Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Connect with Skip Heiitzig. We're glad you've joined
us for today's program. Connect with Skip Heizig exist to
connect you to God's never changing truth in ever changing
times through verse by verse teaching of His Word. That's
why we make messages like this one today available to
you and others on air and online. Before we kick
off today's teaching, we want to let you know that
(00:22):
you can stay in the know about what's happening at
Connect with Skip Heitzig when you sign up for email updates.
When you do, you'll also receive Skipp's weekly devotional email
to inspire you with God's Word each week. So sign
up today at connectwiskip dot com. That's Connect Withiskip dot com.
Now let's get into today's teaching with Pastor Skip Heiitzig.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Well, if you.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Thought that Abraham was old last time we met together
in the previous chapter, you're right. He was old. He
was one hundred and thirty seven years old. He was
an old guy, but he's still in this chapter. He
has a few tricks up his sleeve. In fact, if
(01:05):
you thought that was old, how about one hundred and
seventy five years old when he finally kicks the proverbial
bucket and is buried in the cave of mcpella, next
to his wife Sarah. That's what's in front of us,
Abraham in his sunset years, the golden years. Now. Somebody
(01:27):
once said that the great thing about being Abraham's age
is that he didn't have much peer pressure. Well, that
would stand a reason, because he wouldn't have many peers,
now would he who are that old? But though he is,
and by the way, just for those who may be
(01:47):
new to this study, you hear those kind of numbers
and you think, I don't know if I can believe
in a book that has people living that long. And
we explain that from a scientific perspective several weeks back,
when we talked about the conditions on the Earth prior
to the Great Flood, the Antediluvian age limits then and
(02:08):
then after the flood, how that constitutional change over the earth,
the vapor canopy that would be burned off that age
is rapidly deteriorated, but we're still close enough to the
original creation that even with the bombardment of ultraviolet light,
(02:29):
people live to be one hundred and seventy five years
of age. It's a lot less than nine hundred and
sixty nine years like Methuselam. So they're starting to taper down,
and they will taper down to the average age that
is given to us in the Book of Psalms, which
is seventy years peradventure of the Lord will give you
ten more, said the samis great, but we see the
(02:52):
age declining. But we will see Abraham in this chapter
as one hundred and seventy five years of age when
he dies. It's funny how people will talk about their
future age and how old age scares people. I hear
people talk about that the really amazing thing is to
(03:16):
discover you're already there when you really didn't know it.
I'll never forget standing in line. I was buying something
and the lady did say, now I can give you
a senior's discount. I wanted a choker. I heard about
(03:36):
two women who knew each other at church. They were
elderly women, quite elderly, older than any of you, And
one was talking to the other and she said, you know,
the hard thing about getting to be our age is
that you lose your memory. And she continued on and
(03:57):
she said, I know that I've known you all my life,
but for the life of me, I can't remember your name?
What is it? And the other lady thought for a
few moments, and she said, do I have to tell
you right away? Both were struggling to remember. I've always
(04:18):
liked this list that if you're wondering if you're old
or not, it says you know you're getting old when
all the names in your contacts book end in MD.
You know you're getting old when you get winded playing chess.
You know you're getting old when you sink your teeth
(04:39):
into a steak and they stay there. Yeah, you know
you're getting old when you try to straighten the wrinkles
in your socks and you discover you're not wearing any socks.
I'm not wearing any socks. You know you're getting old
(05:01):
when your pacemaker accidentally opens the garage door. You know
you're getting old when you bend over to tie your
shoes and you wonder what else you could do while
you're down here. Okay, back to the story. We never
(05:22):
got to see Abraham in his early years. We don't
know much about his upbringing. There's a snippet here and
there in the Bible that describes what his home life
was like what the belief system was like, but not much.
By the time we meet Abraham, he's already married in
chapter eleven, and God calls him out of where he's
at to a new place. But we do have the
(05:46):
advantage of seeing him in his latter years. And I
believe that's important because how you start is not nearly
as important as how you finish the race. You want
to finish well, however you started it, whatever, and whatever
you've been through, whatever, But now wherever you're at, finish
it well. And I believe that through all of the
(06:08):
foibles and mistakes, and yeah, Abram made a bunch, he
finished quite well. Now it says in verse one, Abraham
again took a wife. Let me just back up a
little bit and say something that was on my heart,
and I sort of let it go, but I think
(06:29):
I want to share it. We're going to see Abraham die,
And actually it's a good thing, because when you're one
hundred and seventy five years old, it's like, Okay, you're done.
