Welcome everybody to Hosanna. I am Pastor Nathan,
and if it is your first time here, I don't normally
dress like this. And if you're watching online
as well, we are so glad you're here to worship
with us today here at Hosanna. You know, this
morning we're going to be continuing our study
in Genesis, in Genesis chapter 25, looking at
the death of Abraham. We've come to the end of
his story, the end of his life, and really what
we're going to see is the testament of his faith
today, the effect that his life has on all of
us. As we've come to the end of his life here
in Genesis 25, we're going to see the story of
his death framed by two genealogies. There's
a genealogy before it, and there's a genealogy
after. Anytime we go through scripture and see
genealogies, we're always like, okay, why is
it here, and what is the point? Now, particularly
here in Abraham's story, the point is this. We're
meant to see that God is continuing to answer
his divine promise to Abraham. His promise that
God would make his offspring as the dust of the
earth and the stars in the sky, that Abraham
would be extremely fruitful. That he would be
a father of nations and kings that would come
from him. That's what this story shows us today.
This is really what Abraham's life was all about.
That God is faithful. It's all about the faithfulness
of God to his word. That's what his whole story
has been about. The grace of God towards those
who trust in him by faith. The patience of God
as those who trust him. even fall and stumble
and mess up in their lives, and then the outworking
of God's promises, not because we earned it,
but because he promised it, and he is always
faithful. You know, the Bible tells us that Abraham
is the father of all who believe. And that is
a true thing that the New Testament grabs onto.
The New Testament shares so much of Abraham's
life because his life teaches us the very foundations
of our faith and how we are to live and walk
with God. The New Testament highlights his example
of faith as the very basis of salvation. The
New Testament highlights his example of works.
based on his faith, that the life of faith results
in obedience and a life lived to honor and obey
God. The New Testament teaches us that Jesus
Christ is the ultimate offspring of Abraham,
that the promises that came through Abraham and
Isaac and down through his line were fulfilled
completely in Jesus Christ, and that faith in
Jesus makes us offspring of Abraham and inheritors
of the promises that God made to him. And then,
of course, the New Testament uses Abraham's life
to show us all the aspects of what faith looks
like in the life of one of his children. The
obedience of faith, the journey of faith, the
hope of faith, the confidence, the longing, the
sacrifice, the reasoning of faith. Yeah, truly,
Abraham is the father of all who believe. All
who come to Christ only by faith, all who receive
salvation. only by faith and all who live for
Christ by faith in this world. But first, we're
gonna worship God because we're so grateful to
him for who he is and what he's done. The Bible
says that he is the pioneer of our faith, that
he is the one that blazed all the trails that
we would be able to follow to the eternal glory
of being with God in heaven forever. Let's pray.
Father, we love you so much. God, you are worth
our entire lives. You are worth even more than
that. You are infinitely worth all because you
are the God of perfection and holiness and justice
and the God of glory. And God, every single one
of us in this room, Lord, have heard about you
and many of us, Lord, have given our lives to
you to trust in you and your promises, Lord.
And that is what the life of this man, Abraham,
has been all about, Lord, an imperfect man, simply
believing in you because you are you and believing
in your promises because you made them. And yet,
God, your word tells us that because of that
faith, it was accounted to him as righteousness.
And it is the same today, God. And so, Lord,
as we come to the end of his story, Lord, may
we be encouraged by his testament of faith that
we would see, God, that even in his death and
beyond, you always fulfill your promises fully,
no matter what. But, God, we want to worship
you right now. We want to praise your name because,
God, you are worth it. You are holy. You are
almighty and we love you so much. God, let us
be people of faith and let our faith even now
be expressed through our worship to you. We love
you so much. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
We are in Genesis chapter 25. We're going to
be looking at the first 18 verses today. And,
you know, at this point in Abraham's story, we've
come to the end. His wife, Sarah, had passed,
and with her passing, there was some major dynamic
shifts in the family structure. Obviously, she
was the patriarch of the family. She was Abraham's
wife, the love of his life. She had gone from
being named Sarai to Sarah, which meant princess.
Her husband had gone from being named Abram to
Abraham, which means father of many nations.
And so God had done so many works in their life,
but with her passing, it was a major shift, as
you can imagine. And as we looked at last week,
you know, Isaac, the son of the promise, the
son who was born miraculously, was there and
had been growing. And it had come to the point
where it was time for him to get married so that
he could have offspring to be a part of the continued
fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham that
his offspring would be more than the dust of
the earth and countless as the stars in the sky.
And so with all of that, we come to Genesis chapter
25, verse 1, if you will read with me. It says,
Abraham had taken another wife whose name was
Keturah. And she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan,
Midian, Ishbak, and Shua. Jokshan fathered Sheba
and Dedan. Dedan's sons were Asherim, Letushim,
and Leumim. And Midian's sons were Ephah, Ephur,
Hanak, Abida, and Eldah. All of these were sons
of Keterah. Abraham gave everything he owned
to Isaac. But Abraham gave gifts to the sons
of his concubines, and while he was still alive,
he sent them eastward, away from his son Isaac,
to the land of the east. So as I mentioned in
our intro, the story of Abraham's death is bookended
with two genealogies, and this is the first one.
