Abraham Marries Keturah

This picture was adapted from here.

Now Abraham married again with the chuppah tent, the veil ceremony and the traditional (as in the second time, but it will become a tradition) blessing. Keturah was his new wife, and she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Jokshan's two sons were Sheba and Dedan. Dedan's descendants were the Asshurites, Letushites, and Leummites. Midian's sons were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. These were all descendants of Abraham through Keturah.

< = = = And where are they today?

Well Abraham sent them away to the east, and they settled in the Trans Jordan region. They were not a major people, her sons did not possess the gates of their enemies and they were assimilated over time into other tribes.

Abraham left everything he owned to his son Isaac, the son of promise. But before he died, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them off to the east, away from Isaac.

< = = = Why do the scriptures say concubine? We just saw him get married.

It simply denotes a lower status. And that is why it is so significant he left everything to Isaac. Sarah, his childhood sweetheart, was the love of his life and the line that the manifested the promise of God:

I will cause you to become the father of a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and I will make you a blessing to others.

I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you."

Ishmael's Descendants

This picture was adapted from here.

This is the history of the descendants of Ishmael, the son of Abraham through Hagar, Sarah's Egyptian servant. Here is a list, by their names and clans, of Ishmael's descendants: The oldest was Nebaioth, followed by Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.

These twelve sons of Ishmael became the founders of twelve tribes that bore their names, listed according to the places they settled and camped. Ishmael finally died at the age of 137 and joined his ancestors in death.

< = = = Are these names important to know?
Tough question, neither the Torah because they are not the children of the promise or other literature tracks them exactly so they are lost except for the records God Keeps. That said, you will recall God promised and God did make them a great nation. You will recall:
"This son of yours will be a wild one--free and untamed as a wild donkey! He will be against everyone, and everyone will be against him. Yes, he will live at odds with the rest of his brothers."
However, God also said:
As for Ishmael, I will bless him also, just as you have asked. I will cause him to multiply and become a great nation. Twelve princes will be among his descendants.

The bottom line, because of the diaspora, the scattering of the Jewish peoples, there is probably more blood of Abraham in many of the Middle Eastern Islamic people than in the Jews. They are descendants of Abraham not just through Ismael, but also through the sons of Keturah. Never underestimate them Issy, God has richly blessed them for the sake of Abraham. Never forget Abraham's request of God:
And Abraham said to God, "Yes, may Ishmael enjoy your special blessing!"
Nonetheless, the sons and daughters of the promise God made to Abraham come through the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That is what matters.

Ishmael's descendants were scattered across the country from Havilah to Shur, which is east of Egypt in the direction of Asshur, the first capital of Assyria. The clans descended from Ishmael camped close to one another.

Abraham is buried in the cave at Macpelah

<= = = Mr. Comfort, it is amazing we are on the same flight. And by the way, that does not look like a cave, it looks like a building.

We are both going to Israel, El Al flies to Israel, my miles are on El Al what is amazing about that. And it is a building, a building with a lot of history. It is the oldest site in Jewish history, but like the temple mount, we are denied. Do you know that Jews can only enter Ohel Yitzhak ten days a year? It is under Muslim control and we are denied.

< = = = Who built the building?

None other than Herod the Great, it is actually the best condition Herodian building, others modified it, Herod simply enclosed it, there was no roof. Anyway, let's finish this last story in the life of Patriarch Abraham.

Abraham lived for 175 years, and he died at a ripe old age, joining his ancestors in death. His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, near Mamre, about half way between the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite. All of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs are buried there except Rachel, who was buried near Bethlehem. This was the field Abraham had purchased from the Hittites, at full price, where he had buried his wife Sarah.

Rebekah arrives at Isaac and Abraham's home

I understand you begin your trip to Israel tomorrow, are you excited?

< = = = Yes, sir, actually we don't I just take a quick flight to New York and we are going to get everyone together, some of the people are traveling from as far away as Kauai. The Wednesday we go.

It should be fun, though it is a long flight. OK, today, Rebekah will meet Isaac.

So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham's servant and his men. And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, "Our sister, may you increase to thousands upon thousands; may your offspring possess the gates of their enemies."

Then Rebekah and her maids got ready and mounted their camels and went back with the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left.

Now Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi, for he was living in the Negev. Now you remember this place, it is where Hagar was told to return to her mistress.

Then the angel of the LORD said, "Return to your mistress and submit to her authority." The angel added, "I will give you more descendants than you can count." And the angel also said, "You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael, which means "God hears" for the LORD has heard about your misery.

The angel of the LORD continued, "This son of yours will be a wild one--free and untamed as a wild donkey! He will be against everyone, and everyone will be against him. Yes, he will live at odds with the rest of his brothers."

