Book of Genesis Chapter 22 Commentary by Pastor
Ron Beckham
Audio Bible Study - Genesis 22:1-5
Verse 1. "Now it came about after these things, that God
tested Abraham, and said to him, 'Abraham!' And he said, 'Here I am.'"
God loves His people, and for that reason He has "tested" and
will test each and every one who comes to the Lord. Those who don't trust in Him
are "tested" also, but for a different reason. Those
who do not believe are brought to a place
or places where their own resources will no longer be enough. They will have nowhere to go except to the Lord, but sadly, all too many in this world are so self-willed that
they will not fully trust in anyone or anything but themselves.
Abraham was different from those who don't want to trust in the Lord. In
Genesis 15:6, we learn that "He
believed the Lord and He counted it to him as righteousness." The man is often mentioned in Scripture and it is said of him that
"By FAITH Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a
place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing
where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a
foreign land..." (Hebrews 11:8-9). He was a man of true faith, and
yet we find in this section that "God tested Abraham"
in a way that most could not, would not stand.
Verse 2. "He said, 'Take now your son, your only son,
whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a
burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.'"
Abraham had wanted to have a son, perhaps more than
anything else in his life. He and his wife, whose name had been Sarai, had
tried and tried and tried, but could not have that child. Then they acted on their
own, outside of the leading, the will of God, and the result was Ishmael, the son of Abraham
and of Hagar, the Egyptian hand-maid of his wife. Then came Isaac, the son
of God's promise, which led to a problem - Sarai, whose name was now Sarah,
wanted Hagar and Ishmael OUT of their lives!
Abraham reluctantly had gone along with Sarah's wish to exclude Hagar and Ishmael, for God
told him to do so, and no doubt, the fact that Abraham also had Isaac in his life made it just a
little bit easier. But now God appeared to the man and told him to KILL
his second son, Isaac. Can you imagine? His beloved Ishmael was gone
from his life because Sarah and the Lord wanted him gone, and now Isaac was to be offered to God "as a burnt offering on one of the mountains," in a precise location yet to be fully disclosed.
Verse 3. "So Abraham rose early in the morning and
saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son;
and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of
which God had told him."
Obviously Abraham was not in agreement with God's decision that the man should offer his beloved sole-remaining son as a "burnt offering." Yet he was a person of faith who trusted in the Lord's character to the extent that he "offered up his only begotten son... accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead" (Hebrews 11:17-19). He recognized, long before the words were written by the Apostle Paul, that "all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28), even to the losing of his beloved son.
Most of us would delay doing such an act as long as we possibly could, but Abraham "rose early in the morning" and methodically "saddled his donkey" for the journey. He took a couple of his trusted young men with him for protection, as well as "Isaac his son;" and with a heavy heart "he split wood for the burnt offering." Then off the four of them went, but only three had a spirit of adventure, for the fourth, Abraham, knew the sad purpose of their journey.
Verse 4. "On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and
saw the place from a distance."
For three days, Abraham had led the three younger men on a trek that was really being led by God. Three days was long enough so that Sarah, Abraham's wife, could not interfere by objecting to Abraham's intention of following the Lord no matter what the result might be. It had probably been the longest three days of Abraham's life, for like the rest of us, he was trying to figure out what God meant by this journey to death and he could not understand, just like all of us fall short of understanding God.
What would he have felt as he looked at the place where his beloved son was going to die? Abraham was no doubt still in shock at what the Lord apparently wanted him to do. He was remembering every word that had been addressed to him by the Lord in previous years. His boy, his Isaac was the one given to him by and for the promise of God. This was the child that Abraham and Sarah could not have, after years of trying, and then the boy came, precisely when God said he would. Now the child of the promise of God was to die a terrible death.
Verse 5. "Abraham said to his young men, 'Stay here with
the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return
to you.'"
Abraham and his young son, Isaac, who was likely a teenager at the moment of this verse, had been accompanied to the "land of Moriah" (Verse 2) by "two... young men" from their encampment (Verse 3). They had walked for three days (Verse 4), though they likely walked in daylight hours only and camped out during each night. Abraham was still stunned by the Word of the Lord, in which he was told to sacrifice Isaac as "a burnt offering" (Verse 2).
