Gen. 25-26: “Abraham Remarries
& Starts New Family / Isaac & Rebekah Have Twin Sons, Jacob & Esau
/ Esau Sells His Birthright”
By
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study
we looked at chapters 23-24 of Genesis.
1.1.1. Sarah passed away rather suddenly and Abraham purchased
a tomb to lay her body in.
1.1.2. It was determined by Abraham after the sadness of the
death of Isaac’s mother that a search should be made for a bride suitable for
Isaac. Abraham sent his servant Eliezer
back to Nahor and Abraham’s people to find a bride for Isaac.
1.2.
In our story
today, we are going to look at chapters 25-26 of Genesis.
1.2.1. We will see in this study that Abraham continues to be
rejuvenated by the Lord and starts a new family.
1.2.2. Abraham finally passes away at a ripe old age.
1.2.3. After 20 years of marriage Isaac and Rebekah finally
receive the ability to conceive and Rebekah becomes pregnant with twins. The twins struggle within her and the Lord
tells her why even within the womb they are struggling. These twins are named Esau and Jacob, after
their character and personal characteristics.
1.2.4. Then, Esau sells his birthright to his brother Jacob
for a bowl of lentil stew.
1.2.5. In our study today, we will concentrate on a few
examples of poor parenting and the results that occurred because of it. Many times we as parents do not realize how
that the things that we do will end up having long term affects on our
children. Many parents tell their
children to do as I say not as I do, however what experiences teaches me is
that children end up doing what their parents do, not what they tell them that
they ought to do.
2.
VS 25:1-4 - “1
Now
Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. 2 She bore to him Zimran and Jokshan and
2.1.
Just when we
thought that Abraham had finally fulfilled everything that God had for him to
do in this life we discover that because he had been so rejuvenated physically
by God in order to produce a son in Isaac that over 37 years after the birth of
Isaac Abraham finds another wife after Sarah’s passing and fathers another six
son?!
2.2.
Sarah’s
rejuvenation by the Lord was seen in not only the fact that she received
ability to conceive and bring a baby to full term and give birth. She also lived another 37 years after that
time. Abraham lives another 65 years.
2.3.
Abraham loved
Sarah so much that he would not take additional wives while she was alive. Abraham’s marriage to Keturah occurred only
after Sarah had passed away.
3.
VS 25:5-6 - “5
Now Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac; 6 but to the sons of his concubines, Abraham gave
gifts while he was still living, and sent them away from his son Isaac
eastward, to the land of the east.” - Abraham
gives his full inheritance to Isaac but gives gifts to his other sons by his
concubines and then sent them away to the land of the east
3.1.
In the previous
verses we saw that after Sarah’s death that Abraham took another wife. Now, we read that he also had ‘concubines.’ This verse may imply that these ‘concubines´
were even in addition to Keturah, whom he took as a wife.
3.2.
Now, the question
becomes how many children did Abraham have in total after Sarah?
3.3.
Though Abraham
took another wife and concubines, Abraham knew that these offspring were not
the promised seed that the Lord had given to him, the one from whom “the
seed” would come, the One who would crush the head of Satan after being
struck by Satan on the heel (see Gen. chapter 3 and the curse of the serpent
pronounced after the fall of Adam and Eve). For this reason, Abraham only gave gifts to
these sons of his, no inheritance, and eventually he sent them away to the land
to the east.
4.
VS 25:7-10 - “7
These are all the years of Abraham’s life that he lived, one hundred and
seventy-five years. 8 Abraham breathed his last
and died in a ripe old age, an old man and satisfied with life; and he
was gathered to his people. 9
Then his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the
field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, facing Mamre, 10 the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of
Heth; there Abraham was buried with Sarah his wife.” - Abraham passed away at the age of 175 and was
buried by his sons Isaac and Ishmael
4.1.
Abraham was a man
blessed by God so greatly. He lived to a
‘ripe old age’ of 175 and was ‘satisfied with life.’
4.2.
Does the Old
Testament teach that there is no life after death? These verses provide the first mention in the
scriptures of life after death for God’s people.
4.3.
Notice here that
it states that after his death that Abraham ‘was gathered to his people.’