Thereafter, Hagar referred to the LORD, who had spoken to her, as "the God who sees me," (El-roi) for she said, "I have seen the One who sees me!" Later that well was named Beer-lahairoi, which means “well of the Living One who sees me.” and it can still be found between Kadesh and Bered.

Well that is where Isaac was living. He went out to the field one evening to meditate, and as he looked up, he saw camels approaching.

Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel and asked the servant, "Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?" "He is my master," the servant Eleazar, whose name means God, My Help, answered. So she took her veil and covered herself.

< = = = So this is a love at first sight sort of thing?

Very much so, they saw and both pretty much knew from a distance and as Rebekah got closer and Issac saw how beautiful she was, his heart started beating very fast, he was strong and in top physical shape, but he seriously wondered if he would be OK.

Then the servant told Isaac all he had done and Issac started to calm down. Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. And to this day, when Jewish people marry they marry under a tent, a chuppah and during the ceremony there is the badekin, or veiling for Rebekah was veiled. And of course when we marry today, the traditional blessing is the blessing her people gave her on parting, " may you increase to thousands upon thousands; may your offspring possess the gates of their enemies." So Rebekah became the wife of Isaac, and he loved her very much; and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.

Eleazar's Story About Rebekah

< = = = You used to come every week and noww you show up once a month, this is interesting, you are like the wind, you come and go.

This is not the first time someone has referred to me as being like the wind. Rosh Hashanah is upon us. Are you prepared for Yamim Noraim? Also, how are you doing getting ready for your trip to Israel? Oh, and I brought you something.

<= = = That is a thick pile of money, why so much money?

Actually it is only a hundred dollars, but they are all one dollar bills. It is easy to dry up in the Holy Land and you can get a water bottle almost everywhere for a dollar bill.

< = = = I thought they used the Shekel, in fact I know the currency is the Sheckel.

If it doesn't work you can spend the money when you get back, but give it a try. So now Eleazar needs to pop the question, will they agree to send Rebekah back with him as a bride for Issac.

Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so I may know which way to turn."

Laban, Rebekah's brother and Bethuel, her father, answered, "This is from the Lord; we can say nothing to you one way or the other. Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master's son, as the Lord has directed."

@Abraham, I am inbound with Rebekah, well comported and quite the looker, you will be pleased.

When Abraham's servant heard what they said, he bowed down to the ground before the Lord. Then the servant brought out gold and silver jewelry and articles of clothing and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave costly gifts to her brother and to her mother. Then they had supper, and the servant and the men with him stayed there overnight. When they got up the next morning, he said, "Send me on my way to my master."

But her brother and her mother replied, "Let the girl remain with us ten days or so; then you may go."

< = = = Where is Bethuel right about now, this is his daughter.

Well many Midrash say that he was against the wedding and so he was struck down by G-d. Actually, he had a bit of a drinking problem and snuck out to get a few drinks ahead of the party's pace. Anyway, to get to the conclusion of this story.

Then Eleazar said to them, "Do not detain me, now that the Lord has granted success to my journey. Send me on my way so I may go to my master." Then they said, "Let's call the girl and ask her about it." So they called Rebekah and asked her, "Will you go with this man?" "I will go," she said.

< = = = She was very brave to leave her home like that.

Well, with a boozer of a father and we will learn Laban is no prize, she was probably pretty happy to get in a different situation.

Rebekah's Brother Laban

< = = = Long time since I have seen you Mr. Comfort, where have you been?

That is a long story, but it is good to see you. I understand you are going to Israel with a Christian church group in a month or two, how did a nice Jewish boy like you end up in a situation like that?

< = = = A friend of mine from school is going with his family and they invited me. My dad just told me to remember I was a member of the tribe and have fun.

Smile, I have to go to Israel for some business myself, who knows, maybe I can look in on you. Until then, get all your school work done, Rosh Hashanah is coming in a few weeks, don't fall behing, I hope you are looking forward to your mom's Sweet Potato & Carrot Tzimmes, ummm. Well, back to our story, when we last met we were talking about Eleazar, Abraham's servant who went to find Issac a wife from Abraham's tribe. And Rebekah was the answer to his prayer. Now we are going to meet her brother Laban.

After Eleazar told her his mission, Rebekah ran and told her mother's household about these things. She had a brother named Laban, and he hurried out to the man at the spring. As soon as he had seen the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister's arms, and had heard Rebekah tell what the man said to her, he went out to the man and found him standing by the camels near the spring.

< = = = Was it the gold that got his attention or was he looking out for his sister? You are nodding which is it? Both? Ah.