He married a second time after Sarah had passed,
and so, you know, Having a second marriage in
situations like this is biblical. It's not unbiblical
to have a second marriage when your spouse has
passed away. And so we just read this short story.
And this is really all we have about this woman,
Katera, or Keturah. We don't know much about
her outside of the fact that she was Abraham's
second wife and she bore him these sons. Now,
chronologically, it's very possible that this
all took place after the Isaac and Rebecca story.
We don't know for sure if this marriage happened
prior to Isaac and Rebekah or after. But likely,
either way, we can figure out based upon Abraham's
age and Isaac's age and when he died and all
this stuff that after Isaac and Rebekah got married,
Abraham probably lived another 35 to 40 years
before he passed from this earth. And in that
time, he met this woman. We don't know where
she came from. We don't know, as I said, much
anything about her. her other than her offspring.
But there are some clues that might tell us what
her legacy was, what her contribution, if you
will, was to the promises of God in Abraham's
life. And one of those is the meaning of her
name. The name Keturah means spices, all right?
So I don't know if that meant she was like spicy
or anything like that, but... Now when you couple
that with where her children ended up settling,
because in those verses we just read, it says
eventually Abraham sent them away from his son
Isaac, we'll talk about that later, but sent
them specifically eastward to the land of the
east. Now this would be east of the promised
land, the land of Canaan, and so when we look
at where they likely have settled and whatnot,
many Bible scholars take her name and where her
sons settled, and kind of connect her sons to
be in major players in what was known as the
international spice trade that took place along
the Silk Road. If you guys remember the Silk
Road from history class, it was a road that went
essentially from the promised land through Arabia,
through India, all the way out to China, and
it was one of the major trade routes in ancient
times, and so many think that Keturah's sons
as they, spread, colonized, that's not the right
word. Settled, there you go. Settled in the Arabian
Peninsula that they were likely a part of the
gathering and the distribution and the process
of getting these spices out to the international
trade routes. So I want to go through the sons
real quick because I just kind of like to point
out where in our real world, you know, these
places, these people likely settled. But the
first one that's mentioned in her line there
is her son, Zimran. Now, Zimran is likely thought
to have settled between Mecca and Medina, which
is in the western part of Arabia. Now, this guy,
Zimran, he has no significant presence in the
biblical narrative. And so that's all we're told
about him. Zimran was a son, and then we surmise
that he settled in the west there. The second
son of Keturah was Jokshan. Now Jokshan is the
progenitor of the people that are in southern
Arabia in the area known today as Yemen. The
Yemen people came from Jokshan, that is down
in southern Arabia, and his people... have a
minor, you know, somewhat moderate presence in
the biblical narrative. And so, you know, you'll
notice that some of these sons in this genealogy,
their sons are expanded on and others aren't.
And that's simply so we could understand, you
know, the effect and the, wow, I'm blanking on
all kinds of words today, how they were involved
in the biblical stories. Because Jokshan's two
kids, one was named Sheba. Now Sheba is down
in the very southwestern tip of Arabia. That
was a land called Sheba. And if you're a Bible
scholar, you might be thinking of somebody who
visited Solomon at one point named the Queen
of Sheba. This queen was a descendant of Sheba
from this land. Jokshan's other son was Dedan,
and there's actually a town that's still there
today called Dedan that's thought to be descendant
from this line or this clan, and that was in
northwest Arabia. And then Dedan had two kids,
Asherim. That's not the Assyrians. That's a different
group of people. And then Letushim and Lumim,
right? Those names in particular, we don't see
them anywhere else in scripture, but Dedan is
a place that is famous for being a major crossroads
in the trade routes and whatnot. And so it's
thought that Dedan was there in Northwest Arabia
where the town of Dedan is today. Her next son
was Medan. We really don't have a lot of information
about him or know where that tribe settled. It
was probably in northern Arabia. There's some
slight evidence that seems to indicate that they
settled in northern Arabia, east of Canaan. But
again, this son, no significant presence in the
biblical narrative. And then we get to Midian,
her son Midian. Now that should immediately bring
to mind a major people group that have a major
presence in the Israeli history, and that is
the Midianites, right? The Midianites have a
major presence. Now they settled in what would
be the western side of the Sinai Peninsula and
then into northwest Arabia, really in the area
that is south of Jordan, the modern country of
Jordan today. And the Midianites, you know, settled
in other places as well. This is the people,
the land that Moses went to. If you remember
the story of Moses when he killed the Egyptian,
and then everybody was like, whoa, are you gonna
do that to us? The Jews were like, you're gonna
kill us too? He fled, and it says he fled to
the land of Midian in Exodus chapter two, verse
15. This was also the country that partnered
with Moab to attack Israel in the story of Balaam.
You guys remember that story, the talking donkey,
right? The Midianites, the king of Midian, was
part of the group that attacked Israel. And then,
during the time of Judges, these people, the
Midianites, as an enemy of Israel, were conquered
in the story of Gideon. And you guys remember
the story of Gideon, where he showed up with
all these people, and God said, that's too many.
And Gideon said, what are you talking about?