Death is not the worst thing that can happen to
a person. Sometimes we feel that it is. It is
not the worst thing that can happen certainly is death
(06:52):
and then eternally separated from God. That is the worst
thing that can happen. But death in itself can be
a blessing because it's a release. You see, there comes
a time when this body is incapable of expressing adequately
who I am. It's temporary. The Bible calls it a tent,
(07:14):
a tent. Paul calls it that in Second Corinthians, chapter five.
It's a tent. Now. Tents are cool, but they're temporary.
If you go camping, the first night is great, You
love it. You look at each other and you go,
we should do this all the time. This is fun
because you have the fire going and you cook the
meal outside you're under the stars.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
But if you are in that tent, say five, six, seven,
eight days later, it's not quite as fun. You start
smelling rather ripe yourself. The sleeping bag and that little
mattress you have underneath isn't nearly as nice as your
(07:58):
soft bed at home. So here you are in a campground,
in a tent. It's temporary. It's fun, but you long
for permanence and comfort, and so even the Bible says
Paul puts it this way, tewod Corinthians, chapter five, verse one.
For we know that when our earthly house, this tent,
(08:22):
is destroyed, we have a building with God, not made
with hands, eternal in the heavens. Now, that's permanent. Jesus
called it my father's house. Here you live in a tent.
One day you're going home to your father's house, something permanent.
(08:45):
And we all realize that as we get older. No
matter how much we try to keep ourselves in good shape,
and we all should, we exercise, We eat appropriately for
the most part, but as time goes on, we recognize
the limited nature and the temporary nature of the tent.
(09:08):
The flaps get flappier, the poles wiggle loose, the edges
are frayed. You notice it when you look in the mirror.
And so I'm glad. When Paul wrote Second Corinthians five,
he said in this we earnestly grown. That's something else
that comes with age. Listen to yourself when you get
(09:30):
up in the morning. That's okay, it's biblical. We grown earnestly,
desiring to be clothed with our home, our habitation, as
Paul said, that is from God. Okay. Now Abraham again
(09:54):
took a wife. The old Geezer lives thirty eight more
years after his first wife, Sarah dies. Wow, thirty eight
more years. It says Abraham again took a wife and
(10:15):
her name was Katura. Well, if he lived to be
one hundred and seventy five, I suppose the midlife crisis
years for him would be around ninety five. Now. I
don't know if he had one, but they say most
people do have some kind of re evaluation at least
(10:35):
once in their lives, around midlife, and it manifests in
a number of different ways. I don't know if Abraham
like wore gold chains and got a convertible camel or
chariot and decided he was going to act and look younger.
But at any rate, he's got a little win left
(10:56):
and he gets married a second time. And her name
is Katura. It means scented one or perfumed one. Perfumed one. Now,
I have been in Bedwin tents and the idea of
something smelling good inside of that tent would be welcome.
So we hope that it fit her name that she
(11:18):
had nice perfume. That's what her name meant. Couture men,
scented one or perfumed one. Now you might be thinking, well, now,
wait a minute, what would interest her in a guy
that's one hundred and forty years of age? I mean,
how interested could anybody be in a one hundred and
forty year old man. Well, we're not told what the
(11:38):
circumstances were, but do keep in mind he was very wealthy.
He had three hundred and eighteen trained paid servants, many flocks,
many herds. That means whatever children were born would have
a nice inheritance, as we shall see, and so she
would be taken care of as well as her other children.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we return
to Skip's teaching, if you've ever wondered what the Bible
has to say about some of our culture's big issues,
we have a great resource for you. When you give
a gift of fifty dollars or more this month to
support the ministry of Connect with Skip Heitzig, we'll send
you God Speaks Biblical answers for today's issues. This special
(12:22):
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topics like suicide, why the Truth Matters, Heaven and Hell,
and the Church's response to racism. You'll gain valuable insight
into what God's Word says about the big questions in
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truth of Scripture. Go to connect with Skip dot com
(12:43):
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eighteen eighty eight and request your copy when you give
fifty dollars or more. Now let's get back to SKIP
for more of today's teaching.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
We have a hint in the Bible in First Chronicles
Chapter one. Don't need to turn there, but you can
if you're taking notes. First Chronicles Chapter one gives again
the historical genealogy of Abraham and calls Katura Abraham's concubine,
which was very common in those days. To have not
(13:17):
only a wife, but concubines was prevalent in those cultures.
