Genesis 25 & 26
Unfolding of God’s Promises

Genesis 25

Abraham’s Death

1 Now Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. 2 She bore to him Zimran and Jokshan and Medan and Midian and Ishbak and Shuah. 3 Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim and Letushim and Leummim. 4 The sons of Midian were Ephah and Epher and Hanoch and Abida and Eldaah. All these were the sons of Keturah. 5 Now Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac; 6 but to the sons of his concubines, Abraham gave gifts while he was still living, and sent them away from his son Isaac eastward, to the land of the east.

7 These are all the years of Abraham’s life that he lived, one hundred and seventy-five years. 8 Abraham breathed his last and died in a ripe old age, an old man and satisfied with life; and he was gathered to his people. 9 Then his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, facing Mamre, 10 the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth; there Abraham was buried with Sarah his wife. 11 It came about after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac lived by Beer-lahai-roi.

Descendants of Ishmael

12 Now these are the records of the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maid, bore to Abraham; 13 and these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael, and Kedar and Adbeel and Mibsam 14 and Mishma and Dumah and Massa, 15 Hadad and Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. 16 These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their villages, and by their camps; twelve princes according to their tribes. 17 These are the years of the life of Ishmael, one hundred and thirty-seven years; and he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people. 18 They settled from Havilah to Shur which is east of Egypt as one goes toward Assyria; he settled in defiance of all his relatives.

Isaac’s Sons

19 Now these are the records of the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham became the father of Isaac; 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. 21 Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is so, why then am I this way?” So she went to inquire of the LORD. 23 The LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the younger.” 24 When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. 25 Now the first came forth red, all over like a hairy garment; and they named him Esau. 26 Afterward his brother came forth with his hand holding on to Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob; and Isaac was sixty years old when she gave birth to them.

27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a peaceful man, living in tents. 28 Now Isaac loved Esau, because he had a taste for game, but Rebekah loved Jacob. 29 When Jacob had cooked stew, Esau came in from the field and he was famished; 30 and Esau said to Jacob, “Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished.” Therefore his name was called Edom. 31 But Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.” 32 Esau said, “Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?” 33 And Jacob said, “First swear to me”; so he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

Genesis 26

Isaac Settles in Gerar

1 Now there was a famine in the land, besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines. 2 The LORD appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which I shall tell you. 3 “Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. 4 “I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; 5 because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws.”

6 So Isaac lived in Gerar. 7 When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say, “my wife,” thinking, “the men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is beautiful.” 8 It came about, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out through a window, and saw, and behold, Isaac was caressing his wife Rebekah. 9 Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, certainly she is your wife! How then did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” And Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘I might die on account of her.’” 10 Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” 11 So Abimelech charged all the people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

12 Now Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. And the LORD blessed him, 13 and the man became rich, and continued to grow richer until he became very wealthy; 14 for he had possessions of flocks and herds and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him. 15 Now all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped up by filling them with earth. 16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are too powerful for us.” 17 And Isaac departed from there and camped in the valley of Gerar, and settled there.

Quarrel over the Wells

18 Then Isaac dug again the wells of water which had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he gave them the same names which his father had given them. 19 But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of flowing water, 20 the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they contended with him. 21 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over it too, so he named it Sitnah. 22 He moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he named it Rehoboth, for he said, “At last the LORD has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”

23 Then he went up from there to Beersheba. 24 The LORD appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you, and multiply your descendants, For the sake of My servant Abraham.” 25 So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.

Covenant with Abimelech

26 Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with his adviser Ahuzzath and Phicol the commander of his army. 27 Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?” 28 They said, “We see plainly that the LORD has been with you; so we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, even between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, 29 that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the LORD.’” 30 Then he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. 31 In the morning they arose early and exchanged oaths; then Isaac sent them away and they departed from him in peace. 32 Now it came about on the same day, that Isaac’s servants came in and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.” 33 So he called it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.

