Passage: Genesis 25:1-6
The Big Idea
On the road to Emmaus, Jesus showed two disciples how all the Scriptures, starting with Moses, were about Him, and their hearts burned within them. Genesis 22-25 can be read as one great picture: the Son offered, Sarah buried, a bride brought to the Son, and then the father taking a new wife, Keturah. Many see in this God’s faithfulness to Israel and the coming kingdom of Jesus. But even in a perfect kingdom, hearts can drift. The way to keep our love fresh is to keep remembering the Lamb who was slain.
Hearts That Burn
On the road to Emmaus, the risen Jesus walked with two disciples who didn’t recognize Him. Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them the things in all the Scriptures concerning Himself. Later they said, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:27, 32).
- When we dig into the Scriptures, we find they really are all about Jesus.
- And that has a deep impact on our hearts. That’s what it’s all about: our hearts, falling in love with God.
- Satan attacked Job because he believed no one could love God just for who He is, for nothing (Job 1:9-11). But Job did love God. Satan was wrong, and God was right.
One Great Picture
Abraham took another wife, named Keturah (Genesis 25:1).
Genesis 22-25 can be read as one great picture of God’s plan:
- Chapter 22: the son is offered up by the father, in the very region where Jesus would be crucified.
- Chapter 23: Sarah dies and is buried. Some see a picture of Israel being set aside for a time after the cross, the temple destroyed and the people scattered.
- Chapter 24: a bride is found for the son. The servant (the Holy Spirit) goes to bring her, and the son goes out to meet her.
- Chapter 25: now the son has his bride. But what about the father? His wife had died. After years of being alone, Abraham takes a wife again.
Keturah means “incense” or “fragrance.” Life didn’t stink for Abraham anymore!
God Isn’t Done with Israel (Romans 11)
Why does this matter? The prophets Hosea, Jeremiah and Ezekiel all speak of Israel as God’s wife. Even though she was unfaithful, God isn’t done with her.
Paul asks, “Has God rejected His people? Absolutely not!” He himself was an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham. God hasn’t rejected the people He foreknew (Romans 11:1-2).
- God knew Israel’s unfaithfulness before He chose them, and He still chose them.
- That doesn’t give anyone a reason to be unfaithful. But it shows God didn’t choose them, or you, because of faithfulness.
- Israel never deserved to be chosen. Yet God is kind, working holiness into their lives, and He will do an even greater work.
Paul says he doesn’t want us to be ignorant of this mystery, so we won’t be wise in our own eyes: a partial hardening has come on Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: the Deliverer will come from Zion and turn away ungodliness from Jacob, when God takes away their sins. As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for our sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are beloved for the sake of the patriarchs (Romans 11:25-28).
- Don’t think you’ve got it all figured out.
- How long does Israel’s partial blindness last? Until the full number of Gentiles has come to Jesus.
- God still loves Israel, even though she has been unfaithful and blinded.
Many Bible teachers, myself included, believe that after the church is taken to be with the Lord, God will open Israel’s eyes through a time of great trouble, what Jeremiah calls “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jeremiah 30:7), and they will recognize Jesus as their Messiah.
Zechariah describes a day when someone will ask Him about the wounds on His body, and He will answer that He was wounded in the house of His friends (Zechariah 13:6). And on that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the mountain will split in two (Zechariah 14:4). Ezekiel says the city’s new name will be Yahweh Shammah, “The LORD Is There” (Ezekiel 48:35).
And so all Israel will be saved. Jesus will rule and reign from Jerusalem, and the world will be changed.
Zimran: Song
Keturah bore Abraham Zimran, a name connected with “song” or music.
When Jesus returns to reign, creation itself will sing. Isaiah says the mountains and hills will break into song and all the trees of the field will clap their hands (Isaiah 55:12). It will be a little like returning to Eden:
- Isaiah says the light of the moon will be like the sun, and the sun seven times brighter (Isaiah 30:26).
- The wolf and the lamb will live together, and a child will play near the cobra’s den (Isaiah 11:6-9).
- Nations won’t learn war anymore; swords will be beaten into plowshares (Isaiah 2:4).
- Satan will be bound (Revelation 20:1-3).
- Everyone will sit under his own vine and fig tree, unafraid (Micah 4:4).
- People will come to Jerusalem, and the Lord Himself will teach them His ways (Micah 4:2).
There’s more written in the prophets about that coming kingdom than about almost anything else. It’s what Isaac Watts was singing about in “Joy to the World,” which was originally written not about Christmas but about the reign of Christ:
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found.He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love.
The Other Sons
Keturah also bore Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. Some have suggested their names carry meanings like “snare,” “strife,” “contention,” “abandoned” and “sinking.” If so, they sound like they were in a bad mood after “Song”!
And Revelation tells us that the thousand-year reign of Christ ends with Satan released from the pit and a final rebellion (Revelation 20:7-9).
Who would rebel? Not the resurrected saints. But as the earth is repopulated, generations born during that time of peace and prosperity may grow cold in their love.
- They’ll have hearts that don’t remember the darkness that came before: murder, crime, sickness, pain, sorrow and broken relationships.
- And some will say, “Boring. He rules with a rod of iron. Where’s the adventure?”
- When Satan is released, they’ll make the choice their hearts already wanted to make.
How do we keep that from happening in our hearts? How do we backslide? How do we forget what matters, and drift?
Remembering
Zechariah describes the nations going up year after year to Jerusalem to worship the King and keep the Feast of Tabernacles, and any family that won’t come will have no rain (Zechariah 14:16-19). Ezekiel even describes temple worship in that future day (Ezekiel 40-48). Many believe that worship will serve as a vivid reminder, a memorial, for generations who never saw sin’s destruction firsthand: not adding anything to Jesus’ finished work (Hebrews 10:10-14), but pointing back to it.
Right now, we are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). And in this temple, we need the incense and the songs to stay fresh. We need our passion for the Lord not to fade.
How? By remembering the sacrifice. By coming to the cross daily. Communion. Watching the Lamb be slain, in the theater of your mind, keeps your heart deeply in love with Him.
Watch the Lamb Be Slain
Medical writers who have studied crucifixion describe its horror. The victim was thrown down on the wood, and heavy iron spikes were driven through the wrists and feet. Every breath required pushing up against the nails, sending fiery pain through crushed nerves, while muscles cramped and the lungs struggled for air. Hours of agony, cycles of cramps and partial suffocation, the raw, beaten back scraping against rough timber, until finally the body gave out.
And Scripture records all of it in four simple words: “And they crucified Him” (Mark 15:24).
What wondrous love is this?
Do you love God, just for who He is? Because He first loved you?
Has your heart been touched like those disciples on the road to Emmaus? They were talking with Jesus and didn’t even realize it was Him, but their hearts burned. Let the words of Jesus go deep, and keep your eyes on the Lamb who was slain.
Grace Takeaway
All of Scripture points to Jesus, and God’s plan reaches from the cross to a coming kingdom where creation will sing. God hasn’t given up on Israel, and He won’t give up on you. But hearts can drift even in good times. Keep your love fresh the way God designed: keep coming back to the cross, and watch the Lamb who was slain for you.