PEN ART - BENEATH THE TEREBINTH TREE

A short story written by Sheila Gail Landgraf:

He was born laughing.  It is said that his parents laughed when they conceived him.  Even his beautiful mother had to ask God's forgiveness about her laughter over him, but he never thought any of the laughter was wrong.  He loved the laughter! 

It was the meaning of his name - laughter.  He felt the laughter did not happen often enough, and life for Isaac was sometimes very serious and very hard, so when the laughter came it was always timely and welcomed.  It was always good to him, and it was as refreshing as cool water in the desert.  

He constantly longed for more of the laughter.  He sought after it and he was always looking for ways to make it happen again. This was easy with his mother; not quite so easy with his father.  He had learned there was a proper time to bring it forth, and a proper time to let it alone.  This was a day to keep silent.  It was not a day for laughter.

There was no laughter in his father's voice as he told him to gather the wood they would be taking on their journey.  Isaac obediently gathered the wood into his bag.  This wood  was for the sacrifice they would be taking with them when they left tomorrow.  Abraham had insisted on cutting all of the wood himself.  He cut it from some of the branches of the terebinth tree he had planted right outside his tent many, many years ago.  This tree had grown large, strong and tall and had spread its branches in such a way that it shaded Abraham as he gazed upon it from the door of his tent.

Abraham had lived many happy days under the generous shade of this huge old twisted tree.   It had been under the shade of this tree that the three men of God had visited Abraham and Sarah nine months before Isaac's birth.  Abraham had often told Isaac the story.  God had promised Abraham a nation would be his heritage, but Abraham and Sarah had grown old without a child between them.

On that same day of the visit, when Sarah's laughter came at the announcement of Isaac's birth, the same Three Men of God had been on their way to Sodom to destroy the whole town because every single person living there was wicked.  Angels had reported this to Heaven and the prayers of the nearby town's people had risen up to the ears of The Lord over and over again.   Abraham pleaded with God to spare any godly men from the destruction of Sodom; and Isaac's cousin Lot and his family had been spared, except for Lot's wife; who had turned back to remember the carnal things of that city just one last time.

When she turned to look back she instantly became a pillar of salt.  Isaac had been shown the place where she had been changed.  The story had always horrified him, and he shuttered each time he thought of it.  But it had happened the day that God Himself, in the form of  three men, stopped in to visit with Abraham under the tree on His way to this mission.  They all sat together and shared a meal under the very branches of the terebinth tree that Abraham was now using for firewood.

Funny how things happened sometimes, Isaac thought to himself as he gathered the wood.  On their way to put an end to something evil, they had stopped to proclaim something good.  They told Abraham that Isaac would soon be born.  Sarah had heard from inside the tent and that was when she laughed.  Isaac had heard the story over and over again as he grew up.  He didn't mind though.  He always loved hearing it.  He often thought of this story and smiled, even now that he had grown into a man 37 years of age.

Isaac marveled at his father's actions in cutting the branches of the sacred tree.  He did not fully understand, but he had learned to wait for understanding.  Abraham had taught Isaac this virtue long before he grew into a man.  In time Abraham would share his heart with Isaac, and Isaac knew Abraham only did what God instructed him to do.  So Isaac did not ask why.  If God told Abraham to use the branches of the terebinth tree, Abraham would be obedient.  This Isaac was sure of.  Abraham was always obedient, at all costs, and so was Isaac.  This trait also had been instilled in Isaac's character from the first day of his birth.  Isaac knew he was a promise fulfilled, and he must stay true to God because of this blessing.

Abraham had been careful to carry out the covenant promise of circumcision when Isaac was only eight days old.  Everything about Isaac's upbringing had been carefully planned and well thought out by his parents.  So careful even that his mother had insisted he not be allowed to play with his older brother Ishmael when the two were growing up together.  It seemed that Ishmael liked to taunt Isaac, even when he was just a toddler, perhaps their mutual jealousy had started way back then.  This had certainly continued on - and Isaac had seen Ishmael only in short visits with Abraham since that day that Sarah got upset with Ishmael.  Ishmael was thirteen and Abraham had given him a bow and arrow.  He was quite good with it and very precise when he shot.  He had begun a game of shooting his arrows to land just inches away from Isaac as he lay in his crib.  This had happened more than once and it horrified Sarah.    She had insisted that Abraham send Hagar and Ishmael away.  It was a long time after that before Isaac was allowed to visit with Abraham when he took supplies to Hagar and Ishmael.

Isaac remembered one visit with his half-brother when he had just grown to be  a teenager. Ishmael had taunted him again over the issue of circumcision which made them both a part of the covenant with God and Abraham. This was the very covenant that kept Abraham from severing ties completely with Hagar and Ishmael.  The adults were off tending to some other business and the two boys, Isaac a young teen and Ishmael a young man, were sitting around the fire talking. The usual happened; they began to compare themselves as the future heirs to Abraham's covenant with God.  

Ishmael had proclaimed he was most loved since he was circumcised when he was thirteen and Isaac was circumcised as a baby.  Ishmael had noted that Isaac could not refuse as he was only a helpless infant, yet he, Ishmael had made a brave conscious decision to perform the covenant act and had done it in a time of life that was much more painful; so he reasoned that his sacrifice to God was greater and more deliberate than Isaac's.  

Isaac had calmly looked at his half-brother and replied if God desired of him to be slaughtered he would not refuse even to offer up his whole life as a sacrifice.  This was a common practice for the pagans in Ishmael's hometown.  Isaac could still remember the sneer on his half-brother's face upon hearing these words.  Isaac knew Ishmael would never make such a statement, because he would not be brave enough to carry through with it.  Isaac's heart and intent were true.  He truly would lay down his life if God should demand such a thing from him.  From time to time those words haunted Isaac in his dreams.

As Isaac gathered up the wood he continued thinking of the interesting traits of  the terebinth tree.  The tree was a very strong and sturdy oak.  It had deep, deep roots.  It had remained green through all of the droughts of the land.  That tree had provided shade for many a sojourner. It was a resilient tree.  If one of these trees should die or be cut down, it was known that the stump that was left would sprout up and grow new life again.

The tree was so large  that it could be seen from a distance for miles and miles.  It had become a landmark; a way that Abraham had of telling people how to locate his tents.  He had used the tree to mark this place of his home after so many years of wondering.  It was very close to the cave where he had reverently and thoughtfully decided would be the future burial plot for his family.  He was glad the cave was so close to the tree that he had grown to love and admire.  

It had actually been Sarah's idea, to buy the caves at Machpelah.   She had purchased them herself with some of the money that came from her own dowry, explaining to Abraham that she felt sure she had found the very site where Adam and Eve had been buried by God.  Abraham had patiently listened to his wife when she spoke of this.  Other husbands might have ignored this far fetched tale from a wife, but Abraham knew that some times Sarah just knew things.  It defied all logic, but always proved out.  Over the years he too came to believe this story was true. 

 Just as a double check, Abraham had asked God to confirm this fact to him as well as Sarah.  On the day that the Three Men of God came calling Abraham had ran out to kill the fatted calf for their dinner.  The calf had gotten away  and ran from him and Abraham chased the calf through the land.  The chase led him right up to the caves where Abraham beheld Adam and Eve's burial sites with his very own eyes.  He instantly knew God had shown it to him too, and after that he knew the cave was a very sacred place.

