Genesis 25
Esau Sells his Birthright
The Death of Abraham
1Abraham had taken another wife, whose name was Keturah.
Abraham was 137 years old when Sarah died. He lived for another 38 years, dying at the age of 175 years. People lived longer immediately after the flood, because their gene pool was closer to that of the perfect gene pool of Adam and Eve.
Keturah means “perfume” or “incense.” Rabbi Rashi taught that Keturah was Hagar, but there is no Biblical evidence for this interpretation. This is more rabbinic superstition.
2She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah.
Abraham will father many other tribes and nations from Keturah.
Zimran’s descendants will be located on the Western Arabia coast. Jokshan will be located in South Arabia. Medan will be located on the Gulf of Aqaba. Midian will be located in Northwest Arabia and South Sinai.
The Midianites will sell Joseph into Egypt. Zipporah, the wife of Moses, was a Midianite.
Ishbak will be located in Edomite territory, which is now southern Jordan.
Shuah will be located in the Syro-Arabian desert. This will be the home of Bildad the Shuite, who was a friend of Job.
3Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan; the descendants of Dedan were the Ashurites, the Letushites and the Leummites.
Jokshan was the second son of Abraham and Keturah. Abraham will have two grandsons from Jokshan. Sheba were the Sabeans of Job 1:15 who robbed Job’s livestock.
Dedan was the son of Jokshan and the grandson of Abraham. They were tribes located in Northern Arabia.
The Ashurites, Letushites, and Leummites were all Arab tribes and also the great-grandchildren of Abraham and Keturah.
4The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanok, Abida and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah.
Midian was the son of Abraham and Keturah. Epher, Hanok, Abida, and Eldaaah were all Arab tribes and grandchildren of Abraham and Keturah.
5Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac.
Isaac was the covenant-son and heir of Abraham.
6But while he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east.
Abraham gave large going-away gifts to the sons of the concubines. He did not want anyone around to challenge the seed-son. The land promise was given to Isaac and his descendants. Abraham divided the family before he died so that there would be no problems after his death. He sent his concubine sons eastward towards Saudia Arabia.
7Abraham lived a hundred and seventy-five years.
Abraham lived 38 years after Sarah died, giving birth to six more children. Jacob and Esau were fifteen years old at this time. Abraham was able to see his grandchildren from Isaac.
8Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people.
Abraham died and went to Paradise. Paradise was the afterlife of the righteous. It was located in Hades. It was next door to Gehenna, which was the afterlife location of the unrighteous. Lazarus was residing in Paradise. The rich man was residing in Gehenna. There was a gulf which existed between the two places that neither side could cross. Jesus emptied Paradise after His resurrection and brought all of its righteous inhabitants into heaven.
9His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite,
The two half-brothers joined together to bury their father.
10the field Abraham had bought from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah.
Abraham bought a double burial cave from the Hittites. Abraham died, owning only the burial cave which he purchased at an inflated price. God will have to raise Abraham from the dead and give him all of the land of Israel between the Tigris and Nile River in order to keep His promise.
11After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who then lived near Beer Lahai Roi.
Isaac was blessed by the Abrahamic Covenant because he was under the house of Abraham. Beer Lahai Roi was the place where the Angel of the Lord met Hagar and informed her about the birth of Ishmael.
Ishmael’s Sons
12This is the account of the family line of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Sarah’s slave, Hagar the Egyptian, bore to Abraham.
The eighth toldoth listed the twelve tribes and nations that came from the loins of Ishmael.
13These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, listed in the order of their birth: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,
The first son of Ishmael was Nebaioth, who built the famous cities of Petra and Teman.
The second son was Kedar, who was located in Northwest Arabia.
The third son was Adbeel, who was located in Northern Arabia. ,
The fourth son was Mibsam, whose location was unknown.
14Mishma, Dumah, Massa,
The fifth son was Mishma, who was located northeast of Medina.
The sixth son was Dumah, who was located in the Arabian Highlands north of Teman.
The seventh son was Massa, located northeast of Duma.
15Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah.
The eighth son was Hadad, but his location was unknown.
The ninth son was Tema, who was located in Northwest Arabia.
The tenth son was Jetur, who was located in the Trans-Jordan.
The eleventh son was Naphish, who was also located in the Trans-Jordan.
The twelfth son was Kedemah, whose exact location was unknown.
16These were the sons of Ishmael, and these are the names of the twelve tribal rulers according to their settlements and camps.
The sons of Ishmael will become the Arab tribes, who will choose to remain as nomadic shepherds. Just as Jacob will father 12 tribes of Israel, then Ishmael will father 12 tribes of Arabia. This was a fulfillment of the promise that God made concerning Ishmael in Genesis 17:20.
17Ishmael lived a hundred and thirty-seven years. He breathed his last and died, and he was gathered to his people.
Ishmael entered the afterlife as well. There were two compartments of the afterlife in that day. Paradise was the afterlife of the righteous. Gehenna was the afterlife of the unrighteous. Since Ishmael was from the line of Abraham, Shem, Noah, etc., it seems that he died as a believer and spent his afterlife in Paradise with those from his genetic line.
18His descendants settled in the area from Havilah to Shur, near the eastern border of Egypt, as you go toward Ashur. And they lived in hostility toward all the tribes related to them.
This toldoth ended with the geographical area of the Ishmaelites. They were nomadic tribes that controlled areas from the Euphrates River, the Red Sea, the border of the Northern Sinai, and the border of Babylonia. This area was called the Arabia Peninsula. The Ishmaelites raided other surrounding tribes and cities, so they lived in hostility against their neighbors. This was a fulfillment of Genesis 16:12.