Their army's way bigger. And God said, I don't
care. Got all the way down to 300 people, right?
And then they went and followed and trusted the
Lord and defeated the Midianites. And so what
we have here is Midian's offspring is Ephah,
Ephor, Hanok, Abida, Eldah. And these are just
the different clans of the Midianites that made
up these people. And so we don't necessarily
see these individual names. We just see the people
group throughout Scripture referenced as a whole.
Then you have Ishbak, which is understood to
be in northwest Arabia in what is the Transjordan
area. Again, another group that settled around
present -day Jordan. And then Shua is thought
to have settled up in Syria and maybe is an early
progenitor of the Syrian people. As you can imagine,
with all of these sons and the spread of these
nations and the settlement and then who they
became even today, that Abraham truly became
the father of many nations just as God had promised
him. And that's really the idea of this genealogy
here is at the end of Abraham's life, what is
the legacy? What is the testament of his faith
that is being left behind? And what we're seeing
here is that God fulfilled his promises to Abraham.
He fulfilled them in full. He didn't waver in
any of those and that has been a lesson of Abraham's
entire story that we've seen over and over and
over again. Trust God because his promises are
sure. Now we don't know any record of how these
sons, these six sons of Keturah interacted with
Isaac. We do know that Isaac was much older than
them because he was 40 when he married Rebecca.
And then we have the story of Keturah and her
sons. And so, but he was still the son of the
promise. He was still the one through whom God
was gonna bring blessing to the world. He was
it, right? Now in modern day terms, you might
say he was the favorite son. And in a sense he
was because he was in line to inherit everything.
but there's no conflict implied here between
them and Isaac as there was between Isaac and
his other brother Ishmael. So what we get through
this opening genealogy is not just a boring list
of names. We're meant to get this picture that
Abraham's sunset years were chill. That as he
lived the rest of his life, there was no major
events going on, no major conflicts that are
recorded. It was just that his family continued
to expand all the way into the point where he
passed. Now through all of that, we're told here
these details that God remembered and maintained
his belief that God's promise was through Isaac
alone. We go back into a story and we see the
whole Ishmael incident and God said, nope, that's
a work of the flesh. It's gonna be through a
miracle, right? His wife couldn't have a baby.
Isaac's born. He's the one. It's God's work.
Nobody could get the credit for that. But then
Abraham goes on to have these other sons. And
so there was the possibility as these sons grew
that maybe, you know, they would be like, well,
what about us? And what's going on with us? And
why does Isaac get everything? And all of this
stuff. But he was the one. That was going to
get everything. It tells us after it lists Keturah's
sons, it says, but Abraham gave everything to
Isaac. Least we forget, he is the one the promise
is going to come through. It's not Ishmael, as
Islam purports. It's not any of these sons. It's
Isaac. He is the one. And so not only did he
inherit all of Abraham's stuff, he also inherited
the promise of the land, right? The promise that
God had given to his father. And so even though
Isaac inherited everything, the sons, it tells
us there, did get gifts from their father. They
weren't neglected. They weren't treated bad.
They weren't ignored. They were loved and they
were taken care of as Abraham did to his family.
And so, but I see a detail here where it says,
while he was still alive, he sent them eastward
in verse six, away from his family. his son Isaac.
That indicates the possibility that Abraham was
like, well, I don't want them to maybe get jealous
of Isaac. I don't want them to come against Isaac.
I don't want them to group up and come against
him, which is kind of, you know, if that's what's
taking place here, I see that as prophetic because
what happened later on with Jacob's sons, they
all grouped up against Joseph. and tried to kill
him, right? And so that's speculative, but I
kind of see a connection there on that. So he
sent them away, and he sends them eastward into
the areas we already talked about. And there's
a lot of archaeological evidence for much of
what was there. That whole green area on the
map along the western side of Arabia and down
through the bottom is primarily where it's understood
these people settled. Now there's a phrase here
that some people might read and go, what? And
it says concubines, verse six, but Abraham gave
gifts to the sons of his concubines. Now if you
go into the Hebrew language to look up the tense,
right, of that word, or the structure of the
word, it is a plural word. Concubines, plural,
more than one. And you go, what? I thought we
were talking about Keturah here and Sarah's gone
and Hagar's been sent away. So how do we reconcile
that? Well, again, we have to go back to understanding
that in this time, there was a very, very high
cultural priority on family line and clan identity.
And all of this existed in Abraham's time. And
then as the 12 tribes of Israel came, the clan
identity, the tribe identity was very important.
And so you didn't, marry outside of the clan.
And so people would be, the goal of having as
many sons as possible was desired, was pursued,
right? And it was something that happened in
those days, and so concubines were essentially
the lesser wives of the family, if you will.