"Come, you who are blessed by the Lord," he said. "Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels." So the man went to the house, and the camels were unloaded. Straw and fodder were brought for the camels, and water for him and his men to wash their feet.

Then food was set before him, but he said, "I will not eat until I have told you what I have to say." "Then tell us," Laban said.

So he said, "I am Abraham's servant. The Lord has blessed my master abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, menservants and maidservants, and camels and donkeys. My master's wife Sarah has borne him a son in her old age, and he has given him everything he owns. And my master made me swear an oath, and said, 'You must not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live, but go to my father's family and to my own clan, and get a wife for my son.'
Then I asked my master, 'What if the woman will not come back with me?' "

He replied, 'The Lord, before whom I have walked, will send his angel with you and make your journey a success, so that you can get a wife for my son from my own clan and from my father's family. Then, when you go to my clan, you will be released from my oath even if they refuse to give her to you--you will be released from my oath.' "When I came to the spring today, I said, 'O Lord, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on which I have come. See, I am standing beside this spring; if a maiden comes out to draw water and I say to her, "Please let me drink a little water from your jar," and if she says to me, "Drink, and I'll draw water for your camels too," let her be the one the Lord has chosen for my master's son.' "Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebekah came out, with her jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew water, and I said to her, 'Please give me a drink.' "She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, 'Drink, and I'll water your camels too.' So I drank, and she watered the camels also. "I asked her, 'Whose daughter are you?' "She said, 'The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to him.' "Then I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms, and I bowed down and worshiped the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right road to get the granddaughter of my master's brother for his son.

Rebekah

Well now Mister Cohen, did you enjoy Japan? What did you learn?

<= = = Everything is incredibly expensive. And it was a long plane flight, I watched the move the Watchmen, mom would have never let me see it, but it was playing and I was bored and it was really intense. And keep some toilet paper with you in case you need it since it is not always available. And some of the hotels there are huge, we stayed at the Hotel Nikko. Tokyo. It is incredible, we ate dinner one night as the sun was setting and the city lights started getting brighter, it was really cool. And the Japanese were all very friendly and I was amazed how many people from all over the world were in Tokyo and the same was true of Kobe. We visited the Synagogue at Kitano-cho. It turns out most of the people there are not into fishing, it is actually pearls, but I guess it is similar. But I have a question sir. On Wednesday the Asahi Shimbun newspaper carried a story about the Euphrates. They said it is drying up and that is a sign of the end times and that was predicted in the book of Relevation. The Watchmen had sighs about the end times as well, what exactly are the end times, what does the Torah say about it?

Well, first of all, it is the book of Revelation, the vision of St. John when he was imprisoned on the island of Patmos. In verse 16:12, it says "The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East." However, what is going on in Iraq is not the work of an angel, Turkey and Syria have built dams to keep water from feeding the Euphrates. The Torah refers to "The end of days". The prophet Isaiah says: "And it will be in the end of days, the mountain of the House of YHWH will be established at the head of the mountains, and higher than the hills, and all the nations shall stream unto it. And many peoples shall go and say 'Let us go and ascend to the mountain of YHWH, to the House of the God of Jacob that he teach us from his ways and that we may go in his paths, for the Torah goes forth out of Zion and the word of YHWH from Jerusalem.' And he will judge between many nations and rebuke many peoples. And they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. And nation shall not lift up sword against nation and they shall no longer learn war."

So it is a time of profound reverence to the LORD. If you look around, we are not in such a time. It will be a significant upheaval going from an earth in rebellion to the LORD to a world that reveres the LORD. And of course it will be the time when the LORD is able to bless the families of the world through the offspring of Abraham and so we return to our story, OK?

Then Eleazar the servant took ten of his master's camels and left, taking with him all kinds of good things from his master. He set out for Aram Naharaim, (Aram of Two Rivers) and made his way to the town of Nahor, which is called Harran today in Southern Turkey. He had the camels kneel down near the well outside the town; it was toward evening, the time the women go out to draw water.

Then he prayed, "O Lord, God of my master Abraham, give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. May it be that when I say to a girl, 'Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,' and she says, 'Drink, and I'll water your camels too'--let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master."


Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor. The girl was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever lain with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again.

The servant hurried to meet her and said, "Please give me a little water from your jar." "Drink, my lord," she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink. After she had given him a drink, she said, "I'll draw water for your camels too, until they have finished drinking."

So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels. Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful. When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels.

Then he asked, "Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father's house for us to spend the night?" She answered him, "I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milcah bore to Nahor." And she added, "We have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night."

Then the man bowed down and worshiped the Lord, saying, "Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master's relatives."