Genesis | Chapter 25

Genesis 25:1-34

“The passing of the torch of faith”

  1. Intro.
  2. Vs. 1-18 Abraham’s other life
  3. Vs. 19-28 One birth two nations
  4. Vs. 29-34 Boy’s will be boy’s

I. Intro.

This chapter serves as the passing of the torch of faith from Abraham, to Isaac and finally to Jacob. Isaac married Rebekah when he was 40 years old (verse 20) and according to verse 26 they were barren for 20 years until the twins were born. We know that Abraham was 100 years old at the birth of Isaac that would make him 140 when Isaac married and he lived according to verse 7 to the age of 175. That means that he saw his grandchildren for the first 15 years of their lives. As we leave Abraham’s story behind it is important to recognize that only Moses is mentioned more often in the N.T. than Abraham. Through the Bible we can see what is commonly referred to as the scarlet thread as it is through certain men that we trace the lineage of the Messiah too. What amazes me is to see just whom God chooses to be ancestors of Jesus.

Vs. 1-18 Abraham’s other life

Vs. 1 We are told here that Abraham remarried most likely around the same time that Isaac married Rebekah. Keturah, according to 1 Chron. 1:32, was a concubine as was Hagar. Apparently when God rejuvenated Abraham’s body so that he and Sarah could conceive it remained so. Her name means “perfumed” and after Sarah had passed away and Isaac wed Rebekah Abraham raised her to the level of a wife.

Vs. 2-4 Abraham and Keturah had six sons most likely born early in their 35-year marriage. In this genealogy are the names of six sons and then their 2nd son’s “Yok-shawn’s” two sons “Sheba and Dedan”, from there we see Dedan’s three son’s.

In verse 4 we have Abraham and Keturah’s 4th son Midian and his 5 sons, it is this 4th son that is of interest to us as Bible students. Moses fled from the Egyptians after killing the Egyptian to the land of Midian and sat down by a well as seven daughters of Jethro a priest of the Midianites came to water their flocks. The other shepherds would not let these seven gals water their flocks but Moses stood up for them. A grateful Jethro gave Zipporah to be his wife and their Moses would live for some 40 years.

As for the rest of these descendants they are mixed with the descendants of Ishmael, Lot, Esau and others to form the Arabic peoples.

Vs. 5-6 Notice that Abraham makes sure that Isaac is his sole heir of the son of promise and it will be through him that all the nations of the earth will be blessed. Because of this while he was still alive he gave gifts to these six sons and sent them east away from Isaac. Abraham did not want any worldly influence upon the descendants of Isaac and he makes sure of it while he is able to do so. The application for us: “We too are called to be separate to the Lord and one day we will be for eternity but the choices for eternity are made while we are still alive and as such we need to make choices for eternity now!”

Vs. 7-11 At the death of Abraham we are told five things about him:

  1. Vs. 7 The amount of years of his earthly life: 175 years is a fulfillment of God’s Word to him in Gen.15:15 where we read, “you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age.”
  2. Vs. 8a The quality of his life of faith: The phrase that is used, “full of years”, is an interesting one as is describes a person at a great banquet who has had plenty to eat, drink and laugh but has decided to call it a night without any regrets. Though that is a nice secular picture we have somewhat of a different picture as believers. Jesus spoke to the Pharisees and said that “Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” In other words “Abraham left this life with a hope full of immortality, which the world knows nothing about because He saw the day of Christ, and was glad.” The person of faith has a quality of life that goes far beyond having fulfilled their hearts desire during their earthly existence too that of seeing that their ship for an even greater life is about to set sail, thus the words of 15:15 “in peace” carry much more importance!
  3. Vs. 8b Life was not ending it was just beginning: There is an interesting phrase here, “was gathered to his people.” The question is, “What people are they speaking of?” In God’s word to him back in 12:2 the promise was made that he would become a great nation but he has only one son of promise and Sarah is the only one that has proceeded him in death. This cannot be speaking of his past ancestors because God had told him that he was a new nation and it can’t be speaking of those buried in the same locations because there is only one person buried there, Sarah. That means that “His people” are the people of faith and that they are not dead but alive. Jesus answered a question on the resurrection by saying, “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” Life was just about to begin for Abraham as he would be joined with “his people” who preceded him in faith, three of which we are told of in Hebrews 11 “Able, Enoch, and Noah”.
  4. Vs. 9 The impact of his death: We last heard of Ishmael with Isaac when he was 17 years of age. Now we are told in chapter 16:16 that Abraham was 86 when Ishmael was born and we know that Abraham died at 175 which means that Ishmael is 89 and has been apart from Isaac for 72 years. Several things come to mind:
    • Though Ishmael’s departure was a hard thing he still looked upon Abraham with love why else would he have come to pay his final respects?
    • It seems as though Abraham’s life and now death has brought reconciliation for these two sons.
    • The person of faith’s ministry does not end at their death it just continues to touch hearts and lives.
  5. 10-11 A ministry that brings life and death: They bury their father in a field that he purchased for his descendants of faith. This cave was a title deed to the land of promise but it would only mean something to the sons of promise. Today we have a dispute over this land because of the blessings that God has granted to it through the sons of promise. The fact remains the Muslims did not care about it 100 years ago when it was nothing more than a rock pile! Isaac make his home at the “Well of the living One” Ishmael make his home in the world at a place that means “he that suffers pain”. Havilah was known for its gold but it was the pursuit of those worldly riches that cause those that chase after it to “suffer pain”. Abraham’s life of faith spoke “life unto life and death unto death” it led one to live refreshed be the well of the living One and the other suffering pain in the world.

Vs. 12-16 Here in the genealogy of Ishmael we have the fulfillment promised to Abraham in 17:20 “as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.”  Most likely this was a record kept by Ishmael and given to Isaac at their reunion of their father’s death. As I said he would have been 89 years old when these 12 sons were reining as princes of their tribes.

Vs. 17-18 Ishmael was 137 years old when he died 58 years before Isaac would die. It is interesting that it says here that he was “gathered to his people” this is a phrase that is seen only seven times in scripture and in each case it speaks of a person of faith. That leads to the speculation that perhaps Ishmael became a follower of the God of Abraham and not the gods of Egypt. This is the only reference of this phrase being used and we aren’t sure of whether or not they were believers but in every other case we are certain then it would tend to tip the scales in favor of Ishmael’s trust in the Lord God of Abraham.

III. Vs. 19-28 One birth two nations

Vs. 19-20 Here is the start of the genealogy of Isaac which is very brief even though he will outlive all the other patriarch’s at 180 years. While Ishmael had 12 sons Isaac and Rebekah remained barren for 20 years (verse 26). Interesting that both couples had to wait a long time for the children of promise to be born. What this suggests to us is that God seems to always test us in the area of learning to wait upon him and not trusting in our own efforts. The cool thing is here unlike his mother and father they did not try to produce what was there’s by faith in the energy of the flesh, instead waited for God’s grace to produce what was promised. It seems as though they had learned a valuable lesson from their parents, “God’s delays are not denials!”

Vs. 21-24 Instead of trying to produce the promises of God in the energy of the flesh they seek God through prayer:

  1. This is the only intercession of a husband for his wife recorded in scripture and I can’t help think that this represents why so many marriages are not doing well. Isaac understood the importance of the Messianic line coming through him. I love the fact that he places his trust upon the Lord being able to accomplish what He has promised and calls out to God based upon this and is rewarded in his trust by Rebekah’s conception.
  2. We see Rebekah turn to trust the Lord during a difficult time in her pregnancy. You see she knew that her conception was an answer to prayer so when she experienced something that seemed to contradict this she took her thoughts and feelings before the Lord for an answer. God answers comes back four ways:
    • “Two nations are in your womb”: She is going to the mother of twins which we be the fathers of two nations. For 20 years she had prayed for “A” child of promise and now she finds out that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly more then we can ask or imagine.
    • “Two peoples shall be separated from your body”: Literally these two boys will father two nations that will have nothing in common and be apart from each other forever.
    • “One people shall be stronger than the other”: One of them will be the father of a strong nation the other will be the father of a week nation.
    • “And the older shall serve the younger”: The second born shall be ahead of the older thus the normal pre-eminence was to be reversed.