When Sarah had first expressed her desire to be buried in this spot beside him one day, he remembered looking at his charming wife and noting that she was the most beautiful woman in all the land.  He had taken in her innocence, her ability to make the world feel right and perfect and her deep wisdom.  The thought of her not being alive was very painful to him.  He had realized long ago that she was blessed with the gift of prophecy and this incident with the cave was yet another proof of it.  He had seen how the glory of God surrounded the tent where she prepared their meals each day.  Her dough never ran out.  She hospitably gave portions of it away to people as blessings as they came and went through the home of Abraham and enjoyed many meals prepared by Sarah.  

Abraham had seen how the lamps lit during Sarah's prayers lasted from Sabbath to Sabbath, never going out during the week, providing light for their home day after day after day.  How was it that God had blessed him with such a wife?  He always marveled at it, even now, in their old age.  He had completely agreed that he and Sarah were to be laid to rest together in the cave near the Terebinth tree of their tent where God had finally established them a permanent home together.  

Isaac did not yet understand how significant the cave was, but he did understand the importance of the tree.  This strong tree stood for everything that God had promised to Abraham. It was an ever present reminder.   The roots were deep and old.  The branches were fruitful and many.  The leaves were full of life.  Abraham had often told Isaac that the tree was sacred.  Yet, just yesterday Abraham had raised his ax to some of the branches of this tree for firewood.  He had chosen it deliberately to provide the fuel for their sacrifice.  He had chosen something of the best from this place of blessings from God and taken something from it to give back to God.  Isaac understood that much of his father's thinking as he carefully filled his bag with the wood and then moved on to help load the donkey.

Abraham had carried a branch of this tree to the land where Ishmael lived and he had planted it beside the well where Hagar worked.  Ishmael had brought some of the wood from that tree too and he began to mix it with the wood that Isaac was hauling.  "Stop!" Isaac almost panicked as he saw what he was doing, but Abraham had come and stood between the two men and allowed the wood to be mixed together.  Isaac was amazed at this, but he said nothing.

Abraham carefully gathered up the fire-pots and the knife for slaughtering the sacrifice.  Eliazer and Ishmael  helped with the food supplies.  They gathered all the necessities they would need to sustain them on the long six day journey.  Hagar had come with Ishmael as he had not wanted her to be alone in his absence.  She had reluctantly submitted to this, hating every minute that she would be stuck in the tent with her former mistress, Sarah while they were away.  

Isaac wished just he and Abraham were going alone.  He did not get along well with his older half-brother, and he knew his mother would not be pleased to be spending the time away with this former slave women.  Ishmael had often reminded Isaac that his mother had been a princes of Pharoah before she had volunteered to be his mother's handmaiden.  Isaac wished she had not been so hasty.  Former princess or not, she always brought trouble to the camp.  When Abraham and Sarah had sent Hagar and Ishmael away when Ishmael was thirteen a miracle had happened.  They had found a pure well in the dessert and had established their home there.  Hagar had provided for them by selling the pure refreshing spring water to people passing through the land.  They had been quite prosperous from this.  Hagar had no need for Sarah's pity now.  She no longer was a slave and she made quite a good living for herself.  Ishmael managed her wealth for her.  She would be there only for a quick visit and then she would be heading  right back to their home again.  She longed to be going with Ishmael and Abraham instead of staying behind while they journeyed off together. 

 Both mothers gazed longingly at their sons as they prepared to leave them behind.

Both boys had grown up constantly seeking Abraham's full undivided attention.  One was always trying to please him above the other, in hunting, in fishing, in building, in growing crops.  Their lives had been one long competition for Abraham's affection.  Now they were both grown men and this situation had not changed.  It never went away.  Perhaps this very competitive spirit had been handed down from their mothers.  Each of these women were also constantly seeking Abraham's undivided attention.  The women did not have room for one another and they despised each other, so much so that Sarah had convinced Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael away, but Abraham had maintained a long distance relationship with them off and on and had always looked after them in spite of the fact that God had made it clear to him that Isaac was the son of promise.

This was something that Sarah had learned to bear quietly in her heart.  Sarah was smart enough to understand that anger and jealousy did not make a woman beautiful or cherished.  Hagar seemed incapable of learning this lesson.  When Abraham moved Hagar and Ishmael away, Sarah bore this grief against them all alone and tried not to share it with anyone.  She knew of the times Abraham went to them with supplies and she secretly wondered what went on between them, but she said nothing.  She had her cherished Isaac.  She lavished him with all the love that a mother had for a son, and she ignored that Abraham was not always in her tent.  She accepted that this whole situation was her own fault and she had asked God to forgive her for it long ago.  She knew in her heart of hearts that Abraham cherished her above all women.  She had tried to make her peace with this situation, but if she was not careful it would always rise up against her.  

Now Sarah knew her son was going away and that woman's son - Ishmael - would be going on the journey too.  This did not please her one bit.  Abraham had tried to prepare Sarah for Ishmael's presence here by explaining the necessity of having good and trusted servants on this journey.   That is what he told Sarah, but Abraham had other thoughts about this too.

He had also told Sarah that he was taking Isaac to the school established by Shem (son of Noah) on Moriah so that he could study Torah and learn all the ways of God from the masters in Shem's school.  It was said that Shem's school carefully guarded the mysteries of God and taught them to only very trusted blessed men.  As much as she knew this would be a good thing for her son, she had an unexplained apprehension about it. She realized these teachings were necessary in order to fulfill the calling and purpose of his life, but she had not been able to rest well because of it.

For some reason she sensed a deep sadness in Abraham's voice that did not sound like the excitement of a father taking his son to learn from the great masters.  Did he not realize how many years this would take Isaac away from her?  She wondered if her husband was telling her everything.  Abraham had been very silent, very quiet and was going off to pray by himself a lot these days.

When evening came Sarah could not rest.  She rumbled through her tent and found the lavish, beautiful garments and turban containing a special stone.  This had been given to her by King Abemeleck.  She had saved them for Isaac one day.  She took them to Isaac and told him to dress himself in them as he appeared before the masters in the land of Moriah.  Isaac, astonished at their beauty, took them and hugged her expressing his sincere thanks.  It was another case in Sarah's life where something good had come from something wrong.  King Abemeleck had not touched her and had honored her marriage to Abraham when he had learned the truth.  He had sent her away with lavish gifts.

After she had given him presents from her greatest treasures, Sarah wept and told Isaac how much she did not want him to go away.  Neither of them could sleep that night and they spent the night just talking of Isaac's childhood and expressing their fond memories of all the good times God had granted them with one another as he grew up.

She would not deny him the special time he was to spend with God which would truly make him a better man; but why was Abraham making this journey so mysterious?  Why did she catch her beloved husband gazing at her with what seemed to be a tinge of tender sorrow.  He had always been so protective of her heart, and she sensed he was somehow wanting to be protective of something yet again; she knew not what.  She dared not ask.  

Sarah had learned to let life happen as it happened.  This had been a hard lesson for her to learn.  She had learned not to question, though it was not her true nature.  After the horrid mistake she had made with that Egyptian slave named Hagar, she had learned to let God fulfill His own blessings in His own way in His own time.

