And she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Jokshan begot Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. And the sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abidah, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. (Genesis 25:2-4) Even though they are family, later the children of Israel will have many issues with the Gentile descendants of Midian and Dedan. But they will also be blessed by the descendants of Sheba and Ephah, as we will study in future lessons.
And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac. But Abraham gave gifts to the sons of the concubines which Abraham had; and while he was still living he sent them eastward, away from Isaac his son, to the country of the east. (Genesis 25:5-6) This was a very wise thing for Abraham to do, and we should learn from it today, to get our affairs in order and will to our descendants what we want them to have before we die, so that there won't be any conflicts among them after we're gone. Always have several copies of the same will distributed to several family members, but then as much as we can, we need to distribute while we're still alive.
Abraham treated his other children fairly, but Isaac was the child conceived by his wife; And Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was old; and to him he has given all that he has. (Genesis 24:36) Isaac was the son of promise because God said, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her.” (Genesis 17:15-16)
Just as Isaac was the son of promise, we too who have accepted God's free gift of salvation through faith in Christ Jesus are the children of promise. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son [Hagar and Ishmael], for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman [Sarah and Isaac].” So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free. (Galatians 4:28-31)
This is the sum of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived: one hundred and seventy-five years. Then Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people. And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth. There Abraham was buried, and Sarah his wife. And it came to pass, after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac. And Isaac dwelt at Beer Lahai Roi. (Genesis 25:7-11)
The brothers who had been separated when Isaac was a newborn and Ishmael was thirteen, after Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing. Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.” (Genesis 21:9-10) Now the brothers are reunited at the death of their father, and there is no fighting or quarreling, because Abraham was wise enough to resolve all issues in his family while he was alive. What a testimony to Abraham's life!
Now this is the genealogy of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maidservant, bore to Abraham. And these were the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: The firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadar, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These were the sons of Ishmael and these were their names, by their towns and their settlements, twelve princes according to their nations. These were the years of the life of Ishmael: one hundred and thirty-seven years; and he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people. (They dwelt from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt as you go toward Assyria.) He died in the presence of all his brethren. (Genesis 25:12-18)
The descendants of Kedar will become mighty and great, but will eventually be destroyed because of their treatment of the children of Israel. Dumah will play a part in the children of Israel's future. And we learned from the study of Job that one of his friends who came to comfort him was Eliphaz the Temanite (Job 2:11), a descendant of Tema.
This is the genealogy of Isaac, Abraham’s son. Abraham begot Isaac. Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah as wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan Aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian. Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived. (Genesis 25:19-21)
But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said to her: “Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be separated from your body; one people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger.” So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb. And the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name Esau [meaning hairy, rough]. Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so his name was called Jacob [supplanter, meaning to trip up or to overthrow]. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them. (Genesis 25:22-26)
We've studied this before, but names mean something to God. During the time we're studying, the people of God chose their names wisely, but even God would change their name if they no longer matched the meaning of their original name, like Abram to Abraham and Sarai to Sarah. (Genesis 17) This will become especially clear as we continue studying about Esau an Jacob.
But the most important change any of us can experience is the change we receive after accepting Christ Jesus as our Savior and Lord. But as many as received Him [Christ Jesus], to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12-13) and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. (Romans 8:17)
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