It seems logical that Rebekah told Isaac as well as her two sons what the Lord had spoken, yet there was obvious bias any way. Why? Because Isaac did not like God’s choice. Paul uses this story to illustrate divine election being based upon grace and not merit. Rom. 9:10-11 “when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac   (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls)” In other words says Paul, the choice of Jacob over Esau had nothing to do with future works as the choice was made in the womb. God’s choice was not based upon His foreknowledge but rather his will as it says “not of works” present or future. This means that God’s choice was based upon His character and not ours. He does not choose me because He looks down the halls of time and says, “That Dale is going to turn out all right so I think I will save him.” God has made salvation available to all in fact we are told so in 2 Peter 3:9 that He is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” Time always proves that God’s choice was the right one.

Follow me on this: If God’s choice is based upon grace and not works and He is not willing that any should perish then that means that “God does not choose some for hell but rather that men who reject Him choose it for themselves, even though He knows there choice.” This is Jesus point in John 3:19 “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”

Vs. 24-26 The birth of these two boys was the beginning of the fulfillment of God’s prophecy about them while still in Rebekah’s womb.

  1. 25, 27a Esau: Came out first with reddish-brown hair all over so they named him “Hairy” and later he would get the nick name “Red” for the selling of his birth right for a bowl of red stew. We are told that he was a “skillful hunter” these phrase is always used in an evil sense and only appears one other time where it refers to Nimrod. The phrase “man of the field” does not mean that he pursued agricultural pursuits but rather that he disdained them, as he was a man of the open country. Hebrews 12:6 calls him a “profane person” which literally means “outside the temple” and refers to the plot of ground just in front of the temple in other words common ground outside the sacred place. Esau was outside in the world and wanted to remain that way.
  2. 26, 27b Jacob: Would come out next grabbing the heel of Esau so he was given the name “Heeler or heel grabber”. The name came to mean a “con-artist or a scoundrel” and was not a compliment. Yet with that said Hosea the prophet in 12:3 says that, “He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and in his strength he struggled with God.” It seems that the problem with Jacob was that he trusted far too much in his strength. The use of the word “but” in verse 27 to describe Jacob sets him in contrast or opposite view of Esau. The word “mild” is used 13 times in the Bible, (9 times = perfect, 2 = undefiled, upright = 1, mild =1). Perhaps a better rendering of the word would be “mature” as Jacob worked at home and took God’s promises seriously while Esau played and thought of God’s promises as no big deal.

Vs. 28 Each parent loved the boy who displayed qualities opposite their own and there was obvious partiality even though God had already made known His choice.

  1. Isaac loved Esau, because literally “game was in his mouth”. This strikes a chord with many fathers as they favor the child because of the games they play. Isaac loved Esau because he tickled his taste buds.
  2. Rebekah loved Jacob as she saw his character and qualities that would make him a great leader which confirmed in her heart the word she had heard from the Lord.

This verse serves as a rebuke to both parents: To Isaac for favoring a son that had carnality in his heart instead of God just because he liked the meant he brought to the table. To Rebekah, because God had already showed her His plan and she needed only to trust that God would work it all out.

