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Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is connect with skip Heidzig and we're so glad
you've joined us for today's program Connect with skip Heidzig.
It's all about connecting you to the never changing truth
of God's Word through verse by verse teaching. That's why
we make messages like this one today available to you
and others. Before we get started with the program, we
want to invite you to check out connect with Skip
(00:21):
dot com. There you'll find resources like full message series,
daily devotionals and more. And while you're at it, be
sure to sign up for Skip's weekly devotional emails and
receive teaching from God's Word write in your inbox each day.
Sign up today at connect withiskip dot com. That's connect
with Skip dot com. Now let's get started with today's
(00:43):
message from pastor Skip Heitzig.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Michael Angelo eighty nine years of age when he painted
his most famous work. You can see it in the
Sistine 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
(01:09):
of the Sistine Chapel. John Wesley, you've heard of him,
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
(01:32):
and he's still preaching strong. I don't know why he
comes to mind, but J. C. Penny 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 Shay, I heard him a couple
of years ago. He was ninety eight at the time,
(01:53):
maybe ninety nine, and he stood up and he's sang
pretty great for his age. Some of people's greatest 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
(02:16):
chapter twenty five. I know we're moving rather slowly, but again,
what do we care? It'll be here next week, the
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
(02:41):
his progeny. Isaac is first because he's the son of Promise,
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
(03:03):
sent them eastward, away from Isaac's son, to the country
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 3 (03:22):
Spills, drills, thrills, bills, ills, pills, and.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
The last one wills. Abraham is at that last stage.
It's time to make a will. And though he has
already sent Ishmael and Hagar out with some kind of provision,
though the Lord said, 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
(03:57):
children who were born to him with katura the inheritance,
because the genealogy. And I'm going to 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
(04:18):
to Isaac. Now, did you notice that it says while
he was still living he sent them eastward. In other words,
Abraham is 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
(04:38):
those decisions, 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 one of the best pieces of advices in
(05:03):
the Bible is when the prophet Isaiah will come to
King Hezekiah of Judah in Second Kings twenty and says,
get your house in order, for you are going to
die and you will not live any longer. So he
(05:24):
warned him, you're going to die. Your time is about up.
You need to get your house in order, which to
him meant you better select somebody who is going to
be your successor to the throne. Get all that in
order now.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Now.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
The New Testament takes that principle and moves it up
a notch. Listen to what Paul says in One Timothy.
He says, if a man does not provide for his
own relatives, especially that of his own household, he is
(05:58):
worse than an infidel and has denied the faith. In
other words, as a man of the house, you are
called to take care of those in the immediate family.
It's a calling of God. Get the house in order,
and do what you can in advance to provide for them.
(06:18):
You will have to trust the Lord eventually, but do
what you can now. And I believe we see that
even in the life of Jesus. Remember he is on
the cross, and the last formal family declaration on the
cross is when John is there and his mother Mary
is there. And even in his agony, he wants to
make provision for his mother and says, son, behold your mother, Mother,
(06:44):
behold your son. That wasn't Jesus given Mary to the
whole human race, as it has been misinterpreted. It's simple, John,
take care of my mother. Treat her as your mother.
She's your responsibility. Mom. You're going to go with him
and he'll take care of you. And that is what happened.
History even bears that out. So Abraham is alive, he's
(07:04):
making decisions. He has to dole up his property, his money,
and he does so, and Isaac gets the bulk of it.
But Abraham gave gifts to the sons of the Concubines,
which Abraham had while he was living. He sent them eastward,
getting them settled away from his son Isaac, to the
country of the East. Now I did tell you last
(07:27):
week in the week before that Isaac is a beautiful
type of Christ. It's very obvious when you get, especially
to chapter twenty two. But consider this, just as the father,
Abraham gave all that he had to his son Isaac.