So for her now to become his wife meant that
she moves from concubine status to legal status married status.
The status change. It's a permanent status now, which includes
the rights for inheritance. And we should also say that
(13:40):
it was more than just a legal contract. I'm sure
that I'm sure that Abraham loved Katura, and I'm sure
that Katura had a love for Abraham. You see, as
one ages, his or her capacity to love or need
to be love does not diminish. Now we're living in
(14:02):
a culture that is dealing more and more with age.
They say that we are living longer. As an example,
at the turn of the century last century, at the
turn of the century being nineteen hundred, there was only
four percent of the American population age sixty five and older.
Today twelve percent is age sixty five and older. So
(14:26):
treat three times the amount in one hundred years, just
over twelve thousand people over the age of one hundred
years old. I know one of them. I've met a few,
but the one that I know is a beautiful man
by the name of George Beverly Sha. He has been
(14:49):
the singer for the Billy Graham evangelistic crusades for years.
He's ten years older than Billy Graham, but he looks
amazingly spry and young. Back in nineteen seventy six, his
first wife died. He was sixty eight years old at
the time. He married again in nineteen eighty five to
(15:13):
a beautiful gal by the name of Carlen. I've known
them both today George Beverly.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Shehe is one.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
Hundred and one years old and going on one hundred
and two. Now, I don't know that perhaps his second
marriage had anything to do with that, you know, gave
him a whole new lease on life, a whole new boost.
But Abraham did the same thing, married again. Her name
was Katura. It says she bore him. Now we have
(15:43):
a little genealogical record. Watch these names. She bore him
zim Ran jock Shan, me Dan, Midian, Ishbach and Shua
Jock Shan begot Sheba and d Dan. And the sons
of d Dan were ash Him Le Tushim, and Laumim.
(16:04):
And the sons of Midian were Fa Fair, Hannah A
Bi Dah El da Ah. These were the children of Katura.
So he has six more sons. That's a total of
eight sons altogether, seven grandsons and three great grandsons. That's
(16:31):
not even to mention the gals and the family. They're
keeping the genealogical records, which were male dominant, the son
of the son of the son of and keeping that down.
But he had several children. Now, one of them notices
named Midian. So just a heads up on Midian. You're
going to see that name come up because Midian will
go to a place and it will become an area
(16:54):
known as Midian, the area of Arabia, the desert. Later on,
Moses will flee to Midian, and he'll flee there because
he kills an Egyptian and he's running for his life
and living out in the desert for about forty years.
Out there, he marries a Midianite woman. So we're seeing
(17:15):
how some of those records come together. Remarried, lots of kids,
lots of grandkids. He's a very prolific man. I was
reading this and I couldn't help but think of the
text in Ephesians three that says, now unto him, who
(17:36):
is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we
ask or think. So just go back in your mind
and think about Abram. When he was Abram and he
couldn't have a child with his first wife. It was impossible.
He's seventy five and then ninety and he finally has
his first child at age one hundred with Sarah. That is,
(17:59):
he had Ishmi first, but with Sarah age hundred, and
now all of these other children and grandchildren and great grandchildren.
God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that
we ask or think. Now I need to show you
why this is important and probably included in the text.
Why are all these names given because a promise was made?
(18:22):
And go back to chapter seventeen. Go back to chapter
seventeen of Genesis and look at verse four. As for me, behold,
my covenant is with you, and you shall be a
father of what many nations? Not one many? No longer
shall your name be called Abram. Remember he has no
(18:44):
children at this point. But your name shall be called Abraham.
For I have made you a father of many nations.
I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make
many nations of you, and kings shall come from you.
So I tell you what, what a great lesson about
(19:05):
the fact that, no matter what age you find yourself at,
don't ever think that it's over. Well, I'm in my
sunset years, I can't really contribute much. Please banish that thought.
Do you know that, both in and out of scripture,
some of people's greatest accomplishments were in the latter years
of their life. Moses was eighty years old when he's
(19:26):
finally called to get started in the ministry. Caleb was
eighty five years old. You're going to read a great
story in the Book of Joshua. I can't remember what chapter,
chapter fourteen, I'm guessing where Caleb is eighty five years old.
