Promises Kept for Father Abraham

It's great to see all of you, here this morning. Thank you to the worship team for leading us so beautifully in the worship of God and thank you for Choosing to worship with us, today. Let me invite you to turn in your Bibles to Genesis 25. Genesis chapter 25, we're going to be getting back to our study through the book of Genesis that we left off.

with back in August of, of last year and we're going to pick up in Genesis chapter 25 and the title of the message this morning is Promises Kept for Father Abraham. Promises kept for Father Abraham, and we'll look at verses 1 through 18 today. in September of 2002, guess who made the cover of Time magazine? Abraham, in my opinion, when you make the cover of Time magazine 4000 years after you have lived and died, you've arrived, I think.

In that edition of Time magazine, David Van Bima writes to a world that is still reeling from the terrorist attacks. Of a year earlier on 9 9/11, and he, in his article tries to point to Abraham as a possible source of unity and wisdom and guidance for our fractured world. And regarding Abraham, he makes this observation. He says, excluding God, Abraham is the only biblical figure who enjoys the unanimous acclaim.

Of all three faiths, the only one referred to by all three. As father And obviously, the three faiths that he's talking about are the three major religions of the world, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, which means that pretty much half of the world's population today calls Abraham their father. And this High acclaim for Abraham, this almost unanimous acclaim for Abraham amongst the three. main monotheistic religions of the world makes this author of this article for Time magazine wonder if it is possible that Abraham Might be a special resource in these times of anger and mistrust.

And he talks about how there's a renewed interest in Abraham nowadays, featuring Abraham lectures, Abraham's speeches, Abraham, dialogues, Abraham's salons around the country that often meet in homes to discuss all things Abraham. In this country and around the world where people are trying to come together and finding common ground in the person of Abraham on issues. That are dividing people today. That's the goal of all of these efforts.

I think the New Testament writers would totally agree that Abraham is indeed a special resource for us, which is partly why Abraham's name is mentioned 64 times in the New Testament and why his name shows up in the very first verse of the New Testament, Matthew chapter 1 verse 1. Abraham dominates the book of Genesis as well. get this, Genesis chapters 1 through 11 covers the 1st 1850 years of human history. The next 14.

Chapters, Genesis 12 to 25 cover just 100 years of Abraham's life. Obviously, the writer of Genesis believes that Abraham is a special resource that we should be intimately acquainted with. And today We come to Genesis 25, a chapter that marks the end. Of the Genesis account of Abraham's life.

And as we come to this chapter today, I think we do well to listen to the Jewish commentator, Nehem Sarna, who tells us that Genesis 25. which he says shows how God's promises to the patriarch, that's Abraham, were realized. is dependent on and presupposes a knowledge of those earlier promises. If you're not acquainted with the promises that God has made to Abraham, you don't really get full value out of Genesis chapter 25.

So, it's been 8 months since we were in the book of Genesis, so I think it would be good for us to take a few minutes today to review the story of Abraham. Together in that review looking at And reminding ourselves of some of the promises that God had made to Abraham, starting from Genesis 12 all the way up to the present chapter. Just by way of review, you guys will recall back in Genesis chapter 12, God calls Abraham when he was 75 years of age to leave Haran and to travel to the land of Promise.

At that time, God makes 7 promises to Abraham.

Which are as follows. God says, I will make you a great nation. I will bless you. I will make your name great.

You shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and the one who curses you. I will curse in you all the families of the earth will be blessed. Problem is Abraham is childless and his wife is barren.

Nonetheless, Abraham obeys God and travels to the land of Canaan. At some point after he arrives in Canaan, God speaks to Abraham and tells him to look around. At the land, and as Abraham is doing that, God gives him the following promises in Genesis chapter 13, verses 15 and 16. God says, all the land which you see, I will give to you and to your descendants forever.

I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered. Staggering promises spoken to a man with no children and whose wife was barren. In Genesis 15, God speaks more promises to Abraham, saying things like, one will come forth from your body, he shall be your heir. Your descendants will be like the stars of heaven.

You will go to your father's in peace. You will be buried at a good old age. 11 years go by since God first promised to make a great nation of Abraham and Sarah has given Abraham no children because she is barren. So in Genesis 16, Sarah in desperation gives her servant girl, Hagar, to Abraham in order to have Abraham sire a child through her and thereby help God.