Do you know the Bible says that God the Father
has given everything into Jesus hand. It's a beautiful corollary
(07:53):
Jesus even said all that the Father has, he has
put in my hand my authority. And when he prayed
in John chapter seventeen, verse two, he says, as you
have given him authority, that is, the Father given him,
the son of Man, the authority that he may give
(08:14):
eternal life to as many as you. The Father has
given to him the son. In other words, you have
given me these people their mine. You gave them to me.
They're my people, they're followers of me. I have that authority,
and I have the authority from you to give them
eternal life to all those you have given to me.
(08:34):
Now here's a thought based on that. If we belong
to Christ, if the Father has given us as a
special gift to his son Jesus Christ, and if we
were too, as the Bible says, live our very lives
for the glory of Jesus Christ. And what if this
thought sort of dominated our day. When you get up
(08:56):
in the morning, you go, I belong to Jesus. I'm
his Jesus purchased me with his own life. The Father
has given me into his authority. I want today to
live for the one that the Father has given all
things to think, how different your day would be. How
different my day would be. You would see everything as
(09:19):
a divine appointment rather than as a distraction, or rather
that as a bother or why do I have to
go through this? You would Let's say you have a
job that isn't so exciting to you anymore. Maybe you
work for the Post Office and you deliver packages, or
for Federal Express or for ups. What if you saw that,
as I'm doing this by the will of God for
(09:40):
the glory of Jesus, so that every house you stop at,
as you deliver that gift, you pray for those who
are inside God bless them somehow, Lord, open up their
hearts to Jesus Christ. And you prayed for every single
person on your route. How radically different it would go
for you during the day. Or if you work in
a doctor's eye office or a dentist's office, or you're
(10:01):
a clerk somewhere, every person you come in contact with,
how can I be a blessing to them? How can
I pray for them? Because I want to glorify the Lord.
All things are for the Son. It's a thought, beautiful thought.
Verse seven. This is the sum of the years of
Abraham's life, which he lived one hundred and seventy five years.
(10:30):
Then Abraham breathed his last and died in a good
old age, I'll say, an old man full of years,
and he was gathered to his people. So we're even
given the reason for his death. Well, what did Abraham
(10:52):
die of years? He just had a lot of too many.
It's time to go now. In my Bible and perhaps
in yours too, the words of years are italicized, are they.
That's because in the Hebrew of years isn't there. It's
(11:14):
thought to be implied by the text. It simply says
Abraham died full. Not a great way to die. I'm full,
I'm satisfied. And by the way, the term can sometimes
carry more than quantity, but quality of life. He died full.
God had blessed him. He was full, he was rich
(11:35):
and rich, satisfied. He had walked with the Lord. He
had walked with the Lord for over one hundred years
in a relationship with him. He died full, and he
was gathered together with his people.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
You're listening to connect with Skiff Heitzig before we get
back to Skip's teaching. It's more important than ever for
Christians to stand for truth, in our broken culture and
in the God speaks Biblical answers for today's issues collection
of booklets from skip Heidzig. You'll get equipped to speak
God's timeless truth into the big issues of our time.
(12:11):
God speaks Biblical answers for today's issues. Is our thanks
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when you give fifty dollars or more today to help
(12:33):
reach people around the world with the good news of
Jesus through connect with skip Heidzig. Let's continue with today's
teaching with pastor.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Skip Years ago, I had the privilege of asking doctor
Jay Vernon McGee, who's now in having to speak here
on a midweek service. He was in his eighties or
around eighties, something feeble even then he had battled cancer
but still preaching. And I remember him saying that night,
(13:01):
and he said many other times he goes the loa
is gonna have to retire me. I'm not gonna retire well,
here is God retiring Abraham at a good old age.
There's a beautiful a proverb in Proverbs sixteen. I'll turn
(13:23):
to it and just read it to you. Listen to this,
The silver haired head, we got any of those? Got
a few of them. I'm developing my own. That's why
I like this verse. The silver haired head is a
crown of glory if it is found in the way
(13:44):
of righteousness. You see, old age is good if it's
accompanied by the presence of God, the blessing of God. Now,
notice something about the text that we just read in
Genesis twenty five. Notice it says in verse nine, oh,
we didn't get there yet, so let's get there. And
(14:09):
his sons, Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave
of Mcpella. Remember that's the place he bought for his
wife and buried her, Sarah in which is before Mammory,
in the field of Ephron, the son of Zoar the Hittite,
the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heath.
