The Goodness of the Lord – Genesis 25-26

“Abraham again took a wife, and her name was Keturah. 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. 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 25:1-6

Abraham was 137 years old when Sarah went to her eternal reward. He was 140 years old when Isaac married Rebekah. Now, he remarries. His new wife’s name, Keturah’s (קְטוּרָה, Qəṭūrāh), means “incense, fragrance, or perfume.” She bears for Abraham six sons, most notably among the six is Midian who is the forefather of Moses’ father-in-law Jethro and his wife Zipporah. Abraham kept Isaac nearby and sent the other sons eastward, that is, to the Arabian Peninsula.

“This is the sum of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived: 175 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

Imagine this! Abraham is 140 years old when he remarries. He has six sons with his new wife and still lives long enough to see them into adulthood. He dies at age 174. Isaac and Ishmael bury him alongside his first wife Sarah. Isaac inherited the majority of Abraham’s wealth. His other sons received gifts from him. God places His blessing on Isaac. He is the forefather of Messiah’s family line.

Genesis 25:12-18 is a genealogy of Ishmael. The Lord blesses him with 12 sons who become princes. They form the genealogical basis for many ancient Arabian tribes and kingdoms, connecting biblical history to the broader region. Ishmael lived 137 years. “He died in the presence of all his brethren.” He did not die alone or forgotten. He was honored.

“This is the genealogy of Isaac, Abraham’s son. Abraham begot Isaac. Isaac was 40 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. 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. Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau’s heel. So, his name was called Jacob. Isaac was 60 years old when she bore them.” Genesis 25:19-26

Like his mother, Rebekah needed God’s grace to have a baby. 20 years married. No children. Abraham was now 160 years old. After Isaac prayed for Rebekah, the Lord gave them a double blessing. She conceived twins. The twins fought each other in her womb. She asked the Lord what was going on with this internal strife. He revealed to her that she had two nations in her womb, and that her firstborn would serve her second born. The day they were born, the oldest came out with red hair all over his body and the younger came out grasping his brother’s heel. The younger twin tried to proceed his older brother in the birthing order.

“So, the boys grew. And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents. And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.” Genesis 25:27-28

Isaac loved Esau for the meat he brought him. Rebekah loved the mild mannered Jacob. The Hebrew word for mild is תָּם [tam], it means perfect, complete, morally and ethically pure. One son focused on perfecting his bodily skills. The other focused on perfecting his soul’s purity.

“Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. And Esau said to Jacob, ‘Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.’ Therefore, his name was called Edom. But Jacob said, ‘Sell me your birthright as of this day.’ And Esau said, ‘Look, I am about to die; so, what is this birthright to me?’ Then, Jacob said, ‘Swear to me as of this day.’ So, he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils. Then, he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus, Esau despised his birthright.” Genesis 25:29-34

Hebrews 12:16-17 urge us not to follow Esau’s example. “See that no one is sexually immoral, or godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done.” There was more to this story than a hungry hunter and a mild-mannered son at home. Esau did not have the anointing to be in Messiah’s family line. Jacob did. Thus, Esau lived for his flesh.

In Malachi 1:1-3 and in Romans 9:10-13, the Lord confirms that His love was set on Jacob before the boys were born. God uses this story to tell the Jews that it is His love that makes the difference not a person’s birthright or tribal traditions. In Romans 9:15, God says, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

In Matthew 18:1, the disciples of Jesus asked Him who was the greatest in the kingdom of God. In Mark 9:33, we learn that this conversation happened in Capernaum. In Matthew 11:23, Jesus said of Capernaum, “And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day.” They were in a self-exalting city. The disciples seemed to have been influenced by it. In Mark 9:33-34, when Jesus asked them what they had been arguing about, they did not want to tell Him. Then, in Matthew 18:2-4, Jesus “called a little child to Him, and placed the child among them. And He said: ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’ Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.’” In other words, whoever looks to God for salvation as a child looks to an adult for rescue is great in God’s eyes.

Now, as to Esau’s salvation, he was not born with the gracious hand of God on his life as Jacob was, but he, later, seeing God’s grace on Jacob’s life, could have asked the Lord to please grant him the same grace as He granted to Jacob, but he didn’t. He continued to depend on himself.

“There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar. Then, the Lord appeared to him and said: ‘Do not go down to Egypt! Live in the land of which I shall tell you. Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven. I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your Seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” Genesis 26:1-5

The Lord told Isaac to walk by faith in Him not by sight. Yes, there is a famine in the land. That is a reality, but I am God, Creator of the universe, I will take care of you. In Isaac’s Seed all nations shall be blessed. That Seed is a reference to Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the One who takes away the sins of the world and restores the descendants of Adam back into fellowship with God.

