# 232 “He’s In A Better Place”

The Book of Genesis

Day 232

  Ge 25:12 Now this is the genealogy of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's maidservant, bore to Abraham.

 13 And these were the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: The firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,

 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa,

 15 Hadar, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.

 16 These were the sons of Ishmael and these were their names, by their towns and their settlements, twelve princes according to their nations.

 17 These were the years of the life of Ishmael: one hundred and thirty-seven years; and he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people.

 18 (They dwelt from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt as you go toward Assyria.) He died in the presence of all his brethren.

“And was gathered to his people.” This phrase, as we mentioned last time, is found in several places in the Old Testament, and is the modern day equivalent of that worn out adage spoken at many a funeral, “he's in a better place now.”

There is a difference though. When found in the Word of God, this phrase speaks of a certainty, whereas when we speak it, we really don't know. Only God knows the heart. Personally, I think we will be greatly surprised by who we run into in heaven, and greatly surprised by who's missing.

In heaven, we will find those saints who exhibited great faith in their lives on earth, and we will find those with little faith.  And we can be sure that the hypocrites, (the actors) will be missing, but again only God knows the heart.

In the matter of faith we have this word of consolation from Jesus:   Mt 12:20 A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench,

We can't see saving faith, but Jesus can.

Think of the hapless Ishmael. He didn't ask for the cards that were dealt to him, but when he died, he was “gathered to his people,” joining all the others before him who had faith in the coming Christ!

Growing up in the household of Abraham, we can be certain that he was aware of the Lord's grace and the promised Messiah. He was circumcised ( the Old Testament equivalent of baptism) and he believed....he had faith. So when he died he was “gathered to his people” just as the faith filled Abraham had been gathered to the his people in the place of eternal comfort!  With this phrase, “gathered to his people,” we can be certain that Ishmael enjoys Christ's eternal blessings among all the saints.  We can't say that with any certainty for his descendants.

It always boils down to the faith of the individual and we'll let God be the judge of that, all the while knowing and believing,  Mr 16:16 "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.