There Abraham was buried and Sarah his wife. Notice that
(14:37):
Ishmael and Isaac are together at the funeral right now.
They have been separated haven't they. For a number of years,
there's been a rift in the family, a division. Hagar
was sent away with Ishmael, Sarah and Isaac raised their
son Sarah and Abraham raised their son Isaac. So they
haven't seen each other for a while until the death.
(15:00):
And this is unfortunately too often the case. You can
almost be guaranteed that there's going to be a couple
of times where families who have been split apart, broken apart,
where there's been strained relationships get together weddings, funerals, but
almost always funerals. It's always good to settle as many
(15:25):
accounts relationally as you can before funerals, so they don't
get messy and weird as they often do. But they're
together because a will has been pronounced, and because he
is their father, they bury him in the cave where
their mother was buried. Verse twelve, Verse eleven. Excuse me.
(15:46):
It came to pass after the death of Abraham that
God blessed his son Isaac, and Isaac dwelt at beer
le Hey Roy. Do you remember that place? Remember Hagar
named that place. It's just a well in the middle
of nowhere. It's in the middle of the desert.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
But there.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
She conceived and she bore a son, Ishmael. And she
called the name of the place beer le Heyroi, which
means in Hebrew, I believe the well of the one
who lives and sees. And that's where Isaac now dwelt
in the middle of nowhere, but there was water. Now,
this is the genealogy verse twelve of Ishmael, Abraham's son,
(16:29):
whom Hagar, the Egyptian Sarah's maidservant bore to Abraham. Okay,
you got to know something if you haven't seen it yet,
and you probably have, and so I'll just reiterate what
you probably already know. When it comes to Biblical genealogies,
there are some that are included very briefly and then
they pass away very quickly, while others are highlighted, built upon, amplified,
(16:55):
picked up later on. And that is because though the
authors want you to know in the Bible, the outhors
of the Bible, ultimately it's the Holy Spirit wants you
to know the genealogical records. They're giving you just enough
information here with Ishmael, and you see it with others
to let you know the history and the historicity. But
(17:16):
then it's done because there's only one genealogy. The Bible
is ultimately concerned with Jesus Christ, the line that goes
to the Redeemer to fulfill the promise of Genesis three.
The seed of the woman will crush the head of
the serpent. The Bible is all about unfolding who that is.
(17:39):
And so we have the genealogy. It's very brief, and
there's also many nations that come from him fulfilling the
promise of God. Debraham and these are the names of
the sons of Ishmael, by their names according to their generations.
You ready for these names, I'll try to give them
their more original printiation. The first born of Ishmael ne
(18:03):
Ba Yot, then Keidar, ab Bi, il MiB Sam, Mishmah,
Dum Masah, Hadar, Tima, Jetur, Nafish, and Khadema. These were
the sons of Ishmael. These were their names by their
towns and their settlements, not as twelve princes, according to
(18:28):
their nations. These were the years of the life of
Ishmael one hundred and thirty seven years, so he died
at the same age that Abraham was when his wife
Sarah died that's trivial, doesn't mean anything. It just came
to mind, and he died. He breathed his lass and
(18:49):
was gathered to his people. They dwelt from Havilah as
far as sure and so you might read, then go,
I don't know where that is. So the author wants
you to know this, which is east of Egypt as
you go down towards Assyria. That's helpful in it. No,
it's not, because we don't know where that is. That
somewhere in the Sinai Peninsula. It's out in the desert
(19:12):
regions in ancient Arabia.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
That's what is.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Where it was. He died in the presence of all
his brethren. Okay, what we just read the names of
these twelve princes, and then the thirteenth, the big Kahuna, Ishmael.