They cross over the Jordan River. They're in the land
(19:46):
God promised them. And Caleb comes up to Joshua and
he says, now, I want you to know something. I'm
eighty five years old today. It's my birthday. Today. I
am as strong today as the day Moses sent me
with you to spy out the land. Therefore give me
(20:06):
this mountain. I'm ready for more action. I'm ready to
fight if need be. I'm eighty five. But his greatest
accomplishments were in his latter years. You can even look
outside of scripture. Michaelangelo eighty nine years of age when
he painted his most famous work. You can see it
(20:27):
in the Cystine Chapel if you ever visit Rome. It
occupies an entire wall of the Sistine Chapel. It's called
the Last Judgment, magnificent painting. He was eighty nine years old,
and he was about ninety years old when he was
still on his back touching up things on the very
ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. John Wesley, you've heard of him,
(20:49):
the Great Preacher. He was eighty eight years old. He
was still preaching going strong. That is, after having traveled
some two hundred and fifty thousand miles by horseback, after
preaching four thousand sermons, after writing prolifically. He's eighty eight
and he's still preaching strong. I don't know why he
(21:12):
comes to mind, but J. C. Penney was ninety five
years of age. He was still keeping office hours, wearing
a suit and tie going into work. And then, as
I mentioned George Beverly's shay, I heard him a couple
of years ago. He was ninety eight at the time,
maybe ninety nine, and he stood up and he's saying
pretty great for his age. So some of people's greatest
(21:36):
accomplishments can come in the latter years of their lives.
There's an old English saying that says, the older the fiddle,
the sweeter the tune. I like that verse five of
chapter twenty five. I know we're moving rather slowly, but again,
what do we care? It'll be here next week the
(21:56):
Lord Terry's and we're here and Abraham gave all that
he had to Isaac. Now watch this, here's Abraham. He's wealthy.
It's now time to get his house in order to
make a will and to dole out the property to
his progeny. Isaac is first because he's the son of Promise,
(22:20):
and so the will is very simple. Here's Abraham's will.
Isaac gets at all. That's the will. However, it says,
but Abraham gave gifts to the sons of the concubines,
which Abraham had, and while he was still living, he
sent them eastward, away from Isaac's son, to the country
(22:41):
of the East. I read somewhere that you could divide
up the lifespan of a man into seven decades. Since
that's now like the average age, the seven decades of
a man, and they all rhyme.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
Spills, drills, thrills, bills, ills, pills, and.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
The last one wills. Abraham is at that last age.
It's time to make a will. And though he has
already sent Ishmael and Hagar out with some kind of provision,
though the lords had let them go, I'll take care
of them and make a great nation out of him.
And though he gives some to his concubines and the
(23:32):
children who were born to him with Katura the inheritance
because the genealogy. And I'm gonna explain something very important
called the law of promogeniture in just a minute. Put
that out of your mind. You'll get it in a minute. Isaac,
the son of the promise, gets the bulk of it.
So he gives all that he has to Isaac. Now,
(23:53):
did you notice that it says while he was still
living he sent them eastward. In other words, Abraham is
he's taking the responsibility. He's older now, but he wants
to make sure that his family is provided for. And
while he is clear and cognizant and cogent, he can
make those decisions now, because if he doesn't make those decisions,
(24:14):
it's going to get very complicated when he is unable
to make them, and people would argue back and forth.
Wherever there's a will, there's an argument. And Abraham knew that,
so he gets his house in order. Very important. I
think that's a scriptural principle. I believe in that.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
We're glad you joined us today. Before you go, remember
that when you give fifty dollars or more to help
reach more people with the Gospel. Through connect with Skip Heitzig,
We'll send you God Speaks Biblical Answers for Today's Issues,
which contain six of Pastor Skip's booklets to help you
understand what the Bible says about big issues like racism,
the importance of truth, suicide, and Heaven and Hell. To
(24:59):
request your copy of God Speaks Biblical Answers for Today's Issues,
call eight hundred nine two two eighteen eighty eight. That's
eight hundred nine two two eighteen eighty eight, or visit
connect with Skip dot com slash donate for more from Skip.
