Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis.  Tonight is study #4 of Genesis, chapter 25, and we will be reading Genesis 25:12-18:

Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, bare unto Abraham: And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, And Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa, Hadar, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah: These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their towns, and by their castles; twelve princes according to their nations. And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, an hundred and thirty and seven years: and he gave up the ghost and died; and was gathered unto his people. And they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, that is before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria: and he died in the presence of all his brethren.

We started to discuss Ishmael and the contrast between he and Isaac and their mothers Hagar and Sarah, and we saw they related to two covenants and the sons of two covenants.  Ishmael was not a saved man, from everything we can read in the Bible.  There is no indicator that he was saved, and the Bible uses him as a figure to represent those that come under a works gospel – they are trying to get right with God by doing good works.  And, of course, no one can get right with God by doing good works because if you start down that road of keeping the Law, then you have to keep the whole Law perfectly, which is not possible, and, therefore, no man is justified by the works of the Law in the sight of God.

We are given a list of the children of Ishmael, and we find that he had twelve sons, just as Jacob would later have twelve sons that would become the twelve tribes of Israel.  He was the progenitor of the twelve tribes, and the twelve tribes of Israel can typify the churches and congregations.

So we can see a relationship with Ishmael having twelve sons, as he was also a son of Abraham, just as Jacob would later be a descendant (grandson) of Abraham and, therefore, the twelve tribes of Israel came forth from Abraham, and that is why they later called Abraham their father.  Since Ishmael’s father was Abraham, the twelve sons of Ishmael can also trace their lineage back to Abraham, so we can see a spiritual identification with the churches and the sons of Ishmael, with Ishmael being a figurehead of those people that seek to enter into heaven based on their good works.  And there are certainly many people within the churches and congregations that are just like that in wanting to keep the ordinances and commandments in order to gain entrance into heaven.  That is the reason we spent some time talking about the commandment “to believe,” because that is the big trap or big snare that multitudes have fallen into within the churches and congregations.

So twelve sons are listed, and we find that the first son listed was Nebajoth and the second one was Kedar.  And that is interesting because in Isaiah 60 in the spiritual context of the Latter Rain and God’s plan to save a large number of people at the time of the end, we find that these two names appear.  It says in Isaiah 60:3-5:

Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.

Remember that the “sea” can represent people and the Gentiles are the nations.

It says in Isaiah 60:6-7:

The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of JEHOVAH. All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory.

Here we see the first two sons of Ishmael mentioned, Kedar and Nebaioth.  (There is a variation in the English in the spelling, but they are the same sons.)  So we see that as the Lord is speaking of the abundance of the sea being converted and the forces of the Gentiles coming to God, the flocks of Kedar will be gathered unto Him and the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto Him.  So putting this together with God’s plan to evangelize the nations of the world outside of the churches and congregations during the second part of the Great Tribulation, included in that great multitude that would be saved out of Great Tribulation would be a great number of “ the sons of Ishmael.”  These are two of twelve that were listed, and they are the first two, so two out of 12 would be the same as one out of six, and perhaps the focus may be on the number “six” because Ishmael identifies with “works,” and God is emphasizing  those that insist on a gospel of works to get to heaven, which is the nature of the religion of Islam, as well as those in the fallen Christian corporate church that have perverted the Gospel of grace by adding “works.”  

That is really the nature of all religions outside of the one true religion of the Bible which tells us that we are saved by the faith of Christ and His works that were performed on behalf of His people.  But everything else is a works gospel or a works religion, especially with the Islam religion.  They teach their followers that they have to perform certain good works to get to heaven, if they are good Muslims.  It is as if God is saying, “Of these people, whether in the corporate church or in the religion of Islam or other false religion, I will save some of them despite the fact that they are attempting to get right with me through works, and I am going to draw them to myself.”  Of course, this is just me speaking and referring to Biblical truths like, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.”  So God will take them from their religious pursuit and their attempt to get right with Him, and in drawing them to Himself, He will show them that error and He will show them that they are saved by grace and the faith of Christ.  Ultimately, He will reveal these truths to them. 