The early genealogies of Islam begin here. Islam regards Ishmael
(19:35):
as a very important person, and though not every Muslim
on Earth can trace his physical genealogical heritage back to Ishmael,
all Muslims can trace their spiritual heritage back to Ishmael.
And that is because twelve times in the Qur'an his
name is mentioned and he's mentioned as a very important person.
(19:58):
In fact, in the k it's called surah or section
Sura nineteen, verse fifty four. It tells the reader that
Ishmael was a prophet, a prophet, an apostle, and a prophet.
Those two words are used. So he's very important, and
(20:21):
they trace a lot of their lineage back to Ishmael. Okay,
So keeping that in mind, I've got to take you back,
if you don't mind a couple of chapters. Go back
to chapter sixteen to see something to be reminded of it.
I think it will be helpful in the rest of
the biblical future as well as even in modern times.
(20:44):
Verse eight of chapter sixteen, he the Lord said, Hagar,
Sarah's maid, where have you come from and where are
you going? And she said, I'm fleeing from the presence
of my mistress SARAHI. The Angel of the Lord said
to her, read, turn to your mistress and submit yourself
(21:04):
under his hand. You see, the word submit very important
concept in Islam. The word Muslim means one who submits,
a submissive one, and they even believe that Abraham was
the one who coined the term Muslim submissive ones to
the will of God. There is in their tradition the
(21:26):
sentence that says, and Abraham called you muslemin or the
submitted ones, a very very important concept submit under her hand.
According to Islamic tradition, Abraham and Ishmael traveled to Mecca
(21:50):
and there they built a shrine called the Kabbah. The
Kabba is the holy shrine in Mecca where people go
every year and make the pill ailgrimage. It is believed
that Abraham and Ishmael are buried in Mecca, even though
the Bible says Abraham is buried where hebron the cave
(22:11):
of Mcpela Israel. His tomb is there even to this day.
But according to Muslim tradition, Abraham and his son Ishmael
are buried in Mecca. They founded they built the Kaba,
the sacred shrine. Just a note about the sacred shrine,
the Ka'bah. It was once a shrine that housed three
(22:33):
hundred and sixty different idols representing three hundred and sixty
various gods that were worshiped by the various Arab tribes
in the region. Allah was one of those gods. Of
the multiplicity of gods. Allah was the moon god, Muhammad
took a special should I say liking to Allah and
(23:00):
claimed that he was the one true God, and he
wanted to unify all of the tribes. He squelshed all
of the other gods, killed those who did not submit,
and Islam was established. But isn't it interesting that what
is called today one of the three great monotheistic religions
(23:22):
of the world actually began as a polytheistic religion. Well,
you move on, and it says in verse twelve, notice
what is the future of Ishmael. He shall be a
wild man. And literally it's a wild donkey, is the text,
(23:46):
a wild donkey. The term wild donkey refers to an
animal called the onagar. It was not a slur, It
was a compliment. We think that's not very good. No,
it's very good. An onagar was a fiercely independent animal
of the desert and regarded and valued highly in that day.
He's going to be fiercely independent, is the idea. But
(24:08):
notice this. His hand shall be against every man, and
it speaks of a state of war or a state
of being at feud with other people, and every man's
hand against him. And he will dwell in the presence
or of literally against all of his brethren.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Thanks for listening to Connect with Skip Heisig. We hope
you've been strengthening your walk with Jesus by today's program.
Before we let you go, we want to remind you
about this month's resources that will help you confidently speak
God's timeless truth into our culture. Pastor skips God speaks
Biblical answers for today's issues. Collection of booklets is our
(24:54):
Thanks for your support of Connect with Skip Heitzig today.
Request your copy when you give fifty dollars or more
call eight hundred ninety two two eighteen eighty eight. That's
eight hundred nine two two eighteen eighty eight, or visit
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(25:14):
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verse teaching of God's Word Here on Connect with skift Heidzig.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
Make Connect, make a Connect, The cross.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Chat song song.
Speaker 3 (25:42):
Makes Next Connect.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
The Skift Heidzig is a presentation of connection communications connecting
you to God's never changing truth in ever changing times,
This is connect with skip Heidzig and we're so glad
you've joined us for today's program Connect with skip Heidzig.
