Eric Reece
God called Abraham to leave his father’s home and go to a new land. The promise was he would be blessed and his descendants would be as numerous as the stars.
By faith, Abraham traveled to the land and settled there. Abraham and his wife Sarah could not have children. Without hope, Sarah offered her handmaiden Hagar as a substitute to bear him an heir. This was acceptable in the culture.
Abraham had a son, Ishmael by Hagar. Sarah may have solved one problem but created others. Things didn’t go well between Hagar and Sarah. Soon, in God’s time Abraham and Sarah had the promised son, Isaac.
Around age three, Isaac was weaned. He had made it through infancy and was a healthy child. Abraham celebrated with a feast and everyone was invited. Something happened. This was Isaac’s day but older brother Ishmael – a teenager – laughed at or mocked him.
We are not sure what happened. Sarah was furious and demanded Abraham remove Hagar and Ishamel from their home, so Ishmael could never share any inheritance.
What was Abraham to do? God told him to listen to Sarah and assured him Ishmael would be alright. Ismael would be the father of a great nation. Abraham relented and Hagar and Ismael were cast out.
Ishmael became a great hunter and married a girl from Egypt. Isaac grew up and married Rebekah. Both of Abraham’s sons were blessed and had sons.
When his wife Sarah died, he bought a field near Hebron and buried her in the cave of Machpelah.
After a long life and many blessings, Abraham died. He was not a perfect man and made mistakes, but he was a man of faith who trusted God.
At his death, an amazing thing happened. Issac and his half-brother Ishamel came together to bury their father. The story is told in Genesis without fanfare.
“His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah ...” (Genesis 25:9).
Had Abraham stayed in touch with Ismael? Did Isaac send word to him in Abraham’s final days? There are no words of animosity, or bitterness at the funeral. Two sons, brothers came together to show love and respect for their father. If any hard feelings remained, they buried them with their father.
For over 230 days, a war has been raging in Gaza. While people in Gaza have only known war and suffering, it has intensified in the last year.
In October, Hamas killed 1,300 Israelis and took approximately 240 hostages. Israel retaliated and over 35,000 have died: many women, children and the elderly along with some of the hostages. Jews, Muslims and Christian; all spiritual children of Abraham have died.
There seems to be no end in sight and innocent people continue to suffer and die.
The war affects all of us. The hope and prayer is that one day, the sons of Isaac and Ismael can come together again and bury the hatred and stop the war.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; pray for the peace of Gaza.
Eric Reece is the faith columnist for The Graham Star. He is pastor of Robbinsville United Methodist Church and can be reached via email, ereece@wnccumc.net.