Will you please imagine with me a runner who has almost finished a marathon? He is coming up on 25 miles and can see the finish line in the distance. But then something happens. He is distracted, or tired, or injured, or just decides he is going to do things his way, and thinks to himself, “I’ve come this far. I don’t have to follow this course anymore!” So, he cuts across the parking lot, takes a short cut (for all to see), and he finishes the race somewhere other than he was supposed to finish. He finished the race, but he didn’t finish the way he was supposed to finish. As a result, he doesn’t receive the ribbon he almost earned, but he does see crowds of people baffled by his choice, and news reporters making his wrong choices headline news.
Abraham’s life is nearing the finish line in Genesis 25. God had incredibly blessed him through the years, and Abraham experienced great victories as he ran the race of life. However, the race was not yet over. He still had important choices to make! If we want to finish well, we must choose God’s way.
Finish Well
Genesis 25:1-11
This next chapter opens up with Abraham remarrying. His new wife is Keturah. Let’s look at the timeline:
Genesis 23:1- Sarah dies at the age of 127
Genesis 23:2- Abraham mourns and buries Sarah
Genesis 24- Abraham sends a servant to find Isaac a wife and Isaac marries Rebekah
Genesis 25:1- Abraham remarries
Genesis 25:7- Abraham dies at the age of 175
Genesis 25:20- Isaac is 40 when he marries Rebekah
Genesis 25:26- Esau and Jacob are born when Isaac is 60
The next generation of God’s covenant family was now taking center stage. Genesis 25:9 even mentions that Isaac and Ishmael buried Abraham together (which implies some level of reconciliation).
Ecclesiastes 7:8 says it this way, “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof.” Many in scripture did not end well! Lot, Samson, Saul, Solomon, Demas (deserted Paul because he “loved this present world”), Ananias (participated in the early church but lied to the Holy Spirit), and of course, Judas Iscariot.
Abraham had his ups and downs in his trusting God as he sojourned and waited for God’s promises to be fulfilled. However, he saw greater spiritual stability and stronger faith as he got older! Abraham did not finish perfectly, but he did finish well! He continued believing God’s promise and prepared Isaac for the promise.
He gave “all that he had” (25:5-6) to Isaac and gave gifts to the others showing intentionally caring for his family and intentionally embracing God’s promise.
He “sent the others away” (25:6) so God’s promise through Isaac is not made obscure.
He died “full of years” (25:8) and the Hebrew words here mean “satisfied or full.” He lived a full life.
Also, the brothers (Isaac & Ishmael) buried dad together (25:9). These who had been separated as children (Gen. 21) now had a workable relationship.
A man died and his family was going through all his belongings. They found expensive tools, a beautiful recliner, and a box of stuff that no one had a clue what it was for. Eventually one of the siblings spoke his thoughts out loud, “Dad spent 40 years collecting all this stuff, and now we are spending a Saturday trying to figure out what to do with it all!”
This is the funny thing about “legacy.” A lot of what we spend our lives accumulating doesn’t last very long after we’re gone.
Abraham was an extremely wealthy man, but wealth wasn’t his greatest legacy. Abraham had many children, but having a large family was not his greatest legacy. Abraham rescued Lot as a man of war, but a warrior was not his greatest legacy. His greatest legacy was believing God’s covenant promise and preparing the next generation! This raises a question for each of us: What are we aiming for our greatest legacy to be? Wealth? Possessions? Popularity? Approval from peers? Consider these targets instead:
Strong faith in God.
Passing on possessions to friends and family is temporary and those possessions will lose value and decay. Let others know by the way you live that living the gospel is worth it all!
Invest beyond yourself.
Adam, Noah, and Abraham all were part of a story that was bigger than themselves. God’s work will continue without you on earth, so prepare the next generation! Learn the gospel like an expert, live the gospel like you mean it, and then share the gospel like it is a matter of life or death (because it is!). This investment requires time, labor, selflessness, and humility!
Embrace humility.
Our goal is not to make our own name great! The people in Genesis 11 tried to make their name great with the tower of Babel, but it only brought massive confusion. They were aiming for the wrong target. Trust your name with God and His promises.
Faithfulness to God matters if you desire to finish well! We are not perfect, but we can grow stronger from where we stood this time last year. Stop pointing at the politicians, at other families, your neighbors, or at your boss, and start looking in the mirror. Too many are worried about and complain about these others, but their own marriage, children, and themselves are falling apart spiritually! See your reflection in God’s Word, learn from it, confess sin, and begin building stronger faith in Jesus! Choose God’s way to finish well, to prepare the next generation, and to be ready to meet Jesus!