GENESIS
June 3, 2017
By Pastor Kim Hickcox
(All Scripture taken from One New Man Bible unless otherwise noted)
Genesis 25 gives us a short synopsis of the next several years when, we can assume, life went on per usual until the next main event in chapter 26 which was another famine.
We are dividing chapter 25 into 4 parts and covering them individually, the first 3 of which will be covered today:
Genesis 25:1-6 Abraham Marries
“Then Abraham went and took a wife and her name was Keturah. 2And she bore him Zimran, Yokshan, Medan, Midian, Yishbak, and Shuakh. 3And Yokshan begot Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. 4And the sons of Midian; Ephah, Efer, Hanoch, Abidah, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. 5And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac. 6But to the sons of the concubines that Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts and sent them away, eastward, to the east country from Isaac his son while he yet lived.”
The first thing I noticed was that all Abraham’s other sons were called “the sons of the concubines that Abraham had” on verse 6, but still referring to them as Keturah’s sons, whom he married after Sarah died. And the only thing I can think of was that perhaps Keturah pulled a Sarai, couldn’t have children herself and brought concubines in for Abraham.
Or perhaps Abraham was married to Sarah so long, and loved her so much that he just couldn’t think of anyone else as his wife. Perhaps, try as he may, no one could take Sarah’s place in his heart and so he considered Keturah a concubine. We actually have no idea – I’m just throwing it out there because it confused me.
What we do know is that Isaac was the son of promise (see Hebrews 11:17) and received the entirety of Abraham’s inheritance, as the Lord ordained him to have. We also know that not all of Isaac’s [half] brothers and their descendants remained friendly throughout history, at least the ones that are mentioned again. But as the Lord had Moses record the names, let’s look at the meanings of the names of the sons of Abraham, as children were usually prophetically named back then:
Zimran means musical or more literally, to strike or play a musical instrument with one’s fingers. (Not mentioned again, except in Abrahams’ 1st Chronicles genealogy.)
Yokshan [or Jokshan] means insidious. And he, history tells us, became an Arabian patriarch. (Although not mentioned again biblically, except in Abrahams’ 1stChronicles genealogy.)
Medan means discord or strife. But obviously they went their way and did not participate in Biblical history as they are not mentioned again, except in Abrahams’ 1stChronicles genealogy.
Midian means brawling or contention. This seems quite apropos when we see that God’s people fought against the Midianites throughout the Old Testament, and were their main foe during the times after Joshua in the Book of Judges, especially concerning Deborah and Gideon (see Judges 6).
Yishbak [or Ishbak] means he will leave. And as he is not mentioned again in God’s Word, save for in Abrahams’ 1st Chronicles genealogy; this too must have been a peaceful parting without jealousy.
Shuakh means to sink, bow down or be humble. (Not mentioned again, except in Abrahams’ 1st Chronicles genealogy.)
Sheba. There were three (3) early progenitors of the tribes that live in the land we now call Ethiopia, but in ancient times was called Sheba. And all of these tribal patriarchs were named Sheba (?). And considering how early in history Abraham’s son was born, I tend to think that he was one of them.
We know that the Queen of Sheba visited King Solomon over a thousand years later and was totally enthralled with his wisdom (see 1st Kings 10 and 2nd Chronicles 9). And the nation of Sheba is mentioned several times throughout the Old Testament.
Legend says that Solomon and the Queen had a son while she was in Israel, although that has never been proven. We do know however, that Ethiopia has for centuries and even to this day, a huge Jewish population. So be it through hearing the truth or by heritage or both – Ethiopia has been and still is filled with God’s people. (Perhaps they are the ‘lost tribe’ that theologians get all excited about every now and then.)
Dedan has no listed meaning. However, as it is also the name of one of Cushs’ descendants, I fail to see it as a good thing. Cush was Ham’s oldest and Nimrod’s father – need I say more?
Asshurim was a son of Dedan, but has no recorded meaning and neither is he mentioned again.
Letushim means hammered or oppressed. He is also historically listed as the patriarch of an Arabian tribe and also a son of Dedan.