It's all about connecting you to the never changing truth
of God's Word through verse by verse teaching. That's why
we make messages like this one today available to you
and others. Before we get started with the program, we
want to invite you to check out connect with Skip
(00:21):
dot com. There you'll find resources like full message series,
daily devotionals and more. And while you're at it, be
sure to sign up for Skip's weekly devotional emails and
receive teaching from God's Word write in your inbox each day.
Sign up today at connect withiskip dot com. That's connect
with Skip dot com. Now let's get started with today's
(00:43):
message from pastor Skip Heitzig.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Michael Angelo eighty nine years of age when he painted
his most famous work. You can see it in the
Sistine 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
(01:09):
of the Sistine Chapel. John Wesley, you've heard of him,
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
(01:32):
and he's still preaching strong. I don't know why he
comes to mind, but J. C. Penny 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 Shay, I heard him a couple
of years ago. He was ninety eight at the time,
(01:53):
maybe ninety nine, and he stood up and he's sang
pretty great for his age. Some of people's greatest 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
(02:16):
chapter twenty five. I know we're moving rather slowly, but again,
what do we care? It'll be here next week, the
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
(02:41):
his progeny. Isaac is first because he's the son of Promise,
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
(03:03):
sent them eastward, away from Isaac's son, to the country
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 3 (03:22):
Spills, drills, thrills, bills, ills, pills, and.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
The last one wills. Abraham is at that last stage.
It's time to make a will. And though he has
already sent Ishmael and Hagar out with some kind of provision,
though the Lord said, 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
(03:57):
children who were born to him with katura the inheritance,
because the genealogy. And I'm going to 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
(04:18):
to Isaac. Now, did you notice that it says while
he was still living he sent them eastward. In other words,
Abraham is 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
(04:38):
those decisions, 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 one of the best pieces of advices in
(05:03):
the Bible is when the prophet Isaiah will come to
King Hezekiah of Judah in Second Kings twenty and says,
get your house in order, for you are going to
die and you will not live any longer. So he
(05:24):
warned him, you're going to die. Your time is about up.
You need to get your house in order, which to
him meant you better select somebody who is going to
be your successor to the throne. Get all that in
order now.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Now.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
The New Testament takes that principle and moves it up
a notch. Listen to what Paul says in One Timothy.
He says, if a man does not provide for his
own relatives, especially that of his own household, he is
(05:58):
worse than an infidel and has denied the faith. In
other words, as a man of the house, you are
called to take care of those in the immediate family.
It's a calling of God. Get the house in order,
and do what you can in advance to provide for them.
(06:18):
You will have to trust the Lord eventually, but do
what you can now. And I believe we see that
even in the life of Jesus. Remember he is on
the cross, and the last formal family declaration on the
cross is when John is there and his mother Mary
is there. And even in his agony, he wants to
make provision for his mother and says, son, behold your mother, Mother,
(06:44):
behold your son. That wasn't Jesus given Mary to the
whole human race, as it has been misinterpreted. It's simple, John,
take care of my mother. Treat her as your mother.
She's your responsibility. Mom. You're going to go with him
and he'll take care of you. And that is what happened.
History even bears that out. So Abraham is alive, he's
(07:04):
making decisions. He has to dole up his property, his money,
and he does so, and Isaac gets the bulk of it.
But Abraham gave gifts to the sons of the Concubines,
which Abraham had while he was living. He sent them eastward,
getting them settled away from his son Isaac, to the
country of the East. Now I did tell you last
(07:27):
week in the week before that Isaac is a beautiful
type of Christ. It's very obvious when you get, especially
to chapter twenty two. But consider this, just as the father,
Abraham gave all that he had to his son Isaac.