To keep his promises. Hagar conceives and gives birth to Ishmael, and we saw that created a host of problems. 13 more years go by, and Abraham still has no child through Sarah. He's 99 years old, and God speaks to him in Genesis 17, and some of what God says to him is this.

God says no longer shall your name be called Abraham, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you. As for Sarah, I will bless her and indeed I will give you a son by her. She shall be a mother of nations, kings of peoples will come from her.

I will establish my covenant with him, speaking of Isaac for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him, making this pledge to establish his covenant with the one who would be the son of Sarah. As for Ishmael, God says, behold, I will bless him. And we'll make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of 12 princes, and I will make him a great nation.

We saw in Genesis 21, how God wonderfully opens Sarah's womb when Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90 and causes her to conceive Isaac in her womb. Isaac is born and great gladness comes to Abraham's household. We saw in Genesis 22 how Abraham obeys the command of God and goes to a mountain of Mariah and offers up Isaac. On that mountain, God intervenes, we saw and provides a ram and then God explodes with promises once again to Abraham saying, I will greatly bless you and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore, and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies, and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.

We saw in Genesis 23 how Sarah dies at the age of 127. We saw in Genesis 24 how Abraham, Abraham obtains a wife for his 40-year-old son, Isaac. And this is where we left off back in August of last year. We come to Genesis 25 today, a chapter that reveals to us the final 35 years of Abraham's life and What we're gonna see in our passage today is Abraham finishing well, finishing his life of faith well.

We see that his faith is still very much active, he is still believing in the promises of God, and we see in our passage today, God continuing to fulfill his promises to Abraham up to Abraham's death and beyond. In fact, that's how we'll break our passage down today. We'll observe 6 developments and the unfolding fulfillment of God's promises to Abraham up to his death and beyond. And the first development we observe in the passage is that Abraham marries Kachura and has 6 more sons by her.

Abraham marries Kachura and has 6 more sons by Her. Observe how chapter 25 begins, verse 1. Now, Abraham took another wife whose name was Kura. By the way, the name Kachura.

Is the Hebrew word that means spice. Which means that Kachura was the original and true spice girl. And it's actually quite appropriate that this was her name, given the fact that her descendants became very well known for trafficking in the spice trade. It's good for us to notice at this point.

That there is a grammatical feature that is used in Hebrew. That is called the wow consecutive. The wow is the Hebrew. word for and it's like a conjunction like our word and is, although it can be translated in other ways than just the word and, but there's a feature called the wow consecutive that served as the standard Hebrew convention for indicating the next action that takes place in a sequence of events.

And that's what we find here in Genesis 25:1. So to get the real sense of when it was that Abraham took Kachura as his wife, let's first read the last verse of Genesis 24, which Describe something that had happened 3 years after Sarah's death. And Genesis. Chapter 24 verse 67, it says, then Isaac brought Rebecca into his mother Sarah's tent, and he took Rebecca and she became his wife and he loved her.

Thus, Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. And now Genesis 25:1 translating as literally as we can to convey the grammar. Then Abraham took another wife whose name Was Kachura. The grammar here would indicate that Abraham married Kachura after Isaac had married Rebecca, which took place 3 years after the death of Sarah.

This means that Abraham is marrying Kachura when he is around 140 years old. With about 35 more years of life. In him, in 1 Chronicles chapter 1, verse 32, you might want to write that reference down. Kachura.

is referred to as Abraham's concubine. And this is also indicated in verse 6 of our passage today. and I do want to just, make the point that the fact that Kachura is called Abraham's concubine does not mean that he married Kachura while Sarah was still alive. All this word really has to mean is that Sarah was forever.

Abraham's primary and most important wife by covenant, by virtue of the covenant that God had made to Abraham and to Sarah. And that Kachura never, though she became Abraham's wife, she never assumed the status that Sarah had. Also, writers point out that most likely Kachura was referred to as a concubine because she was Evidently one of Abraham's servants whom he had elevated to the status. Of wife Now, not much is known about Kachura other than what we've just covered, but we do know that she gave to Abraham 6 sons.

