And these are the days of the years of Abraham's life which he lived a hundred and seventy-five years.
Genesis 25:7 sums up a whole life in one number. It closes the story of Abraham and leaves the reader with a question: what does a life of faith come to when the years run out?
Abraham died outside the land God promised him. One writer compares him to Moses, who also died before entering it.
He had, we may say, seen the land, but he was not to go over and take it as his own. He was the Moses of an earlier generation. Like Moses, he was a heavenly man — a man of the wilderness and not of the inheritance, a man of the tent, a child of resurrection. He was gathered to his people before the Israel of God entered the land according to promise. In the mirror of God's purpose, and by the light of faith, he sees the land; but he does not go over to take it.
Scripture does not use its usual words for his dying. The phrase it chooses belongs to a very short list.
Abraham died 175 years old, which means he lived until Jacob and Esau were 15 years old. The phrase "gathered to his people" is used only of six persons. Of Abraham (25:8); Ishmael (verse 17); Isaac (35:29); Jacob (49:29-33); Aaron (Num. 20:24); and Moses (Deut. 32:50).
Scripture gives his last years only a few lines, and there is no disaster in them. One writer sets that ending beside Lot's.
The history of Abraham is deeply instructive, and it closes with a short record. He came to a peaceful end at "a good old age," and his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah. In striking contrast to poor Lot, Abraham finishes his pilgrim path with the respect and honour due to one who was "the friend of God" and "the father of all who believe."
Nearness to God and distance from the world rarely go together. One writer asks whether anyone in the Old Testament held both as Abraham did.
So peacefully passed away the man who combines two titles more strikingly than anyone else in the Old Testament story: "friend of God" and "stranger and sojourner on the earth." Others did carry on the blessed line of pilgrims who also walked with God — his son, his grandson, and later descendants. Yet, taken as a whole, what saint of old equalled him in these respects? Still less could anyone surpass "the father of all those who believe."
Jacob later summed up his own years as few and hard. The contrast between the two summaries is not accidental — it reflects two different ways of living.
Jacob is a warning to us, but Abraham is an example. It is true that Jacob found the Lord again by His grace. But he did not have the many and blessed experiences Abraham had, and he does not pray for others. The highest point of attainment with him is Abraham's starting point, even the home of his soul. With the exception of a few falls, this was the habitual state of Abraham, the state in which he lived... The experiences of Jacob are the experiences of what the hearts of men are. The experiences of Abraham are the experiences of the heart of God.
Scripture spends few words on the burial itself. What it marks is the grave beside Sarah's — and faith looks past that grave.
Scripture says little about Abraham's funeral, except to mark the link with Sarah's grave... Faith looks onward to the true hope for "the elders" also. It is the resurrection from among the dead, which will be the portion of all the righteous departed. Some have imagined them in gloom, without feeling, or in some other lack. That unbelief has no ground. It is unworthy of the grace of Him who watched in love over their feeble pilgrimage for His name here below.
Abraham held promises. One writer says believers now hold something more.
At the same time, let us not forget this. We have to do, not so much with the promises as he had, but with fulfilment in Christ (Rom. 4). Whatever promises of God there are, in Christ is the yes, and in Christ the amen, for glory to God by us. We are more than Abraham's seed. We are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Eph. 1:3).
- Days counted. The verse totals a life at 175 years. He lived long enough to overlap his grandsons Jacob and Esau, yet he never owned the land God promised him.
- Days lived. Apart from a few falls, Abraham walked with God steadily, and his ending is calm. Jacob is the warning; Abraham is the example.
- Days named. He dies as both "friend of God" and stranger on the earth — near to God, unattached to the world.
- Days gathered. Scripture uses "gathered to his people" of only six men. His burial beside Sarah points to resurrection, not to gloom.
- Days surpassed. He held the promises. Those in Christ hold the fulfilment — every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.
And Abraham expired and died in a good old age, old and full [of days]; and was gathered to his peoples.