It was very common for heads of families to have
a primary wife who was the wife, right, who carried
all the authority that the leading woman, the
first lady of the house would carry, and then
he would have secondary wives that were a part
of bearing children and expanding the family,
and they would have possibly less authority than
the primary wife, and then in some cases, you
had wife, secondary wives, and concubines, which
had even less authority in the house or none
at all, who served the purpose of simply bearing
children and expanding the family. Now, we have
to remember, at least we go, what? That seems
kind of weird. Why did God allow that? That in
ancient times, it was nearly impossible for an
unmarried woman to provide for herself. If a
woman was not connected to a husband or a dad
or a brother or somebody in that culture that
was male who would take care of them, the women
would be left destitute. They would often be
taken into slavery and very often very violent
and abusive slavery. They would be forced into
prostitution to just feed themselves. Many times
they would starve to death. And so in the culture,
God, I believe, allowed, even though it wasn't
his plan, he allowed this polygamous activity
really kind of as a social protection net for
the women who would otherwise be cast out and
starved to death. Now, we do know that God's
plan was never multiple wives, right? His plan
was one man, one woman from Genesis, and we get
all the way through the New Testament, and we
see that God's plan for marriage was monogamous.
But we do see it throughout the Old Testament
here, and it appears that God tolerated it for
a time. And one of those reasons is this kind
of social protection net for women. But then
on top of this, the words wife and concubine
could be used interchangeably to refer to any
woman who is not the primary wife in a family.
For example, here in Genesis, Keturah is called
his second wife. But if you read in 1 Chronicles
1, verse 32, Keturah is called his concubine.
So that explains all of that. We good? All right.
Nothing is said here about how the sons departed,
right? Their dad said, hey, I'm sending you guys
away. That was not an uncommon thing in the culture
where the sons would get to a point where it
was time for them to depart or there would be
reasons for you need to split off and take your
family elsewhere. We saw that with Abraham and
Lot. There was a logistical reason and the family
separated and so they left. That's all it tells
us is he sent them eastward and there was nothing
there about how they felt about it. You know,
were they like, dad? It's an adventure. Were
they mad, upset? It doesn't say anything. But
we read this very brief account of Keturah having
these sons and them being sent off, and we might
think, well, what about their spiritual destiny,
right? What about Ishmael and his people, right?
We think about these other family members in
Abraham's line, and did God just throw them in
the trash? Did God just cast them off and say,
you know, they have no bearing on my promises?
And the answer to that question is, of course
not. They would benefit from God's promises the
same as everybody else in this world benefits
from God's promises through faith. They had and
always had and still have and will always have
until the end of all things the opportunity to
become part of the blessing of God through faith.
Through faith in who God was. And so, you know,
we see again here this idea moving forward that
as God blessed Abraham and he became the father
of many nations and all of these offspring, that
the promise that God made that came through Isaac
applies to everybody in the world. If they simply
believe in Jesus Christ. If they put their faith
in him. Now, although Keturah, like I said, has
very little mention in scripture, I believe her
story is here very briefly. to show us something
very important about Abraham's life and the testament
of his life and the legacy he leaves behind,
that God was faithful to fulfill all his promises.
Also, I believe that it is meant to show us that
God faithfully records every detail and knows
every detail of every life that is a part of
his family, every life that knows him, right?
You may feel like you're not the main character
from the world's perspective, right? That you're
insignificant and that you have no effect, right?
You're not an Elon Musk, whether you like him
or not. The effect he's had on culture and society
is phenomenal and you're not this person, but
God knows your story. God knows who you are.
God knows every detail about your story. He knows
your part in his narrative. And that is, again,
the encouragement from Abraham's life. Trust
him. Trust him. You may, you know, God, my part
of your kingdom is insignificant. No. Your part
of his kingdom is radically important because
it's your part that he made for you and nobody
else. And so we see that Keturah, even though
not a whole lot of influence in the biblical
narrative, we do see this major impact she was
a part of in God fulfilling his promise to Abraham.
So now we come to verse seven. This is the actual
story of Abraham's death. It says, this is the
length of Abraham's life, 175 years. He took
his last breath and died at a good old age, old
and contented, and he was gathered to his people.
His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the
cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of
Ephron, son of Zohar, the Hethite, or Hittite.
This was the field that Abraham bought from the
Hethites. Abraham was buried there with his wife
Sarah, and after Abraham's death, God blessed
his son Isaac, who lived near Be 'er Lahai Roy.
What an end, right? You know, it wasn't like
he went too soon or some sudden tragedy. It just
says he went at a good old age, old and contented.
You know, over my years of life, you know, I've
run into a number of people and I've got to say
in every case it was a believer that people who
are entering the end of life and in the last
phase, oftentimes I hear things like this. I'm
just ready to go home. You know, I just can't
wait to go home. And often that's accompanied
with, because everything hurts now, you know,
and stuff like that. But there's just this contentment
for those who know the Lord when they come to
the end. They're like, I'm not done. I'm about
to get started. I'm about to enter into eternity.