This verse alongside Malachi 1:2-3 has drawn God into a debate over favoritism for years. “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” Says the LORD. “Yet Jacob I have loved; But Esau I have hated”. We need to understand these terms “love and hate” in context. God speaks of having His purpose of choosing Jacob to be the heir of the covenant of Abraham and a descendant in whom the Messiah would be born. The idea is that God chose or accepted Jacob and didn’t choose or accept for His purpose Esau. His choose of Jacob was not based upon merit neither was it some type “eeny-meny-miny-moe”. It was based upon His sovereign Holy character even though from man’s perspective appears to be unfair. We think it unfair because Esau, we conclude is a good fellow and deserved not to be rejected! Yes, but neither did Jacob deserve to be accepted! Both were undeserving of acceptance yet God in His grace chose Jacob and time bore out the truth of that decision.

Vs. 29-34 Boy’s will be boys

Vs. 29-30 This story here becomes the turning point in the lives of these two. To understand this we need to look at two things:

  1. What was the significance of the birthright?
  2. To whom did the birthright normally go?

First, the birthright customarily involved a double portion of the inheritance but also involved the leadership or headship of the family. Thus the birthright carried with it a twofold blessing “physical blessings” with “spiritual responsibility”. In this case the “birthright” determined who would inherit the covenant that God made with Abraham, which involved a future nation, all the land and eventually the lineage of the Messiah. Esau very much wanted the “physical blessing” but without the “spiritual responsibilities”. To me this describes a lot of people I know that want the “birthright” of a relationship with God for the “physical blessings” of going to heaven when they die but they are not interested in “spiritual responsibilities” to die to self and live for God!

Second, normally the “birthright” went to the eldest son accept in case where the father would transfer it to a more deserving son. In this case we have several factors that should have indicated to Isaac that the “birthright” should have been Jacob’s and not Esau’s:

  1. They were twins age was not a determining factor in this case. Normally age would indicate maturity but they were only minutes apart not years.
  2. Jacob was much more spiritually and emotionally mature then was Esau. Esau wanted to play and not work; he had no heart for the things of God as Jacob did. Observation made this choice an easy one to make.
  3. Most importantly God had told them while they were yet unborn which one He had chosen to receive the birthright.

Vs. 31-34 The indication that all of the above is true is illustrated by this story. This story was chosen by Jacob to show the truth that the birthright should have been his but it is not the sole reason why it was his! There probably were hundreds of such occurrences in the lives of these two boys that should that Esau had no heart for the “spiritual responsibilities” as future head of the family. Jacob was cooking a stew of lentils and Esau came in from playing in the field “weary” which means faint with hunger. His response to Jacob is “let me gulp down some of that red stuff” it is here that he received his nickname “Red”. Some really go after Jacob here as being deceptive or taken advantage of a starving Esau however the fact that this story serves as a nickname for Esau appears to me as though this may have been said as a joke. Esau’s response to this was “I’m going to die one day anyway so what use is the birthright to me.” Esau saw that the birthright gained him only temporal advantages and would be lost upon death, not so with Jacob. To think about this how long would it have taken Esau to fix something for himself? What this shows is an inward character that was both lazy and living only for the here and now. Esau wanted only personal self-gratification something that he could enjoy now and had no concern for the future and God’s blessing for a nation.

From Jacob we can admire his hunger for the things of God and that he wanted the “spiritual responsibility” of the head of the family. We cannot embrace his method to obtain what God had already promised was his. God did not need his help and this shows that Jacob has some growing up in faith to do as well. Jacob bargained for what was already his by grace! It is interesting to note that in 27:29 many years later as Jacob comes back into the land he attempts to give back all of the “physical blessings” to Esau that he gained by obtaining the birthright by trickery.

We close with Esau despising his birthright for a bowl of red stew I can’t help but think of the many times we Christian’s have been willing to sell the joy of the Lord for the pleasure of sin for a season. How we have traded the illusion of time for the reality of eternity, busying our lives with trash finding that we have no time for God and His word. In recent polls it has been discovered that men and women will spend more time shaving and applying makeup then they do reading His word and prayer. Seems to me that we are still selling our NEW birthright for a mess of soup that will never satisfy!