She was sad in her soul about this journey, and she was not excited about this parting, even if it was for  a noble cause in Isaac's life.  Even if the study of the Torah would help to fulfill his destiny, she would miss him terribly! She would also miss Abraham.  Would he come home only to leave again to take Ishmael and Hagar back?  She hoped Abraham would give that task to Eliazer. 

Sarah  knew so much could happen in six days, so much!  A whole world had been created in six days!  It would take them six days altogether to make the journey, three days to climb the mountain where Abraham would leave her beloved son to be schooled, and three days for Abraham to return to her, leaving Isaac behind.   Sarah began to petition her great God to look after them both, her beloved husband and her blessed son.  She reminded God, as she often did, of His promises to Isaac and Abraham.  She prayed that God would provide everything that they needed in every minute of this journey.

She felt the salty tears from the Holy Spirit trickle down her face as she prayed and prayed and she knew God had heard her.  Just that He listened to an old woman like her gave her hope and courage.  She reminded herself of how God had kept His promise to them even when it had seemed impossible.   She smiled sweetly at her husband and her beloved son as they prepared for their long journey.

"Perhaps I should go with you," she remarked to Abraham as they sat around the fire that night.  Because of the dark she had not seen the terror that presented itself in his face.  He could not bear to explain all of this to her.  "No, my princess, you must stay behind this time."  Sarah was silent.  As the fire danced before them she leaned on her husband's chest and pondered how she might walk a way behind them without their noticing her presence.  Yes she was old and frail, but she was also courageous and determined.  Had she not waited 25 years for Isaac to be born?  She had seen God's miracle then and she knew he would protect her now.  After Abraham went to sleep she hastened to pack some food and water for herself, then she lay down beside him to rest for a few hours.

The men left early, even before Sarah woke.  It distressed her that she had not been able to tell her son goodbye again as he departed.  She walked outside the tent only to see the face of Hagar staring at her from the shade of the tree. It was the last thing she wanted to see today.

Sarah quickly gathered her things.  She would not be too far behind them.  The first time that Hagar turned her back Sarah was gone down the road.  She knew the general direction toward Moriah.  It took a few hours before she caught up with the men.  They were shocked to see her and amazed that she had followed them so far.  She ran toward Isaac and hugged him close.  "My son!  Who knows when I will see you again?  I could not let you go without saying another goodbye!"

That is when the tears poured forth.  She wept and Abraham wept and Isaac wept, each of them for their own reasons, each of them in deep pain and agony.  After much weeping Abraham and Isaac convinced Sarah to turn back and wait at home.  She stood in the road watching everything that mattered to her walk away to a place where she could not go.   She had never felt so much pain, as if a knife were cutting into her throat and bleeding all of the life out of her.  She finally could not see them anymore and she turned back toward Hebron.

As she approached her tent she noticed an old man walking behind her.  He saw that she had seen him.  She wondered who he was and why he seemed to be following her.  She stopped, though much afraid and faced him.  He bowed low to her and proclaimed that he had come from the school in which her son was to be a pupil.  She drew a deep breath of relief and asked what his business was.  "I am a prophet and I have come to declare the truth to you that your husband and your son have not told you, I fear you will be terribly upset when I tell you, but your husband has gone to build an altar and there he will sacrifice your son to God.  You will not be able to reach them in time to stop it.  I am sorry to have to tell you this."

Sarah screamed the loudest scram ever heard in any land.  It was the wale of a mother with a broken heart. As she felt the strength of  her life leaving her body she thought she saw a vision of her son cut and bleeding and tied to an altar.  She was too weak to walk back to the tent.  She could not bear this horrible news.  She could not bear to think that Abraham would do such a thing.  Her scream was heard by Hagar, who despite their past came running to her side.

The next words from Hagar shocked Sarah again.  "They have told you, haven't they?"  Sarah's eyes looked an answer for the rest of the sentence.  "They have told you that Isaac is to be the sacrifice at Moriah!"  Sarah fainted and Hagar was afraid that she would be blamed for her death.  She panicked and ran away.  The old man had also mysteriously disappeared from the road.  Sarah was left there alone and unconscious for hours until some friends of Abraham passed by and recognized her and took her to their tent and tried to nurse her back to life.

They watched anxiously as Sarah faded in and out of consciousness, and she talked to them about what God was showing her in a dream.  She mentioned how Abraham would only do God's will and that Isaac would only do what God had required of him.  She once again, even in her dream state, confessed that everything God did was always good, even when she did not understand.  The people were astonished at her testimony and admired her courage as she lay dying of grief.   They knew they had cared for a true prophetess.  Finally, in peace and the hope of God, Sarah having lost all reason for living now, gave up her spirit and passed into the other world.  The people of the village preserved her body and waited for Abraham to pass back through the land so they could give him the sad news that the wife he dearly loved had died.

It was several days before they heard his footsteps on the road.  Men were watching and waiting on Abraham, dreading what they had to say to him.  Abraham was deep in thought as he approached alone.  He was still in awe of what God had done for him and Isaac.  He had painfully walked up to Moriah, Isaac at his side.  Isaac had asked the obvious question; "Father, where is the lamb for the sacrifice?"  Abraham had answered "My son, God will provide the lamb."  It was when he had spoken this that Abraham knew that Isaac knew and understood his destiny.  He had moved on willingly and had not resisted one thing that was done to him.  He only asked that his father bind him tightly so that he would not be tempted in a moment of weakness to jump away.  

As Isaac lay down on the altar he remembered his words to Ishmael that day.  They played over and over through his mind.  He heard those words as Abraham raised the knife to slay him and perhaps Abraham had been slow because of another sound that he heard.  A long loud blast from a rams horn sounded forth.  In the midst of that sound Abraham had thought he also heard Sarah screaming and he hesitated for only a moment, but a moment was just enough time for him to hear the Angel say "Stop!"  

And the Angel assured Abraham that everything that God had required of him had been proven and he need not sacrifice the boy.  Suddenly he had seen a ram caught in the thicket.  He quickly untied Isaac and together they sacrificed the lamb that God had provided.  A day of sadness had become instantly a day of joy.  

Abraham had left Isaac with the great Masters to learn the secrets of Torah and he had hurried home to Sarah and he was full of thankfulness and excitement.  He could not wait to share this story with his beloved wife.

His countenance quickly changed as the men stopped him with the tragic news of  Sarah's death.  Abraham, only hours ago had escaped the greatest grief he thought he would ever know, but now he realized that Sarah's death would leave him only half a person.  He was not sure how he would go on living without her.  The men who had met him in the road saw him age 20 years in his appearance from the short walk from where they found him to the place where they had laid Sarah.

Abraham took his beloved wife and buried her in the cave at Macphelah, just as they had discussed when  Sarah was living.  He knew God would look after her there and it was a way for him to fulfill one last wish from her.  

With a broken heart he went to sit alone under the terebinth tree and he mourned for days.  Finally he lifted his head and rode out toward the dessert.  It would be a long time before Isaac returned, and Abraham could not bear to stay in Hebron without him.  

COME AS A CHILD - LESSON 114 - A REVIEW OF THOSE WHO WERE AT THE WELL AND UNDER THE TAMERISK TREE

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

A few weeks ago we began studying what happened to Moses after he fled from Egypt.  