And so he died contented. Now it says he lived
175 years. Guess how many years that is? 175
years, right? It's not an allegory. He lived
175 years, just like when we go back to the people
before the flood that lived hundreds and hundreds
of years and some 900 plus. That's true. That's
real. That's accurate. That's what it says. And
so obviously the lifespans of people decreased
after the flood. And so Abraham's 175 years is
long to today's standards, but short compared
to the original creation. But when you look at
his life overall, he didn't really come to faith
until he was 75 years old. That's when he left
his hometown of Ur. And so what that tells us
is that he had been a traveling nomad with brief
stops for 100 years, the last 100 years of his
life. And he had learned through his long life,
the Bible is going to tell us, that his ultimate
home, the ultimate place for him to settle, didn't
exist here on earth. Right, it tells us in Hebrews
chapter 11 verse nine, by faith he stayed as
a foreigner in the land of promise, living in
tents as did Isaac and Jacob, co -heirs of the
same promise. For he was looking forward to the
city that has foundations whose architect and
builder is God. He lived in tents even though
God said this land is going to your descendants.
Notice he didn't build cities. Well, I gotta
get ready for all my people, right? It would
make sense to build fortified cities so that
when my people get here, they would be safe and
protected. No, he just said, this isn't the ultimate
home. I'm here, I believe God's promise, but
there is a city that I'm looking forward to.
The city of God, heaven. That's what his whole
life was lived in faith of, looking forward to.
And it's such an encouragement to us in how we
live this life. You know, we're called to live
lives here as sojourners. When you go on a trip,
a weekend trip, a five -day trip, do you pack
up everything in your house? When you go on a
trip, you don't pack everything. Well, some of
you maybe, right? But most people, sane people,
don't pack everything when they go on a trip.
Why? Because you know you're there temporarily.
So you just take what is needed for the time
that you're there. That is the perspective God
encourages us to have of this life. This life
is, in the scope of eternity, a weekend trip.
And so it makes no sense to try and maintain
everything here and build everything here and
put our roots and foundations down here and make
sure all of our time and the priority of everything
is building wealth and security here because
this life is temporary. Abraham knew that. He
lived that way. And the question to us is, if
you're a believer and you trust in Jesus Christ
and you have the hope of heaven before you, Do
you live that way? There's nothing wrong with
handling your business and paying your bills
and going to work. There's nothing wrong with
investing and building things and businesses
and whatever in this life. As long as you know
that everything that exists here is about building
for the future. And so how does what you do contribute
to the kingdom of God? Because that's what it's
all about. And so, yeah, having a car and a house,
none of that's bad. But if you think those things
are the end all, those things are what's important,
those things are what have eternal value, those
are the only things that matter, you're missing
it. You're missing it big time. And so Abraham,
he lived in tents because he knew this wasn't
his permanent home. And then he died at this
good old age. That should remind us all that
We all have a particular span of life allotted
to us. Did you know that? Did you know we're
all going to die one day? Do you live like it?
Do you live like you only have a certain amount
of days allotted to you? This is what the Word
of God says in Psalm 139 .16. Your eyes saw me
when I was formless. All of my days were written
in your book and planned before a single one
of them began. You know the implication of that?
There's a fixed number. God knows the fixed number.
God knows which one is the last day that you
have here on this earth. But you and I don't
know that, do we? So what are you doing with
the days you have? Are you wasting them on frivolity?
Are you wasting them on self and pleasure? Are
you wasting them? Now again, don't misunderstand.
There's nothing wrong with... recreation and
entertainment and relaxation. God encourages
that through his word. But when we think about,
I only have so many days left, what are you doing
with those days for God's kingdom? What are you
doing with them? How are you using them? Are
you about God's work in his time? Because you're
going to run out of days eventually. Psalm 90
verse 12 says, teach us to number our days carefully
so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.
When you know that it's a three -day trip, that
gives you the wisdom to say, I should only pack
this much. Right? It would be silly to try and
jam your entire wardrobe, and again, I know some
of you try, but your whole wardrobe into a three
-day trip. Silly. You're not going to even get
a chance to wear all those clothes. And it's
the idea here that we should number our days.
We should know that there is a limited amount
of days so that we develop wisdom in our hearts.
To embrace the reality that our days are limited
leads to seeking and applying wisdom on how to
use those days. And where do we get wisdom? The
Word of God. In His Word. You want to know how
to spend your time and use your days? Get in
the Word of God. That's why every church... should,
if they don't, be in the Word every day. It's
like sustenance. It's like food. You need to
read it. You need to study it. You need to absorb
it. You need to memorize it because it is the
source of wisdom. And if you want to know what
do I do with my life, get in the Word of God.
Well, the Word of God doesn't say go to this
college or start this business or do that. God
will take care of those details. He wants you
to have the foundation that those details build
upon, and it's in His Word. Now, And really,
the most important things we could do in our
life are the things that have eternal value and
eternal fruit. Those are the things that are
going to last forever. Those are the things that
lead to ultimate peace. Those are the things,
I believe, that lead to contentedness. You see,
because I don't believe Abraham's contentedness,
right? It said he was old and contented. I don't
believe that came from, wow, I got to live 175
years on this earth. I believe his contentedness
came from living 100 years walking with the Lord.
It came from a life of faith, walking with God,
knowing that his life had a purpose and a future
and a hope. And so at the end of that life here
on earth, he was like, I'm good. I'm good. It's
time to go home. I can't wait to see my dad.
And so... We read here in his death story that
his two estranged sons, Isaac and Ishmael, came
together to honor their father in the burial
there and buried him at the place that he requested,
right? That cave that he purchased as a testimony
to all that, hey, I'm being buried here because
God said my descendants are going to have this
land and I want my bones here when they get here,
right? And so they buried him there as he requested.