He told the "young men" that he took with him to "Stay here with the donkey," for he was upset by what he must do, and there was always the danger that the two would try to stop him from carrying out what he thought was God's will. Abraham and his son, Isaac, would have trudged slowly toward the place of sacrifice. The older man obeyed, but didn't want to do it, and there was always the hope that God might change His mind. Apparently only Abraham knew the real nature of the sacrifice at that moment, and he told the men, "WE will worship and return to you." As it says in Hebrews 11:19, Abraham reasoned that "God was able even to raise (Isaac) from the dead..."
Dear God, You are able to take our hopes, our dreams and raise them from death. We entrust ourselves to You, knowing that You are greater than our failures, greater than our fear. Help us, for You are the One who can deliver those who place their trust in You. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Audio Bible Study - Genesis 22:6-10
Verse 6. "Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering
and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So
the two of them walked on together."
In the history of this world, all too many parents have heard these words from a doctor or some other medical person: "It could go either way now." It might be about one of the parents themselves, or even worse, it's about their child. Time slows down significantly and words become difficult to understand as the parent considers the potential loss of that child. "Abraham" was in just that position at the moment of this verse. His beloved son, "Isaac," was about to die.
Worst of all, Abraham himself was to cause the impending death. He was to kill his son. This was the moment Abraham was to be "tested" as we saw in Verse 1. How deep was his faith in the Lord? He would see and so would the world, for this is the man who was to be "the father of all those who believe" (Romans 4:11). He was to show us, to be the model of what faith is all about. We know what he was thinking at the moment, for the Holy Spirit revealed those thoughts in Hebrews 11:19 - He was "accounting that God was able to raise (Isaac) up, even from the dead." God would keep His promise. Somehow, Isaac would live!
Verse 7. "Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said,
'My father!' And he said, 'Here I am, my son.' And he said, 'Behold, the fire
and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?'"
How many fathers and mothers have held their dying child, as they cry out, "Daddy" or "Mommy," not fully understanding what is happening, but trusting in the parent who has held and comforted them in the past! Isaac was puzzled. He had seen other sacrifices to the Lord. He grew up with such religious actions. But this was different. His father, Abraham, had arranged for sufficient wood to be brought and the fire was present, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" to the Lord, he wondered out loud to his grieving father.
His words must have broken Abraham's heart and as the boy cried out, "My father!" the older man barely managed to get out the words, "Here I am, my son." When events happen in our lives that are too awful for us to even comprehend, what will be our response, our attitude toward God? Will we still love Him? Will we follow Him even in the face of a terrible occurrance? And how do we know for certain that it was the Lord who led us to this very moment?
Verse 8. "Abraham said, "God will provide for Himself
the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." So the two of them walked on
together."
The words in these verses depict real historical events. There really was a faithful man named Abraham who had a son later in life who would be called Isaac. And this moment truly happened in which the older man would be told by God to kill his son as a sacrifice to the Lord. And yet, even though these words are utterly true, they are even more, for their lives, just like yours and mine, are also parables, designed to bring the understanding of God's promise and purpose to us all. We will see in Verse 13 that God indeed had a "lamb for the burnt offering" just as Abraham told Isaac right at the moment of this verse.
But there is more. As these words were spoken it was approximately 2000 years before the advent of Christ. Two thousand years later, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, would be born into humanity. He would live in obscurity for many years, but then emerge as our Savior and Lord. As John the Baptist would say of Him, He is "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). And he said further, "I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God" (John 1:34). The "offering" of God the Father would be His own Son, who died for you and for me.
Verse 9. "Then they came to the place of which God had
told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his
son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood."
It's important to remember that the event described in these verses is a parable, a living picture of an even more meaningful occurrance, 2000 years in the future from that time. Abraham, Isaac and the other two young men who had been told to "stay... with the donkey," were outside in the wilderness, three days from the camp where they all lived. And so it was for Jesus Christ when He died for the sins of the world. He would die an outcast, "outside the camp." What did Isaac feel at that moment? What did Jesus feel as He died for our sins?
We read in Hebrews 13:11 & forward that "the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through His own blood. Therefore let us go to Him outside the camp and bear the reproach He endured... Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise of God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowlege His name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God." When we trust in Jesus Christ, we do "bear the reproach He endured," but we also are changed and become "pleasing to God."
Verse 10. "Abraham stretched out his hand and took the
knife to slay his son."
