54 - Isaac Receives The Covenant

Previously God had declared that Isaac alone was to be the true heir of The Covenant; here Isaac becomes the major beneficiary of his father’s estate as well. Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac. All is a direct reference to the Covenant that God made with him to be passed down to Isaac who was the child of promise. In later times under the Mosaic Covenant (Deuteronomy 21: 15-17) inheritance would be established under the Law and have specific divisions among sons. Isaac was to become a patriarch of the Nation Israel. In order to effect minimal animosity between Isaac and Keturah’s sons Abraham he gave them some of the estate and then sent them away to the east region (The Sinai and Arabia) while he was still living. Abraham must have loved all these boys; he gave them gifts. He also sent them away with gifts to make sure that Isaac would get a good start. He knew the prophecies regarding Ishmael who would bring discord to Isaac and the Hebrews so distancing the other Arabs from Isaac had to be accomplished. Although Abraham tried to prevent friction by sending them away it did not prevent trouble in the centuries that followed. It only gave Isaac some peacetime before the troubles began. The division of the inheritance while he yet lived was also geared toward preventing disputes for a term after he died. As we have seen the sons of Keturah then went into the areas of modern day Trans-Jordan and Saudi-Arabian.