Genesis 25

Genesis 25

Genesis 25 gives us the account of Abraham’s death. He lived approximately 40 more years after the death of Sarah. It is interesting to see that he had many more children with a second wife after Sarah’s death. The Lord truly blessed him in his old age once Abraham began putting all his trust in God. Before his death, Abraham was sure to leave things in order to help Isaac (the one chosen by God). Much like Ishmael, these other children of Abraham did not receive the blessing that God had promised to Isaac. They were still blessed for being Abraham’s children, but they were not given the same blessings as Isaac. So Abraham sent all of them east, out of the Promised Land, and possibly closer to the land in which he was originally from. This left Isaac in Canaan with Rebekah to start a family so that God could continue to fulfill the covenant that He had made with Abraham.

As for Ishmael, the next portion of Genesis 25 gives us some historical notes on who his people were. There is a lengthy listing of the children of Ishmael, but once again none of the names jump out at me. Much like it did with Nahor’s family, some of these names may resurface later on in the text, but at this point I do not see any immediate connections. But this passage does help us understand where Ishmael’s family traveled. They consisted of 12 tribes (which sounds much like what Israel would one day become), and these tribes were near Assyria, which was also east of Canaan. Much like Abraham’s other children, Ishmael was sent off away from the land that was promised to Isaac, showing that it was not meant for him.

The rest of Genesis 25 picks up the story with the life of Isaac, beginning with the birth of his two children, Esau and Jacob. Notice that Isaac was faithful enough to pray that he and Rebekah would have a child. He did not just expect God to give them a child, although he knew the promise that God had made with Abraham. Even with the promise, he still prayed, making his requests known to God. God granted his requests, and not only gave them one son, but two. Yet problems arose even while the children were in the womb. It appears as if Rebekah suffered quite a bit, feeling the children fight within her. So she went to God to see why, trusting that He would have an answer. His answer was actually a prophecy (promise) of what was to come. He told her from the start that Esau and Jacob would be brothers divided. They would not get along, and as a result, two nations would arise that would become enemies. The other promise God made was that Esau (the oldest) would serve Jacob (the youngest), showing how the promise would continue through Jacob one day.

Knowing what comes next in the story, where God chooses to bless Jacob and not Esau, it is interesting that Isaac’s favorite of the two was Esau (Rebekah’s was Jacob). The promise did not continue through the son of Isaac’s choice. Again this shows that sometimes man’s thoughts or plans are not the ways of God. We may have good intentions or think we know what is best, but once again God showed that He was doing things His way, sometimes what we least expect. God was going to once again choose the younger son (totally against the ways of the culture) to continue His blessing.

The very end of this chapter seems to be so conniving that God could not have possibly chosen Jacob over Esau. Jacob forces Esau to trade his birthright in for food. Now it does appear that Esau is over exaggerating in saying that he will die if he does not have any food at that instant, but does that excuse Jacob’s trickery? It would not appear so, but as Romans 9:13 shows, God had loved and chosen Jacob over Esau from the start. Man cannot mess up God’s plans. We might make mistakes, or do things that we know are wrong. But with God there is always forgiveness, and we cannot mess up the plans of God. This passage also shows why these two brothers began hating one another (as would their descendants) and that Esau’s descendants would one day become Edom.

Matt