We spent last week’s lesson clearing up and discussing the details and facts of the day Moses killed the Egyptian Taskmaster.  We concluded that what some claimed to be a murder committed by Moses was simply an act of self-defense.  

Previously we covered the fact that Moses was no longer safe in Egypt and spoke of how he ran away to the desert land of Midian where he came to rest beside a well.  It was there that he met the seven daughters of a Midian priest who took him in and made him his son-in-law. 

I asked you then if the well seemed to be familiar.  We did study this particular well back when we were studying the book of Genesis.  I feel we need to go back and review the vivid details of that lesson again; before we move on with the rest of the story of Moses.  

To me the significance of the story of this particular well is extremely important to Christians living in the world today.  This one little well has so many untold lessons that they cannot even be counted.  We will hear more and more of it as we continue our studies, but for now; I wish to review what happened to Hagar and Ishmael at that well.  I want us to think about how God ties things together over and over again,  and how He lets simple things, like this old, old well, teach us of His faithfulness. 

Please bear with me in the repetition and the backtracking.  I think it will be well worth your while.  You will realize more from this story than the first time you heard it.  We will also repeat some of this particular story in more detail as we continue studying the life of Moses beyond this review.

Just close your eyes and visualize Moses, hot and tired from his journey.  He is walking up to the well, dipping cold water to cure his thirst and leaning back to rest under the tall and leafy shade of an old, old tamerisk tree.  Then let you mind continue going back even further; all the way back to the days of Abraham and Hagar.

Here is Lesson 57 of The Journey Through Genesis and the lesson called “The Bush and The Well:” 

Thursday, February 19, 2015

COME AS A CHILD - LESSON 57 - THE BUSH AND THE WELL

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

Most of the story of Hagar and Ishmael has been told; but there is a little bit more that we should cover here before we make a turn and leave them for a while.  There is so much to tell and time limits how much we will be able to discuss.  How I wish that were not the case.  This is a very important topic.  Today I want to look closer at the little details that are often overlooked in the typical discussions of the story.  God is in the small things as well as the larger things and in this story, the small things make a huge difference in the large things.  

Let's try very hard to remember every little thing about these two (Abraham and Hagar) because they are a big part of the thread in the whole tapestry that God is weaving as He forms and shapes the nation of Israel and eventually all the nations of the world as we know it today.

God has been writing this story for years and years, slowly changing the hearts, fully telling the truth, finding and loving the lost and the hated forever.  Not just yesterday!  He is Eternal.  All of these nations and peoples that are so loved of God came originally from Abraham, Sarah and Hagar.  It is important to walk a while in each of their shoes and to see what God taught each of them.  We need to know who they really are so that we can realize who we really are. 

We have already discussed that Hagar was set free by Abraham.  She and Ishmael went to live near a well in the desert.  

One would think from reading the scriptures that was the last time Abraham saw of Hagar, but is that a realistic assumption?  Many think that Abraham kept up with Hagar and Ishmael and provided for their welfare.  Even though Sarah and Hagar were separated and maintained separate homes with their own sons, it seems that Abraham loved and cared and provided for both sons.

If you think about this long enough, you come to realize that the well which was only a few bow-lengths away from the place where Hagar lay Ishmael to die was possibly located very close to where Abraham and Sarah were living in Gerar.  It would not have been too far for Abraham to travel, or to receive news of the needs of Hagar and Ishmael.  

   

If you think about it all even longer you might come to suspect that this very well was probably the same well that we later hear about when Abraham and Abimeleck made an agreement to live peacefully with each other in the land for three  years.  This was a sort of treaty between them that happened long after Abraham and Sarah had left Abimeleck’s palace where amazingly (even after Abraham had deceived Abimeleck,) King Abimeleck had promised them use of the land to graze their cattle and promised them that they would be free to live on the land as they wished without harm.  

Years had passed since Abimeleck made this promise and he had been good to his word.  Abraham and Sarah had been allowed to dwell in the land even though they were foreigners.  When it came time to seal the deal with a treaty, Abimeleck reminded Abraham that he had kept his end of the promise.  Now it was Abraham's turn to make promises.

Many were amused when this treaty was formed.  They marveled that Abimeleck would even think of making an agreement with Abraham after the way Abraham had lied to him and deceived him into thinking that Sarah was his sister.    Yet; Abraham had prayed for Abimeleck and his household and the Philistine King had seen the results of those prayers.  It must have made quite an impression.  There had been much healing. 

Abimeleck knew also from a dream that God was blessing Abraham and that Abraham was a prophet of God.  Perhaps Abimeleck was afraid God would bless Abraham so much that he would lose all of his kingdom to him.   Was it not rumored that Abraham thought his descendants would inherit this land eventually?   This three year treaty probably seemed the best way to go.  They could live together in peace for a period of time, then Abraham and Sarah could journey on to somewhere else.  The King would no longer be threatened with these people taking over his territory.  In Abimeleck's eyes, it was just a temporary arrangement and one day in the future he would like to end the temporary arrangement without too much of a fight and on agreeable terms.

Abraham’s perspective of this treaty would have been quite different from that of Abimeleck, having been told by God that his descendants would eventually be given the land.  Abraham might have seen this treaty as the beginning of many more to come.  He wanted to live peacefully in the land and he wanted to have a good relationship with the king that now ruled the land.  

So the two men made the treaty, each of them looking at it from their own perspective; Abraham thinking this was God's first step in His plan for his descendants to acquire the land, and Abimeleck thinking he was preparing them for the date when they would make their eventual departure.  Each man entered the treaty seeing their own possible advantages.

However, to make the deal sweeter, there was a well that Abraham had dug, and he had noticed Abimeleck’s men were constantly fighting with his men over the water rights for this well.  Abraham pointed this out to Abimeleck and mentioned that he had set aside seven female lambs as a gift to Abimeleck in exchange for the well.  Abimeleck, knowing that the deal would never be sealed without this, accepted Abraham's terms.  What harm would it be for Abraham to own the well if he eventually had to leave?  Abimeleck's people would just take it over at that time.  Wells could be reclaimed easily enough.

When this treaty was finished and sealed, this particular well was considered to be the legal property of Abraham.  It was the first thing that he had actually bought and paid for and owned exclusively in the new land.  It was the most important move that Abraham could have made!  In this dry land, water rights meant survival.  This was a very important well.  It was the often overlooked first step in God fulfilling the covenant that promised the land to Abraham and his descendants.
  

Knowing that God had finally given him a piece of the property that had been promised for years and years, Abraham built an altar at this well and gave thanks to God.  He was full of joy and elated to see the promises coming to pass!  He thanked God for the well, and for the beginning of the fulfilling of the rest of the promise.  

Isaac’s birth had fulfilled a large part of this promise and a small piece of the rest of it was now beginning to come about too.  Abraham was determined that Isaac’s children and their children would live in this land that had been promised by God to Abraham.  Owning this one little bit of the land where the well was had given Abraham much hope for the future.

Abraham realized at this late point in his life when God first began to fulfill the rest of the covenant, that God had a different perspective on time than he did.  Abraham realized for the first time ever that God was eternal and everlasting.  The importance of this truth overwhelmed Abraham.  It sunk into his very soul and he thought a lot about the fact that God goes on forever and ever, infinite, without end.