Be sure to check out the many resources available at
connectiskip dot com slash store. Come back next time for
(25:23):
more verse by verse teaching of God's Word. Here on
connect with Skip Heidzig.
Speaker 4 (25:28):
Make It Connect, Make a Connect, The Cross Chats songs, Make.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
Connect.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
Connect with Skip Heidsig is a presentation of connection communications
connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever changing
times
Welcome to Connect with Skip Heiitzig. We're glad you've joined
us for today's program. Connect with Skip Heizig exist to
connect you to God's never changing truth in ever changing
times through verse by verse teaching of His Word. That's
why we make messages like this one today available to
you and others on air and online. Before we kick
off today's teaching, we want to let you know that
(00:22):
you can stay in the know about what's happening at
Connect with Skip Heitzig when you sign up for email updates.
When you do, you'll also receive Skipp's weekly devotional email
to inspire you with God's Word each week. So sign
up today at connectwiskip dot com. That's Connect Withiskip dot com.
Now let's get into today's teaching with Pastor Skip Heiitzig.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Well, if you.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Thought that Abraham was old last time we met together
in the previous chapter, you're right. He was old. He
was one hundred and thirty seven years old. He was
an old guy, but he's still in this chapter. He
has a few tricks up his sleeve. In fact, if
(01:05):
you thought that was old, how about one hundred and
seventy five years old when he finally kicks the proverbial
bucket and is buried in the cave of mcpella, next
to his wife Sarah. That's what's in front of us,
Abraham in his sunset years, the golden years. Now. Somebody
(01:27):
once said that the great thing about being Abraham's age
is that he didn't have much peer pressure. Well, that
would stand a reason, because he wouldn't have many peers,
now would he who are that old? But though he is,
and by the way, just for those who may be
(01:47):
new to this study, you hear those kind of numbers
and you think, I don't know if I can believe
in a book that has people living that long. And
we explain that from a scientific perspective several weeks back,
when we talked about the conditions on the Earth prior
to the Great Flood, the Antediluvian age limits then and
(02:08):
then after the flood, how that constitutional change over the earth,
the vapor canopy that would be burned off that age
is rapidly deteriorated, but we're still close enough to the
original creation that even with the bombardment of ultraviolet light,
(02:29):
people live to be one hundred and seventy five years
of age. It's a lot less than nine hundred and
sixty nine years like Methuselam. So they're starting to taper down,
and they will taper down to the average age that
is given to us in the Book of Psalms, which
is seventy years peradventure of the Lord will give you
ten more, said the samis great, but we see the
(02:52):
age declining. But we will see Abraham in this chapter
as one hundred and seventy five years of age when
he dies. It's funny how people will talk about their
future age and how old age scares people. I hear
people talk about that the really amazing thing is to
(03:16):
discover you're already there when you really didn't know it.
I'll never forget standing in line. I was buying something
and the lady did say, now I can give you
a senior's discount. I wanted a choker. I heard about
(03:36):
two women who knew each other at church. They were
elderly women, quite elderly, older than any of you, And
one was talking to the other and she said, you know,
the hard thing about getting to be our age is
that you lose your memory. And she continued on and
(03:57):
she said, I know that I've known you all my life,
but for the life of me, I can't remember your name?
What is it? And the other lady thought for a
few moments, and she said, do I have to tell
you right away? Both were struggling to remember. I've always
(04:18):
liked this list that if you're wondering if you're old
or not, it says you know you're getting old when
all the names in your contacts book end in MD.
You know you're getting old when you get winded playing chess.
You know you're getting old when you sink your teeth
(04:39):
into a steak and they stay there. Yeah, you know
you're getting old when you try to straighten the wrinkles
in your socks and you discover you're not wearing any socks.
I'm not wearing any socks. You know you're getting old
(05:01):
when your pacemaker accidentally opens the garage door. You know
you're getting old when you bend over to tie your
shoes and you wonder what else you could do while
you're down here. Okay, back to the story. We never
(05:22):
got to see Abraham in his early years. We don't
know much about his upbringing. There's a snippet here and
there in the Bible that describes what his home life
was like what the belief system was like, but not much.