And what we see in the beginning here is it had
been 35 to 40 years. that cave was opened. Sarah
was buried there. Now the cave is open again,
and we have Father Abraham now buried next to
Princess Sarah. And it would be a very long time
before this cave is open again when we come to
the end of Isaac's life. And there in Isaac's
life, it's going to be really ironic because
here we have the two estranged brothers, Isaac
and Ishmael, coming together to honor their dad.
Same exact thing is going to happen in Isaac's
life when it's his two sons, Jacob and Esau,
who are estranged, coming back together to bury
their father. And then the last detail I want
to point out there is just to notice that Isaac
is listed before Ishmael. This again is highlighting
God's promises. Ishmael is the firstborn. By
all cultural intents and purposes, he should
always be listed first. But in the eyes of God,
Isaac was the firstborn. Why? Because Isaac was
the result of trust and faith. Ishmael was the
works of the flesh. So from God's perspective,
Isaac was the firstborn in Abraham's family.
And so that doesn't mean Ishmael wasn't blessed
at all. We're going to read here in a moment.
He was blessed. You know, God's promise to Abraham,
his father, is going to be seen as Ishmael gives
birth to 12 sons and becomes many nations as
well. But with Abraham's passing, it tells us
there. that God blessed his son Isaac. Isaac
was the one who inherited the promise, inherited
the blessing, all of that. And really for the
next 10 chapters of Genesis, you know what the
theme is going to be? God blessed Isaac, right?
So verse 12, we read now the genealogy of Ishmael.
These are the family records of Abraham's son
Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's slave,
bore to Abraham. These are the names of Ishmael's
sons. Their names, according to the family records,
are Nebaioth, Ishmael's firstborn, then Kadar,
Abdeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Duma, Masa, Hadad, Tima,
Jeter, Napish, and Kadema. These are Ishmael's
sons, and these are their names by their settlements
and encampments, 12 leaders of their clans. And
so... And so... The idea here, again, is that
they expanded, that Abraham's people, his family,
God's promise happened exactly as God has promised
it. Now, it tells us the names of all these people
and where they settled. And it says specifically
that they settled from Havilah to Shur. Now,
nobody is entirely sure where Havilah is, okay?
there's a major consensus that Havilah is over
there where Kuwait is, modern -day Kuwait. It's
right kind of in the area of where the Garden
of Eden might have been. And so when it says
from Havilah to Shur, Shur is the desert of northern
Sinai that is really between Egypt proper and
the Promised Land. And so what it's telling us
is that Ishmael's sons settled from the northwest
to the northeast of what is modern -day Arabia.
And so each lent their name to their tribe, as
was common practice in the day, and they flourished
over the centuries. And there's a lot of evidence
and stuff to see that these clans or remnants
of these clans were in those areas. And so we
see, again, God's faithful promise. Abraham,
you're going to be the father of many nations.
Many nations. This whole peninsula. And, of course,
these people ended up spreading over the entire
Arabian Peninsula. And then, you know, it just
became... Many, many, many, many people. How
faithful to his words of promise God had been
in Abraham's life. Was Abraham a perfect follower?
No. Was he a sinless individual? No. Not at all.
Was he a liar? He was a liar. But you know what
else he was? Saved by faith. And that is the
testimony of his life. God's covenant to him.
Offspring as numerous as the grains of the sand
of the whole world and all the stars of the sky.
God's promise to him that he'd be a father of
a multitude of nations. God's promise that he
would pass in peace and be buried at a good old
age. God promised that Isaac would become the
sole heir of the covenant. That Ishmael would
become greatly increased in number and father
12 tribes. And it all happened exactly as God
had said. Like for weeks and weeks and weeks
we've been studying Abraham's life. And if you
don't get the lesson yet, you haven't been paying
attention. God is faithful. God is faithful to
his promises and all of his promises. And so
what do you want the legacy of your life to be,
right? This is a question that has been asked
before. You know, when you have passed and, you
know, there's the memorial service or whatever,
what is the main thing you want people to remember
about you? Oh, they were a complainer. They were
a liar. Or do you want them to remember that
this was a person of faith? My gosh, they weren't
perfect, but they believed God. They believed
in God's word, even when it was silly and impossible.
In fact, we could tell you testimonies of what
God did and how God fulfilled the things that
our loved one believed in, and that's what we're
left with. Not the mistakes, but the faith, and
that is the legacy of Abraham's life. So much
so that there are many New Testament passages
that are used or that use his life to teach us
the very foundational truths of what we believe.
Romans chapter 4 is one of them, where Paul demonstrates
the truth that we are saved by faith, right?
Verses 1 through 3, it's all about Abraham, saved
by faith. Then he extends it, verse 6 through
8, King David is saved by faith. Verses 9 through
12, the Gentiles are saved by faith. Verses 13
through 17, that even when the people were under
the law, righteousness was still by faith. Then
you go to James 2. James uses Abraham's story
to teach that Abraham was justified by works.