Do you know the Bible says that God the Father
has given everything into Jesus hand. It's a beautiful corollary
(07:53):
Jesus even said all that the Father has, he has
put in my hand my authority. And when he prayed
in John chapter seventeen, verse two, he says, as you
have given him authority, that is, the Father given him,
the son of Man, the authority that he may give
(08:14):
eternal life to as many as you. The Father has
given to him the son. In other words, you have
given me these people their mine. You gave them to me.
They're my people, they're followers of me. I have that authority,
and I have the authority from you to give them
eternal life to all those you have given to me.
(08:34):
Now here's a thought based on that. If we belong
to Christ, if the Father has given us as a
special gift to his son Jesus Christ, and if we
were too, as the Bible says, live our very lives
for the glory of Jesus Christ. And what if this
thought sort of dominated our day. When you get up
(08:56):
in the morning, you go, I belong to Jesus. I'm
his Jesus purchased me with his own life. The Father
has given me into his authority. I want today to
live for the one that the Father has given all
things to think, how different your day would be. How
different my day would be. You would see everything as
(09:19):
a divine appointment rather than as a distraction, or rather
that as a bother or why do I have to
go through this? You would Let's say you have a
job that isn't so exciting to you anymore. Maybe you
work for the Post Office and you deliver packages, or
for Federal Express or for ups. What if you saw that,
as I'm doing this by the will of God for
(09:40):
the glory of Jesus, so that every house you stop at,
as you deliver that gift, you pray for those who
are inside God bless them somehow, Lord, open up their
hearts to Jesus Christ. And you prayed for every single
person on your route. How radically different it would go
for you during the day. Or if you work in
a doctor's eye office or a dentist's office, or you're
(10:01):
a clerk somewhere, every person you come in contact with,
how can I be a blessing to them? How can
I pray for them? Because I want to glorify the Lord.
All things are for the Son. It's a thought, beautiful thought.
Verse seven. This is the sum of the years of
Abraham's life, which he lived one hundred and seventy five years.
(10:30):
Then Abraham breathed his last and died in a good
old age, I'll say, an old man full of years,
and he was gathered to his people. So we're even
given the reason for his death. Well, what did Abraham
(10:52):
die of years? He just had a lot of too many.
It's time to go now. In my Bible and perhaps
in yours too, the words of years are italicized, are they.
That's because in the Hebrew of years isn't there. It's
(11:14):
thought to be implied by the text. It simply says
Abraham died full. Not a great way to die. I'm full,
I'm satisfied. And by the way, the term can sometimes
carry more than quantity, but quality of life. He died full.
God had blessed him. He was full, he was rich
(11:35):
and rich, satisfied. He had walked with the Lord. He
had walked with the Lord for over one hundred years
in a relationship with him. He died full, and he
was gathered together with his people.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
You're listening to connect with Skiff Heitzig before we get
back to Skip's teaching. It's more important than ever for
Christians to stand for truth, in our broken culture and
in the God speaks Biblical answers for today's issues collection
of booklets from skip Heidzig. You'll get equipped to speak
God's timeless truth into the big issues of our time.
(12:11):
God speaks Biblical answers for today's issues. Is our thanks
for your gift of at least fifty dollars today to
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when you give fifty dollars or more today to help
(12:33):
reach people around the world with the good news of
Jesus through connect with skip Heidzig. Let's continue with today's
teaching with pastor.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Skip Years ago, I had the privilege of asking doctor
Jay Vernon McGee, who's now in having to speak here
on a midweek service. He was in his eighties or
around eighties, something feeble even then he had battled cancer
but still preaching. And I remember him saying that night,
(13:01):
and he said many other times he goes the loa
is gonna have to retire me. I'm not gonna retire well,
here is God retiring Abraham at a good old age.
There's a beautiful a proverb in Proverbs sixteen. I'll turn
(13:23):
to it and just read it to you. Listen to this,
The silver haired head, we got any of those? Got
a few of them. I'm developing my own. That's why
I like this verse. The silver haired head is a
crown of glory if it is found in the way
(13:44):
of righteousness. You see, old age is good if it's
accompanied by the presence of God, the blessing of God. Now,
notice something about the text that we just read in
Genesis twenty five. Notice it says in verse nine, oh,
we didn't get there yet, so let's get there. And
(14:09):
his sons, Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave
of Mcpella. Remember that's the place he bought for his
wife and buried her, Sarah in which is before Mammory,
in the field of Ephron, the son of Zoar the Hittite,
the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heath.