He had known that God was powerful and righteous, but this was the first time that Abraham had pondered the fact that the God he faithfully served was forever and ever.  Here at this well Abraham called God El-Olam which meant Eternal God.  Abraham pondered the fact that an eternal God had given him a promise and that promise would belong to all of his descendants.  They would know and call on this name of this very same Eternal God all through history.  

Abraham  finally realized that every thing he had done and would ever do would affect the eternal blessings of God toward his descendants.  That is why Abraham planted a Tamerisk tree beside the well.  

Tamerisk trees grow slowly.  You do not plant them for your own shade.  You plant them to shade the people in the generations to come.  Abraham praised God that his descendants would come and sit under the shade of this Tamerisk tree near the well of Abraham where they would draw water to satisfy their thirsts in the years to come.  

It was a huge moment of faith for Abraham.  

It was a gigantic leap in his understanding of how big God really is and how eternal his blessings and promises are.  Abraham praised God here and offered up his thanks.  With the planting of the tamerisk tree he had planted down roots.  

Abraham continued to live a godly life with Sarah and Isaac in Gerar.  There he once again opened his doors to strangers and he always told them about El-Olam - The Everlasting God.  The House of Abraham was once again spreading the word about the One True God of Heaven and Earth.  You might even say that Abraham and Sarah were the very first evangelical Christians, because of their faith!  They were preaching the gospel before the gospel message was fulfilled because they believed in an Eternal and Everlasting God.   It must have been a wonderful time for Abraham and Sarah and Isaac.  These must have been the most precious years of their lives.

Abraham was so happy with the way things were going that he decided to give a huge celebration on the day that Isaac was weaned.  We have already discussed this story too, and we noted the way that Sarah persuaded Abraham to turn Hagar and Ishmael away so that only Isaac would inherit from Abraham.  

Abraham was quite perplexed but discussed this with God first, which also shows us the change and the maturity of Abraham in this place.  He heard God say to listen to Sarah so Abraham decided to do what he personally did not want to do.  He gave Hagar and Ishmael some bread and a flask of water and told them they were free; and that they must leave.  

Perhaps Sarah saw this as getting rid of Hagar and Ishmael, but perhaps Abraham only saw this as separating the two women and their sons.  He only gave them enough bread and water to wonder a short time.  Perhaps he even told Hagar which direction to take.  No one really knows what was happening in Abraham's heart on that day, but what we do know is they stumbled on the provision of a well just in time, just as their bread and water ran out.  It was a well that had been very significant in Abraham's life; a well where an altar had been places and thanks given to an Eternal God.  Perhaps no one knew how holy the ground around the well was; but God knew and God was there.  

We have also discussed that Hagar wandered in the desert until the water and the bread were gone and then she laid Ishmael down beneath a bush and went off a few bow lengths away from him so she did not have to see him die.  She began to cry.  Ishmael also began to cry.  The angel of the LORD heard Ishmael's cry and came to Hagar and Hagar's eyes were opened and she saw the well.

If you think about it, the well that Hagar saw which was close to a bush where she laid Ishmael to die (about two bow-lengths away) was probably the same well that Abraham and Abemileck had formed the treaty over.  It more than likely was the well bought with the seven female lambs.  

This well had been the beginning of Abraham's miracle from God, the first rights to the promised land.  It was also Hagar’s miracle from God.  Her eyes were opened in that very spot and she saw how to bring her nearly dead son back to life.  This was the well in Beersheba near Hebron on the Sinai peninsula, not too terribly far from Gerar.  Some people have different theories, but this is what I have come to believe about the well: 
  

The bush that Ishmael lay under was most likely a young tamarisk tree that had been planted a few years ago by his Father, Abraham.   When these trees are young they look more like bushes.   Hagar, being originally from the desert lands of Egypt would probably have known the special qualities of the tamarisk trees.  

These trees grow in soil with high concentrations of salt.  They have small leaves and small branches.  During the heat of the day these trees secrete salt.  The salt dries.  During the night the salt absorbs water from the air.  In the morning the water evaporates creating the effect of a natural air conditioner and the air beneath this tree is always cooler during the daylight.  God was still looking out for Ishmael.  He gave him air conditioning in the desert heat!

Perhaps Hagar, even though she was afraid her son might die, did not walk away for only that reason.  Perhaps she wanted him to have all the benefits of the air underneath this tree.  Perhaps her walking away was a noble sacrifice, giving him the cool air in the midst of the desert heat, and yet she would be close enough to hear him if needed.  

It is also said that the leaves of this tree, when they have been shed beneath the branches, make a soft warm bed in the desert during the night.  They tend to absorb the heat from the sand at night and keep one warm.  As hot as it is in the daytime, the desert is also very cold at night.  You can die from cold just as easily as you can die from heat.  Hagar was smart enough to use all of her survival skills to protect her son and to keep him alive.  Beneath the tamarisk tree was the very best place for Ishmael to be. God was still guiding Hagar, even as she was lost in the desert.  

This is a personal thought that I want to give future research to, but it is my own personal theory that Hagar and Ishmael, lost in the desert, were the first people to encounter the burning bush; even before Moses.  I believe it existed in the area of that tamerisk tree; or even that it WAS that tamerisk tree.  

If you study the areas where there were burning bush experiences, you will find that this well dug by Abraham and the bush were close in proximity to each other.  Moses later met Jethro's daughters as they were drawing water from a well.  There were seven daughters who drew, and seven female lambs were paid by Abraham to obtain this well for his descendants.   Moses saw the bush not too far from this well.
  

Getting back to our original story, we are told that God heard Ishmael’s cry and then spoke to Hagar.  Could it be that God heard Ishmael’s cry because Ishmael was laid down in a very holy place?  We are told in the scriptures that the place of the burning bush was holy.  

Let’s read how Moses described the burning bush in Exodus 3:1-5:

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the Mountain of God.  There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush.  Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.  So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight – why the bush does not burn up.”  When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses!  Moses!”  And Moses said, “Here I am.”   “Do not come any closer,” God said.  “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

It is quite possible that Ishmael was laid down right on the same holy ground and God heard his cry and his prayer for himself and his mother.  Then God called out from the bush to Hagar, much in the same way that He called out to Moses.  God called out to her by specifically naming her name.  God knew Hagar’s name and He told her not to fear, that he had heard the cries of the boy in the bush.  

Wow!  Does that not give you chills up and down your spine?  God KNEW Hagar by name and He told her not to fear.  I can just feel Hagar's countenance changing from very humble to confident and sure.  I can see the hope in her eyes increasing every second.   Just as God remembered Sarah in her time of being an outcast; He also remembered Hagar.   He had heard her son crying under the BUSH, probably the same bush where God many years later called out to Moses.  

The cry of Ishamael in God's ear probably sounded a lot like another little baby's cry from the basket in the river made from the bushes called bulrushes.  Long before God heard the cry of Moses, He heard the cry of Ishamael.   Long after God heard the cry of Ishamael and Moses, He heard the cry of Jesus from a manger in Bethlehem.  God heard each baby cry out, and this baby named Ishmael was crying out, probably near the same well where Abraham had worshiped God and thanked Him for being eternal and keeping all of his promises.  