And you go, uh -oh, big contradiction. The Bible's
not true now, right? Not at all. You take the
teaching of James and you put it together with
Romans and we have the very basic foundational
essential truth and understanding of true faith.
That Abraham was saved by faith and that true
saving faith was evidenced by his works of faith.
You could say you're saved all you want. James
says, let me see it. Let me see it in your life.
Do you walk in faith? Are the works of your life
a result of how you believe, how much you believe
God and his word and his promises? Galatians
3, Paul then teaches that the ultimate offspring
of Abraham is Jesus Christ. And he says, if we're
saved by faith in Christ, then we are the ones
who are true offspring of Abraham. What does
that mean? If you have faith the way Abraham
had, it doesn't matter if you're Jewish by genetics.
It doesn't matter if you're anything by genetics.
What matters is that your faith makes you a part
of his family and an inheritor of the promises
that God gave to him. And then, of course, Hebrews
11, we looked at a couple times, uses Abraham's
life to say this is what a life of faith looks
like. Verse 8, faith's obedience. Verse 9, faith's
journey in Hebrews 11. Verse 10, it's hope. Verse
11 through 12, it's confidence. Verses 13 through
16, it's desire. 17 through 18, it's sacrifice.
And verse 19 of Hebrews 11, it's reasoning. Why?
Abraham's whole life is a testament of faith.
And it's a... It's an example that we are to
learn from, to apply into our lives. You know,
if we had recorded what his deathbed words are,
right? The famous story of the Apostle John,
right? The Apostle of Love. The story says on
his deathbed or at the very end of his life,
last recorded words pulled out for a sermon.
Speak to the church, John. Love one another.
I don't know if he sounded like that, but he
was old, okay? You know, those were his words.
That's what it was all about. Abraham, I believe,
would have been like, have faith. Just trust
God. But, but, but, no, no, no. Just trust God.
He's God. Abraham's life and death shows us that
God fulfills all his promises in full, always,
including the promise to forgive us of our sins
through faith in Jesus Christ and his death on
the cross. That's what God promised. And he is
faithful to fulfill that promise. And that's
what we remember when we partake of communion
together as the church of Jesus Christ. It's
because we're saved by faith that we're able
to live by Christ or live for Christ by faith.
It's a life where we live trusting that his atonement,
his death on the cross was the acceptable payment
for our sin. Christianity isn't about being perfect
because none of us are. And it's not about being
without sin completely because none of us ever
will be until we're in heaven with him. And so
it's about a life here where we wrestle against
our sin nature and our born again nature. And
we say, God, I want to obey you, but sometimes
I give in and I fail. If you have faith in me,
the blood of Jesus Christ is applied to your
life. That just like this man Abraham, that because
you believe me, it is accounted to you as righteousness.
And then we say, God, I'm so ashamed though.
I don't deserve that. And he's like, I know.
But that's how much I love you. That's how much
you mean to me. And I promised. And I will not
go back on that promise. Because when God makes
a promise, it is sure. It's about simply trusting
that he is who he says he is. That he did what
he said he would do. And that he's going to do
what he said he is going to do. His promise that
if we have faith in him and we trust in him,
we'll have what he said we will have. Total forgiveness
from all of our sins. For all of our sins. Everything
we've ever done. Grace to be adopted into his
family as one of his children. Not just forgiven
and left alone, but brought in. To be inheritors
of everything that he wants to give us. Gifted
by his Holy Spirit to serve him and to serve
the rest of his family here in this world. To
live without condemnation, but to be full of
peace and joy in all things. Mercy to know that
even when we blow it and mess up, he still loves
you. He still accepts you. He still wants to
have a continued relationship with you. His promises
mean that we know that when we're honest with
him about our mess ups, that he is faithful and
just to forgive us. Every single time, forever.
Why? Because he sent his son to die for our sin
in our place. And Jesus did that willingly because
he loved you so much. You know, this is the reality
that he has promised us. The reality that he
promised Adam and Eve when they fell in the garden.
That one day he would come and defeat sin and
the power of sin and the power of death, the
penalty of sinning against him. He would defeat
all of it completely and totally, eternally.
To say this eternal separation that you now have,
you've inherited through your sin nature, I'm
going to wipe that away. You see, Abraham believed
God simply because he was God and that was enough.
And it's enough for you and me as well. God is
God. We don't have to understand why. We don't
need to understand how. We just need to understand
who. That he is God Almighty. If you're in this
room today and you've never put your faith in
Jesus Christ, I want to give you an opportunity
to do so right now. You see, there is a reason
and a purpose behind everything God has done.
And it's one purpose. That you would be saved.
That you would be in his family. That you would
have the hope of heaven. Forgiveness applied
to everything you've ever done and everything
you ever will do. God loves you that much. And
the reality is, is without that forgiveness,
you're going to stand before God one day, but
you're going to stand there in judgment. Because
God is holy. God is just. And in his word, he
gives us the things, if you will, that have caused
us to be guilty. He gave us the Ten Commandments.