This is an intimation of that place referred to in the New Testament as “Abraham’s
Bosom.” In Jesus’ parable of the
rich man and Lazarus, both men who had died, we learn that Lazarus who was one
of God’s people was taken to this place called “Abraham’s Bosom” where
he was in peace and rest with God’s people as he awaited that future time when
God’s people would be united directly with the Lord. The rich man however was taken to a place of
torments where he was in misery and awaiting a future in the torments of
hell. Both of these compartments were
located in Hades, which appears in the scripture to be located in the center of
the earth. Later in the New Testament we
see that after His death that Jesus went down to “Abraham’s Bosom” and
freed those there to go to heaven.
4.4.
In Gen. 35:29
Isaac is ‘gathered to his people,’ as is Jacob in Gen. 49:33. In Num. 20:24 it states that Aaron would also
be ‘gathered to his people.’
4.5.
Isaac and Ishmael
come together here for the burial of their father, Abraham. They bury him in the ‘
5.
VS 25:11 – “11 It came about after the death of
Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac lived by Beer-lahai-roi.” - God blesses Isaac after the death of his
father
5.1.
Isaac is the next
patriarch of God’s people in the chain of the godly seed, and we read that God
kept his eye on Isaac and ‘blessed’ him.
5.2.
Isaac lived by ‘Beer-lahai-roi,’
the place where he had previously been able to successfully dig a well for his
family and flock. This name means in the
Hebrew, “well of the Living One seeing me.”
6.
VS 25:12-18 - “12
Now these are the records of the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s
son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maid, bore to Abraham; 13 and these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by
their names, in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael,
and Kedar and Adbeel and Mibsam 14
and Mishma and Dumah and Massa, 15 Hadad and Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. 16 These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their
names, by their villages, and by their camps; twelve princes according to their
tribes. 17 These are 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. 18 They settled from Havilah to Shur which is east of
6.1.
The sons of
Ishmael cannot really be traced after their listing here as the descendants of
Ishmael.
6.2.
Ishmael lived 137
years.
6.3.
Note that it says
here that after Ishmael passed away that he ‘was gathered to his people.’ This phrase indicates that though Ishmael
lived a loner’s life and was always in conflict with people (as was prophesied
concerning him), that nonetheless he was one of God’s people and went to
Abraham’s Bosom and so is presently in God’s presence.
7.
VS 25:19-26 - “19
Now these are the records of the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s
son: Abraham became the father of Isaac; 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he took
Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of
Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. 21 Isaac prayed to the Lord
on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 But the children struggled together within her;
and she said, “If it is so, why then am I this way?” So she went to
inquire of the Lord. 23 The Lord
said to her, “Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from
your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall
serve the younger.” 24 When her days to be
delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. 25 Now the first came forth red, all over like a
hairy garment; and they named him Esau. 26 Afterward his brother came forth with his hand
holding on to Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob; and Isaac was sixty
years old when she gave birth to them.” - Isaac prays
for Rebekah to conceive because she was barren and she gave birth to twins in
Jacob and Esau, but the two twins struggled in the womb together
7.1.
Here we see that
Isaac was actually 40 (not 37, his age when his mother died) when he took
Rebekah to be his wife, so there was a period of 2-3 years after the death of
Sarah that intervened before Rebekah became Isaac’s wife.
7.2.
The pregnancy of
Rebekah didn’t go real smoothly. She had
twins within her and these two were constantly struggling against each other
within her. This concerned her. She was probably afraid that after not being
able to have children for twenty years after marrying Isaac that she was going
to have a miscarriage.
7.3.
When Rebekah
inquires of the Lord as to why the babies within her were struggling so much
the Lord reveals to her that this is because the two will become two different
nations and that the older one would serve the younger. The older serving the younger went against
the culture of the day for in Isaac’s day the firstborn received a double
portion of the inheritance always. However,
the Lord does not follow man’s cultures or ideas. The reversal of this cultural norm would
cause a struggle between these two babies Rebekah is told.
7.4.
When the two
babies were born, the first one that came out was red and hairy all over. Therefore, he was named ‘Esau,’ which
means “hairy.” The second baby
came and he was holding on to the heel of his brother. Therefore, he was named ‘Jacob,’ which
means “heel catcher.” The
connotation of “heel catcher” is that he would be one who would try to “supplant”
on “con” the other.
7.5.
Notice that Isaac
and Rebekah had been married for 20 years before the birth of their first
children, for Isaac was 60 years old when the boys were born.