Look at verse 2 and Following, actually just verse two, says she bore to him Zimron and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbach and Shuach. And when we get to this point and we read of these six sons, we all should be stunned. Right? It's amazing to consider that Abraham is producing 6 more children.

Through Kachura, a full 40+ years since God miraculously enabled Abraham's body, which you recall was as good as dead. The scripture says, to be able to sire Isaac through Sarah when he was 100 years old. This means what we see here in this verse that Abraham is still experiencing a sexual vitality. As a result of the miracle that God had performed in his body, 40 years prior.

This should not totally surprise us though. I love HA Ironside's very sophisticated explanation of this. He says, when God does something, he really does it. The Jewish Hamash, which reflects ancient rabbinic tradition, says it this way.

Although Abraham was by now much older than he was at the birth of Isaac, This, the siring of additional children is not considered a new miracle. His aged body had already been reinvigorated in order to make possible the birth of Isaac. God merely allowed him to retain that capacity. Beyond the miraculous biology of the situation.

What we also see in verses 1 and 2 shows us that Abraham's faith is obviously still very much active. He is still believing in the promises of God, so he marries. Kura at the age of 140, obviously believing that God was not finished producing offspring and nations through him. So this is a wonderful development.

These are not just extra children that Abraham happened to have. It was God who gave Abraham the capacity to sire children, and it was God who opened Kachura's wombs so that she might give Abraham these precious sons, and this gift of more sons is in fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham that he would make him the father of many nations. I think actually that Abraham serves as a great example for those of us who are older or who are getting older. Just when Abraham could have sat back and thought that it was time to retire, he stays engaged and ends up having his most productive years in terms of children.

He obviously did not believe that God was finished. Fulfilling his promises through him yet. And I would just ask, how about you? I'm not talking about childbirth necessarily, but how about you?

Are you just coasting? Through your latter years, thinking that your years of usefulness for God are past. It just might be that your most productive years lie ahead if you would. Allow God to use you.

Last week, A member of our church was telling me about a woman who I believe he said was around 65 years old and retired with plenty of money. She had done well financially. And she retired with plenty of money. She had done well in life.

She could have easily sat back and coasted. The rest of the way, but at around the age of 65, she started another business for the sole purpose. Of having more money to give to missions. That's wonderful Let me say it this way, God is through with you when you take your last breath.

And you're free to check out then. Until then, stay engaged in God's kingdom work. Be asking yourself what you can do to be useful to God and to others and stay in the game until God takes you out. That's what Abraham did In verse 2, we see that Kachura bears Abraham's 6 sons.

As for some grandchildren for Abraham, we learn in verse 3. The following Jockshan became the father of Sheba and Dadan, and the sons of Dadan were Asherrem and Letushim and Leumim. The sons of Midian were Ifa and Epher and Hannock and Abadah and Elda. All these were the sons or the descendants of Kachura.

These names are no doubt mentioned because the Jewish readers would have been familiar with them. Some of the names of Kachura's sons and grandsons show up again in scripture. In fact, based on the way some of these names show up in archaeology and in scripture, we can roughly locate the settlements of the sons of Kachura in areas that are within the red circle, basically that you see on the map behind me. Just as an example, We're told that one of the sons of Kachura is Midian.

Who is the father of the Midianites, who are a people who show up later in the Old Testament narrative. Moses fled to Midian. From Egypt when he was 40 years old, he married a Midianite woman while there. His father-in-law was a priest of Midian.

It was the Midianites who purchased Joseph from the pit that his brothers had put him in, and it was the Midianites ultimately who sold Joseph to Potiphar, figuring into the narrative of God's unfolding. Plan of redemption. schach was the youngest son of Kachura. We observe in the book of Job that one of Job's friends was Bildad.

The shoe height Evidently because he was a descendant of Shua. By the way, have you heard the trivia question? The shortest man in the Bible. Who's the shortest man in the Bible?

I wish my kids were here to hear this. It was Bill Dad because he was only shoe height. Moving on. These are just a couple examples of how the names of Kachura's descendants.

show up later in scripture, but there's other examples as well. Nonetheless, in Genesis 25, we now have Abraham with 8 children. 6 children by Kachura. Along with Ishmael and, by, by Hagar and then Isaac through Sarah.