We first met "Abram," now called "Abraham," at the end of Genesis Chapter 11. As Chapter 12 began, we saw that "the Lord said to Abram, 'Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you...'" And he went, just as the Lord had told him. He subsequently did some things very well, but he also made mistakes, lied on occasion and forgot to pray at critical moments. But "he believed the Lord, and He (that is, God) counted it to him as righteousness" (Genesis 15:6).
In other words, we should be VERY encouraged by the life of this man, Abraham. He was utterly human like the rest of us. He was imperfect and it's true of us as well. Most important of all, he had faith in the Lord, just like the faith that is offered to you and me. And when we believe, it is "counted (to us) as righteousness," just as it was for Abraham, so long ago, who is "the father of all who believe" (Romans 4:11). Abraham was a man, but his life is also a parable, showing us what we must do in order to please the Lord, now and forever.
Lord, help us. We want to please You, to follow You, to know Your love, and yet we have drawn back at critical moments. We pray that we will respond to You more and more and also, Lord, give us hearts that act always in love. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Audio Bible Study - Genesis 22:11-15
Verse 11. "But the angel of the Lord called to him from
heaven and said, 'Abraham, Abraham!' And he said, 'Here I am.'"
There are some who would be envious of Abraham because "the angel of the Lord" spoke to him. But we learn from Scripture the encouraging information that as to those who do not yet hear the Lord: "In that day the deaf shall hear" (Isaiah 29:18). A group of religious leaders at one point were arguing with Jesus in the temple. They were a group "who had believed in Him" (John 8:31), but still felt that as Jews they were already right with God because, as they said, "Abraham is our father." Jesus responded, "If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing what Abraham did..." (John 8:39).
To "hear" the Lord, we must become WILLING to hear and want to understand. Jesus continued by saying, "Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you CANNOT BEAR to HEAR My word" (John 8:43). In this verse we see Abraham, who had entrusted his life to the Lord. He recognized that the reason he was a rich man was because the Lord had made it so. He understood that His wife and two sons were God's gifts to him and he had yielded to the Lord's intention for his life. Abraham "heard" because he had faith in the Lord. If you seem to be spiritually "deaf," tell the Lord and ask Him for help, for He is the One who can enable you to "hear."
Verse 12. "He said, 'Do not stretch out your hand
against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since
you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.'"
This verse demonstrates that God did not want the death of
Isaac, though it it seemed in Verse 2 that He did. Instead He wanted the complete surrender
of Abraham to the will of God. Reading these verses, it should be clear to
us that the Lord intends to be FIRST in our lives. There is nothing wrong
with money, for it is a tool, a medium of exchange used by people to gain what is required in our physical lives and to
give what is needed to others. There is nothing wrong with health or popularity. It's just that faith, in the form of surrender to the Lord is infinitely better than all we are offered in this world. Trusting in the Lord is the most important act for any of us in humanity.
When Scripture speaks of money, we learn that "the LOVE of
money is a root of all kinds of evil..." (1 Timothy 6:10). Money is merely
a tool to be used as needed, not an idol to be worshipped. And so it is
with everything and everyone that God has allowed in our lives. He intends that we will love one another (Leviticus 19:18, John 13:34-35), but it is reasonable
and right that we should reverence, trust in and love our God even more. It's time to begin loving God in a manner He will accept through trusting in His Son.
Verse 13. "Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and
behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went
and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his
son."
In these verses we are reading the actual historical account of a time when Almighty God intervened yet once more in the life of the patriarch Abraham. In this instance the word of the Lord to Abraham, as seen in Verses 1 and 2, was that he must, by his own hand, kill his beloved son. All this was very real, but it also is a parable to help others understand. And note that the entire Old and New Testament historical accounts not only reflect history, but they also speak to your life and mine. We learn from these men and women who lived before us, how we as people should live and how we should not. We see that God intervenes in the lives of ordinary people, and we are given examples of how such interventions occur.
Right here in these verses we see Abraham's son, Isaac, who was tied, placed upon an altar and was about to first be stabbed to death and then burned. He was to be a "burnt offering," sacrificed for sin. Then in Verses 11 and 12, the angel of the Lord intervened and stayed Abraham's hand. Young Isaac would not die, for a "ram caught in the thicket" was to die in his place. Isaac was an innocent boy, a teenager, whose life was portraying in parable form, a look at humanity's need for a Savior. Scripture teaches that "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23), and we also see that "the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23). God has pronounced the death penalty on all humanity, but He has also provided a way of escape. This verse is about Abraham and Isaac, but it is also about the Lamb of God who died for the sins of the world.
