The End of Abraham - Genesis 25:1-18

Bible Study Lesson for January 6

The first half of Genesis 25 is a kind of bridge between Abraham and his posterity. Abraham’s work in the purposes of God is complete. He has moved to the Promised Land, finally produced an heir, and secured a wife for his son Isaac. By the time we as readers get to chapter 25, we are ready to move on. But Isaac hasn’t said or done anything since the sacrifice in Chapter 22. From a storytelling perspective it is almost like Abraham is too big of a character for Isaac to just step up and take his place. Abraham casts a long shadow over the Genesis story, and we have come to the account of his death.

Before he dies, Abraham does a few things that might surprise us. First, he marries a new wife, named Keturah. Then they have six children, and two of them have genealogies listed (v. 3-4). Before this, Abraham had two sons, and now he has many more in his waning years. It becomes increasingly clear that the miracle of Isaac’s birth was in God’s overcoming of Sarah’s barrenness. This miracle lies at the heart of God’s election. We are concluding a season now where we celebrate the birth of Isaac’s most beloved descendant, Jesus. Miraculous births on top of miraculous births mark the genealogy. But even here, in the fruitful final years of Abraham’s life, we find a clue to God’s redemptive work.

Abraham leaves everything he has to Isaac after he dies, but while he is still living he gives gifts to his many sons before sending them on their way. To say that Isaac is the chosen child of the promise is not to say that the other sons are forgotten or discarded. They receive, perhaps generously, from Abraham’s blessing. Just as father Abraham cares for his other sons, those born outside the Promise, so also God cares for the people outside the Promise. There is enough blessing for all of us. 

There is a minor note throughout the Old Testament about God’s care for the other nations. Israel often forgets, but the promise was always that through their blessing the nations would be blessed (see Genesis 22:18). One of my favorite scenes in the Old Testament that tells of this care is God arguing with Jonah after sparing the city of Nineveh. When Jonah’s prophecy leads to the people’s repentance, he sulks outside the city. God’s response to him is “Should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?” (Jonah 4:11). God has always cared for the whole world and everyone on it. Abraham reflects this by ensuring that each of his sons has a future.

In Abraham’s death, Ishmael and Isaac reunite to bury their father. We have no dialogue or tender moment, but the two sons bury him in the grave he had secured next to Sarah. It is interesting that Isaac settles at the well Ishmael’s mother Hagar found in Chapter 16; “the well of the God who sees.” Before Isaac’s story begins (v.19), we have a brief outline of Ishmael’s story. This again reminds us that the story of God involves forgotten people and the children of mistakes. Ishmael is alive as a consequence of Abraham and Sarah’s faithlessness. But Abraham cannot just write him off or abandon him, and neither does God. As God promised Hagar, Ishmael also becomes the father of a nation. There is blessing enough for him, too.

There are more chapters devoted to Abraham than just about any other character in the Old Testament. He is the patriarch, the unifying ancestor of Israel’s story. But one of the most important parts of the story are the ways he interacts with others who do not bear the promise. As we have studied his life, I hope that you have seen that Abraham is an imperfect example of a moral life. He lies, he fails, he messes up. But God works to make room and blessing for all who treat him well and for all who will forgive him. God’s blessing is enough for everyone: those who bear the Promise and those who might someday bear the Promise as well.