When God is with you nothing is impossible. God kept perhaps as many as 2.5 million former slaves alive in the wilderness for 40 years. Exodus 12:37 says that 600,000 Israelite men left Egypt. Add a wife and three children to each man and you have 2.5 million people. They tended to have big families back then. Even so, think about heaven! In Revelation 7:9, John saw a multitude from every nation that no one could count. God sustains them in heaven forever. How can we say we believe that we have everlasting life in Christ, but yet doubt His provision for our next meal? No matter the circumstance, we should praise God that in Christ He shall provide for us.

“So, Isaac dwelt in Gerar. And the men of the place asked about his wife. And he said, ‘She is my sister;’ for he was afraid to say, ‘She is my wife,’ because he thought, ‘lest the men of the place kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to behold.’ Now, it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked through a window, and saw, and there was Isaac, showing endearment to Rebekah his wife. Then, Abimelech called Isaac and said, ‘Quite obviously she is your wife; so how could you say, ‘She is my sister?’ Isaac said to him, ‘Because I said, lest I die on account of her.’” Genesis 26:6-9

Like father like son. Isaac repeated the same thing his father did earlier. When he feared for his safety due to the beauty of his wife and due to the wickedness of the men around him, he told a lie about Rebekah. His lie was uncovered by the same king who caught his father in a lie, King Abimelech. Isaac was not a good witness for God in this matter, but neither were Abimelech and his men who were apt to steal wives from others.

The Bible is honest about God’s “heroes.” James 5:17 in the King James Version says, “Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.” Elijah was subject to the same temptations as others... temptations to be afraid... temptations to exaggerate... yet when he placed His faith in God, great things happened.

“And Abimelech said, ‘What is this you have done to us? One of the people might soon have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us.’ So, Abimelech charged all his people, saying, ‘He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.’ Then, Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him. The man began to prosper and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So, the Philistines envied him. Now, the Philistines had stopped up all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they had filled them with earth. And Abimelech said to Isaac, ‘Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.’” Genesis 26:10-16

Thankfully, God moved King Abimelech to issue a death threat to anyone who touched Isaac or his wife. Proverbs 21:1 says, “The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: He turns it wheresoever He wills.” Yes, God can move unbelieving kings to do the right thing on our behalf. Not only this, but the King of kings issued a hundredfold blessing on Isaac’s crops and herds that year and he became very prosperous.

“Then Isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar and dwelt there. And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called them by the names which his father had called them. Also Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found a well of running water there. But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, ‘The water is ours.’ So, he called the name of the well Esek, because they quarreled with him. Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also. So, he called its name Sitnah. And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So, he called its name Rehoboth, because he said, ‘For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.’” Genesis 26:17-22

By God’s grace, Isaac was mighty, but when some men claimed his wells were theirs, he didn’t fight over them. He trusted God to give him new ones and God did. Finally, the claim jumpers left him alone, and Isaac gave God the glory, saying, “Now, the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”

“Then he went up from there to Beersheba. And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, ‘I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham’s sake.’ So, he built an altar there and called on the Name of the Lord, and he pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.” Genesis 26:23-25

The Lord appeared to Isaac and encouraged his faith in Him. How did Isaac respond to this revelation? He built an altar and called on the Name of the Lord. Kind of like planting a church! A place with an address where he could go and worship God and pray to Him.

“Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath, one of his friends, and Phichol the commander of his army. And Isaac said to them, ‘Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?’ But they said, ‘We have certainly seen that the Lord is with you.’ So, we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, between you and us; and let us make a covenant with you, that you will do us no harm, since we have not touched you, and since we have done nothing to you but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the Lord.’ So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. Then, they arose early in the morning and swore an oath with one another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. It came to pass the same day that Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, ‘We have found water.’ So, he called it Shebah. Therefore, the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.” Genesis 26:26-33

How amazing that a King and his General would come to this man of faith who is in the family line of Messiah and want a promise of peace from him that he would not harm them. It was an unequal treaty like God makes with us. Isaac had done no wrong to Abimelech but Abimelech and his people had wronged Isaac. In a similar way, people want God to keep His promise of meeting all their needs and protecting them without them having to keep their part like serve, worship, pray, testify for and love Him. Still, God is gracious and longsuffering with us. What happened after Isaac was gracious to Abimelech? His servants told him they found a new water source which they needed in that dry land for their crops and herds. Praise the Lord!

“When Esau was 40 years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. And they were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah.” Genesis 26:34-35

God circles back to Esau. How’s he fairing? Not well. He married ungodly women. Those women caused his parents grief. How were they raising their grandchildren? Were Isaac and Rebekah welcome in their home? Much patience, prayer and anointing from God is needed to love family members who have turned their back on God. The goal is not to prove them wrong, but to show them the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Amen!