Verse 14. "Abraham called the name of that place The
Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, 'In the mount of the Lord it will
be provided.'"
Abraham was pleased with God, for the Lord had accepted the man's obedience as faithfulness, and then spared the life of his son, Isaac. As we saw in the preceding verse, "behind him a ram (was) caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went
and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his
son." The ram was right behind him, but Abraham did not see it until it was clear the man was willing to follow the Lord no matter what. We are to have faith in the Lord, even to death and beyond. Do you see that "The Lord Will Provide" for you? It's right here in front of us that God will deliver those who believe. Faith in the Lord will enable us to "see," "hear" and be saved.
As was his habit in such situations, Abraham gave a name to the place because the Lord had appeared to him and blessed him there. He called it "Jehovah-Jireh" as it is in the King James version, and in the actual Hebrew it was "YHVH Yireh." The meaning does include the phrase, "The Lord Will Provide" as it is in the New American Standard Bible, but the Hebrew for "provide" is actually: He will "see to it." The Lord would "see to it" for the need of Abraham; and He will "see to it" for OUR needs as well.
Verse 15. "Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham
a second time from heaven,"
Is this "angel of the Lord" an "angel" in fact, or the Lord Himself? The Hebrew word for "angel" here includes the meaning of the English word, "messenger," suggesting that he was not the Lord, but instead a messenger given words that came from God. However, in the next verse, Verse 16, this "angel" continues, "By Myself I have sworn, declares
the Lord,'" suggesting that the speaker indeed is the Lord.
That might be the case, though often the prophets of God would say, "Thus saith the Lord," in verses like Isaiah 7:7, Jeremiah 5:14, and in many other places. It would not be surprising, then, that if trusted men have spoken for the Lord with the words that come from God, that trusted angels would do the same. In any event, the Lord Himself now "called to Abraham a second time from heaven," though whether directly or through an angelic intermediary is not clear.
Father, the Bible is the Word of the Lord, though it is a book. Jesus is the Word of God also, though He, God's Son, became a man. He died for our sins and we are set free from sin and death through believing, through trusting in Him. Lord, we confess our need and we trust in You right now. Thank You for paying the price as our Substitute and giving us life. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Audio Bible Study - Genesis 22:16-20
Verse 16. "and said, 'By Myself I have sworn, declares
the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your
only son,'"
When the Lord Himself has "sworn" something, it will happen. When someone in mankind swears by something, it will always be in relation to something or Someone higher than themselves because the word of most people tends to be unreliable. That's not true with God for when He swears, you can depend on it. His Word is true and He has the strength and will to make it happen. He does not forget, either, though His Word is sometimes revealed hundreds, even thousands of years in the future. And note that nothing, no one is higher than God. He can only swear by Himself.
As we have seen in these verses, starting in Verse 1, God Himself will test those who have placed their faith in Him. There are counterfeits in the world and in the church, and it's important that such people are revealed to themselves and to others. Many will say, "I think I'm saved, but I'm not sure," and God will test the faith of such a person until they KNOW that it is the Lord who saves us and it is not done of ourselves. Abraham was placed into a situation where he finally KNEW that he belonged to the Lord and such a process will occur in our lives also. We are taught, "My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline or be weary of His reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom He loves, as a Father, the son in whom He delights" (Proverbs 3:11-12, Hebrews 12:5-6).
Verse 17. "indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will
greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is
on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies."
It was often the case that years passed between God's revelations to Abraham, and he must have been amazed every time it happened. There are promises made in these and other verses like them that would be astonishing to anyone who received them. And it is interesting that it is very unlikely that Abraham completely understood the nature of these promises. He did understand earlier pledges by God that He would have a son, promises though which were so long in coming that Abraham and Sarah gave up waiting and tried to make it happen on their own through an Egyptian servant-girl, as we saw in Chapter 16.