So 8 children now Abraham has. What does he do with his legacy with regard to These 8 children. This brings us to the 2nd development in the unfolding of God's promises to Abraham up to his death and beyond, and that is that Abraham honors and protects Isaac as his son of special promise. Look at what Abraham does in verse 5.

It says, now Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac. We see here that Abraham is believing still in the promises of God in connection with Isaac and he doesn't allow his having of other sons to distract him from the calling and the promises that God had delivered with regard to Isaac. But Abraham does not ignore his other sons either. Look at verse 6.

But to the sons of his concubines, plural, the Hebrew is plural, and these would be Kachua and Hagar. Abraham gave gifts while he was still living. He didn't just write them into his will, he loved them and gave them gifts while he was still living. This gift giving is important because it provides an official recognition by Abraham that these are his sons, that's part of the meaning here.

And these gifts aren't just like a $25 gift card to Starbucks either. But gifts that would have included various tokens of their sonship. gifts that they would be able to produce on the road ahead in any situation in which anyone doubts. Their claim to be Abraham's sons.

Also, these gifts would have been substantial enough to enable each of these sons to make a proper beginning of life. Nonetheless, as much as Abraham loves his sons through Kachura and Hagar and he recognizes them as his sons, he still clings to the promises that God has made regarding Isaac. That it would be especially through Isaac. That the nations of the world would be blessed.

So look at what Abraham does with his other sons in the second half of verse 6. It says, and he, Abraham, sent them away from his son Isaac eastward to the land of the east. Abraham obviously is doing this because he wants Isaac's path cleared to flourish in the promised land in a way that would be unhindered by his brothers and their families with the ultimate aim that through Isaac, the blessing of God might end up coming around to them all. Ishmael and the sons of Kachua, they have their own mission and Abraham is sending them forth.

To the east where they have a mission that they need to fulfill. Isaac's mission was in the land of promise. Having said that, when we do see the scene of Abraham sending his other sons away, we're left wondering what, what was this parting like for everybody? How hard would this have been for Kachura to see her sons sent away or how hard for Abraham?

What was this like for Kura's sons? To be sent away As one commentator wonders, did the sons go reluctantly or with a spirit of adventure, thankful for their father's gifts? And I would add to the question, I would imagine that Abraham filled them with a sense of vision. And their parting and had they imbibed that vision and looking ahead to all that God was going to do in the centuries that followed.

We don't really know the answer to those questions. But what we can know is that the sending off is good. And it's a part of the larger plan of God, and I'm sure that Abraham explained all this to his sons, as one commentator, Derek Kidner says, in God's plan, these sons were sent away that there might be a true home in the end to return to. And this parting was an essential component.

Of that We actually learn, guys, in Isaiah chapter 60, you might wanna write that reference down that this is indeed the case. In Isaiah 60, Isaiah talks about a coming day in Israel's history under the reign of the Messiah. And listen to What Isaiah says, what the Lord says to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. He says, arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.

Nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising. Then you will see and be radiant and your heart will thrill and rejoice because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you, the wealth of the nations will come. To you And now notice what is said in the very next verse, and I've put in red the names of the sons of Kachhua that are mentioned speaking to Jerusalem. God says a multitude of camels will cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ifa.

All those from Sheba will come. They will bring gold and frankincense and will bear good news of the praises of the Lord. The descendants of three of Kura's sons are mentioned. As representative examples of The descendants of Kura.

who will come to Jerusalem in a future day under the reign of the Messiah, bringing gifts and praising the Lord, coming home. So keep all of this in mind when you see Abraham sending. His son's away. In our passage today, it is in their long term best interest that Abraham sends them away so that Isaac might flourish and a nation would arise from him and That a Messiah would arise from that nation and bring blessing to all the families of the earth, including the descendants of Kachura.

These descendants will one day cover the landscape of Israel with their camels as they come to visit Jerusalem under the reign of the Messiah. And what a sense of closure and happiness and joy they all will have in that day. Abraham knows That he's going to die soon, but his eye of faith is still keen. Which is why he honors and protects Isaac and sends his other sons to the east.

And with this having been done, Abraham is now ready to die. This brings us to the 3rd development in the further unfolding of God's promises to Abraham up to his death and beyond, and that is that Abraham dies a satisfied man. At the age of 100. And 75.

