The last days of Abraham.
I. ABRAHAM'S OLD AGE.
1. The taking of a second wife.
2. The making of his will.
II. ABRAHAM'S DEATH.
1. Before death. The age to which the patriarch had attained was—
2. At death. His end was peaceful; he "breathed out his spirit" into the hands of Jehovah. So did Isaac (Genesis 35:29), Jacob (Genesis 49:33), David (Psalms 31:5), Christ (Luke 23:46). "Mark the perfect, and behold the upright" (Psalms 37:37).
3. After death. He was gathered to his people—a significant intimation of
III. ABRAHAM'S FUNERAL.
1. The chief mourners. Whether Keturah's boys were present at the affecting ceremonial is not stated, but the prominent positions were occupied by Ishmael and Isaac. It is a duty which surviving children owe deceased parents to see their remains deposited with reverence in the grave, and it is beautiful when fraternal estrangements are removed round a father's tomb.
2. The place of sepulture. The cave of Machpelah had three attractions for the patriarch: it was in the promised land, it was his own tomb, and it contained the dust of Sarah.
3. The bereaved son. Isaac, from his sensitive disposition and the unexciting character of his occupation, would feel his father's loss more keenly than Ishmael. Perhaps this explains the statement of verse 11. It is God's special care to comfort orphans (Psalms 27:10).
Learn—
1. That though secondary wives are not agreeable to the word of God, second marriages are not against the will of God.
2. That good men ought to make a just disposition of their temporal affairs before they die.
3. That whether God's saints die soon or late, they are always satisfied with living.
4. That in whatever sort of tomb a saint's dust may lie, his immortal spirit goes to join the company of just men made perfect.
5. That the loss of earthly parents is more than compensated by the blessing of a father's God.
HOMILIES BY J.F. MONTGOMERY