And then finally, after literally decades of waiting, the promise was fulfilled in their son, Isaac, as revealed in Genesis 21:1 & its context. And now more of the promise was revealed in this fresh promise to the man, Abraham. Have you ever thought about counting the stars in the universe? Many have tried and with the naked eye, more than 2,000 can be seen on a clear night in a rural area. And if you tried to count the sand at a seashore, you might scoop up a handful and then become discouraged as you looked around and considered the millions, billions of grains of sand that are involved even on just one beach. Abraham's "seed" would become great and victories would be won by his descendants in battle, though this was also a reference to the "Seed," Jesus Christ, who was to bring millions to God through His death on the cross.
Verse 18. "In your seed all the nations of the earth
shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."
Standing next to Abraham at the moment was his now teenaged son, Isaac, who was the direct result of the promise to Abraham and Sarah, Isaac's mother. The boy had been very close to apparent death just minutes before this verse. The older man and his son were standing next to one another, probably with arms around each other and they were likely elated because the Lord had spared Isaac's life. The ram that was seen in Verse 13 was on the altar next to them at the moment - the smell of the burning animal was a poignant reminder that it might have been Isaac instead of the ram sacrificed on that altar.
The "seed" of this verse looked ahead further into the future than Abraham likely understood at the moment. Yes, Isaac was the "seed" of Abraham, but this verse looks ahead about 2,000 years to the advent of the Messiah. This verse, indicating that "in (Abraham's) seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed" should give us great hope because of its fulfillment: Galatians 2:28-29 says, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise."
Verse 19. "So Abraham returned to his young men, and
they arose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham lived at Beersheba."
Abraham and his son Isaac slowly walked together with astonished looks on their faces and no doubt smiles, back to the two young men who guarded the mule they had brought along. No doubt this father and son were infectiously elated that Isaac was still alive. The other two young men would have joined in the rejoicing of the moment, for God had been merciful to Abraham once more. Isaac was alive!
"Beersheba" meant "well of the oath" or even more likely it was the "well of the seven," referring to the seven lambs which were an "extra" in relation to the contract between King Abimelech and Abraham, as seen in Genesis 21. The four men took the donkey mentioned in Verses 3 & 4 of this chapter and returned to their starting point, where Abraham and the others would continue to live for some time in the future.
Verse 20. "Now it came about after these things, that it
was told Abraham, saying, 'Behold, Milcah also has borne children to your
brother Nahor:'"
In Genesis 11:29, we first saw that Abraham's surviving brother married a woman named "Milcah." There was a third brother named Haran, who fathered Lot, Abraham's nephew, but Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans (Genesis 11:28) before the family's journey began. It is always amazing, by the way, to read the historical accounts in the Bible and note how effectively those in ancient times were able to communicate over long distances. In the Persian Empire, for example, they had something like the "Pony Express" of the American Frontier, where letter carriers would gallop on horses from one place to another with mail for people in relatively far-away locations. They would gallop until horse and rider were exhausted and then another horse and rider would gallop to the next stop and so on, until the mail was finally delivered.
Nahor and Milcah lived about 200 miles from Abraham's location of the moment but word reached him, and perhaps for the first time he learned that his relatives had a number of children. Whether the news came to Abraham by spoken word or by letter is not made clear, but Abraham would have been very happy to hear about these events in far off Haran, where his brother and sister-in-law lived. And he would have excitedly shared the news with his own wife, Sarah, and his son, Isaac. We are so used to modern communication devices like the telephone and internet that most don't really comprehend how wonderful it would be for these people to get "news from home."
Father, our lives are Yours. You have selected us for this time and place, just like You did for Abraham. And just as it was for him, You have a specific role in history for each one of us. We commit our lives to You, Lord, for only You can bring us to the fulfillment that is best for not only us, but for Your purposes, as well. We are Yours, dear God. We surrender to You. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Audio Bible Study - Genesis 22:21-24
Verse 21. "Uz his firstborn and Buz his brother and
Kemuel the father of Aram"
These verses contain a list of the names given to the children of Abraham's brother, Nahor, who was married to Abraham's sister-in-law, Milcah. In this verse it is revealed that Nahor and Milcah's oldest son was named, "Uz." The name meant "replacement" or "firmness," and if "replacement" is the correct rendering of his name, it would suggest that at least one earlier son had been lost through miscarriage or some other form of departure from this world.
