Epic (Part 1): The Storyline of the BibleSample

Abraham marries Keturah and has six more sons. We don’t know if that was before or after the death of Sarah. Abraham’s death is listed but the event isn’t in time order. According to Genesis 21:5, Abraham was 100 when Isaac was born. According to verse 26 today, Isaac was 60 when his sons were born, so Abraham was 160 when his grandsons were born and 175 when he died. Moses tells the story in a way that closes out the life of Abraham before moving on to the life of Isaac’s sons. Ishmael’s offspring are also given in this chapter, showing God keeping His promise to Abraham from Genesis 17:20. This is another way of closing out the life of Abraham. Since Isaac was 40 when he married and 60 when his sons were born, Rebekah and Isaac had to wait 20 years for her to become pregnant.

What is clear from this chapter is that God keeps His promises. His promise to Abraham was that he would be the father of many nations. That happened through Isaac, Ishmael, and his other sons. He promised that Isaac would be the father of a nation. Although it took a while, Abraham saw his grandsons live to age 15. We have many promises from God as well: our sins are forgiven, we have the Holy Spirit inside us, and we have the power to overcome sin in our lives. Like Abraham, we can depend on God’s promises even when it doesn’t look or feel like it.