October 2, 2020 (Friday)
Genesis 25 begins with a “here we go again moment.” In
Genesis 25:1, it is recorded he married Keturah. Verse two indicates she gave
birth to six, presumably, sons. Then we read, “Abraham gave everything he owned to his son
Isaac. But before he died, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent
them off to a land in the east, away from Isaac.” [Genesis 25:5 – 5 NLT]
Imagine being overlooked in the considerable family
inheritance. Imagine being sent away by your father. Imagine being considered a
“concubine.” A concubine is a slave who is used for the master’s gratification.
Sometimes even godly men can leave a bitter legacy. It is sad, but godliness
does not equate to flawlessness.
Abraham died at the age of 175. Moses commentary on his
life, “and he
died at a ripe old age, having lived a long and satisfying life. He breathed
his last and joined his ancestors in death.”
[Genesis 25:8 NLT] If you look at a time line of his life, 175 was
considerably shorter than his ancestors. Consider, Shem, Salah, and Eber are
still alive.
We see, “His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of
Machpelah, near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite. “His
sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, near Mamre, in the
field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite.”
[Genesis 25:9 NLT] At this point Isaac is 75 years old. I wonder why the
other sons did not participate.
Genesis 25:12 – 18 carefully catalogs Ishmael’s family. He
had twelve sons who spread out throughout the region. The final comment, I
think reflects the family hostility seeded by Abraham’s bad choices. The tail
end of Genesis 25:18 read, “… There they lived in open hostility toward all their
relatives.” [NLT]
Here’s the deal. Our parents may have seriously messed us
up. Truth be told, we are in the process of messing our children (and grandchildren)
up. But the hard truth is only we are responsible for our attitudes and
actions. Yes, the parents might have created awkward and ugly situations and
deep holes for us to dig out of, but the responsibility for our behavior and
attitudes is still ours.
The story at this point shifts to Isaac. Isaac and Rebekah
also have difficulty conceiving. We read, “Isaac pleaded with the Lord on behalf of his wife,
because she was unable to have children. The Lord answered Isaac’s prayer, and
Rebekah became pregnant with twins.” [Genesis
25:21 NLT]
At this point Isaac should have thought “history is
repeating itself.” Indeed, Isaac will make the exact mistake his father made
with his wife. Abraham’s lack of skill in parenting becomes magnified in
Isaac’s life which creates murderous threats, family strife, and drama.
Wow, can anything good come from this mess? Stay tuned as we
dig into Isaac’s faith journey next.
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