We're told first how many years Abraham lived. Verse 7, these are all the years of Abraham's life that he lived 175 years. Even for this time period in human history, this is a, this is a long life. Lifespans are not what they were before the flood, but they had not yet settled.

At the maximum. Of 120 either. He lived a long life, 175 years, then we're told how he died. Look at verse 8.

Abraham breathed his last and died in a ripe or literally a good, this is the Hebrew word tov, a good old age, an old man and satisfied with life, and he was gathered to his people. Guys, we don't find This dance of a collection of words of description about a man's death anywhere else in scripture. First of all, the text says he breathed his last and died in a good. Old age.

Remember in Genesis 15:15, this is a promise we don't, that God made to Abraham that we don't think a lot about, but in Genesis 15:15, God had said to Abraham, you will be buried at a good old age. And here we see that being fulfilled. Then Abraham is described as dying as an old man, and Satisfied, literally. Just satisfied This means that all he ever wanted out of life has been fulfilled all wants and all expectations.

have been satisfied. Again, in Genesis 15:15, God had told Abraham that he would die in peace. He would die in a state of Shalom or wholeness or completeness, and that's exactly what we see being fulfilled here. God is being true to his promises to Abraham.

And then we find the most wonderful statement at the end of verse 8. In Genesis 15:15, God had promised Abraham saying, you will go to your fathers in peace. And here in verse 8, we're told, That Abraham was gathered to his people. What does that expression mean?

Is it just a flowery way of saying that someone died and was buried? When you look at the sequence of events in this verse and in the following verse, you see that Abraham breathed his last. He died. He was gathered to his people.

And then after that, he was buried. So whatever it means to be gathered to his people, it is something that happened to Abraham after he died and before. He was buried Clearly, these are people that Abraham is being gathered to and they're described as his people. Meaning relatives and friends who were waiting for him on the other side of death.

And this statement has wonderful implications for the careful reader of scripture. Martin Luther. Upon reading this statement in verse 8 says this. He says, if now there is another people.

Apart from those among whom we live, there must be. A resurrection from the dead. Another commentator says that this expression denotes the reunion with friends who have gone before and therefore presupposes the personal continuance of man. After death.

And that's true Clearly, this language of Abraham being gathered to his people after death assumes that there is a life beyond death, and there's even community with people after death. In this expression, we have an early indication of belief in The resurrection of the dead and the afterlife, a doctrine that will become much more developed in the New Testament. It's after being told that Abraham was gathered to his people that we are then told about his burial. And this brings us to the 4th development.

And the unfolding of God's promises to Abraham up to his death and beyond. Number 4, Isaac and Ishmael, Barry, Abraham with Sarah. Isaac and Ishmael bury Abraham with Sarah. Observe what is said in verse 9.

says then his sons, Isaac and Ishmael buried him. This is a wonderful and a touching moment of unity between Isaac and Ishmael. We actually, we have no evidence that there was any conflict between them. Since they parted ways many years earlier, but if there was, Abraham's death causes them to put aside any conflicts and to unite in giving their father a proper burial.

Notice where they buried him. In verse 9, in the cave of Machpela, in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar, the Hittite facing Memra, the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth. Obviously, how you dispose of a dead body is very important in scripture and the writer of Genesis is wanting us to know that Isaac and Ishmael laid Abraham's body in the cave of Magpela that Abraham had purchased from the Sons of Heth as a burial place for Sarah, which we had learned about back in Genesis 23, and now we see Isaac and Ishmael burying their dad in this very location.

That Abraham had earlier acquired.

And fittingly we're told at the end of verse 10. There, Abraham was buried with Sarah. His wife The very last words spoken of Abraham in this section are the words with Sarah. His wife.

How appropriate. She was his partner in faith, and now she is his partner in awaiting the day of resurrection. And remember, guys, this is not just Isaac who is burying Abraham next to Sarah. Ishmael is participating in this act also.

And I think this tells us something good. About Ishmael. By the way, keep in mind that Ishmael is around 89 years old right now. And Isaac is 75 as they work together.

To bury their father next to Sarah. And thus Abraham is laid to rest by Isaac and Ishmael. Officiating the event as it were. But now that he is dead and buried, what happens to the promised blessing of God?