And we read that and we go, I've done all of
those. And he goes, yeah, you're guilty. And
we think, well, if I do enough good things. Abraham's
life is not a testament of him doing good things
to earn the favor of God. Abraham's life is a
testament and an example to you and I today of
a person who said, okay, God, I believe in you
and I want to follow you, but I'm so glad that
this is not based on me being perfect because
it's about grace and mercy. And so in a moment,
we're going to pray and then we'll move into
our communion time. But if God has been speaking
to your heart today and you've never given your
life to him, you've never accepted him as your
Lord and Savior, you've never come to God and
said, You're right. I'm wrong. I believe in you.
Please forgive me. If you've never done that,
you're going to have an opportunity to do that
right now. Let's pray. Father God, we trust in
you for all things. We trust in your work. And
we believe, God, that you are faithful to every
promise you have ever made, that you will fulfill
every promise in full every time. And God, from
the very beginning of man, a promise was made
that you would deal with our sin nature. You
would deal with the power of sin in our lives.
You would deal with the penalty of sin in our
lives. And you did that. You came to this earth.
You clothed yourself with frail humanity. You
died in our place. And that, Lord, it's simply
through faith in you. That God, you then wipe
clean our record. That you wipe away all the
penalty, Lord, for the sin we've committed and
the sin we will ever commit, God. Because through
the blood of Jesus Christ, the penalty has been
paid. And Lord, it doesn't mean we're going to
be perfect people. Because you know, Lord, none
of us are. But it's about being saved people.
who have called out to the one who loves them
more than anything to receive something they
definitely don't deserve, God. And so, God, while
we're praying, if there's anybody in this room,
if God has been speaking to you today and you
want to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and
Savior, you want to receive forgiveness today
for all the sin you've ever committed, Maybe
you've wrestled with the idea of that seems too
simple. I have to pay a price. I have to suffer
some type of penalty for my sin. I'm telling
you today that penalty was meted out on Jesus
Christ. He took the penalty. It's not that you're
going to get away with it scot -free. It's that
someone else died for you. And if you want that
payment to be applied to your ledger today, God
has promised that if you put your faith in him,
you will be forgiven. And so while we're praying,
all heads down, eyes closed, if you want to receive
him today, I just want you to raise your hand
where you're seated and let me pray with you.
God's not shocked by what you've done. God is
not unaware of what you've done. He's aware of
every detail and he still loves you anyways.
And he says, just call out to me. Let me save
you. Let me change your heart. Let me change
your life. If you want to receive that this morning,
just raise your hand and let me pray with you.
God bless you on the side. Anybody else? God
is speaking to you today. I see you, sir, as
well. Anybody else? You want to receive Jesus
Christ as your Lord and Savior. I see you as
well. If you're watching online, obviously I
can't see you, but if you want to put your faith
in Jesus this morning, just Follow with me in
this prayer. But just in this last moment, if
there's anybody else in this room, you want to
receive Jesus this morning, just raise your hand.
All right. Pray with me. Father God, I believe
in you. I trust you. I put my faith in you. I
know I don't deserve salvation. I know I don't
deserve to be forgiven. But Lord, I believe your
promises. I believe you when you say it's not
about deserving. It's about trusting. And so
Jesus, I trust in you today. I trust in your
sacrifice for me. I trust that your sacrifice
is enough to pay for all of my sin. And I say
thank you for forgiving me. Thank you for granting
me grace and mercy. I receive all of it, Lord.
Come into my life. I invite you in to be my Lord
and Master, to be my Savior, to teach me how
to live, to give me a new heart. Thank you for
loving me so much. It's in Jesus' name I pray.
Amen. Well, God bless you for those of you that
gave your life to the Lord today. You're saved.
Now, the evidence of your decision, sure, is
going to be seen in the life you live from now
forward. But it's not about you trying to be
perfect. It's just you saying, God, I want to
live a life that glorifies your name. But we're
going to move into a time of communion right
now as we celebrate that work that Jesus did
for us. If the men of the communion board would
come forward, please. You know, together while
we worship during this time, we're called to
remember by partaking together of these communion
emblems. When Jesus was with his disciples, he
said this bread, as he broke it and handed it
to them, he said, this is my body given for you.
Because he, his body, took the judgment of the
most and only holy and just God upon himself
so that we could be spared. Some of you just
received the benefit of that right now. And then
he said, drink of this cup because it represents
my blood being shed to establish a new covenant.
A covenant means an unbreakable promise. What
was that covenant? The covenant between God and
any who would call upon the name of Jesus. To
say, God, forgive me. And that God would apply
that blood to wash away your sins and secure
your freedom forever. We should have suffered
the full judgment because we're the ones who
sinned. But God spared us. The Bible says the
wages of sin is death and God spared us because
he loves us. But the covenant, the promises is
this. Believe that Jesus is the only perfect
spotless and pure sacrifice that will satisfy
the holy justice of God almighty. And those that
call yourself Christians in this room today,
that's what we believe in. That's what you remember
in this moment of communion. That through faith
in him and what he did, that faith is accounted
to us as righteousness. God sees us as spotless
and pure and clean. And God will forever see
us that way through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
We live that way, and when we continue to live
that way, our lives will truly be lives that
have a testament of faith, just like this man
Abraham. A testament of knowing his amazing promises,
his amazing grace, his amazing love. Let's worship.