34 When Esau was forty years old he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite; 35 and they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

Unpacking Genesis 25 & 26

At this point, the records of the patriarchs are in full swing. So far, we’ve looked at God’s covenant with Abraham. God promised Abraham that he would have descendants as numerous as the stars, that they would live in the Promised Land, and through them, all people would be blessed. These promises were fantastic, except for one little issue. Abraham and Sarah were without a child, and they were well past childbearing age. In fact, Sarah was 90ish years old when she gave birth to Isaac. He was truly a miracle child!

We’ve also seen that the arrival of Isaac was not the final chapter in the story of Abraham and Sarah. In Genesis 22, the Lord tested Abraham by commanding him to sacrifice Isaac as a burnt offering. We saw in our study of Genesis 22 that Abraham trusted the Lord to perform a miracle. Indeed, at the last second, the Lord provided a ram. Abraham sacrificed it and was able to take his miracle son home with him that day.

Although that is a powerful story of Abraham’s faith, we cannot forget that it is also a powerful story of Isaac’s faith, too. You will remember Isaac was not a little boy in that passage. He was a teenager. For Isaac to be willing to go through that event demonstrated his own tremendous faith! Keep this in mind as we look at Genesis 25 and 26.

As we turn to Genesis 25, many decades have passed. We skipped Genesis 24, but in Genesis 24, Isaac was 40 years old, and the Lord provided him with a wife named Rebekah. Now, in Genesis 25, Isaac is 60. Like his parents, he and Rebekah are childless. If God were going to fulfill His covenantal promises to Isaac, the Lord would have to do something! Indeed, He did.

Rebekah gets pregnant in Genesis 25:21. This miraculous pregnancy should have been clear proof to Isaac and Rebekah that the Lord had special plans for the child(ren) in her womb. We’ll see things don’t quite work out this way.

In Genesis 25:22, Rebekah wasn’t feeling so great and didn’t understand why. The Lord meets with her and tells her she will have twins! He also tells her something very important in verse 23. He said, “Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the younger.” The point of this message is that the older of the two twins will serve the younger. This is a big deal because, in their ancient culture, it was normally the other way around.

Continuing through Genesis 25, the twins were born in verses 24 and 25. First came Esau, then came Jacob holding onto Esau’s heel. Esau was born first, so by the cultural norms of the day, he would inherit the birthright and one day rule the family.

Let’s pause and remember who Isaac was and what it would mean to inherit his “birthright.” Isaac was the patriarch of the family, but not just any family. In Genesis 26:2-3, he was the one who personally received God’s covenant. God promised that through Isaac would come descendants as numerous as the stars. They would dwell in the Promised Land, and the world would be blessed through them. So, to inherit this birthright meant to become the next patriarch over this nation being formed by God.

With this covenant in mind, since Esau was born first, culturally speaking, he should have been the one to inherit these promises. We know from verse 23, however, that this was not God’s plan.

We see windows into God’s plan over the next several verses.

In verse 27, Esau was a skilled hunter. Jacob spent most of his time hanging out in the tent area. In verse 28, Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for game. Rebekah loved Jacob. The fact that these dynamics of favoritism were even mentioned indicates something was clearly amiss in how this family operated.

Chapter 25 ends with an uncomfortable account of how Esau sold his birthright for a meal. In verse 29, Esau was out in the field, and Jacob was in the tents cooking some stew. In verse 30, Esau comes in and says to Jacob, “Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished.” Jacob was quick on his feet and said, “First sell me your birthright.” With youthful foolishness, Esau basically says, “Sure! I’m going to die anyway!” In verse 33, Jacob makes him swear. Esau does, and in verse 34, Jacob gives him some bread and lentil stew. The underlying point here is that Esau willingly gave his birthright to Jacob because he didn’t cherish it, didn’t make it his own, and didn’t live in light of it.

We might think this is just youthful impulsiveness. I would imagine that most of us would not want to be held to something we said when we were young! But there are some things you don’t joke about. God is establishing a holy nation on this earth comprised of people who will follow Him and obey Him. That is not a joking matter, ever.

Esau was supposed to be the next patriarch over this people dedicated to God. Then, he was supposed to pass on this awesome and holy charter to his son. He is practically a prince and should carry himself as such! How could he be so cavalier about his role in their society and the overall plan of God? The answer is he could not. Therefore, the Lord would take the keys to the kingdom from Esau and give them to the son who truly valued them. Jacob was not perfect, but at least he was sober-minded enough to respect the awesome gift of the birthright.