"Buz" was the next son to be listed and his name meant "scorn" or "contempt," which possibly referred to a perceived negative aspect of his personality. "Kemuel" is the next one, and his name meant "congregation of God," or possibly it was "helper of God" or "assembly of God." Kemuel is named as the father of "Aram," ("high, exhalted"), who carried the same name as Aram, the son of Shem and grandson of Noah, as listed in Genesis 10:22-23, but they were, of course, two different people.
Verse 22. "and Chesed and Hazo and Pildash and Jidlaph
and Bethuel."
The listing of the children of Abraham's brother, Nahor, and Nahor's wife, Milcah, continues. Next is "Chesed," which was a personal name that meant "one of the Chaldeans." When we first met this family, they were located in "Ur of the Chaldeans" which likely meant that each one of them was "one of the Chaldeans" (Genesis 11:28 & context). "Hazo" is thought by some to translate as "seer," but others have felt it is an abbreviated form of the name "Haziel," which meant "God saw."
"Pildash" meant "powerful" whereas some think it meant "steely," though steel had not been invented at the time. The next to the youngest, if these sons are, in fact, listed in birth order, is "Jidlaph," which translates "he cries" or "sleepless." He may have given the parents a rough time when he was a baby. The one who was likely the youngest is "Bethuel," which meant "house of God." You can imagine, by the way, the feelings of Abraham and Sarah, as they read or heard the words of these verses about the family they had not seen for many years - they were excited beyond words to express how they felt!
Verse 23. "Bethuel became the father of Rebekah; these
eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother."
"Bethuel," or "house of God," as his name meant in the language of the time, is singled out in these verses because he was to become the father of a girl named "Rebekah." Her name meant "loops of a rope" or possibly "cow." She was to become extremely important in history because we will find that she was to be the wife of Abraham's son, Isaac, and Chapter 24 will show us that she and Isaac produced sons and continued the line that would lead to the Messiah, Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:2 & context).
It may well have occurred to Abraham that life had been very different for his brother, Nahor, than it had been for him. Abraham and his wife, Sarah, had been unable to have children for many decades until they became completely discouraged. Sarah eventually pushed Abraham into taking a servant-girl as his concubine which led to a son, Ishmael, and then came the promise of God realized in their son, Isaac, through Sarah. As people tend to feel, it might have seemed to Abraham and Sarah that Nahor's and Milcah's lives were easy by comparison.
Verse 24. "His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also
bore Tebah and Gaham and Tahash and Maacah."
By the standards of most in the present-day world, the morality of the ancient world seems strange and it is very different from now. Having a child out of wedlock by a concubine has been what you might call "a concern" in recent centuries, and it is true that the four children listed in this verse would not have the same status as Nahor's sons by his wife, Milcah. But they were not "outcasts" in any sense. In our day, children of any type are seen by some as somewhat of a liability, for the parents also want to continue their education and employment while raising children. The need to be everything we can be, often brings unexpected stress into our lives. The world of that time was thinly populated and children were definitely considered to be an asset. The boys would be herdsmen, soldiers and farmers. The young women produced more children and all were valuable within that culture.
A "concubine," such as "Reumah" (which means, "coral"), was often considered a second wife of lesser status than the first wife and many of the "fathers" and leaders of what would become the nation Israel (including Abraham, Gideon, King Saul, King David and King Solomon) had such lesser wives. By doing so, they went against the grain of God's will because monogamy, not polygamy, is God's pattern for us (Genesis 2:24, Mark 10:6-9). As husbands are taught in Ephesians 5:25 - "Love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it." The marriage of one man and one woman who truly love one another has the potential to delight the participants and to be a parable of Christ's love to this world.
"Tebah" meant "slaughter," "Gaham" translates as "flame" or "burning," "Tahash" likely meant "porpoise," and "Maacah," a feminine name, was of uncertain meaning. Some have felt it meant "dull" or "stupid," whereas others think it might have meant something like "oppression." It can be seen that some of the names chosen by parents for children are simply - astonishing. We should look at what our names mean, for God may well be showing us something we need to know about ourselves through the meaning of them.
Father, thank You for the method You have given us to bring children into this world. The intimacy of husband and wife, and the bond with children is intended to bring great joy to our lives. When we are tempted to complain about our circumstances, help us to instead be grateful for all You have given to us. We love You and praise Your Holy Name. In Jesus Name. Amen.
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