By the time we meet Abraham, he's already married in
chapter eleven, and God calls him out of where he's
at to a new place. But we do have the
(05:46):
advantage of seeing him in his latter years. And I
believe that's important because how you start is not nearly
as important as how you finish the race. You want
to finish well, however you started it, whatever, and whatever
you've been through, whatever, But now wherever you're at, finish
it well. And I believe that through all of the
(06:08):
foibles and mistakes, and yeah, Abram made a bunch, he
finished quite well. Now it says in verse one, Abraham
again took a wife. Let me just back up a
little bit and say something that was on my heart,
and I sort of let it go, but I think
(06:29):
I want to share it. We're going to see Abraham die,
And actually it's a good thing, because when you're one
hundred and seventy five years old, it's like, Okay, you're done.
Death is not the worst thing that can happen to
a person. Sometimes we feel that it is. It is
not the worst thing that can happen certainly is death
(06:52):
and then eternally separated from God. That is the worst
thing that can happen. But death in itself can be
a blessing because it's a release. You see, there comes
a time when this body is incapable of expressing adequately
who I am. It's temporary. The Bible calls it a tent,
(07:14):
a tent. Paul calls it that in Second Corinthians, chapter five.
It's a tent. Now. Tents are cool, but they're temporary.
If you go camping, the first night is great, You
love it. You look at each other and you go,
we should do this all the time. This is fun
because you have the fire going and you cook the
meal outside you're under the stars.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
But if you are in that tent, say five, six, seven,
eight days later, it's not quite as fun. You start
smelling rather ripe yourself. The sleeping bag and that little
mattress you have underneath isn't nearly as nice as your
(07:58):
soft bed at home. So here you are in a campground,
in a tent. It's temporary. It's fun, but you long
for permanence and comfort, and so even the Bible says
Paul puts it this way, tewod Corinthians, chapter five, verse one.
For we know that when our earthly house, this tent,
(08:22):
is destroyed, we have a building with God, not made
with hands, eternal in the heavens. Now, that's permanent. Jesus
called it my father's house. Here you live in a tent.
One day you're going home to your father's house, something permanent.
(08:45):
And we all realize that as we get older. No
matter how much we try to keep ourselves in good shape,
and we all should, we exercise, We eat appropriately for
the most part, but as time goes on, we recognize
the limited nature and the temporary nature of the tent.
(09:08):
The flaps get flappier, the poles wiggle loose, the edges
are frayed. You notice it when you look in the mirror.
And so I'm glad. When Paul wrote Second Corinthians five,
he said in this we earnestly grown. That's something else
that comes with age. Listen to yourself when you get
(09:30):
up in the morning. That's okay, it's biblical. We grown earnestly,
desiring to be clothed with our home, our habitation, as
Paul said, that is from God. Okay. Now Abraham again
(09:54):
took a wife. The old Geezer lives thirty eight more
years after his first wife, Sarah dies. Wow, thirty eight
more years. It says Abraham again took a wife and
(10:15):
her name was Katura. Well, if he lived to be
one hundred and seventy five, I suppose the midlife crisis
years for him would be around ninety five. Now. I
don't know if he had one, but they say most
people do have some kind of re evaluation at least
(10:35):
once in their lives, around midlife, and it manifests in
a number of different ways. I don't know if Abraham
like wore gold chains and got a convertible camel or
chariot and decided he was going to act and look younger.
But at any rate, he's got a little win left
(10:56):
and he gets married a second time. And her name
is Katura. It means scented one or perfumed one. Perfumed one. Now,
I have been in Bedwin tents and the idea of
something smelling good inside of that tent would be welcome.
So we hope that it fit her name that she
(11:18):
had nice perfume. That's what her name meant. Couture men,
scented one or perfumed one. Now you might be thinking, well, now,
wait a minute, what would interest her in a guy
that's one hundred and forty years of age? I mean,
how interested could anybody be in a one hundred and
forty year old man. Well, we're not told what the
(11:38):
circumstances were, but do keep in mind he was very wealthy.
He had three hundred and eighteen trained paid servants, many flocks,
many herds. That means whatever children were born would have
a nice inheritance, as we shall see, and so she
would be taken care of as well as her other children.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we return
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for more of today's teaching.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
We have a hint in the Bible in First Chronicles
Chapter one. Don't need to turn there, but you can
if you're taking notes. First Chronicles Chapter one gives again
the historical genealogy of Abraham and calls Katura Abraham's concubine,
which was very common in those days. To have not
(13:17):
only a wife, but concubines was prevalent in those cultures.
