Genesis 25: Ishmael's Family Records

¹² These are the family records of Abraham's son Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's slave, bore to Abraham. ¹³ These are the names of Ishmael's sons; their names according to the family records are: Nebaioth, Ishmael's firstborn, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, ¹⁴ Mishma, Dumah, Massa, ¹⁵ Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. ¹⁶ These are Ishmael's sons, and these are their names by their villages and encampments: 12 leaders of their clans. ¹⁷ This is the length of Ishmael's life: 137 years. He took his last breath and died, and was gathered to his people. ¹⁸ And they settled from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt as you go toward Asshur. He lived in opposition to all his brothers.

 Verse 12 to verse 16 talks of Ishmael's sons. Verse 13 lists his twelve sons, in order of their villages and encampments. Ismael lived to be 137 years old, and was gathered to his people. The last sentence says that he lived in opposition to all his brothers, just as the Lord said he would in Genesis 16:

¹² This man will be [like] a wild ass.
    His hand will be against everyone,
    and everyone's hand will be against him;
    he will live at odds with all his brothers.

Genesis 25: Abraham's Death

⁷ This is the length of Abraham's life: 175 years. ⁸ He took his last breath and died at a ripe old age, old and contented, and he was gathered to his people. ⁹ His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite. ¹⁰ This was the field that Abraham bought from the Hittites. Abraham was buried there with his wife Sarah. ¹¹ After Abraham's death, God blessed his son Isaac, who lived near Beer-lahai-roi.

 Abraham lived until the ripe age of 175 years old. He is one of the most important people in the Bible, and is the second most mentioned person in the Bible. Abraham's sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave located on the field that Abraham had bought from the Hittites. He was buried here with his wife Sarah. After Abraham died, Isaac was blessed by the Lord.

Genesis 25: Abraham's Other Wife and Sons

¹ Now Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah, ² and she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. ³ Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan. Dedan's sons were the Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. ⁴ And Midian's sons were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were sons of Keturah. ⁵ Abraham gave everything he owned to Isaac. ⁶ And Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines, but while he was still alive he sent them eastward, away from his son Isaac, to the land of the East.

 Verse 1 through verse 4 explain how Abraham took another wife, named Keturah, and had six sons by her. Although Abraham was in his old age, he was still fertile, because of the Lord's promise to Abraham. Verse 5 and 6 explain that Abraham set Isaac apart from his other children, for Isaac is the son of promise. Abraham gives Isaac everything, and only gives gifts to the sons of his concubines. And before Abraham died, he made sure to send them away from the land God had promised him, so that Isaac may have it. This shows us that Isaac is a very important person and we will be learning more about him in the Bible.

Genesis 24: A Wife for Isaac

¹ Abraham was now old, getting on in years, and the LORD had blessed him in everything. ² Abraham said to his servant, the elder of his household who managed all he owned, "Place your hand under my thigh,³ and I will have you swear by the LORD, God of heaven and God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I live, ⁴ but will go to my land and my family to take a wife for my son Isaac."

 Abraham really did not want his son to marry a Canaanite, the people he was living among at the time. Abraham knew his time was almost up, so he made his eldest and most loyal servant swear an oath that he would find for Isaac a wife that wasn't a Canaanite. Abraham made his instructions very clear, because he knew his time was coming, and that he might not live to see the servant return with Isaac's new wife. 


The servant set out on his journey and brought with him 10 camels. He brought the camels near a well outside the town of Nahor, Aram-naharaim, and had his camels kneel there. It was around evening, when the women came to draw water from the well. Before they came out, the servant said a prayer to the Lord, asking for guidance and success in fulfilling the oath he made to Abraham. He asked the Lord for a sign, so that he could be sure that he had chosen the right woman. He immediately saw Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel and son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor, carrying a jug over her shoulder. She was extraordinarily beautiful, and no man had known her intimately, so she was still pure. The servant ran up to her and asked for a drink of water. She said yes and quickly lowered her jug for the servant, and then drew water for the camels. This was the sign that the servant had asked from the Lord, and the Lord answered.


The servant, seeing that this is the woman the Lord had chosen, gives her a golden ring and two bracelets. He asks if he can stay at her father's place and she replies that there is plenty of food and a place to sleep. The servant immediately bows down to worship, praise, and give thanks to the Lord. 


So they went to Rebekah's father's house. Her brother Laban, came out to see them, and sees the gold ring and bracelets on Rebekah. They offer the servant food, but he refuses to eat, only wanting to tell them his story. The servant tells the entire story of how Abraham wanted him to find a wife for Isaac, a woman that wasn't a Canaanite. Then he tells them of his prayer to the Lord, and how the Lord answered and gave him guidance. 

⁵⁰ Laban and Bethuel answered, "This is from the LORD; we have no choice in the matter. ⁵¹ Rebekah is here in front of you. Take [her] and go, and let her be a wife for your master's son, just as the LORD has spoken."

