Abraham, the father of many nations
Gen 25:1 Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah.
Abraham took a wife--rather, "had taken"; for Keturah is called Abraham's concubine, or secondary wife who bore him six son's.
1 Chr 1:32 Now the sons of Keturah, Abraham's concubine: she bare Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. And the sons of Jokshan; Sheba, and Dedan.
After Sarah's death he would have been 137 years old and he lived to be 175. He had a long and fruitful life.
Gen 25:2 And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah.
Zimran means a vine dresser.
Gen 25:3 And Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim.
Gen 25:4 And the sons of Midian; Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abidah, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah.
Moses married a daughter of Jethro, a Midianite.
Through Abraham's many son's, the promise was fulfilled that he would be a father of many nations.
Gen 17:4 As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
Gen 17:5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.
Rom 4:17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
Rom 4:18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
Rom 4:19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb:
Rom 4:20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
Rom 4:21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
Rom 4:22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
Rom 4:23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;
Rom 4:24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
Rom 4:25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
Gen 25:5 And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac.
Abraham gave all to the son of the promise, the son of Sarah. The promises of God leading to the Messiah, would be through Sarah's seed.
Gen 17:19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
Gen 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.
As with Ishmael, the children Keturah, of the flesh were sent away.
Gen 17:20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.
Gen 17:21 But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, ...
1 Cor 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. The children of faith, shall inherit the promise.
Rom 4:13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
Rom 9:7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
Rom 9:8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
Gen 25:7 And these are the days of the years of Abraham's life which he lived, an hundred threescore and fifteen years.
Gen 25:8 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.
Abraham is our example of a man of faith. His name is mentioned 70 times in the New Testament. It was not Abraham, but his faith in God that made him great.
Rom 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
Rom 4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
John 8:39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
John 8:40 But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.
Gen 25:9 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;
Gen 25:10 The field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth: there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife.
Both son's honored the father in burying him in the cave where Sarah was buried. At a funeral the children of the flesh and the children who are of God's spirit, come together to honor the dead. This is a time for brotherly love and often an opportunity to witness. If the deceased was a person of faith it is appropriate to mention this and to give the assurance that the soul is with Jesus, or in the case of Abraham, in paradise, awaiting the Messiah.
Gen 25:11 And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahairoi.
Abraham gave Isaac all that he owned including the birthright blessing. God's covenant of blessings continued from Abraham to Isaac and to us, as Spiritual children of Abraham by faith in Messiah Jesus.
Gen 25:12 Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, bare unto Abraham:
Gen 25:13 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,
Gen 25:14 And Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa,
The tribe of Nebajoth was distinguished for raising sheep. The rams of Nebaioth are the gifts which these Nomadic tribes of the desert would consecrate on the altar of God. (Isaiah 60:7).
The sister of Nebajoth, the daughter Ishmael, Mahalath, was married to Esau. (Gen 28:9)
The sons of Kedar became known as the Kedarites. The Kedarites were the main military power of the sons of Ishmael. Isaiah speaks of Kedar's 'glory and her gifted archers.' (Isaiah 21:16-17) Ezekiel 27:21 associates Arabia with all of the princes of Kedar, suggesting a confederation under their leadership. One of the gods they worshipped was a sky goddess know as Allat. (Herodotus III,3.) Later Allat became referred to in the masculine form as Allah)
mishma signifies HEARING; dumah, SILENCE; and massa, PATIENCE. Hence, the proverb: "Hear much, say little, and bear much,"
Gen 25:15 Hadar, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah:
Gen 25:16 These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their towns, and by their castles; twelve princes according to their nations.
Twelve princes and twelve nations, as God had spoken to Abraham. These would become the Arab nations and often they are enemies of Israel. They would claim to be the true covenant people of God, (Allah) and Mohammad would be their prophet. Israel has many prophets, but the Messiah, Jesus, most have not accepted; not yet. They still look for their deliverer.
Gen 25:17 And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, an hundred and thirty and seven years: and he gave up the ghost and died; and was gathered unto his people.
Ishmael was not buried with Abraham and Sarah.
Gen 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.
It is good to die with your family near you. It is very good to die in faith, knowing you shall not perish. The Christian can know that he will not perish.
John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
We shall be gathered up in the presence of the Lord.
2 Cor 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2 Cor 5:2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:
2 Cor 5:3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
2 Cor 5:4 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.
2 Cor 5:5 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
2 Cor 5:6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
2 Cor 5:7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
2 Cor 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
The children of faith shall inherit the promises of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment