Genesis - Part 45 | Pastor Paul McGee

Hallelujah, Jesus. Can we give him just one more

time some worship here tonight. God, we honor you, Lord, in this

place. I love you.

Jesus, we're here to worship you, Lord.

Amen. Lady with the alabaster box came

in and lavished her worship upon the Lord.

She came in with that alabaster box, which means that she

prepared for what she was going to do.

It's always good to come to God's house where we know He is

and His presence is. Come in.

Prepare to do what we do when we arrive here.

It's not a second thought. It's not, oh, by the way, no, I

came here prepared to do this, to worship him.

Amen and Amen. We're so glad tonight to have

brother Fred and sister Sheila back from their trip.

God kept them safe, safe hand of protection upon them.

Appreciate that. We're also glad to have

Mackenzie and Hunter and Soren and Zoe and baby Coulson

tonight. This is Colson's first time

being at the First Apostolic Church, and this is Piper's

first time at being at the First Apostolic Church.

Glad that Grace is able to be here as well.

And with that being said, folks, my normal drill when new babies

are come in the church, let's be mindful of these mangers, all

right? Let's be mindful of them and

admire at a distance. You know, we don't need you

scratching your nose and then sticking your finger in their

mouth from that you want. No, we don't need anything like

that. Just be mindful of that.

We're in the fall season, there's already garbage going

around and so on and so forth. Let your germs be your germs,

all right, Amen. So let's just be mindful of that

tonight, Amen. Also, as you turn to Genesis

Genesis 25 · chapter mention

chapter 25, tomorrow night is power hour here at the church.

Prayer from 7 to 8, All right, the sign in sheet will be out

there for signing in. And that just helps us keep a

pulse about what percentage of this church comes to Thursday

night prayer, all right, just helps keep a pulse.

And also this weekend is our district Fall Conference, all

right? And so just be in prayer about

that. It's an election year as well.

So the Lord have the right people, the right place that

need to be there so and so forward.

And also next Wednesday, everybody say next Wednesday,

next Wednesday. We've done this two other times.

We had little interview sessions with someone around the topic.

And next Wednesday is with Doctor Mason and around the

topic of everyone leads, everyone leads, all right?

And so that's next Wednesday, and then the Wednesday after

that will be revival. So you'll have two Wednesdays of

a pause from the book of Genesis.

Maybe not, though. I had to explain for the mop and

why everybody was laughing at him when he mentioned the book

of Genesis that he's preaching from Sunday night.

So maybe Brother Smith will come October the 12th through the

15th, and maybe he'll just preach on Genesis every service.

I don't know, but nonetheless, Amen.

So with that being said, October the 11th is our annual hayride

and chili stuff around here. And we're the for sure, I'm

pretty, I'm well, it's what's going to be the cornhole portion

of that will for Sure Start at 2:00 because we got plenty of

teams out there. The cornhole part, the food part

is just going to be right with the food part.

I seen your mouth, Sister Sheila, just like, I don't know,

you know, but for 2:00 it will start so that we still have

daylight and stuff in order to do that and won't just be a

whole bunch of things over top of bunch of things.

All right. But by Sunday, Brother Mason

will have a set up and tear down opportunities where people can

sign up for helping set up and tear down for that, for that

that day. So chilly supper and starting on

that Sunday revival Sunday through Wednesday.

All right, you'll be a great time.

I know you've been standing. Genesis 25, folks, Genesis 25

marks half of Genesis being done.

But we won't get all the way through the chapter tonight.

All right, so let's read a few verses here.

We're going to dip our our foot a little bit in a little

genealogy here. I know verse one.

Then again Abraham took a wife and her name was Katura.

She bury him. Zimran and Jock Shan and Midan

and Midian and Ishbach and Shua and Jock Shan begat Sheba and

Deedan. This is why people don't like

genealogies. And the sons of Deedan were as

Shireen and Le Tushim and Lee Umim, and the sons of Midian

Effa and Ether and Hanoch and Abida and Elda, and these were

the children of Katura, everybody says.

And Abraham gave all that he had into Isaac, that unto the sons

of the concubines which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts and sent

them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived eastward into

the E country. Amen.

Also before I go tonight, it's good to have Abby back.

Amen, with us. It's good to have Ethan White

with us, Amen. Tonight, he's going to have

Destiny's friend with us tonight, Amen.

I acknowledge you all. Let's pray.

Want to talk a little bit tonight about faith in the

Pause. Faith in the pause.

Lord Jesus, we need you this evening.

Thank you, Lord, for your purpose, your mercy, your word,

and God, you're great and great to be praised.

God. We're thankful, Lord, for your

spirit that we can feel. God, these people that have

gathered together, Lord, to honor you, Lord, with their

lives, with their attendance, the Lord, with their attention.

And I pray, O Lord, you'd help us in the next little while.

Lord, as we look, these scriptures that empower us.

Lord, this evening, spirit of revelation, enlightenment,

lovely name of the Lord Jesus Christ that I pray Hallelujah in

the church, say Amen, Amen. You may be seen in Jesus name.

So the opening, the opening verses of this blessed chapter,

chapter 25 gives us a little bit of a further genealogy.

Abraham has taken, has taken another wife, Katura.

And if this indeed happened after Sarah has died, this would

for sure make make sense for him to do so.

However, it's not that he's just taking a wife, but he is also

fathering more children. More children at his age seems

to be a little radical. I'm just saying let's be honest,

on one hand Abraham has already thought of himself too old even

whenever Isaac was going to be brought into their family as it

was stated in Genesis 17 and 17. If we can just review here, the

Bible says then Abraham, who at the time the Lord was speaking

to him was 99 years old here fell upon his face and laughed

and said in his heart, shall a child be born to him that is 100

years old? So he knew it was going to take,

you know, about nine months for this to happen.

The Lord told him about having a child.

He said, is this going to help someone that's as old as I am?

And then he goes on and says, and shall Sarah, that is 99

years old, Bear. And so it's clear that Abraham

isn't just concerned about Sarah's ability to have this

child. He is also doubtful about with

his own ability to be able to sire this child at being 9999 to

100 years old. Well, folks, here in Genesis 25,

he's well past 99. He's well past 100, and he's

fathering. He's fathering children.

And so in Genesis chapter 23, the Bible tells us that Sarah

Genesis 23 · chapter mention

died at the age of 127 years old.

She was, as the Scripture even bears in Genesis 1717, she was

approximately 10 years younger than Abraham.

So that means even whenever his wife died, he would have been

137 years old at the time of her death.

And so he would be having children, sister Sheila, much

later in life. There's a few years tacked on to

that 100 now to be able to have so many kids here with Katura

here in the opening of of Genesis chapter #25 And if that

seems wow, there's some even that that say, and I don't know

the answer to this. I'm telling you, I don't know

the answer to it. I don't know if Katura came

after Sarah or came in conjunction during Sarah's

lifetime. But there's some even that that

that say that the virility that was given to Abraham whenever he

had Isaac to produce that son stayed with him, stayed with him

even after having Isaac, enabling him to have more

children and other conception. But one of the reasons why these

children and these other descendants through Katura, it

is named, the reason why it's noteworthy is because in a

sense, it's still underscores the promise to Abraham of him

having many descendants because he had descendants that didn't

just come through Isaac. He had descendants that came

through Ishmael. He had descendants that came

through Katura. There is a broad, if you will,

swath of descendants that belonged to Abraham that didn't

just come through Isaac. And so it is denoting this for

us, again, underscoring God's promise coming to pass of many

descendants. Amen.

For Abraham and his life, He has all these descendants to account

for. It's only the descendants

though, that are through Isaac that are known to be through the

Son of covenant, through the Son of promise.

Not only that, we are introduced to some of these people of

Katura because this isn't going to be the only time we see some

of them. For instance, I just do this,

for instance, I'm not going to go through each one, but for

instance, we see later in the Scripture group of people called

the Midianites, the Midianites that follow their family tree

from the son of Katura and Abraham, whose name was Midian.

Just kind of show how things are going to crop up again.

It was Jethro, Moses's father-in-law, Zipporah, Moses's

wife, who were the Bible says Midianites.

They were from the son of Midian.

That goes all the way back to Katura and to Abraham.

Now Zipporah, here's the thing with some of these that are born

from otherwise with Abraham, Zipporah being Moses wife, she

is biologically connected to the covenant family, but she's not

in the line of the covenant. Amen.

As a matter of fact, and I really want you go here and

really chase a rabbit, right? But we see in the story of

Zipporah and Moses somewhere along the line where Zipporah

circumcised her son and she threw it at the feet of Moses

saying a bloody husband thou art to me.

Because there's been no circumcision that had taken

place yet. And almost as though she was

claiming a covenant that she didn't have biologically, but by

obedience and promise that she wanted a piece of but

nonetheless, the promise was for Isaac.

The Lord said in in Isaac, shall thy seed be called.

And that implies not just a biological descent, but a

recognition and a covenant identity and and a legacy.

Furthermore, speaking again, just talking about the

Midianites help they're induces to us now because they're going

to show up later in the the Bible as well.

Somewhere along the way, Midian Midian changes over from knowing

the God of Abraham their father, to them adopting bail worship

into their lives. Because we have note of this in

scripture. In Numbers chapter 25 we read of

Numbers 25 · chapter mention

this and according to Moses the Bible says that the Midianites

had lured the children of Israel through through sexual

relationships all right with their women and by that

relationship had lured them into false worship of Baal which was

a Canaan deity. The Bible says in Numbers 31 and

verse 16, behold these and the word these is referring to the

Midianites caused the children of Israel through the Council of

Balaam to commit trespasses against the Lord in the matter

of yore. And there was a plague among the

congregation of the Lord. And so they're going to crop up

again. They are again biologically

connected to the covenant family, but they are not a part

of the covenant line. Amen.

And it's interesting to see this because in the future, they're

going to be an opposition to the children of Israel trying to get

them to do what they should not be doing.

Amen, so to speak. We see them again in the book of

Judges. It was the Midianites that had

oppressed the children of Israel for seven years when Gideon, as

a judge arose. All right, and brought victory

to the children of Israel. Not even that.

OK, I'll just hit one more. Just just just showing you that

it's setting the stage for our mind for other people in the

future, or at least in the can and the Scripture.

The Bible speaks of Job. Everybody remember the book of

Job? He had three friends say that

loosely. One of them was by the name of

Bildad, the Bible says, who was a shuite.

He traces his lineage back to Shua, the son of Katora and

Abraham. Amen.

But with the knowledge of these other children, the Bible

plainly tells us some things, like in verses 5 and verses 6.

And that is, that all that Abraham had, especially when we

talk about inheritance wise. All that he had went to Isaac.

And that was just what the oldest servant had told

Rebecca's family whenever he had a meeting with them.

That my, my, my master has great things.

They had a son in old age, and unto him hath he.

Or hath Abraham given all that he hath.

But then it says in verse #6 But unto the sons of the concubines,

plural, namely Katura and Hagar, to them the Bible says Abraham

gave gifts. He gave gifts.

And the Bible says that he sent the sons away.

Remember, he's already sent away Ishmael.

He's already dispatched Hagar and Ishmael away.

But also now these other sons of Katura, Abraham, are not

allowing to live in the same space or vicinity as the

covenant line of Isaac. He sends those sons away, Amen.

Before he's dead, he sends them away because when he's dead,

that's when everything breaks loose in families.

That's whenever they say, oh, you know, Dad said that truck

belonged to me. And you know, all the stuff.

Everything breaks loose in families after death, and so

Abraham is trying to remedy any, any, any body, trying to contest

that no I was the covenant line or jockeying for the position

that Isaac has. So he sends them away.

He separates them from the covenant promise.

He separates them from the covenant of promise.

His son Isaac, he's, he's doing away, if you will, with the

competitive spirit that could happen after death.

And for that matter, Isaac didn't need any distractions.

He didn't need any distractions that weren't in covenant.

So Abraham knows better than anybody, Abraham knows the

distractions that family can bring.

He leaves Earth child DS with the description leave your

family, your kindred, your father's house, and goes so many

miles and pauses at her and with his dad, Tira, with Law and some

of the other individuals. And then we read up that he

stayed there until his dad passed away, and then he

continues on toward the promised land.

And we had several weeks that we spent on his relative lot and

the Sodom and the Gomorrah whole situation.

What are you saying? I'm saying, Bishop, if he had

travelled without them, there wouldn't have been a pause at

Haran and there wouldn't been energy and strength displaced on

the whole Sodom Gomorrah scenario.

With what he saved him one time because armies came in and the

other times he's interceding for him because he went there.

So they wouldn't have had that as well.

So if anybody knows how there can be the persuasion of family,

Abraham knows. And so he's I'm going to try.

I know what I faced in mind. I'm going to try eliminate that

for him. And I'm not saying family's bad.

Please don't misinterpret me. Family, someone's like, I've

just been waiting for this my whole life since I've been

married. We're going to take care of

business tomorrow. But family that's trying to pull

you away from the purpose of God, you can still be

biologically connected. Oh, Lord, I'm getting in over

our heads, ain't I? But we got to be cautious with

how much we allow them to dictate in our lives.

Amen. So nobody misconstrue what we

have just talked about tonight. I don't want to be getting phone

calls the rest of this week. I should be getting.

You told them don't be doing that, don't be doing that.

See in the near past Isaac has up to this point, Isaac had

trusted Abraham. Remember on Mount Moriah being a

well aged man, it's not as though he was young, leaving lot

of the Jewish scholars say in that that 30 range that he had

entrusted Abraham with everything, allowing his father

to bind him, put him on an altar.

I had trusted him with everything.

Now Abraham with death approaching in his purview, it's

happening. He turns it around and entrusts

Isaac with everything that he's accumulated in the 175 or so

years of his life, which is amazing because that all even

included the God-given ordained covenant things.

That had come to him. Let's go a little more read.

Let's read tonight and get your Bible reading in today.

Verse number 7. And these are the days of the

years of Abraham's life which he lived 103 score.

A score is 20. All right, and 15 years.

So that means Abraham was 175 years old.

Then Abraham gave up the ghost and died in a good old age, an

old man and full of years. I tell you what, you just need a

few more descriptors talking about this old man Amen.

Good old age-old man, full of years, and was gathered to his

people. And his son Isaac and Ishmael

buried him in The Cave in Mount Pellah, in the field of Ephron

the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamrie, the

field which Abraham purchased. You remember this from weeks

back. Of the sons of Heath there hath

there was Abraham buried in Sarah his wife.

And it came to pass after the death of Abraham that God

blessed his son Isaac and Isaac dwelled by the well of Laja Roy.

Now Abraham dies at 175 years old.

Again, we got a lot of descriptors.

Amen. If you ever got hurt by someone

calling you old, Abraham should be very insulted.

I mean, they're, they're just laying down the descriptors

against him about his old age-old man, full of years.

But in this, there's something being indicated in reality,

especially when you talk about the full of fullness of years.

This is not just talking about that he had a long life, but

that he had a quality life. I think that's important because

it was around age 75. If you go back and look when he

has this call about leaving her child ease about being

introduced from Pagan gods to the one true God, he has lived

about 100 years of his life with covenant promises very soon

being spoken into his life. And he can look back up on that

type of life. And the writer can look back on

that type of life and say not only was this a long life, but

this is a good quality life. Let's just dispel everything

tonight. I know we heard people testify

of it, but let's just dispel it all.

It is a good life living for the Lord.

It is AI don't regardless what anybody else says.

I'm I'm just even all scriptural precedents here tonight.

It was a good life having lived that life.

Amen for the Lord. And let's look at this.

This is a man who had been spoken about the promise the

writer of Hebrew says, yet never really totally attained it.

Yet he was satisfied to be in pursuit of it.

And he says it's a full life just being in pursuit of what

God had purpose for me and my family was a good life, folks,

if it was good for him, just even pursuit, how much more

should it be for those that obtained of the heavenly gift

that the Old Testament Saints knew anything, huh?

That's the reason why the Bible speaks how some of those in the

old days, you know, on the day of judgment, we're going to have

people standing there that didn't have the experience of

the unfilling of the Holy Ghost. But they're going to be standing

with you on judgement that day. And you're going to have had the

Holy Ghost and whenever they're going to be able to talk about

all the blessings and glories and things of God and you have

the Holy Ghost. Folks, we have nothing to

complain about. We, we're living on this side of

Calvary. We this is a great life.

All they had was blood of bulls and goats.

Push and sit for it every year on this side of Calvary.

I have one who offered himself the the book of Hebrews says

once and for all, and I don't have to contend with that next

year. This is a good life if it was

for them, it for sure is for Paul McGee.

It's a good life serious because the verbage of Scripture here, I

think it's essential. It's interesting.

The Bible says that he gave up the ghost, which means to

breathe out. He exhaled for his final time

that that ties us back to the origin in in the book of

Genesis, yes, of Adam and Eve, but particularly where the Bible

says that the Lord breathed into Adam and he became a living

soul. Now that breath is exiting

Abraham and he gives up the ghost to breathe out.

He's extelling. He's breathing out, and the

language is essential here. He gave up the ghost.

The Bible says he died. He was gathered to his people

and that he was buried. His sons buried him.

The interesting thing is this, that he's gathered to his people

because there's some indicated here more than just what some

would think would be burial. They have The Cave of Macbilly

where Sarah is buried. That person, his sons are going

to go bury him there. But being gathered to your

people indicates something more than just a burial.

The phrase indicates this. It indicates that life was going

to continue somewhere beyond the grave.

This is interesting because this is like the first time we see

this phrase ever used. It's the first time we ever see

this phrase used in the Bible, and we see it then also.

Then we'll see it used with Isaac, and we'll see it used

with Jacob. We can see it used with Ishmael.

What is it? There is a concept that's coming

among the Hebrew understanding of this time that regardless of

what had been thought out of before, that they were

entertaining the idea. There is life after death.

We had all the genealogy, genealogy chapter #5 such lived

so many years and the the kids love it.

And he died. Especially if you hear an audio

Bible, read it to you. And he died and he died.

But here, but here he dies and he's gathered to his people

indicating there's something beyond the grave.

There's there is an afterlife, there is a hereafter.

And so that's the reason why then with the next patriarch it

will read in Genesis 3529. And Isaac gave up the ghost and

died and was gathered to his people.

And Genesis 4933 it says Jacob yielded up the ghost and was

gathered unto his people, 'cause there's something beyond the

grave. Death is not the period, death

is just the comma. There is something beyond the

grave that gives that gives me hope because whenever I come to

the New Testament Scripture and I start seeing different

resurrections and I particularly see the resurrection of the Lord

Jesus Christ. And I began to read in the

Corinthians how the dead in Christ shall rise 1st and I read

in Hebrews he's talking about they're so great, a cloud of

witnesses. What is that?

They're people. What Amen being gathered unto

the people and so when they died there is an afterlife.

We need to under score this today.

When you die there is life after death.

Matter of fact, I'll go on to say in the book of Daniel backs

this episode, this New Testament scripture, that everyone we'll

resurrect, not necessarily at the rapture, but everyone will

eventually resurrect, some to eternal damnation.

The Bible says in Daniel and others to everlasting life.

There is light beyond the grave. What we do now determines what

life is like. After the here and now, all

right, Amen. So it's important Amen to

understand that the Bible says after Abraham said Ishmael way

and he did that in Genesis chapter 21, that we really have

Genesis 21 · chapter mention

no record, at least in Scripture.

We have no record of interaction between Ishmael and Isaac.

As a matter of fact, verse 9 of, of chapter 25, here it is the

first and the last time that we have record of that.

Isaac and Ishmael are coming together and they're coming

together to bury their father. She's pretty strong.

If you think we have no other record except then when he dies,

they've come together #1 I believe it's a great testament

then of Abraham's love both for Ishmael and Isaac, that they

showed up for his funeral, though they might have not had

any interaction any other time in between.

I believe it gives a testimony to a father's love strong enough

to pull them back together in the same place in his death.

But secondly, I see it through these eyes.

Ishmael non covenant, Isaac. Covenant death has a way because

I've seen it so many times of bringing people outside the

covenant and inside the covenant together.

And it's one of the myriad reasons why we can't take for

granted even a funeral service because it's one of those rare

occasions that the non covenant and the covenant people come

together and they're going to hear something of vast

importance. And they this is a side note,

but folks, people are in a very contemplative time of life.

Whenever they've lost a loved one, they are very

contemplative. They are thinking, probably

wrestling with their own end. And if you and it, I'm not

saying this, this is not a bad thing, but if you can capitalize

on that vulnerability of being open to what's happening in the

moment, who knows what can happen?

So they've come together for the purpose of burying their father,

given their final respects. And Abraham is laid to rest in

Mack Pilla. He's laid to rest in that one

little portion of, of cave ground that he purchased of the

land of Canaan, of the land of promise.

And we spent a lot of time with this, with Sarah.

He wanted buried right there in that place, that place that his

people will eventually possess again, which is an underscoring

of his faith that God will come true and come to pass, just as

he said he will. So much so I'm going to make

sure my body is going to be placed in that land whenever I

die. And so it's a lingering

statement of faith for Abraham in his death and in his burial.

But here's the grand thing, and here's what we know of every

individual. Just because the man with the

covenant died does not mean the covenant is dead.

We've had great patriarchs of the faith that went on to see

the Lord, but whenever they died, none of God's promises,

none of God's covenant has died with them.

It continues on to the next generation.

And yes, that's right it. Abraham's body is going to be

code in the grave after his death.

But the Bible tells us in the very next verse there in verse

#11 that God blessed after, after Abraham had died, after

his death, God blessed Isaac, God blessed Isaac.

What you saying? God?

It's continuing. Stop here.

It's continuing. The covenant doesn't die.

The covenant doesn't expire in one generation.

No, it continues. And so Isaac, the Bible says

he's blessed and it brings up this whole notion again that

he's the welling by the well of Lahai ROI or denoted what that

what that explains what that means is the well of the living

one who sees. We brought this up just last

week in Genesis 24 because the Bible says whenever Rebecca and

the eldest servant was on their way back to the land that Isaac

had just came from Laha Roy, this this well of the living

one. And now it says that he is the

Welt there. This is the same place that

again, I'm just telling you again because we learned

sometimes by repetition that Haggar was at when she learned

that she would have a son Ishmael in Genesis chapter #16

and really it's namesake comes from her own meaning because she

says that thou God sees me. I'm out here in a desert

wilderness place and you've talked and spoke with me.

And so you are the God that sees me, and that's where it gets its

name. And so it's a real remarkable

picture if you think about it. God saw Haggard there when she

was in a moment of suffering and was distraught.

She was not part of the covenant line, but God still saw her and

helped and aided. Listen, everybody online, you do

not have to be in covenant with God yet for Him to be mindful of

you. He's mindful of all of us.

God saw Isaac bear after the loss of his mother Sarah.

He had just came from that place.

He is a son of the covenant. He saw him there after the death

of his father Abraham dwelling there.

And so it testifies to me, sister Sheila, whether in

covenant or out of covenant, God sees me.

God sees you. Sometimes we I think if we don't

even attend church, we wonder if even God is interested in us.

But he is, He sees where you are and whether we realize it or

not, God has had some a big handiwork even in our

trajectory, not being in church before we you ever got to

church. Sometimes it just looks like

coincidence or it looks like luck or it just seems like just

the regular meal of life. But it's not.

It's a God that sees you right where you are.

He's mindful of us at every juncture of our lives.

Let's go on verse #12 if we can here tonight.

Here we are folks. Another kind of like little

genealogy type section. I'd like my daughter and Mariah

to read these next. No, I'm just joking.

Now, these are the generations now.

These are the generations of Ishmael.

You remember back in church and when they used to say, well,

let's read the next few verses together.

We don't do that anymore. I was this is just a pause

commercial. I just reminiscent last time we

was in prison in Utah, a young man there, Samuel, and I was

telling him about how used to it was a big thing whenever a

preacher had another preacher read his scripture for him, you

know, hand him the mic said, what's that saying?

He'd back up what? Tell me again.

And then he'd say a little bit. And so since I said that to

Samuel, guess what he did when it was his time to preach in

prison? He had me read his his text for

him. We did 1 better than that,

folks. I don't think I ever told you,

but a lot of times him and Tito go back and forth because

they're both from Rwanda and Samuel knows High Rwandese and

Tito will preach in English and then he will interpret it.

So I preached in English and and he interpreted High Rwandese.

It was kind of cool. Amen for a little bit.

All right, back to Genesis. Now these are the generations of

Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar, the Egyptians there is

made bare unto Abraham. And these are the names of the

sons of Ishmael by their names according to their generations,

the first born of Ishmael. Nabajaf and Kedar and Abdul and

Mibs M and Mishmah, Duma and Massa, and Heddar, and Tima, and

Jitur, and the fish and Kedema. These are the sons of Ishmael,

and these are their names by their towns and by their

castles. 12 Princess, according to their nations.

And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, 137 years.

And he gave up the ghosts, and died, and was gathered into his

people, and they dwell from have a law unto sure that is before

Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria.

And he died in the presence of all his brethren.

I just have a few comments here, not much, because all this

really pieces together with one final thing here toward the end.

So again, listing Ishmael's descendants serve again the

purpose, as it did for listing Couture's descendants,

highlighting the promise of many descendants of Abraham.

And oddly enough, but not they're like sandwiched on each

side of of Abraham's death. And we were talking about

descendants before. We're talking about descendants

that are after dead or night. Whatever the case, Abraham has

offspring and so there are 12 sons listed here, 12 Princess

the Bible says according to their nations.

Again importantly Bishop God has kept his promise.

Even listen, this is non covenant Ishmael, even for

Ishmael, Genesis 1720. Throw it up there, Trevor for me

if you will. And As for Ishmael, this is not

speaking to Abraham. And for Ishmael, I have heard

thee because this is this is when Abraham said, oh God, let

Ishmael live before you, right? He's like covenant with Isaac.

What about my boy? You know, we've been together

for a few years and he said, oh, the Ishmaelite, he says, As for

Ishmaelite, I've heard thee. Behold, I have blessed him and

will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. 12

Princess, shall he begat, and I will make him a great nation.

God here then in in in chapter 25 is showing he's even kept his

promise to Ishmael. Now here's what I asked myself.

If God will keep his promise to Ishmael, will he not keep his

promise today for him and Isaac? If God will keep his promise to

non covenant, will he not keep his promise to covenant people?

I mean, surely he will. Ishmael dies at 137 years old.

And so Abraham, Abraham was around 86 when Ishmael was born.

According to Genesis 1616. Abraham was 86.

So Ishmael died about 48 years after his father's death.

Now let's move on. This is where it all just kind

of. All right, let's take the

strings. Let's tie and make it a little

bow. Verse 19.

And these are the generations of Isaac.

I want to set our minds up here. We've read about the descendants

of Katura. We've read about the descendants

of Ishmael. Here we go, the descendants of

Abraham, Isaac of Isaac. And these are the generations of

Isaac. I mean, I'm on the tip of my

toes. I mean, I can hardly stand the

tension with bated breath. Abraham's son Abraham begat

Isaac, and Isaac was 40 years old when he took Rebecca to

wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Pandan Ram and the

sister to Laban. The Syrian and Isaac entreated

the Lord for his wife because she was barren and the Lord was

entreated him and Rebecca his wife conceived.

This is kind of anticlimactic. Babies being born offspring

offshoots Isaac nothing. Rebecca is is facing a similar

issue that her mother-in-law had had Sarah bear in this of the

womb and we see this is a common thing going forward with God's

covenant people. Barrenness of the woman, which

in that day they didn't really have a full understanding of

this whole reproductive thing and that a man could be sterile,

but nonetheless, we're not going to touch that right now, but

barrenness of a woman. But remember Genesis chapter #1

part of God's blessing is the ability to be fruitful.

Remember on their life and to multiply from the very

beginning, I just see God, that being the blessing upon

humanity, upon Adam and Eve, and particularly in these patriarchs

and matriarchs, the family of the covenant people.

I think without any doubt or controversy, He don't want them

to go along in their covenant and promise and think it was all

them. He wants them to be able to

acknowledge without a shadow of a doubt we are where we are.

We are who we are because of God's involvement in what is

happening. Huh.

Because we get to this mode, man.

It should be like it's all clear.

No, she can't have any children. There's listen, there is no

Mandrakes that's going to cure that.

There is no doctor that day that's going to cure that.

That's only going to come by one power and one hand.

That's by God. And so God is keeping himself in

the equation. They're not going to be able to

bypass or say, well, we're just pretty good, aren't we?

We got this thing sewed up. We know how to do this.

No, it's going to take the hand of God.

Isaac is a covenant son. We don't have much information.

And this is, again, I talked about this a few weeks ago.

Isaac, you know, you might say his life was boring.

I don't know. But he didn't do a bunch of

things that required this great long story about him.

Because the information we have about him, yes, it's less than

Abraham and it's less than what we have about Jacob and Joseph,

for sure. Joseph mean like a third, almost

a third of the Genesis about Joseph.

Isaac just has a little splattering, you know, here.

But whenever you look at him compared to some of the other

patriarchs, consider a few things.

This is this is just some of the Nevers Nevers for Isaac.

Isaac never had to have his name changed because he was named by

God. From the beginning, Isaac

remained monogamous in his relationship.

The years of his life upon the earth, Isaac literally took the

farming, was involved in agriculture, and stayed in one

place long enough to plant and harvest Isaac.

He never stepped outside of Canaan.

He never stepped outside of Canaan.

So a general reading the verse #21 it prompts us to imagine

that. Look at verse 21.

She's barren, Isaac, and treats the Lord about the barrenness

God answers. She's able to conceive.

When you just read verse 21, it's like, man, there we go,

ask, receive kaboom. But that's not the way it was.

It sounds like immediate response, but that's not the way

it was. The Bible tells us in verse 20

Isaac married Rebecca at 40. In verse #26 of this chapter, it

tells us that Jacob and Esau, when I were born, the twins were

born whenever Isaac was 60. There's 20 years from being

married to having children and they're don't, this is not this

generate. They're not waiting.

OK, in that day for sure, Isaac knowing that the descendants,

the they're not waiting for 20 years.

They are because there's barrenness in his household.

I said, oh, that's say this. So we got descendants of

couture. We got descendants of Ishmael

and think with me for a moment for the Reese how this could

just wear upon Isaac thinking of everything that just happened in

order to secure him a wife from Genesis 24.

Just think with me here for a moment.

Number one that was interested today I'll deserve it, but think

with me again. Everything of chapter 24 now

could very easily in Isaac's eyes be suspect.

Abraham said I'll have an Angel accompany you for the choosing

of this wife. He he goes before the Lord.

The servant does and praise and God answers his prayer just

according to the specific details as he prayed.

Rebecca's own relatives recognize the hand of God that's

going on in this host scenario. Even Rebecca herself is willing

to go, which was one of the in this on one of the indication he

said don't don't take my son back there, but make sure she

comes Amen that she'll be the one that does that, but you have

all of these things she's left her family or God's her place.

God answered the prayer of the oldest serve the age of the Lord

post with we got all these things.

This is supposed to be the wife, but then barrenness.

You realize how that could shake a person's face when everything

seems to be lining up all all the boxes are being toggled, but

we come to this moment and nothing.

Couture has hers descendants. Ishmael has his descendants, but

the one of Covenant promised that this is supposed to be the

wife that he's supposed to have nothing.

Chapter 24 doesn't sound near as promising when once you get hurt

and she's barren, you can't have any descendants without some

fruitfulness. So here's Rebecca Baron for 20

years, and the future of the covenant is on pause.

The future of the covenant is uncertain, and we know

descendants are central to God's promises for his covenant

people, particularly in Isaac's line, Isaac's line.

But if he's sitting there with his, what was it called, the old

calculator, the Agapus, is that right?

When they put the little beads and they'd slide it on the

thing. If he's starting to add up

couturers and he's starting to add up Ishmael's, he's looking

at his. There's nothing.

That's the reason why I called tonight.

Faith in the pause. His daddy and mom had to have it

for 25 years. Abraham is there 25 years from

the promise to win. Isaac was they had to have it

for 25 years. Isaac and Rebecca's going to

have it for 20 years. Because again, this covenant

walk, this God walk is a faith walk.

It's a faith walk. He had to lean on the fact Mom

and Dad waited 25 years. I'm just going to spend time

waiting. He didn't find another.

He didn't find. He didn't find a Haggar for him.

He didn't run off to another country.

He wasn't vacillating around like a nomad.

He was able. What are you doing?

He said. I've already faced death once.

I already faced the possibility of there being no lineage once.

Honey, I'm just up to bat one more time.

I'm just going to wait. I'm just going to wait.

I got history that I can depend upon for my forefathers that if

you wait, God is sure, God is faithful.

God will acknowledge, God will come through.

God will show up if you just wait.

Can I tell someone tonight? Don't just pull up your stakes

too quickly. Don't go too quickly.

Don't give up too quickly. If God has said it, if God is

organized, if God has spoken it, just have faith in the paws.

Just Hallelujah. Just have faith.

Yes, yes, yes, yes. If you'll stand with me, we'll

get to those 2 little bambinos a few weeks from now, all right?

It seemed delayed. Sister Abby again.

Right again. But God was faithful.

Rebecca did conceive, Isaac prayed, and God did answer.

Have you had any prayers? That's been 20 years you've been

praying. Some of you been like, like

Daniel, you've prayed. And when the Angel Lord finally

shows up, he said your prayer when you first spoke it.

But I've been fighting with the Prince of Persia and I've been

delayed 30 days and I'm here now for your words.

But just letting you know, I heard it when you first said it.

God, Isaac, I heard you. But we're just going to see what

faith is like in the paws 20 years later.

Let's just, I love you, Jesus. God's timing and His will is

impeccable, folks. It is impeccable.

He's always right on time. He's always right on time.

And whenever we have those moments that he shows up and

he's right on time, you know what we do?

We for sure put our glory where it belongs because we know

there's no other way, shape, form or fashion.

This could happen without the God factor.

Without the God factor, Oh, let's bow our heads tonight and

just just admire him and thank him.

Lord, I thank you, God, for there are so many times in our

life, God, there are delays and there are pauses and there are

times of waiting, Lord. And it's in those moments, God,

that our faith can be shaken. We can Lord, see the handiwork

and then it come to an halt and we can be bewildered by the

halt, Lord Jesus. But help us Lord, to remain

faithful. Help us God to keep our

allegiance squarely, Lord, set where it needs to be set.

And know that the God who spoke, the God who promised, the God

who ordered is the God that will come through on time in time

when the time is necessary. I pray, Oh God bless you people

tonight. God, touch those, Lord, there

may be bewildered in the process of waiting, bewildered in the

process of Lord, of not seeing it come to pass, but they've

uttered the prayers. I pray, O Lord, today, bolster

their faith, bolster their courage, bolster their tenacity,

God, to hang on. God, you are faithful tonight.

God, we praise you and thank you God for your faithfulness.

In the lovely name of the Lord Jesus Christ that we pray.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

And the church say Amen, Amen and Amen.

Praise God tomorrow night, Power hour 7 to 8, All right, Amen.

And then back here on Sunday, Amen.

Ready to worship the Lord and magnify Him on AM PM.

Shake hands with somebody member the Manger, the Manger honor,

You know that we're giving around here.

Amen. God bless you.

Shake hands with some of our guests tonight, Amen.

Let them know how glad we were that they were with us this

evening.