This incident in the life of Hagar and Ishmael probably happened in the same place where from generation to generation future we will hear of miracle after miracle for Abraham’s descendants.  The stories are as uncountable as the stars from Heaven.

So;be sure to listen up whenever you hear mention of the bush or the tamarisk tree or the well.  It will be meaningful, and it usually involves God calling someone out; using their personal name and giving them personal instructions.  Ask Moses.  Ask Jacob.  Ask David.  Ask Mary.  Ask Abraham.  Ask Ishmael.  Ask Isaac.  Ask 21 Egyptian men who were recently beheaded for their belief in the cross from the modern times where we now live. 

These cast-out children of Abraham were all in some ways hidden under a bush on holy ground.  At one time they were all lost and afraid and they all cried out to God for help.  God had told them all not to be afraid.  Abraham, their leader, had made a covenant with God right in this very place.  Here in this same place, Hagar looks up and sees the well that will keep them from ever thirsting again.

Now the roots of the tamarisk tree have grown deeper and deeper and generations and generations have passed since the days of Abraham, but many, many of his descendants have remained faithful and loyal to God; no matter where they are, no matter their circumstances in life.  It is the story of the tamerisk tree being told over and over again.  It has been played out right before our eyes in present times too.  The tamerisk tree speaks of an Eternal God who always keeps His promises.  The tree is still alive and well and it is growing today.  God is still Eternal and Everlasting!

The witness of the children of Abraham of The Eternal God has grown slow and strong, putting down roots like the tamerisk tree, slow and steady, taking a long, long time, hardly noticed at first, overshadowed by the larger trees of the land who are not so flexible and not so strong.  

The tamarisk trees have now spread across the lands and the nations. People of God have found the truth of The God of Abraham and followed His Son, Jesus Christ.  This means so much to them that they would die before denying the message of the cross of Jesus Christ.  They do not seek this death for their own glory, it finds them and allows them to be a true witness; much unlike those men who falsely think that what they do that breaks every commandment of God will bring them honor and glory.   True People of God never seek their own honor.  They only give glory to God.  This is a test that is always accurate.   

These false self-proclaimed prophets of terrorism who also follow a false prophet seek their own glory and their own benefit.  Those who have been willing to die selflessly rather than deny the name and cause of The One True God are the true martyrs.  They are the true ones who will be rewarded by God.   They are with the souls of the martyrs under the altar!

 Even today, many more have lost their lives being a witness for this truth that they believe enough to die for.  They have kept an unwavering faith in this God of Abraham.  They know without a doubt that they have found the most valuable thing ever.   They have been burned, beheaded, tortured and killed, but their witness, like a slow growing tamerisk tree now spreads its branches and covers a land who seeks for truth.  The trees will talk and their voices will be heard throughout eternity.  They died for an Eternal God.

If no one else speaks for them; even the very rocks will cry out to tell their witness story; that the God of Abraham is The One True God.  Their blood cries out to God even now, just like the blood of the righteous Abel.  God will hear.  He will honor them.  The God of Abraham looks after his people who are tortured, exiled, lost and afraid.   He saw that other Egyptian named Hagar and He came to her rescue.   The same God who loved Hagar and knew her by name, reaches out to those like her living in the midst of every land today.  

The story from the tamerisk tree and the story spoken from the blood of the martyrs that call out to God is eternal because it is a story of The One Eternal God - El-Olam - The God of Abraham, and He never changes.  

So remember El-Olam, the One Eternal God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when you hear of a well, or a tree, or a bush.  Listen for the cry of God that calls out to individuals from every land from a very holy place.  He hears.  He sees.  He is eternal.  He wrote the story, and He will finish the story.  He knows the beginning from the end.  Follow Him.  He knows your name!  Every name of every true martyr is recorded in His book, The Book of Life.  The Lamb guards the book.  He is  The Lamb that bought the well of everlasting water from which no man drinking will ever thirst again.  The price has been paid.  The Father who paid the price through His son is constantly calling out names.

There is only one correct answer when you hear Him calling:  "Henini"  "Here I Am."  That was the answer given by Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Moses, Isaac, David and all of the disciples of Jesus Christ in the new testament.  That was the answer of all those who have been recently martyred.  "Here I am."    

Will that be your answer when He calls your name?  

We are living in times when you must decide.  You must know your answer.  God will show you.  He showed Abraham.  He showed Hagar.  He showed those who recently followed Him forsaking all else.  He always keeps His promises.

COME AS A CHILD LESSON 68 HAGAR BECOMES KETURAH

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

So, the story hiding within the story is that Abraham married Keturah shortly after Isaac married Rebekah. 

 There is much fascination around the thoughts as to who Keturah really was.  It seems that Abraham was 140 when he married her; that would mean that they were husband and wife for thirty-five years, since Abraham died at a ripe old age of 175.  

We see Keturah mentioned in the scriptures of the Torah as the one Abraham married after Isaac’s wedding, as if she were a whole new person in the story, but many believe she had a past history with Abraham.  Some think she was actually Hagar with a new name. It seems that the Midrash also leans toward the theory that Hagar was Keturah, and her name was changed due to the fine qualities that she had developed over a lifetime of living on her own.
 

One has to stop here to remember that God changed the names of Abraham and Sarah, and it seems highly possible that this would also have been the case with Hagar.  Yet, none of this is explained exactly, so all we can do based on the solid scriptures is speculate.  It is almost as if things were deliberately vague regarding Keturah.  
 

In the questions around Keturah there is also that nagging question of whether or not Abraham actually married and/or divorced Hagar in the first place, or if she was simply a concubine and he just sent her away.

The Midrash teaches that Abraham DID divorce Hagar when he sent her away (which would indicate that he was actually legally married to her also.) It states that as she sat by the well and cried out to God that she demanded for God to look down on her shame and bring her justice.  This same story teaches that God heard her prayer and much later granted her this justice by speaking to Abraham after Sarah’s death and commanding him to take back his divorced wife, Hagar.
 

It is also hinted in the Torah scriptures and repeated in the Midrash that Isaac too actually initiated this action of his father’s remarriage.  The story notes that Isaac, having just married Rebekah, said to himself “I have taken a wife, while my father is without a spouse.  What did he decide to do about this?  He went and brought Keturah to Abraham.  The one who had inadvertently caused them to be separated in the first place, now brought them together again.  

This traditional teaching is based on Genesis 24:62 that reads “Isaac had just come back from the vicinity of Be’er-la-hai-ro’i”.  So; many think that it is highly possible that was when Isaac brought Hagar back to live with Abraham again, probably hoping she would keep him company and he would not be so lonely since Sarah had died.  We know that same area is where she had established a life when she left Abraham’s camp, and it was where she had been living for most of her days since her time with Abraham.  It was also where several of her experiences with God had taken place, and where her eyes had been opened, hence how the place had been given its name.  (Genesis 16:14)  A lot had happened to Hagar at this well.  Perhaps Hagar had learned even more by living beside this well than the scriptures tell us.  There seems to be a drastic change between the first woman we knew as Hagar and the woman we meet later named Keturah.  God had done a work in Hagar and this had changed her name.

Let’s ponder this and go a bit deeper with it.  When Abraham sent Hagar

and Ishmael away on the day of Isaac’s weaning, it is certainly very possible that he did give her a certificate of divorce.  Sarah had been very angry and wanted Abraham to be rid of this servant and her son forever.  She wanted it to be legal so there could be no question that Isaac was the only heir of Abraham.
 