Does it die out with Abraham? Well, this brings us to the 5th development in the unfolding of God's promises to Abraham up to his death and beyond, and that is that God blesses Isaac after Abraham's death. Look at what happens in verse 11. It came about after the death of Abraham that God blessed his son, Isaac.

God had promised Abraham. That he would bless Abraham. Back in Genesis 12, he made that promise to him, and bless him, God did. In fact, we're told in Genesis 24:1 that Abraham was old, and we know from the context, he would have been about 140 at that time in Genesis 24:1, advanced in age and the Lord had blessed Abraham in every way.

But now that Abraham is dead and gone, we're told in verse 11 that God blessed his son, Isaac. Clearly, the blessing of God does not die out with Abraham, but it is now passed to Isaac and continues forward with him. As for where Isaac lived, we are told the following verse 11. Says an Isaac Lib by Beer Lahairoy.

Which means the well. The word beer is not beer that you drink, it's the well. Of the living one who sees me. It's literally what that means, and that's the name that Hagar gave to the place after the angel of the Lord had appeared to her in this very spot back in Genesis chapter 16.

This is also the spot where Isaac was returning from when he met his wife back in chapter 24. And as you see on the map behind me, this is the southernmost part of the land. A promise. So God is blessing him in this location.

But we're left with the question, what happens to Ishmael? The other son of Abraham, and the writer of Genesis wants us to know, and this brings us to the 6th development in the unfolding of God's Fulfillment of promises to Abraham up to his death and beyond. Number 6, God blesses Ishmael with powerful sons. And grandsons.

Guys, this section here in chapter 25 is not just some dry throwaway section. As one writer says, this section provides the author of Genesis with another opportunity to show God's faithfulness. To his promises God had promised in Genesis 16:10 that Ishmael would have so many descendants that they will be too many to count. And that Ishmael would be made into a great nation.

God had promised in Genesis 17:20. God had also promised Abraham in Genesis 17:20 that 12 princes would come from Ishmael, and we see all of these promises in the process of clearly being fulfilled here. Look at what is said starting in verse 12. Now these are the records of the generations of Ishmael.

Abraham's son, whom Hagar, the Egyptian, Sarah's maid, bore to Abraham, and these are the names of the sons of Ishmael by their names in the order of their birth. Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael, Kadar. And Adbel and Midsam, and Mishma and Duma and Masa, Haddad, and Tama, Jetur, Nafish, and Kadema. These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names by their villages and by their camps.

12 princes according. To their tribes, just as God had promised in Genesis chapter 17 verse 20. And by the way, Notice that the first two of Ishmael's sons. Look at their names.

Nabio And Kadar. Remember that passage from Isaiah 60 that I was reading earlier about people visiting Jerusalem in a future day under the reign of the Messiah? We saw a few of the names of the sons of Chua mentioned who are coming to Jerusalem in that future glory day under the reign of the Messiah, but I stopped reading in verse 6. Look at what Isaiah says.

To Jerusalem in verse 7. All the flocks of Kadar will be gathered to you, Jerusalem. The rams of Nebaioth will minister to you. They will go up with acceptance on my altar, and I shall glorify my glorious house.

In other words, Isaiah is prophesying of a day when the descendants of Ishmael will join the descendants of Kura in coming. To Jerusalem. And these descendants of Ishmael, along with their offerings and gifts will be approved and accepted by God. On the Temple Mount.

Like, imagine that. Descendants of Isaac. Descendants of Kachura. Descendants of Ishmael worshiping the true God in peace together.

All of them accepted by God in the house of God in Jerusalem, under the Messiah. And the implication is from what God says is that their presence together will be the ultimate glory. For God's house. In that future day The Old Testament speaks with great hope regarding the descendants of Ishmael.

It doesn't write them off as a lost people. God loves them. In Isaiah 42. Verse 11 and 12, Isaiah delivers a call to the descendants of Kadar, one of the sons of Ishmael and says, let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voices.

The settlements where Kadar inhabits, sing aloud, shout for joy from the tops of the mountains. Let them give glory to the Lord and declare his praise. Guys, even in our own day. Descendants of Ishmael are coming to faith in Jesus.