8.
VS 25:27-28 - “27
When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field,
but Jacob was a peaceful man, living in tents. 28 Now Isaac loved Esau, because he had a taste for
game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.” - Esau becomes
the outdoorsman and skillful hunter, but Jacob was a peaceful guy and lived at
home in tents, and Isaac loved Esau but Rebekah loved Jacob
8.1.
In a family it is
never good to have favorites among your children. This cause them to grow up in contention
among themselves and also harbor bitterness.
It also causes contention between husband and wife. Here we see that Esau had his favorite and
Rebekah her favorite. Much strife
resulted from this favoritism and we will see the beginning of it occur in our
study today. Wise parents however will
love and give to all of their children equally.
8.2.
Two different
natures become reality. Esau became a ‘skillful
hunter.’ He wasn’t a spiritual man
by nature, he was a “man’s man” as they say today. He preferred hunting and the outdoors more
than serving and worshipping the Lord.
Esau’s descendants became the Edomites.
Jacob was a “home boy” or “mamma’s boy.” He worshipped the Lord and had an
appreciation for spiritual things and the plans and purposes of God.
8.3.
Rebekah ‘loved
Jacob,’ and so she should have done.
After all, he was the one who would be chosen and blessed by God, for
the Lord had told Rebekah that his older brother would serve him and that he
would be stronger.
8.4.
Isaac’s character
is revealed in these verses. Isaac ‘loved
Esau’ for he liked the meat that Esau would bring home and he was proud of
him being the big hunter that he was.
Isaac was more infatuated in the worldly exploits of Esau than in the
thoughtful and spiritual ways of Jacob.
8.4.1. It is a big mistake that Christian parents make if
they follow Isaac’s lead here and are more interested in the worldly success
and exploits of their children than in their character and that they serve the
Lord with their life. For instance, the
parent who delights in the athletic achievements of a son or daughter while
overlooking their underlying character is making the same mistake as
Isaac.
8.4.2. Later on we will see that when the Lord overrides the
blessing that Isaac wanted to confer on Esau, his firstborn son, that Esau is
very troubled for he realizes the sin that has filled his heart by loving the
son rejected by the Lord.
9.
VS 25:29-32 – “29 When Jacob had cooked stew, Esau
came in from the field and he was famished; 30 and Esau said to Jacob, “Please let me have a
swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished.” Therefore his name was
called
9.1.
Jacob knew that
he was the one chosen and called by the Lord.
He also knew that his brother the mighty hunter and dad’s favorite
really had no appreciation for the things of God. Rebekah had surely communicated the story
about Jacob’s birth and how that when Jacob and Esau were in her womb that the
Lord had told her that the older brother would serve the younger.
9.2.
Since Jacob knew
that the birthright and blessing were destined to be his not his brothers, he
decides to help God out and bring this about.
When Esau comes in from the field having no game that he has killed and
could eat, Jacob had some delicious lentil stew that he had just cooked. Esau asks his brother for a bowl of this
stew, and since Jacob knew that this birthright meant nothing to Esau, he tells
Esau that he will give him some of the stew if he gives to Jacob his firstborn
son’s birthright as payment.
9.3.
We often hear
people criticize Jacob for taking advantage of his brother here to get the
birthright from him. However, the
scriptures do not condemn Jacob for what he did, though he should have waited
on the Lord to bring about giving him the birthright. We should though think about Esau. It was really him who was the one who was
most wrong in this situation. He didn’t
value the things of God and he was really only concerned about fulfilling his
lusts here and now. Hebrews 12:15-16
tells us that Esau was “immoral” and “godless,” “15 See to it that no one
comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes
trouble, and by it many be defiled; 16 that there be no immoral or godless person like
Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.”
10.
VS 26:1-5 - “1
Now there was a famine in the land, besides the previous famine that had
occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of
the Philistines. 2 The Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not
go down to
10.1. Isaac was not a great man of faith and so when famine
hit the land, rather than seek the Lord and trust Him to provide for them, he
took Rebekah and went to Gerar and to Abimilech the king of the Philistines.
10.2. Evidently, just as his father had gone down to
10.3. Notice the rebuke in the reason that the Lord tells
Isaac that He will do these things. It
was ‘because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My
statutes and My laws.’ The Lord was
telling Isaac that his life was not worthy to inherit these things as was his
father Abraham and that it was only because of his father that he would inherit
them.