Hagar was left alone in the wilderness to care for her son without anyone helping her for years and years.  Some think Abraham had mercy on her and sent her in the direction of the well, knowing that if she found water, she would be saved.  Still, she was lost and on her own without the identity of Abraham's name for years and years.  It is said that he sent help to her, but had promised Sarah that his foot would never step down from his camel on Ishmael’s property.  So when he visited with Ishmael, it was not inside Ishmael’s home.  It was by indirect contact or infrequent face to face encounters for many years.
 

Let’s even take these thoughts about Abraham and Hagar’s divorce a step further and ask another question:  Was this not a very similar situation to the time when God sent Israel away with a divorce and dispersed them into the world and they became lost without any sign of their true identity?
 

God had married Israel at Mt. Sinai on Pentecost when the cloud had settled over the mountain like a wedding canopy. God gave the people His covenant in writing on stone called The Ten Commandments.  Moses, acting in the place of the priest, had written out the marriage certificate, the Ketubah, containing all of the words, and all the people who had cleansed their clothes and consecrated themselves for two days, stood before God on the third day and agreed to this marriage covenant.   

The very first commandment was “thou shalt have no other gods before Me.”  No sooner were the words written down and read  aloud than the people were building and worshiping a golden calf.  They were committing spiritual adultery almost as soon as they took their wedding vows.  How did God chose to handle this?  Though His heart was broken, after many repeated episodes of the same thing, He gave these rebellious people a writ of divorce.  God cannot dwell with pagans.

We read about this in Jeremiah, Chapter 3.  The prophet speaks in parable and allegory to describe all of this.  He speaks of how Israel had been untrue to God by worshiping other gods.  The two parties had created a covenant together of the most serious kind.  It was an extension of the original covenant God had given to Abraham.  
   

A marriage contract is always based on compete faithfulness of both the bride and the groom.  This was a blood covenant.   Moses had built an altar of twelve stones to represent each of the twelve tribes.  He had read the contract aloud and sprinkled the people with half the blood of the sacrifices and poured the other half of the blood on the altar. 

In those days when a blood covenant was made it meant that if one party broke the covenant it was punishable by death (by the shedding of a party of the covenant’s own blood.)  Yet, serious as it was, in no time at all the people had broken the covenant.
   

The words “thou shalt have no other gods before me” were the same as a groom saying to his bride, “You will have no other husband but Me.”  When the people sinned by worshiping the idol of the golden calf, they committed spiritual adultery.  They were untrue to God.  They lost their purity before Him.  This broke the covenant with God and ended the marriage.  At that point, the people were doomed to die for their sin of adultery and rebelliousness.

How odd to think that the God of Heaven had married a harlot, but that was the case with Israel!
 

We could stay within the bounds of our present story and look at Abraham and Hagar and say “How odd that Abraham would have married an Egyptian slave girl who would eventually rebel against his household!  He divorced her and sent her away when she was rebellious against his house.  Hagar and Ishmael had treated Sarah and Isaac grievously.  Her own rebellion had caused her divorce.
 

The story of Hagar and Abraham continues to reflect the story of God and Israel.  It is not the story of Isaac.  Isaac represents the people who did not rebel against God in spiritual adultery.  It is about another son, the son of Hagar who was very different from the son of Sarah.  Ishmael was wild and rebellious.  Ishmael paid no attention to the laws and rules of Abraham’s household even though when he was but a young boy God had given him mercy and saved him beside a wellspring of water.  Ishmael remained rebellious, but it seems that Hagar had begun to change.

Hagar wandered in the circumstances that Abraham had decided for her until she came to rest by a well where God spoke to her and satisfied her thirst as well as the thirst of her son.  This nourishment from the water of the well and the words from heaven to her here in this place made her realize her worth as a child of God.  Miracles can do that for all of us.  Sometimes things just happen that we know were impossible without God’s total intervention, and those things tend to strengthen our belief and help us to hold on until we are spiritually stronger and able to overcome our circumstances.

  

There at the well provided by God, Hagar found her purpose and destiny.  She became the woman that God had intended for her to be all along.  Her circumstances helped her to understand need and suffering.  This developed a trait of compassion and love for others that had not come naturally to her before.  Now that she had known thirst, she shared the precious water from the well with all those passing by, and they maintained life from it and were grateful.  They paid her good wages for this water and Hagar began to support herself and her son from the bounty of the one good thing that God had given them of their own.
 

We all have one thing in our lives that we know is our greatest blessing from

God.  Usually when we become grateful for that one thing and turn it completely over to God, He multiplies that one thing into a way for us to become survivors and over-comers in a hard, cold and uncaring world.  For people of God living in the modern world today, a way to over-come tribulation and survive is critical.  It is a trait we must learn from Hagar.  We must find out and understand how she came to be Keturah.  Keturah was a woman who was prepared to become a bride.
 

God's love gives our hearts the capacity to grow and reach out to those who have even more needs than we do.  In this unselfish act, we begin to find our blessings and we cultivate love.  That is exactly what had happened to Hagar as she waited by the well and tended to her son.  That is the very thing that turned her into Keturah.  She developed compassion and love for all of mankind.  She forgave Sarah and Abraham for putting her into circumstances beyond her control.  She did not question God's destiny for her life any longer, and she began to fulfill the true destiny that God had designed especially for her to be.
 

A whole new woman appeared; one much different than the one that had left the home of Abraham so many years ago.  The change from Hagar to Keturah prepared her to become acceptable as Abraham’s wife again.
 

So it seems that after the death of Sarah Abraham found Hagar again, after many years of not knowing her, and he saw how beautiful she had become, both inside and out.  It was said by the people in the land that her deeds were as pleasant as incense, and that is part of the meaning of her new name.  Where she once had been bitter and harsh Abraham now saw her kind ways.  He saw that she had not neglected her only son, but had raised him to be strong.  He was amazed at the business woman that she had grown to be, smartly buying and trading with the merchants that came and went through the land, always selling them the right to use the water in her well; but always keeping the well for her livelihood.  Some think that she also sold spices to the merchants that she had grown and cultivated in her garden, but the well was her main source of income.  Even her garden was watered by it. 

Let’s not forget – it was Abraham’s well.  He never took it from her, but let her use it freely and this provided a living for her while she was away from him. (Does this remind you of  how God sent The Holy Spirit to His people when Jesus had to go back to Heaven?)  

Hagar/Keturah had become quite wealthy and prosperous, and she had kept herself moral and pure.  She had never even looked in the direction of another man after her relationship with Abraham.  She had very strong strong morals and very high standards.  She had made it on her own, with God’s help.  She had relied on no other man to solve her problems and had risen above her harsh circumstances with dignity and grace.  Abraham recognized this change of character and admired the very valuable woman that she had become.  He saw so many new qualities that had come to take root in her life since the days of the Egyptian slave girl from so long ago.  This totally different woman had a new name.  Hagar was gone.  Now they called her Keturah.  So Abraham remarried Keturah and they had six sons.

  

There is another story about a prophet named Hosea that had an experience with a rebellious wife.  Like Abraham’s marriage to Keturah, his marriage was also a picture of God’s marriage to Israel, only an even better comparison.  

