 – 11

God alone has been here from the beginning. God alone is able to see the total picture all at once. God planned it all. God alone has seen it all.

William Shakespare wrote in one of his poems “All the world’s a stage… And all the men and women merely players; They make their exits and their entrances.” He undoubtedly was writing about our lives. None of us is allowed to participate in the entire “play.” We are parts of scenes. We appear onto the stage and play our assigned roles and then we die and go, or, are taken off the stage and we go to another place. As I write to, the world is in an uproar because Michael Jackson has died, all so suddenly and quickly, at fifty years old. He has played his part and he has made his exit. Each of us will die one day, and we are to live with the sense that our days have been numbered (cf. Hebrews 9: 27).

Here in our text for today’s reading, Genesis 25: 1 - 11, we read a little of Abraham’s life after Sarah’s death and how, in accordance with God’s redemptive plan, he moved out of the way so that his son, Isaac could come onto the scene and play his part. God alone is involved from the beginning to the end. God called Abram to leave Ur of the Chaldees to enter the land of Canaan. He was seventy-five years old when he and his wife, departed from Haran, and we assume, entered the land (Genesis 12: 4). We are told that Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him (Genesis 16: 16). In Genesis 17: 17, we see how Abraham testify that Sarah, his wife was ninety years old. We see in v. 24, that he was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised. Now, we read in Genesis 17: 21; 21: 1, 2, 5, that things took place within the time set by God for Sarah’s womb to have been made alive and Isaac to have been born by the time that Abraham was one hundred years old. Sarah would have been ninety-one years old. She was permitted to live on until she was one hundred and twenty-seven years old (cf. 23: 1). Isaac would have been thirty-six years old then, and four years later, his father Abraham procured a bride, Reebekah, whom he took as his wife (cf. 25: 20). Twenty years after he was married to Rebekah, who was barren, Isaac pleaded with God and she bore Esau and Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old and Abraham would have been one hundred and sixty years old when Esau and Jacob were born. Are you thinking the same thing that I am thinking? Well, Abraham would have had the opportunity to see Isaac’s wife and children before he died fifteen years later. Would it cause you to wonder why Sarah had not been allowed to see Isaac get married and have children?

Abraham bought into what he became aware that God was doing. In our text we are able to see that when Isaac got married, his father, Abraham, the main human character on the stage (Genesis 11: 31 - 25: 11), lived for another thirty-five years on the earth, in a secondary role. In 25: 1 – 4, we are able to see that Abraham got married to Keturah after Sarah died. She bore children to Abraham. In v. 5, we read that, “Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac.” He had actually done it because God had already indicated that Isaac, out of all his children, would be his heir, and that His covenant would be established with Isaac. In v. 6, we read that Abraham “gave gifts to the sons of the concubines which Abraham had;” Abraham fathered his children. God enabled him to do so. Having the foresight to realize what could and would happen after his death, “…while he was still living…” Abraham “sent them eastward, away from Isaac his son, to the country of the east.” God wanted Abraham to spare Isaac the problem of jealousy and envy from his siblings. So, He had Abraham to give his other children gifts and send them away from Isaac, while he was still alive. Once he was dead and gone, he could hardly have effect the change or affect the situation which might have developed had he left them close to Isaac in the land of Canaan. Who are the people bothering the Israel, Isaac’s descendants today?

In vv. 7 - 11, we see how Abraham died at the “good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people” when he had lived for one hundred and seventy-five years. That was exactly one hundred years after he set out to enter the land of Canaan, as God had instructed him to do. Observe how Ishmael and Isaac teamed up and buried their father in the cave of Machpelah which is before Mamre. We are told how God blessed Isaac after his father’s death (cf. Proverbs 20: 7). What shall we say about Abraham and his fathering? Any lesson for us fathers today (cf. Genesis 18: 18, 19)? Is God concerned about the matter of fathers fathering their offspring (cf. Malachi 4: 6)?

PRAY:Lord, God Almighty, I praise You and bless Your holy name. I am grateful to You for teaching me about fathers and fathering. Please change my heart and help me to revere You my Heavenly Father. I am asking this in Jesus’ strong name. Amen.