Genesis 25:8 closes the story of a man who left his country for a promise and never owned the land. Three phrases carry the weight — a good old age, "full of years," and gathered to his people — and commentators read each as a statement about how faith ends.
The verse records no drama. One writer sets Abraham's end against the ruin of his nephew Lot:
The deeply instructive history of Abraham closes with a brief record. He came to a peaceful end at "a good old age," and his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah. So, in striking contrast to poor Lot, Abraham finishes his pilgrim path with the respect and honour due to one who was "the friend of God" and "the father of all who believe."
The plainness of the account is itself the point:
In Genesis 25 we have a few simple details that might have been given about anyone who was not the father of the faithful. He was simply waiting to leave this world. So one sees the servants of God who have served their generation. The Lord seems to say to them, "I know you; I remember your works." But old age has come. Their powers weaken, and the Lord holds them as if in the hollow of His hand. Yet they usually seem to sink out of sight without notice, after a life, it may be, of much service.
Some believers end with a dramatic deathbed scene. Abraham did not, and one writer explains why:
The man whose life was poor and full of ups and downs ends with a striking display of faith on his deathbed. The man who walked habitually with God testified by his life, and needed no such bright display at the finish.
One writer sets Abraham's life beside Jacob's:
Jacob is a warning to us, but Abraham is an example. Jacob has indeed found the Lord again by His grace; but he has not had the many and blessed experiences of the other, and he does not pray for others. The highest point Jacob reaches is Abraham's starting point, the home of his soul. Apart from a few falls, this was Abraham's habitual state, the state in which he lived. But Jacob said his own days had been "few and evil" (Genesis 47:9), and he ended his life in Egypt. The experiences of Jacob are the experiences of what the hearts of men are. The experiences of Abraham are the experiences of the heart of God.
This is not the usual way to record a death and burial. Scripture keeps it for a few men only:
The phrase "gathered to his people" is used only of six persons: of Abraham (25:8); Ishmael (verse 17); Isaac (35:29); Jacob (49:29-33); Aaron (Numbers 20:24); and Moses (Deuteronomy 32:50).
Another writer reads the gathering as proof that these men still live to God:
Consider the announcements that Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Aaron and Moses were gathered to their people (Genesis 25:8, 17; 35:29; 49:29, 33; Numbers 20:24, 26; 27:13; 31:2; Deuteronomy 32:50)… Our blessed Lord gave a meaning to the phrase "God of Abraham." He said that "he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him" (Luke 20:38). That lends its full weight to expressions like these.
Abraham died with the promise still unfulfilled. One writer compares him to Moses:
He had, we may say, seen the land, but he was not to go over and take it for his own. He was the Moses of an earlier generation; like him, a heavenly man, a man of the wilderness and not of the inheritance — a man of the tent — a child of resurrection. He was gathered to his people before the Israel of God entered the land according to promise.
Death did not end Abraham's hope. One writer points to what still lies ahead:
Faith looks onward to the true hope for "the elders" also. It is the resurrection from out of the dead, which will be the portion of all the righteous departed. The unbelief that pictured them in gloom, or dullness, or any other lack has no ground. Such thoughts are unworthy of the grace of Him who watched in love over their feeble pilgrimage for His name here below.
- Full, not just long. "Full of years" is not only about length of days. Abraham lived in communion with God, while Jacob called his own days few and evil.
- Full life, quiet exit. Abraham needed no dramatic deathbed scene. His daily walk with God had already given the testimony.
- Full in contrast. Abraham ends honoured as the friend of God; Lot ends in ruin. Two men, one pilgrim path taken, one refused.
- Full, yet still a stranger. He was gathered to his people before Israel ever entered the land — a man of the tent, who saw the promise but never held it.
- Full and still living. "Gathered to his people" is said of only six men. Commentators read it as pointing past the grave to resurrection, since God is God of the living.