Esau’s low view of the kingdom of God was further demonstrated in Genesis 26:34-35 which says, “When Esau was forty years old he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite; and they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.”

This little statement carries a ton of weight. Notice verse 35 ends by saying that Esau’s marriage choices brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah. Why?

Because Esau is marrying two “Hittite” women. Who were the Hittites? Hittites were descendants of Canaan, who was the son of Ham (Genesis 10:6). You’ll remember from our study in Genesis 9 that Ham was the son who looked upon Noah’s nakedness after the flood, and his son Canaan received Noah’s curse. Therefore, Esau married two women from a cursed line of people who were from among the nations that rebelled against God in Genesis 11!

Again, we need to remember who Esau was supposed to be. Esau wasn’t just any old member of the descendants of Abraham. On paper, he was the next in line to be the next patriarch. He was supposed to set the tone for this nation that was specifically chartered to obey God. Yet Esau didn’t.

He went outside of the descendants of Shem and engaged in polygamy with women from the world. Therefore, if he had become the patriarch, he would have corrupted God’s holy people! It is no surprise that God intended to carry His promises through the line of Jacob rather than Esau.

Genesis 25 and 26 set the scene for what comes next in chapters 27 and 28. So far, we’re seeing that although God has already determined Jacob would be the next patriarch of His people, Esau wasn’t making that decision difficult.

When faced with the option of choosing God’s ways or the ways of his flesh or the world, Esau chose his flesh and the world. Therefore, he would not have been a suitable patriarch of the people of God. His life shows us what it looks like to set our focus on things of this world rather than things of the Lord.

Let’s never be like Esau and be flagrantly dismissive of the things of God.

Study and Discussion Questions

Listening to the Key Chapters Podcast on this chapter provides further insights into the following questions.

1. When was a time in your life when you consciously made a life decision in light of your standing as a member of God’s people? What was the outcome of that decision?

2. Take a moment to evaluate your personal commitment to the kingdom of God. On a scale of 1 to 10, how committed are you to reflecting God’s kingdom now and investing in God’s kingdom to come? Why did you choose that number?

3. Why do you think that the Lord allowed Isaac and Rebekah not to be able to have children until later in life? What impact would this (or should this) have on the spiritual lessons they would teach their children? Did it?

4. How would you describe the family dynamics in Isaac’s household? What kind of problems did their favoritism create? Who was responsible for rectifying these problems? What are some possible reasons why these problems weren’t properly addressed?

5. In Genesis 25:23, what was the Lord’s promise to Rebekah about the twins she was bearing? How is this promise important as the story of Jacob’s life unfolds?

6. What were God’s promises to Isaac in Genesis 26:3 and 4? How was this similar to the Lord’s promises to Abraham? What would these promises also indicate about Isaac’s role as the patriarch of his family? What would these promises mean for the role one of his sons would have over these future descendants?

7. In Genesis 25:27-34, why do you think Esau sold his birthright to Jacob? Was this a true “sale”? Was the birthright his to “sell” anyway? How does this set the tone for the unraveling of Esau’s role as firstborn?

8. In Genesis 26:34-45, Esau marries two Hittite women. What significance might his marriage have on the direction of his leadership over the descendants of Abraham?

9. Esau didn’t cherish his birthright because he didn’t cherish God’s promises. If he did, what would that have looked like in his life? What does it look like in our world today to cherish God’s promises and live in light of them? Why is this sometimes difficult to do?

10. Although the study didn’t address very much from Genesis 26, you have probably read it by now. As you reflect upon the events of Genesis 26, what do they show you about the quality of Isaac’s faith? Why do you think his faith was like this?

11. The Bible often reminds us that although we are to walk in God’s ways, it’s not to curry His favor but rather to glorify Him. Both Abraham and Isaac show us that God uses imperfect people. Why do you think that is? What encouragement does this give you if and when you struggle in your walk?