They're coming home. To the Messiah who descended from Isaac, giving glory to the Lord and declaring his praise. We have members of our own church here at Cornerstone, who have the blood of Ishmael in them, who are your brothers and your sisters in the Lord in this very service this morning who are giving praise to God through Jesus. We're told about Ishmael's death in verse 17.

says these are the years of the life of Ishmael, 137 years, and he breathed his last and died, and look at this, and was gathered to his people. Notice that expression, he was gathered to his people. This is the same expression that was used earlier to describe what happened to Abraham after his death. And it might help you to know that this expression, he was gathered to his people is used in scripture only with reference to the following people.

So get out your pen and write these names down. It's not a long list. Abraham, Isaac Jacob Aaron And Moses. And Ishmael Such a noble lineup leaves us with the impression.

That Ishmael likely came to believe in Jehovah like his dad and experience the positive fate of being gathered to his people in a positive way. Just as would have happened with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Moses and Aaron when they died. As for where Ishmael's descendants settled and lived, we're told the following in verse 18. It says they settled from Havala to Shur, which is east of Egypt as one goes toward Assyria.

He settled in defiance of all his relatives. You can see on the map where the descendants of Ishmael ended up settling be the northern part of modern day Saudi Arabia and parts of modern day Iraq and Jordan and Syria. Which has been in the news this week. The Hebrew expression that is translated, he settled in defiance of all his relatives is actually very hard to interpret, and I honestly don't know what to do with it.

The expression literally reads, he fell before the face of his relatives. This could be talking about falling in the sense of landing. Like we landed in Riverside and that's where we lived. it could be talking about where Ishmael's descendants settled.

before the face of his relatives could mean opposite. His relatives or east of his relatives. It could convey hostility and defiance, which is the way the new American standard. Bible translates it, or it could be a reference to the death of Ishmael.

Which is the way the King James and the new King James. Understand it, telling us, basically their translation says he, because it is singular in the Hebrew, he died in the presence of all his brethren. Letting us know that he was surrounded by his loved ones when he died, and there's much to commend that interpretation, though it's hard to be certain, and I will leave that to you. To decide what you want to do with that.

All in all, guys, what we see in this passage is God fulfilling many promises, even some of the smaller ones that we don't tend to think too much about. When we think about Abraham. God fulfilled his promise to Abraham that he would live to a good old age, and Abraham did. He promised to give Abraham more descendants and he would be able to count, and we see Abraham having yet 6 more sons in his old age, having a total of 8 sons by the time of his death.

God promised 12 princes would come from Ishmael and that's exactly what we see happening in our passage today. God promised that Abraham would die in peace, and he did. It's actually the fulfillment. Of the smaller and the less well known promises that hits me the most in this chapter.

As one writer says, if the Lord fulfilled these rather minor promises, he will surely fulfill his much greater Promises Also think about God's faithfulness regarding Ishmael and realize that if God did not overlook his promises to Ishmael, how much more certainly will he fulfill those guaranteed by oath to Abraham about Isaac and his descendants. And this should make all of us, and this is the intent of the writer of Genesis, this should make all of us very interested in where the story regarding Isaac and his descendants is going to go from this point of Genesis and beyond.

But for our purpose, guys, let's just be freshly reminded that God is a promise-making God. He makes big promises and he makes comparatively smaller promises, and he keeps all of them.

Months ago, Jonathan Langley preached a sermon to us and he encouraged us to make a list of God's promises to us. Well, Abraham had his list, and we reviewed many of these promises this morning at the beginning. And guys, God kept every one of Abraham's, of his promises to Abraham. Read your Bible, read God's revelation to you as a believer.

Make note of, make a list of every promise that God makes to you and realize that God is not just a promise maker, he's a promise keeper, and you can trust him to be true to his word. And you can even hold him to the small promises and he's not gonna say, well, that's, I'll keep the big ones. But yeah, there's a little bit of oversight with some of the smaller promises I made. No, he keeps every promise, the big ones and the little ones.

Toward everybody that he delivers those promises to. You say, well, I'm not even a Christian. What promises would God have? For me this morning.

Well, how about this promise, unless you repent, you will perish. How's that for a promise? Or how about this, he who calls upon the name of the Lord Jesus, Shall be saved. How about Jesus promise, he who comes to me.

I will in no wise cast out. How about the promise from scripture, believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. God makes Many gracious promises. To all of us and to you this morning, if you don't know Jesus, he makes promises to you even.