Hosea and Gomer (his wayward wife) had three children.  Gomer went out and committed adultery and eventually she found herself standing in the slave market shamefully waiting to be sold as a slave.  God instructed Hosea to go find her and redeem her.  Hosea did this and redeemed her for fifteen shekels of silver and one-half an omer of barley.
  

In a similar fashion, God instructed Yeshua to go find the lost sheep of Israel and to redeem them.  He did this.  He bought them back from the slave market of sin for thirty shekels of silver and his own flesh and blood.

When we read of the death of Abraham, who died at 175 years old, we see a picture of Isaac and Ishmael burying their father together.  How very strange to know that the two sons who were kept apart during the life of Abraham came together in the death of Abraham.  We had a hint of this reconciliation when Isaac brought Keturah back to Abraham after Sarah died.  Maybe this reconciliation of the two sons came even before Abraham died, perhaps some time after the Akadah?  We do not know exactly when, but now we see two very different men coming together in peace in order to bury their father.

 Some believe that in his old age Abraham had worked very hard to reconcile the two grown men to one another as brothers.  Perhaps as he grew older and older Abraham did not want to die with the thought that the two that he loved most on earth were enemies, and this situation had been partially of his own making; because he had divorced Hagar and separated them.
  

When Isaac and Ishmael come together in grief over losing their father, we are reminded of the split between the tribes of Israel that happened much later in history, where the ten tribes were separated from the two tribes and both groups, once separated. wound up being exiled to different places, with ten tribes totally losing their identity within the family of Israel and only two tribes eventually returning from exile to Jerusalem.
 

Many today believe that one day these two parts of the nation of Israel will rediscover their identity as one family and re-unite in the power of The Holy Spirit under a shared belief that Yeshua is Messiah and the true Son of God.  A day may come where they will honor their Father and become One again. 

We know that it is promised that Yeshua,  like the shadow we see of Isaac in our story, will bring His family together once more; and Israel will again become one with God.  It is a day we all hope and pray for, a day when we will all find the peace of God that has been so elusive for so long.  
  

Will that time be like the time at the end of Abraham's life?  Will it too be a long slow process with many twists and turns?  Will it take that long for two brothers of one Father to become friends again and agree on the truth of their family history?

But wait….God had divorced Israel, at least the scriptures indicate that He divorced all but the tribe of Judah.  How could these two divided pieces of one nation ever reunite again?  It would break God’s own law. 

Abraham was able to remarry Keturah (Hagar who had changed), but she had remained faithful and had not gone after other men.  We know that the reason the lost sheep were divorced from God in the first place was that they were committing spiritual adultery, or they were worshiping idols and using pagan practices in their lives.  God could not endure this, hence the writ of divorce.  

It is said in God’s own law (Deuteronomy 24: 1-4), in the Ketubah that was given at Sinai, the document that contained the ten commandments for all to follow on the wedding day; that a man could not remarry a woman he had divorced if she had been wed to another, even if that person died.  

The only way for God to be able to legally remarry the lost sheep of Israel would be for Him to die, thus ending that part of the covenant.  (A covenant that was broken only ended with the death of one party of the covenant.)   If God died and was resurrected to new life it would then be possible for Him to remarry those of Israel that He had previously divorced.  That is exactly what happened.
 

Wonder of all wonders, there was a way and it was legal!  Romans 7:2-3, written in the words of Paul explains it:

“For a woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he lives, but if her husband be dead she is loosed from the law of her husband.”

If the first husband dies, the woman would be free to marry another man, even if she had been married to someone else in the meantime (spiritual adultery.)  We know the first husband of Israel was God, and we know He gave most of Israel a writ of divorce.  We know a portion of Israel has been lost and wandering around in the wilderness of the world for years and years (like Hagar) not even realizing their true identity any more.  We also know the only way that God could legally remarry these “lost sheep” was to die first and then be resurrected to new life.
 

That is just what happened!  This was exactly what took place when God came as Jesus Christ and gave His life on a cross for the redemption of sins.  When that happened the lost ten tribes were legally free to remarry if they chose to do so.  

It was Jesus who died, but Yeshua and God are One, are they not?  God paid for His Bride with His life.  He separated a part of himself to come to earth to live in the flesh so that He might live and die for His Bride, Israel to be made whole again.  

Once Israel is made whole, the Gentiles may also be saved by the atonement of this same precious blood of Christ.  In this act the Son reconciled the Father back to his original wife, and it was completely legal and in keeping with the Law.   The first marriage, the one to Sarah was still in tact, but she had died making it legal for God to marry again.  The second marriage to Hagar had received Sarah's blessing, but it had not been God's will.  It was ended with the death of God and made new through the Resurrection.  Jesus said "I make all things new."  It is still the same Ketubah, or marriage contract with a new and deeper covenant and commitment and now, this time,  the bride has a choice.  She is free, no longer a slave.  She can remarry if she chooses to do so. 

Now the decision is in the former wife’s court.  Will she come back to be reconciled with her husband?  God allows for free will.  Will she work with her first and true love to bring ALL under the cloud of covering, the wedding canopy of God?  Will the Bride chose the Groom and start to prepare herself  for the next wedding?  Two thousand years have ticked off from the clock in order for us to come to the time of this decision.  Is the bride becoming prepared?  Is she ready?  In the first wedding the bride spent two days getting ready, washing her clothes and consecrating herself to meet God.  On the third day the wedding took place.  We are approaching the third day of humanity on this earth after the death of Christ on the cross.  Is the bride ready?  Yeshua is going to return!

Yes, it is true that Yeshua came to bring ALL men to God, but He came FIRST

to the lost sheep of Israel.  Until God’s household was in order again the whole family could not be complete and legal.  Because Israel had sinned and caused a divorce to happen Yeshua now had to die to make this remarriage possible.  He has now been resurrected into new life, and He is waiting on his Bride to be ready.

Do you see how much of this story is like the story of Abraham and Hagar/Keturah?  They had already been married once before and were divorced.  Hagar was sent away never to return. Things looked pretty hopeless.  Hagar had gone back to Egypt and back to her old pagan ways for a while, but these things had died in her heart because she had seen the truth right there beside the well and she knew of God.  She remembered how she had lived  in God's ways with Abraham’s house under the covenant blessings, and she once again decided on her own accord to return to the ways of God in her life; only this time she kept God’s laws from within her heart instead of just because that was the proper thing for a servant to do in Abraham’s house.  She was free to make a choice and she made the RIGHT choice.  This is what turned her into Keturah!  This is what made her ready to be reunited with her husband.   

It was like God had been preparing her heart to be re-united with her former husband all along.  His son initiated this and encouraged their reconciliation.  Once the father was again happily married the son could go on with his life and live out the purposes that God had planned for him.
    

This is just a small portion of all the essence of what is contained in the few small paragraphs of scripture that we know of Abraham’s remarriage to Keturah.  Perhaps we will hear of them again later as we now go back and continue to study the love story of Rebekah and Isaac.  Whether we do or not, just know that Abraham died a happy man having lived a fulfilling life before God.  

We hear that at the end of his life Abraham came with the fullness of his days and was gathered to his people.  How many times do you hear of such a happy ending?   And the best part of all is that Abraham's ending, just like any child of God, was only his new beginning in eternity.