Jacob and Esau
19This is the account of the family line of Abraham’s son Isaac.
Abraham became the father of Isaac,
This is the ninth toldoth. It recorded the history of the line of Isaac, which was the line of the Jewish people and the line of the Messiah.
20and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aramc and sister of Laban the Aramean.
Isaac married Rebekah when he was forty years old.
21Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.
Rebekah was childless for twenty years, meaning that Isaac was sixty years old when he gave birth to Esau and Jacob. Instead of resorting to a concubine like his father, Isaac prayed and the Lord answered his prayer. Notice that the child was a gift from God. Anyone who commits abortion is murdering a gift given by God.
22The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.
It is possible that Rebekah thought the struggle in her womb might take her life. Therefore, she went to God in prayer as well. Isaac had much influence on her.
23The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”
The Lord sang a song or recited a poem to Rebekah in Hebrew parallelism. There were two warring nations inside the womb of Rebekah. Esau would be the older brother and the father of the Edomites. Jacob would be the younger brother and the father of the Jews. Israel will be stronger. The Edomites will become slaves to the Israelites.
24When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb.
These two families will hate each other for centuries.
25The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau.
Esau would become the father of the Edomites.
26After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.
Jacob would become the father of the 12 tribes of Israel. These 12 tribes would become the Jewish nation. The name Jacob means “he who grabs the heel”.
The doctrine of election and predestination is in effect. Before either of these boys did anything good or bad, God had already chosen their destiny. Unbelievers and immature Christians hate this doctrine, but since man is totally depraved and evil, it is the only way that man can become saved. Otherwise, the entire human race would turn against God and end up in the Lake of Fire.
27The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents.
Esau was a skillful hunter just as Nimrod was a skillful hunter. According to the Word of God, this was a negative Biblical character trait and not a positive character trait.
Jacob chose to become a shepherd. This was a positive Biblical character trait, because a shepherd understands the atonement of sin better than anyone. Shepherds understand the peaceful and innocent character of the lamb. They understand the sacrifice that they must make in order to cover one’s sins.
Many commentators make Esau out to be the good guy, the outdoorsman hero, and the strong one. In contrast, they make Jacob out to be a deceiver, a momma’s boy, and a sissy. God does not see it this way. God himself said “Esau I hated and Jacob I loved.” The next few chapters will give God’s divine insight on this issue.
28Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
God chose Jacob to be the seed-son. However, Isaac loved Esau more, just because Esau provided his father with wild game from the field. This was not a good reason for Isaac to choose Esau over Jacob, especially when Jacob was God’s choice.
29Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished.
Esau was tired and hungry.
30He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom. )
Literally in Hebrew, Esau said, “Quick, let me gulp down some of that red red”.
Edom means “red”. Esau was impulsive and lived for the moment. He was not interested in spiritual things. He wanted material pleasures immediately and impulsively.
31Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”
According to the Nuzi tablets, the elder possessed the legal option of selling his birthright to the younger. This was a legal offer.
Esau’s birthright included four benefits. First, he would receive the physical benefits, meaning all of Isaac’s possessions when he died. Esau desired these material possessions. Second, he would receive the spiritual benefits, meaning that his sons would become the seed-sons of the Messiah. Esau did not care much about the messianic line. Third, Esau would receive the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant. Esau did not care too much about the eternal covenant. Fourth, Esau would receive the land promise. Since the land would come to him after his death and resurrection, this did not concern Esau.
32“Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”
Many commentators attempt to make Jacob the bad guy for not feeding his brother while he was hungry. However, Esau was exaggerating. Isaac was wealthy. Esau could have gone over to the next tent and received all of the food that he wanted.
33But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.
Notice that Jacob did not "steal" Esau's birthright as many commentators teach. Jacob did not deceive Esau. Esau sold the birthright to Jacob on his own accord for a bowl of red stew. Esau valued a bowl of red stew over his birthright. The birthright was very important to Jacob, because he wanted to be involved in the program of God.
34Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.
The Holy Spirit closed the case on the righteousness of Esau and Jacob. Esau hated his birthright. He did not care if the Messiah would come through his loins and bring a blessing to all people. He had no spiritual sensitivity to the things of God. He had no desire to be a part of God’s program. Esau did not just sell his birthright. He despised his birthright. He despised the messianic program. He wanted nothing to do with it. This is why God loved Jacob, but hated Esau.
It is important to note that during the Millennial Kingdom, Jacob will live in the New Jerusalem. All of Edom will become a burning wasteland for demons.
In conclusion, the human viewpoint of the satanic world system teaches that the Arab tribes evolved into a nomadic lifestyle.
The divine viewpoint of the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God teaches that the Arabs are nomads, because God planned and predicted them to fulfill this destiny.
Human viewpoint teaches that Esau was the good guy and Jacob was the deceiver.
Divine viewpoint teaches that God hated Esau, but He loved Jacob.
Human viewpoint teaches that it is immoral for the God of the Bible to hate one person and love another.
Divine viewpoint teaches that God loves good and hates evil.
Human viewpoint teaches that it is wrong for God to predestine one person to heaven and another person to hell.
Divine viewpoint teaches that God chooses some for salvation and He leaves others to make their own choice.
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1. SAQ--What is the theme of Genesis 25?
2. Who was Abraham's second wife?
3. Who were the six sons of Abraham's second marriage?
4. How old was Abraham at his death?
5. Why did Abraham live so long?
6. Who were the twin brothers of Isaac?
7-8. Explain the character of these twin brother.
9. Explain why the younger brother did not deceive the older brother?
10. Explain who God hates.