There Abraham was buried and Sarah his wife. Notice that
(14:37):
Ishmael and Isaac are together at the funeral right now.
They have been separated haven't they. For a number of years,
there's been a rift in the family, a division. Hagar
was sent away with Ishmael, Sarah and Isaac raised their
son Sarah and Abraham raised their son Isaac. So they
haven't seen each other for a while until the death.
(15:00):
And this is unfortunately too often the case. You can
almost be guaranteed that there's going to be a couple
of times where families who have been split apart, broken apart,
where there's been strained relationships get together weddings, funerals, but
almost always funerals. It's always good to settle as many
(15:25):
accounts relationally as you can before funerals, so they don't
get messy and weird as they often do. But they're
together because a will has been pronounced, and because he
is their father, they bury him in the cave where
their mother was buried. Verse twelve, Verse eleven. Excuse me.
(15:46):
It came to pass after the death of Abraham that
God blessed his son Isaac, and Isaac dwelt at beer
le Hey Roy. Do you remember that place? Remember Hagar
named that place. It's just a well in the middle
of nowhere. It's in the middle of the desert.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
But there.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
She conceived and she bore a son, Ishmael. And she
called the name of the place beer le Heyroi, which
means in Hebrew, I believe the well of the one
who lives and sees. And that's where Isaac now dwelt
in the middle of nowhere, but there was water. Now,
this is the genealogy verse twelve of Ishmael, Abraham's son,
(16:29):
whom Hagar, the Egyptian Sarah's maidservant bore to Abraham. Okay,
you got to know something if you haven't seen it yet,
and you probably have, and so I'll just reiterate what
you probably already know. When it comes to Biblical genealogies,
there are some that are included very briefly and then
they pass away very quickly, while others are highlighted, built upon, amplified,
(16:55):
picked up later on. And that is because though the
authors want you to know in the Bible, the outhors
of the Bible, ultimately it's the Holy Spirit wants you
to know the genealogical records. They're giving you just enough
information here with Ishmael, and you see it with others
to let you know the history and the historicity. But
(17:16):
then it's done because there's only one genealogy. The Bible
is ultimately concerned with Jesus Christ, the line that goes
to the Redeemer to fulfill the promise of Genesis three.
The seed of the woman will crush the head of
the serpent. The Bible is all about unfolding who that is.
(17:39):
And so we have the genealogy. It's very brief, and
there's also many nations that come from him fulfilling the
promise of God. Debraham and these are the names of
the sons of Ishmael, by their names according to their generations.
You ready for these names, I'll try to give them
their more original printiation. The first born of Ishmael ne
(18:03):
Ba Yot, then Keidar, ab Bi, il MiB Sam, Mishmah,
Dum Masah, Hadar, Tima, Jetur, Nafish, and Khadema. These were
the sons of Ishmael. These were their names by their
towns and their settlements, not as twelve princes, according to
(18:28):
their nations. These were the years of the life of
Ishmael one hundred and thirty seven years, so he died
at the same age that Abraham was when his wife
Sarah died that's trivial, doesn't mean anything. It just came
to mind, and he died. He breathed his lass and
(18:49):
was gathered to his people. They dwelt from Havilah as
far as sure and so you might read, then go,
I don't know where that is. So the author wants
you to know this, which is east of Egypt as
you go down towards Assyria. That's helpful in it. No,
it's not, because we don't know where that is. That
somewhere in the Sinai Peninsula. It's out in the desert
(19:12):
regions in ancient Arabia.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
That's what is.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Where it was. He died in the presence of all
his brethren. Okay, what we just read the names of
these twelve princes, and then the thirteenth, the big Kahuna, Ishmael.