Because they agreed, the servant gave highly valuable gifts to Rebekah, clothes and jewelery, and he also gives them to her mother and brother. It was customary for the bridegroom or the bridegroom's representative to give gifts of value to show that they are able to provide for the bride.


The family wants Rebekah to stay with them for 10 more days, so that they can say their goodbyes. But, the servant says that they should leave immediately, because the Lord had given the servant success in his journey. They let Rebekah decide, and she agrees to leave immediately as well.

 ⁶⁰ They blessed Rebekah, saying to her:
    Our sister, may you become
    thousands upon ten thousands.
    May your offspring possess
    the gates of their enemies.

Then Rebekah left with the servant, and with her she took her slaves. The got back early evening, and when Rebekah saw Isaac in the distance, she asked the servant who he was, and the servant told her. Upon hearing that it was her future husband, she covered herself with a veil, a sign of her modesty, and chastity. 

  ⁶⁷ And Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah and took Rebekah to be his wife. Isaac loved her, and he was comforted after his mother's [death].

Genesis 23: Sarah's Burial

¹ Now Sarah lived 127 years; [these were all] the years of her life. ² Sarah died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.

The first thing I noticed was that we are told how old Sarah was when she died. Before this, the only ones whose deaths were recorded were men. I did a little research on this I found out that Sarah is the only woman in the Bible whose age was documented when she died. This really shows how great and important a woman she truly is. After Sarah died, Abraham came to her side to mourn and weep for her. 


Then, he gets up and goes off to handle the business of burying her body. He asked the Hittites for a place that he could bury his deceased wife. Ephron, speaking for the Hittites, offered Abraham the land for free, saying in verse 6, "Listen to us, lord. You are God's chosen one among us. Bury your dead in our finest burial place. None of us will withhold from you his burial place for burying your dead." This seemed awfully kind of the Hittites to offer free land to Abraham so that he may bury his wife, but I learned that this was a customary way of bargaining during those times. The seller would offer the land for free, and the buyer would have to reject it. Then, the seller offers it for a price, and the haggling begins. 


So Abraham bows to the Hittites, showing his humbleness and respect. He tells them that he wants the land, and he wants to pay the full price for it. Ephron said that the money meant nothing, and although Abraham agreed with him, he still paid the entire amount. 

 ¹⁷ So Ephron's field at Machpelah near Mamre—the field with its cave and all the trees anywhere within the boundaries of the field—became ¹⁸ Abraham's possession in the presence of all the Hittites who came to the gate of his city. ¹⁹ After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field at Machpelah near Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. ²⁰ The field with its cave passed from the Hittites to Abraham as a burial place.

Here we see in verse 18 that this land became Abraham's possesion, a piece of land that was not granted to him by God. And so Abraham buried his wife Sarah in a cave that was part of the land he bought, and this became a burial place in which Abraham would be buried when his time comes.

Genesis 22: Rebekah's Family

²⁰ Now after these things Abraham was told, "Milcah also has borne sons to your brother Nahor: ²¹ Uz his firstborn, his brother Buz, Kemuel the father of Aram, ²² Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel." ²³ And Bethuel fathered Rebekah. Milcah bore these eight to Nahor, Abraham's brother. ²⁴ His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

 This few verses show the lineage of Abraham's family. More importantly, verse 23 introduces Rebekah.

Genesis 22: The Sacrifice of Isaac

² "Take your son," He said, "your only [son] Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."

Here, God is telling Abraham to give his son, Isaac, as an offering to the Lord. Isaac is referred to as Abraham's 'only son', but we know that Abraham also had another son, Ishmael. From this, we can infer that God only considers Isaac as Abraham's son. Now, this is a difficult situation. Abraham is told to sacrifice the son that the Lord gave him, the son that he waited so long for. But, anything the Lord commands should be done immediately, and it would be sinful to be so attached to the world that one defies the Lord.


Abraham, loyal to the Lord, wakes up early the next morning in order to fulfill God's wishes. In verse 3, Abraham prepares for what lies ahead. He brings with him a donkey, two servants, wood for burning the offering, and his son Isaac. Then they all head out to the land of Moriah, where God commanded him to go. In verse 4-5, we learn that on the third day, the land of Moriah was in view. Abraham told his servants to stay behind in verse 4, saying "The boy and I will go over there to worship; then we'll come back to you." He says 'we' instead of 'I', implying that both he and Isaac will return, because he had faith in the Lord. For the rest of the journey, Abraham brought only the fire and the sacrificial knife. 


Isaac, seeing that there was no animal for the burnt offering, asks his father where it is. Abraham replies in verse 8, "God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." When they got there, Abraham made all the preparations, then in verse 10, "reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son." At that moment, an angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, causing him to stop immediately. Abraham showed his great love and faith in the Lord by willingly offering his only son. This is just as later on, the Lord shows his great love for us and offers his one and only son, Jesus. So the Lord provided a ram for Abraham to offer, and he offered the ram instead of his son Isaac.


Once more the angel calls down from heaven, "By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD: Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only son, ¹⁷I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the gates of their enemies. ¹⁸ And all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring because you have obeyed My command."