Of course, since the worldwide declaration that Judgment Day was to occur May 21, 2011 was “short and sweet,” there was not necessarily much additional (Biblical) information attached to that message as it went forth to save a great many people around the world who may not have much access to the Bible and further teaching, especially since Mr. Camping died and the ministry of Family Radio was cut back.  And we thank the Lord now that Family Radio does not have the access that they did in that tremendously wide-open door that God opened up to bring the truth of His Word and the pure Gospel of grace to the nations.  That has all been cut back, so we are not sure exactly what they understand, but we know that we are commanded to feed His sheep, and this is what we seek to do in teaching those that were saved.  They were saved and God will draw them after the fact or after they were caught in the net, according to John 21.  He will command, “Bring them to me,” and they will be drawn to Him after their salvation, and then they will learn that it was not they who sought the Lord and brought salvation to themselves, but it was God seeking them, finding them, and then bringing them to Himself – it was all of God, and not of the sinner.  The only role they played was to be the “dead stinking corpse,” and this is a role that man is able to do quite well.  In the spiritual sense, man is a “dead, stinking corpse,” dead in trespasses and sins, and then God created them anew in the inner man and gives spiritual life, and then, like Lazarus, they would come forth.

And this is what the Lord would do with a portion of the sons of Ishmael.  There were twelve sons, but we should not think that all Muslims will respond.  Many Muslims are living in the Arab lands, and they can trace their lineage back to Ishmael.  You know, two out of twelve sons is not a great percentage, but that is keeping with how God saved the elect out of the world – it is the few, a remnant.  He saved a few out of the churches, and he will save a few out of the multitudes of those involved in the religion of Islam, and He will draw them to Himself and the Gospel of grace, and they will come to Him, as it says here: “All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee…”  Remember what it says in 2Thessalonians 2:1-2:

Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

It refers to the coming of the Lord and our “gathering” together unto Him, and the plural pronoun is referring to the whole company of the elect being gathered, which would include the elect from “the sons of Ishmael.” 

So let us go back to Genesis 25, where we read in Genesis 25:16:

…twelve princes according to their nations.

God gives us their names, and I did look up each of the twelve names.  I am unsure what two of the names mean.  Strong’s Concordance has some suggestions, but Strong’s was not clear, and  could not give relationship with related Strong’s numbers.  So in regard to Tema and Jetur, I am not sure what those names mean, and a couple of others had interesting names, but I do not see any point in going through all twelve names.  For example, the name “Massa” is Strong’s #4854, and it is from #4853 is the word for “burden.”  And it is also translated as “prophecy” a couple of times.  We read in Habakkuk 1:1 and Proverbs 30:1 of a “burden,” like the burden Habakkuk did see, which has to do with the prophecy that God gave him.  So that is interesting, but what would it mean that one of Ishmael’s sons was named “burden,” or how we can fit that into any spiritual picture?  Anyone can search out these words, but I am not going to take the time, except I will mention Kedar and Nebajoth.  Kedar is mentioned in Isaiah 60 and his name is #6938 in Strong’s Hebrew Concordance; it is from #6937, translated as “ black,” or “dark,” or “mourn.”  For example, it is the word used in Joel 3:15 where the “sun is darkened.”  The word “darkened” would be the word that “Kedar” comes from, or maybe this is more in line with the fact that Kedar is listed in Isaiah 60 in a context having to do with the Latter Rain.  It says in 1Kings 18:45:

…that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain…

Possibly, that is why God is using Kedar to identify with the heavens and rain.  And that would, of course, fit in with the idea of the Latter Rain.  But, again, it could fit in with the end of the Great Tribulation when it says that immediately after the tribulation, the sun is darkened, which Joel 3:15 mentions.