So for her now to become his wife meant that
she moves from concubine status to legal status married status.
The status change. It's a permanent status now, which includes
the rights for inheritance. And we should also say that
(13:40):
it was more than just a legal contract. I'm sure
that I'm sure that Abraham loved Katura, and I'm sure
that Katura had a love for Abraham. You see, as
one ages, his or her capacity to love or need
to be love does not diminish. Now we're living in
(14:02):
a culture that is dealing more and more with age.
They say that we are living longer. As an example,
at the turn of the century last century, at the
turn of the century being nineteen hundred, there was only
four percent of the American population age sixty five and older.
Today twelve percent is age sixty five and older. So
(14:26):
treat three times the amount in one hundred years, just
over twelve thousand people over the age of one hundred
years old. I know one of them. I've met a few,
but the one that I know is a beautiful man
by the name of George Beverly Sha. He has been
(14:49):
the singer for the Billy Graham evangelistic crusades for years.
He's ten years older than Billy Graham, but he looks
amazingly spry and young. Back in nineteen seventy six, his
first wife died. He was sixty eight years old at
the time. He married again in nineteen eighty five to
(15:13):
a beautiful gal by the name of Carlen. I've known
them both today George Beverly.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Shehe is one.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
Hundred and one years old and going on one hundred
and two. Now, I don't know that perhaps his second
marriage had anything to do with that, you know, gave
him a whole new lease on life, a whole new boost.
But Abraham did the same thing, married again. Her name
was Katura. It says she bore him. Now we have
(15:43):
a little genealogical record. Watch these names. She bore him
zim Ran jock Shan, me Dan, Midian, Ishbach and Shua
Jock Shan begot Sheba and d Dan. And the sons
of d Dan were ash Him Le Tushim, and Laumim.
(16:04):
And the sons of Midian were Fa Fair, Hannah A
Bi Dah El da Ah. These were the children of Katura.
So he has six more sons. That's a total of
eight sons altogether, seven grandsons and three great grandsons. That's
(16:31):
not even to mention the gals and the family. They're
keeping the genealogical records, which were male dominant, the son
of the son of the son of and keeping that down.
But he had several children. Now, one of them notices
named Midian. So just a heads up on Midian. You're
going to see that name come up because Midian will
go to a place and it will become an area
(16:54):
known as Midian, the area of Arabia, the desert. Later on,
Moses will flee to Midian, and he'll flee there because
he kills an Egyptian and he's running for his life
and living out in the desert for about forty years.
Out there, he marries a Midianite woman. So we're seeing
(17:15):
how some of those records come together. Remarried, lots of kids,
lots of grandkids. He's a very prolific man. I was
reading this and I couldn't help but think of the
text in Ephesians three that says, now unto him, who
(17:36):
is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we
ask or think. So just go back in your mind
and think about Abram. When he was Abram and he
couldn't have a child with his first wife. It was impossible.
He's seventy five and then ninety and he finally has
his first child at age one hundred with Sarah. That is,
(17:59):
he had Ishmi first, but with Sarah age hundred, and
now all of these other children and grandchildren and great grandchildren.
God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that
we ask or think. Now I need to show you
why this is important and probably included in the text.
Why are all these names given because a promise was made?
(18:22):
And go back to chapter seventeen. Go back to chapter
seventeen of Genesis and look at verse four. As for me, behold,
my covenant is with you, and you shall be a
father of what many nations? Not one many? No longer
shall your name be called Abram. Remember he has no
(18:44):
children at this point. But your name shall be called Abraham.
For I have made you a father of many nations.
I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make
many nations of you, and kings shall come from you.
So I tell you what, what a great lesson about
(19:05):
the fact that, no matter what age you find yourself at,
don't ever think that it's over. Well, I'm in my
sunset years, I can't really contribute much. Please banish that thought.
Do you know that, both in and out of scripture,
some of people's greatest accomplishments were in the latter years
of their life. Moses was eighty years old when he's
(19:26):
finally called to get started in the ministry. Caleb was
eighty five years old. You're going to read a great
story in the Book of Joshua. I can't remember what chapter,
chapter fourteen, I'm guessing where Caleb is eighty five years old.
