Goodbye Abraham

Genesis 25:1-11

The torch officially passes in this set of verses. Abraham makes up for lost time- remarries and has six more children. But in the end, when death finds him, he is buried with Sarah. In addition to the six children with Keturah (the new Mrs. Abraham) there is also a reference to children with concubines. At his death, though, he left all he had to his son Isaac. Was Abe still trying to patch things up with Isaac, or is the bond between father and chosen son so strong that no other offspring crossed his mind?

It strikes me as significant that at this time of mourning, Isaac doesn't act alone to handle the physical affairs of the burial. Isaac and the seemingly neglected Ishmael take care of that task. What must it have been like for Ishmael to return from isolation to help the "chosen son" bury the absentee dad that everyone respected so? Would the news of Isaac inheriting it all have opened old wounds, or by this point has Ishmael come to expect it?

And even the blessing from God mentioned goes to Isaac. It makes me assume that there's more to Ishmael than we're told- or maybe Ishmael is an example of enduring when it seems that everyone, even God, is against you.

And maybe the reward for Ishmael came later on- separate from Isaac, separate from Christ's lineage, and separate from any report we need to figure out God's will for us.

And maybe when it seems like the world is against us too, quietly, apart from any fanfare, headlines or the public eye, God reaches down and gives us enough to make it one more day, through one more trial, over one more mountain...until it's over and the reward comes.

Abraham lived to "a good old age, an old man and full of years." (NIV) By our standards yes, 175 almost gets you to Willard Scott's announcement twice- but by Old Testament standards it seems just that...standard. I wonder what it meant to "die young" at that time.