That if you believe in Jesus and call on his name, you will be saved. Will you believe those promises? Will you come to Jesus today? You can, you can come to him right now in this service.

He died on the cross to provide atonement for your sins and to be your savior who gives you forgiveness for all of your sins that would have kept you from God. And if God's spirit is working in your heart, Respond to God's invitation and come to Jesus today and you will find that God will save you and he is a promise keeping God. In closing I'm touched by the picture of Isaac and Ishmael burying their father. Together in unity.

There's nothing quite like death to bring. People together and that's what we see happening here. My wife and I have a friend from seminary whose wife has been diagnosed with stage 4 non-smoker's lung cancer. Which has spread to her brain.

She was seemingly in perfect health, but back in December of last year, she was experiencing headaches and flashes of light in her vision and went to the doctors. They did X-rays and then gave her the devastating news. that she and her husband and their 7 children have been dealing with ever since. A few months ago, one of her sons posted a message on Facebook and after visiting, coming into town and visiting his mom and his dad and his siblings, and after he had left from that visit, he posted some words on Facebook and here's just some of what he said.

He said, this is hard to say the least. This brings so many tears and many more to come. But this is what brings people together. This is what brings friends back together who haven't been friends for a while.

This is what brings families even closer together. This is what makes you wanna tell your loved ones, I love you. Because life is too short to hold grudges. Life is too short to hate.

Life is too short to have animosity toward others. Life is too short not to love people. Precious words from a Aching heart. And here in Genesis 25, we see Isaac and Ishmael.

Coming together to bury their father and Their unity and honoring their father reminds us of a coming day when the descendants of Isaac and of Ishmael will be worshiping the Lord together during the coming reign of the Messiah and beyond. Their unity and honoring their father also reminds us of the day when people of every tribe and tongue and nation will be gathered around God's throne and worshiping Him forever and ever. And among them will be descendants of Isaac. Descendants of Kachura.

Descendants of Ishmael and people of every other tribe and tongue and nation of the world, worshiping God, singing the praises of the risen lamb who died. For the salvation of sinners. It's gonna be a wonderful day, won't it? In the meantime, let's, let's keep reaching out.

Let's keep sharing Christ with Others, let's keep laboring together in unity and faith, reconciling with one another. And loving one another and In anticipation of of that day when we will be unified in our gathering around God's throne. Let's pray together Lord, just yesterday afternoon being at a funeral. And Watching and listening as siblings came together to honor their father.

Which is what we see Isaac and Ishmael doing here and I'm also mindful of the pastor who married Donna and me 30 years ago and who was The pastor of our home church, who is so marked our lives and has thus impacted Cornerstone in so many ways that at the age of 90, he passed away during the night this past week. A man who Breathe his last, satisfied with life. With a tremendous legacy of so much good. That continues and will reverberate through all of eternity.

This is the destiny that awaits us all, Lord. And may we live in such a way that When we breathe or laugh, that we will Die in peace and satisfied with The life that we have enjoyed with you and that we would then Experience the joy of being gathered with our people. You being first among them. And rejoicing for all eternity.

With all those whom you had made sons and daughters of God. You are at work in the world, Lord, and we just pray even the situation in Syria right now with the civil war that rages. People being killed. That you would bring peace to hearts where right now there is no peace.

That you would continue a work of saving souls in Syria and beyond and with the crises that have been raging in the Middle East and in Syria, namely that has created refugees coming to the shores of many other countries, including our country. May our hearts open to those that you bring to us and may we be the hands and the feet of Christ to them and give the good news to them. And let them know that there is a descendant of Isaac through whom blessing is to come to all the nations and all peoples of the world, including them.

Help us to Speak of Christ to all.

And in our midst, Lord, in our relationships. May the death of Christ unite us all. May the resurrection of Christ bring us together in unity, that we would labor and serve. Together In anticipation of that great day.

We are gathered before you giving praises. To you, Holy Father, and to the risen Lamb. Forever and ever. We thank you for this opportunity to give of our offerings to you at this time in our service, receive what we give in this offering and do much with all that is given for the glory of Jesus and the spread of This message of salvation through him.

We give in Jesus' name, and all God's people said,