Leummim means night, or it figuratively means adversity. He is not mentioned again biblically either nor is he recorded historically as far as I could tell save for being the third son of Dedan. Have you noticed that none of Dedans’ sons are mentioned after their birth? Perhaps their fathers’ namesake had something to do with that. (I just may add that to my list of questions I have for when I get to heaven and get a Face-to-face.)
Ephah was Midian’s first-born and also the name of the geographical area Midian/the Midianites settled in (or perhaps conquered, as the case may be).
Efer [or Epher] means gazelle and is also an Arabian name.
Hanoch has no listed meaning that I can find.
Abidah means father of knowledge. How interesting. He is also a son of Midian, but is only mentioned again in Abrahams’ 1st Chronicles genealogy.
Eldaah means God of knowledge (El meaning God). He is also one of Midian’s sons. I believe we can safely assume that Abraham shared his faith in the one true God to his entire family, so although the few mentioned later appeared to have parted from the faith, we can hope that the first few generations were saved any way.
Genesis 25:7-11 Abraham Dies at 175
“And these are the days of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived, a hundred seventy-five. 8Then Abraham expired and died in a good old age, and old man full of years; and was gathered to his people. 9And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Efron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre, 10the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth. Abraham and Sarah his wife were buried there. 11And it was after the death of Abraham that God blessed his son Isaac, and Isaac lived by the well Lahai-Roi.”
El Ro’i means God sees me (see Genesis 16:13), therefore Isaac lived by the well that was named, the Well of the Living One Who sees me or the Well of the One Who Reveals Himself. Either way we now know that Isaac’s story is about to kick in.
And there doesn’t seem to be an overpowering animosity between Isaac and Ishmael at this time, does there? They got together to bury their father and because God blessed Ishmael also, he was well established with his own families and territories. In fact, we will see in this next section of chapter 25, Ishmael’s family covered quite a bit of territory already:
Genesis 25:12-18 Generations of Ishmael
“Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s handmaid, bore to Abraham. 13And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names according to their generations: the first born of Ishmael, Nebaioth, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsham, 14Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Nafish, and Kedemah. 16These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their towns and by their small villages; twelve princes according to their tribes.” (25:12-16) Notice that God blessed both Ishmael and Isaac’s son Jacob with patriarchs of 12 tribes.
Although many of Ishmael’s sons’ names are repeated in God’s Word, they are referenced due to the towns and villages that were built honoring them by name.
Nebaioth means fruitfulnesses and is also the name of the [ancient] country settled by him.
Kedar means dusky of skin, and is the patriarch of the Bedouin tribes who still migrate throughout the desert areas of the middle-east today.
Adbeel mean languished, chastisement, disciplined by God. Poor thing! That’s worse than being named Jabez (which means sorrowful or born in sorrow)! I wonder if he prayed his way out of it like Jabez did (see 1st Chronicles 4:9-10).
Mibsham means fragrant.
Mishma means a report or hearing.
Dumah means to be dumb as in silent – figuratively deathly silent. It is also [still] the name of a region in Arabia.
Massa means burden.
Hadad means fierce. This is also the name of a royal Edomite mentioned in 1st Kings 11. The Edomites are the descendants of Esau, Jacob’s brother, which will be covered next week when we finish chapter 25. The Edomites also fought with Israel due to the animosity between Esau and Jacob (who later God renamed Israel).
Tema. No meaning was found for Tema, although we do know that is was also the name of the region that he settled.
Jetur means encircled or enclosed.
Nafish has no meaning that I could find.
Kedemah means precedence.
“And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, a hundred thirty-seven years, and he expired and died and was gathered to his people. 18And they dwelled from Havilah to Shur that is before Egypt, as you go toward Assyria: he died in the presence of all his brothers.” (Genesis 25:17-18)
In light of our common [spiritual] genealogies and seeing how many of Abraham’s descendants, be it through Hagar or Keturah are now Arabian, let’s try to keep all this in mind and sincerely and continually pray for our half-brothers and sisters who have all descended from Abraham. As the Lord blessed Ishmael, may He be able to bless his descendants also – bless them with the knowledge of knowing the One True God of their father Abraham, and His Son Who died for them as well. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 bold used for emphasis) They too are whosoevers so let’s pray – it’s truly the only thing that will start the revelation of Truth. And everybody needs Truth!
SHALOM!
No comments:
Post a Comment