The early genealogies of Islam begin here. Islam regards Ishmael
(19:35):
as a very important person, and though not every Muslim
on Earth can trace his physical genealogical heritage back to Ishmael,
all Muslims can trace their spiritual heritage back to Ishmael.
And that is because twelve times in the Qur'an his
name is mentioned and he's mentioned as a very important person.
(19:58):
In fact, in the k it's called surah or section
Sura nineteen, verse fifty four. It tells the reader that
Ishmael was a prophet, a prophet, an apostle, and a prophet.
Those two words are used. So he's very important, and
(20:21):
they trace a lot of their lineage back to Ishmael. Okay,
So keeping that in mind, I've got to take you back,
if you don't mind a couple of chapters. Go back
to chapter sixteen to see something to be reminded of it.
I think it will be helpful in the rest of
the biblical future as well as even in modern times.
(20:44):
Verse eight of chapter sixteen, he the Lord said, Hagar,
Sarah's maid, where have you come from and where are
you going? And she said, I'm fleeing from the presence
of my mistress SARAHI. The Angel of the Lord said
to her, read, turn to your mistress and submit yourself
(21:04):
under his hand. You see, the word submit very important
concept in Islam. The word Muslim means one who submits,
a submissive one, and they even believe that Abraham was
the one who coined the term Muslim submissive ones to
the will of God. There is in their tradition the
(21:26):
sentence that says, and Abraham called you muslemin or the
submitted ones, a very very important concept submit under her hand.
According to Islamic tradition, Abraham and Ishmael traveled to Mecca
(21:50):
and there they built a shrine called the Kabbah. The
Kabba is the holy shrine in Mecca where people go
every year and make the pill ailgrimage. It is believed
that Abraham and Ishmael are buried in Mecca, even though
the Bible says Abraham is buried where hebron the cave
(22:11):
of Mcpela Israel. His tomb is there even to this day.
But according to Muslim tradition, Abraham and his son Ishmael
are buried in Mecca. They founded they built the Kaba,
the sacred shrine. Just a note about the sacred shrine,
the Ka'bah. It was once a shrine that housed three
(22:33):
hundred and sixty different idols representing three hundred and sixty
various gods that were worshiped by the various Arab tribes
in the region. Allah was one of those gods. Of
the multiplicity of gods. Allah was the moon god, Muhammad
took a special should I say liking to Allah and
(23:00):
claimed that he was the one true God, and he
wanted to unify all of the tribes. He squelshed all
of the other gods, killed those who did not submit,
and Islam was established. But isn't it interesting that what
is called today one of the three great monotheistic religions
(23:22):
of the world actually began as a polytheistic religion. Well,
you move on, and it says in verse twelve, notice
what is the future of Ishmael. He shall be a
wild man. And literally it's a wild donkey, is the text,
(23:46):
a wild donkey. The term wild donkey refers to an
animal called the onagar. It was not a slur, It
was a compliment. We think that's not very good. No,
it's very good. An onagar was a fiercely independent animal
of the desert and regarded and valued highly in that day.
He's going to be fiercely independent, is the idea. But
(24:08):
notice this. His hand shall be against every man, and
it speaks of a state of war or a state
of being at feud with other people, and every man's
hand against him. And he will dwell in the presence
or of literally against all of his brethren.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Thanks for listening to Connect with Skip Heisig. We hope
you've been strengthening your walk with Jesus by today's program.
Before we let you go, we want to remind you
about this month's resources that will help you confidently speak
God's timeless truth into our culture. Pastor skips God speaks
Biblical answers for today's issues. Collection of booklets is our
(24:54):
Thanks for your support of Connect with Skip Heitzig today.
Request your copy when you give fifty dollars or more
call eight hundred ninety two two eighteen eighty eight. That's
eight hundred nine two two eighteen eighty eight, or visit
connectiskip dot com slash donate and did you know that
you can get a weekly devotional and other resources from
(25:14):
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connect with skift dot com and sign up for emails
from Skip. Come back next time for more verse by
verse teaching of God's Word Here on Connect with skift Heidzig.
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