11.
VS 26:6-11 - “6
So Isaac lived in Gerar. 7
When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my
sister,” for he was afraid to say, “my wife,” thinking, “the men of the
place might kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is beautiful.” 8 It came about, when he had been there a long time,
that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out through a window, and saw,
and behold, Isaac was caressing his wife Rebekah. 9 Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold,
certainly she is your wife! How then did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” And
Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘I might die on account of her.’ ” 10 Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us?
One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have
brought guilt upon us.” 11 So Abimelech charged all
the people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to
death.”” -
Isaac tells Rebekah to tell everyone in
11.1. This man is a different Abimilech than the Abimilech
that Abraham knew and whom Abraham told that Sarah was his sister. The word Abimilech was a kingly title in this
day and it even includes the word for king in it, “melech.”
11.2. This story is a very sobering life lesson about
parenting and how the compromises that you allow in your life will have an
effect on the children you raise.
Abraham’s telling his wife Sarah that she was his sister and thus
risking Sarah’s life as well as the posterity of the godly seed occurred before
Isaac was even born. However, because Isaac
knew about the compromising actions of his father he ended up following his
father’s example and telling everyone that his wife was really his sister. Rebekah wasn’t even Isaac’s ½ sister as was
the case of Sarah to Abraham, thus Isaac was telling a complete lie not a ½
lie.
11.3. Abimelech rebukes Isaac here because of his dishonest
character which had placed his life and other’s lives at risk. Abimelech superstitiously feared that harm
might have fallen anyone who had taken Rebekah as a wife since she belonged to
another man.
11.3.1.It is a sad thing when our lives as God’s people ought
to be a witness to non-believers of our God, yet instead we end up being a
stumbling block to them coming to know Christ.
12.
VS 26:12-33 - “12
Now Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. And
the Lord blessed him, 13 and the man became rich, and continued to grow
richer until he became very wealthy; 14 for he had possessions of flocks and herds and a great
household, so that the Philistines envied him. 15 Now all the wells which his father’s servants had
dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped up by filling
them with earth. 16 Then Abimelech said to
Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are too powerful for us.” 17 And Isaac departed from there and camped in the
12.1. Again we see the fact that the Lord blessed the patriarchs
in spite of their failures. Isaac had
loved the wrong son, and even fallen into the sins of his father Abraham by
telling his wife Rebekah to tell everyone that she was his sister. Yet, in spite of that the Lord blessed Isaac.
12.2. The Pharisees were afraid of Isaac now because of his
wealth and power and they wanted him to be as far from them as possible. To get rid of him the Pharisees filled up
Abraham’s wells with dirt and thus Isaac had to move farther and farther away
because his flocks had to have an adequate supply of water in order for them to
exist.
12.3. Finally, Isaac went with his flocks and to
12.4. Next, Isaac followed the footsteps of his father’s positive
example and built there in ‘
12.5. The Philistines finally enter into a truce pact with
Isaac such that both agree to co-exist peacefully.
12.6. Finally, Isaac’s servants dig a well at ‘Shiba,’
this being the name from which
13.
VS 26:34-35 - “34
When Esau was forty years old he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the
Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite; 35 and they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.” - Esau marries a couple of Hittite women
13.1. Esau knew that Abraham had insisted that Isaac get a
bride from his own people than from the idolatrous nations around, and thus his
mother was found. He knew this but in
his life he lived only to please himself and thus married to Hittite women,
Beeri and Basemath.
13.2. For many years skeptics doubted that this group of
people found in many places in the scriptures called the Hittities had ever
existed. However, as has happened time
and time again with the scriptures archeology proved the validity of their
existence at the time in history in which the scriptures record them.
14.
CONCLUSIONS:
14.1. Remember as a parent that you children will do what
you do, not follow what you tell them that they ought to do.
14.2. Don’t have favorites among your children.
14.3. Don’t be excited about the worldly pursuits and
successes of your children over the development of their character and that
they come to know and serve the Lord.
14.4. You may not be a pastor but every believer pastors
someone. Parents you are pastors of your
children’s hearts. Make sure that you
realize the importance of being a godly example to you kids in the things you
do in your life.