They cross over the Jordan River. They're in the land
(19:46):
God promised them. And Caleb comes up to Joshua and
he says, now, I want you to know something. I'm
eighty five years old today. It's my birthday. Today. I
am as strong today as the day Moses sent me
with you to spy out the land. Therefore give me
(20:06):
this mountain. I'm ready for more action. I'm ready to
fight if need be. I'm eighty five. But his greatest
accomplishments were in his latter years. You can even look
outside of scripture. Michaelangelo eighty nine years of age when
he painted his most famous work. You can see it
(20:27):
in the Cystine Chapel if you ever visit Rome. It
occupies an entire wall of the Sistine Chapel. It's called
the Last Judgment, magnificent painting. He was eighty nine years old,
and he was about ninety years old when he was
still on his back touching up things on the very
ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. John Wesley, you've heard of him,
(20:49):
the Great Preacher. He was eighty eight years old. He
was still preaching going strong. That is, after having traveled
some two hundred and fifty thousand miles by horseback, after
preaching four thousand sermons, after writing prolifically. He's eighty eight
and he's still preaching strong. I don't know why he
(21:12):
comes to mind, but J. C. Penney was ninety five
years of age. He was still keeping office hours, wearing
a suit and tie going into work. And then, as
I mentioned George Beverly's shay, I heard him a couple
of years ago. He was ninety eight at the time,
maybe ninety nine, and he stood up and he's saying
pretty great for his age. So some of people's greatest
(21:36):
accomplishments can come in the latter years of their lives.
There's an old English saying that says, the older the fiddle,
the sweeter the tune. I like that verse five of
chapter twenty five. I know we're moving rather slowly, but again,
what do we care? It'll be here next week the
(21:56):
Lord Terry's and we're here and Abraham gave all that
he had to Isaac. Now watch this, here's Abraham. He's wealthy.
It's now time to get his house in order to
make a will and to dole out the property to
his progeny. Isaac is first because he's the son of Promise,
(22:20):
and so the will is very simple. Here's Abraham's will.
Isaac gets at all. That's the will. However, it says,
but Abraham gave gifts to the sons of the concubines,
which Abraham had, and while he was still living, he
sent them eastward, away from Isaac's son, to the country
(22:41):
of the East. I read somewhere that you could divide
up the lifespan of a man into seven decades. Since
that's now like the average age, the seven decades of
a man, and they all rhyme.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
Spills, drills, thrills, bills, ills, pills, and.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
The last one wills. Abraham is at that last age.
It's time to make a will. And though he has
already sent Ishmael and Hagar out with some kind of provision,
though the lords had let them go, I'll take care
of them and make a great nation out of him.
And though he gives some to his concubines and the
(23:32):
children who were born to him with Katura the inheritance
because the genealogy. And I'm gonna explain something very important
called the law of promogeniture in just a minute. Put
that out of your mind. You'll get it in a minute. Isaac,
the son of the promise, gets the bulk of it.
So he gives all that he has to Isaac. Now,
(23:53):
did you notice that it says while he was still
living he sent them eastward. In other words, Abraham is
he's taking the responsibility. He's older now, but he wants
to make sure that his family is provided for. And
while he is clear and cognizant and cogent, he can
make those decisions now, because if he doesn't make those decisions,
(24:14):
it's going to get very complicated when he is unable
to make them, and people would argue back and forth.
Wherever there's a will, there's an argument. And Abraham knew that,
so he gets his house in order. Very important. I
think that's a scriptural principle. I believe in that.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
We're glad you joined us today. Before you go, remember
that when you give fifty dollars or more to help
reach more people with the Gospel. Through connect with Skip Heitzig,
We'll send you God Speaks Biblical Answers for Today's Issues,
which contain six of Pastor Skip's booklets to help you
understand what the Bible says about big issues like racism,
the importance of truth, suicide, and Heaven and Hell. To
(24:59):
request your copy of God Speaks Biblical Answers for Today's Issues,
call eight hundred nine two two eighteen eighty eight. That's
eight hundred nine two two eighteen eighty eight, or visit
connect with Skip dot com slash donate for more from Skip.
Be sure to check out the many resources available at
connectiskip dot com slash store. Come back next time for
(25:23):
more verse by verse teaching of God's Word. Here on
connect with Skip Heidzig.
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Make It Connect, Make a Connect, The Cross Chats songs, Make.
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Connect.
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connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever changing
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