The name “Nebajoth” is #5032 in the concordance, and his name comes from Strong’s #5107, which means “to bring forth fruit,” and I am going to turn to one place where this is found in Psalm 92:12-14:

The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of JEHOVAH shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;

The word translated as “bring forth fruit” is #5107, and Nebajoth comes from that word.  And we definitely see the tie-in because the bringing in of the great multitude ties in with the feast of ingathering and the bringing in of the final harvest or final fruits, and “fruit” often identifies in the Bible with those God is saving.

Going back to Genesis 25, we will go on to Genesis 25:17:

And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, an hundred and thirty and seven years: and he gave up the ghost and died; and was gathered unto his people.

Ishmael died at age 137, and we know that earlier in this same chapter, when Abraham died, he was 175.  We were told that Abraham’s age was 86 when Ishmael was born and, therefore, Ishmael was 89 when his father Abraham died.  From age 89 to 137 is 48 years, so he lived 48 years after the death of Abraham and then he died.  The number “48” would be “2 x 24” or “4 x 12.”  The number “4” signifies the furthest extent and the number “12” points to fulness.  I am not sure what that 48 years would signify, but that is the length of time he lived (after his father’s death). 

We also know that Ishmael was driven out by Abraham at the time of Isaac’s weaning, which could have been when Isaac was two or three years old.  If Isaac was age two, then Ishmael would have been 16, and if Isaac was three, then he would have been 17.  Therefore, from the time of his being driven out until his death would either be 121 years or 122 years that he spent as an outcast, having been driven out from Abraham’s house.  The number “121” can be broken down to “11 x 11,” and the number “120” is “10 x 12.”  I am giving both numbers because I do not know how we can be certain of the exact age of Isaac when he was weaned.  There is secular information that would give a certain number, but I think we will just leave it at that.  There is no need to “go out on a limb,” and we will just keep it at either 121 or 122 years since Ishmael was driven out.

We also know that Abraham was born in 2167 B. C. and he was 86 when Ishmael was born in 2081 B. C.  and he died in 1944 B. C.   It is interesting that from his birth in 2081 B. C. until 2033 A. D., it totals 4,114 years.  We add the two numbers together when going from a B. C. date to an A. D. date, and it is 4,114 calendar years, and that number breaks down to “2 x 11 x 11 x 17,” so it is interesting that we see that “11 x 11” again in relationship to Ishmael, if he had lived 121 years from being driven out, which is “11 x 11.”   The number “11” ties in with the first coming of Christ, and it is doubled, so it was certain to come to pass.  Of course, we are looking back upon it, and it (the first coming of Christ) did come to pass.  The number “17” is a number representing heaven and the number “2” would identify with the caretakers of the Oracles of God or the Word of God. 

I am not sure what else we can see in Ishmael’s age.  One further thing I can comment on is that it said that he “gave up the ghost.”  And I mentioned earlier, there is no indicator that he was saved, but when Abraham died, it was also said that he gave up the ghost in Genesis 25:8:

Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.

I pointed out when we looked at this that it meant that his soul went to be with the Lord.  We can understand that, based on everything else the Bible says – there is no doubt that Abraham was a saved man and entered into heaven in his soul while his body was buried and awaits the resurrection.  But, again, there is no such confidence when it comes to Ishmael, so does that mean we were correct in our understanding of what it means that “he gave up the ghost” (regarding the language that Abraham entered into heaven), but that is not the case with Ishmael?  Turn to Job 14:7-12:

For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant. But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up: So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.

Here, we have the same language that man “giveth up the ghost,” but it adds, “and where is he?”  In the day that an unsaved man dies, in that very day his thoughts perish.  His soul was already dead, as he was conceived in sin, and he had been dead in trespasses and sins in his soul existence, and now he is dead in his body.  The body remains, but his soul is gone.  So he “gave up the ghost,” but his spirit did not go to heaven to be with the Lord and, therefore, we can understand that Ishmael was in that kind of situation, and his soul left his body and went to “nothingness.”  In that sense, he was gathered unto his people which are all unsaved people, whereas all saved people are gathered unto their people in the same spiritual location as Abraham in heaven.