July 27, 2004

Reading through the Bible in one Year: Ezekiel 37-42

Weekly Memory Verse: Hebrews 4:12

Good Evening Brothers and Sisters,

Genesis 21:1-8 (NASB95)
¹ Then the Lord took note of Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had promised. ² So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him. ³ Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. ⁴ Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. ⁵ Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. ⁶ Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.” ⁷ And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” ⁸ The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.^[1]

God's word came to pass just like God said it would.  It wasn't a promise, according to the text, God had stated a fact.  One year earlier God had visited with them and stated that Sarah would conceive and have a child in her old age.  It happened.  Not only did she have a child, she nursed the baby from an old body, one close to a hundred years old. 

She named her child according to the way that God said he would be named.  The laughter that she and Abraham had experienced in the promise of the child was the cause for his name.  Sarah recognized that God had created laughter in her life, indicating that others would laugh with joy at her blessing. Some feel that this would be better translated as "everyone will laugh at me", (Word Biblical Commentary).

Imagine the faith building experience that this was in Abraham and Sarah's lives.  God had said that He would perform the impossible, causing a woman over 90 years of age to have a child, and He gave specific instructions for when the child was born.  Abraham carried out the requirement of naming Isaac according to God's instruction, and established obedience in circumcising him on the eighth day. 

Isaac was weaned and Abraham threw a feast for him.  That places him somewhere around two to three years of age.  The first few years of life in the ancient world were the ones which determined if you lived or died.  There wasn't a lot they could do for sick babies at that time, if they became sick, the mortality rate was high.  Reaching the point of weaning was a significant milestone, at that time the ancient people felt reasonably certain that the child would live and become the heir.  Abraham and Sarah probably had no doubt of Isaac making it due to the miraculous birth which was ordained by God. 

Genesis 21:9-21 (NASB95)
⁹ Now Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking. ¹⁰ Therefore she said to Abraham, “Drive out this maid and her son, for the son of this maid shall not be an heir with my son Isaac.” ¹¹ The matter distressed Abraham greatly because of his son. ¹² But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the lad and your maid; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for through Isaac your descendants shall be named. ¹³ “And of the son of the maid I will make a nation also, because he is your descendant.” ¹⁴ So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder, and gave her the boy, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered about in the wilderness of Beersheba. ¹⁵ When the water in the skin was used up, she left the boy under one of the bushes. ¹⁶ Then she went and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away, for she said, “Do not let me see the boy die.” And she sat opposite him, and lifted up her voice and wept. ¹⁷ God heard the lad crying; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter with you, Hagar? Do not fear, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. ¹⁸ “Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him by the hand, for I will make a great nation of him.” ¹⁹ Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the skin with water and gave the lad a drink. ²⁰ God was with the lad, and he grew; and he lived in the wilderness and became an archer. ²¹ He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

Genesis 17:25 (NASB95)
²⁵ And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ^[2]

Ishmael was somewhere around 16 to 17 years old when the party took place figuring that if you consider that he was 13 when he was circumcised in Genesis 17:25, then add the year that Isaac was promised along with the time till the weaning.  It is kind of odd that he was referred to as a child at that age, since most boys were considered as men at a younger age.  I wonder if the reference to him as a child was because of his childish behavior.

Exodus 32:6 (NASB95)
⁶ So the next day they rose early and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

Judges 16:25 (NASB95)
²⁵ It so happened when they were in high spirits, that they said, “Call for Samson, that he may amuse us.” So they called for Samson from the prison, and he entertained them. And they made him stand between the pillars. ^[3]

The word for "mocking" can also be translated as "playing", but the use in other passages in the Old Testament give an nasty spirit to the word.  Whatever set Sarah off was enough for her to demand that this young man and his mother be banished from the land. 

The text indicates that Abraham had explosive anger at the words of Sarah. He was put on the spot, he took it to God in prayer and listened when God spoke to him.  Imagine the faith that Abraham exercised by going along with Sarah's request.  God was faithful and took care of Ishmael and his mother.  He demonstrated that he cared for Ishmael very deeply, after all, he was his son.  Some feel that the limited provision was an attempt by Abraham to keep them from wandering too far, about three gallons of water.  He had intentionally given them nothing possibly in hope of bringing them back home later.  God had other plans and provided the missing provisions.  God took care of Hagar and Ishmael, supplying all of their needs so that he could become a great nation. Look at the requirement that God gave for dismissing a slave:

Deuteronomy 15:12-18 (NASB95)
¹² “If your kinsman, a Hebrew man or woman, is sold to you, then he shall serve you six years, but in the seventh year you shall set him free. ¹³ “When you set him free, you shall not send him away empty-handed. ¹⁴ “You shall furnish him liberally from your flock and from your threshing floor and from your wine vat; you shall give to him as the Lord your God has blessed you. ¹⁵ “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today. ¹⁶ “It shall come about if he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he fares well with you; ¹⁷ then you shall take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also you shall do likewise to your maidservant. ¹⁸ “It shall not seem hard to you when you set him free, for he has given you six years with double the service of a hired man; so the Lord your God will bless you in whatever you do. ^[4]

Ishmael had to grow up fast, the childish behavior that was demonstrated earlier faded away to a man who lived in the wilderness as an archer.  He carried with him the anger of being cut out of his just inheritance as a first born son.  That anger has been passed down through the ages and is still evident in his descendants to this day.  They are the Arabs, who are still at war with their brothers the Jews.

One other observation, God led Abraham through Sarah.  This doesn't mean that she was working from a pure heart, or from noble intentions in this passage.  It merely means that Sarah was in touch with what God's intention was from the first place.  Ishmael was a product of sin, where Sarah and Abraham had agreed to help God out.  Now he had to be put aside so that the story of the promised son could continue uninterrupted.  God did not consider Hagar and Ishmael to be the blame, He provided for them and caused them to grow into a great nation, knowing that they would be a serious pain to the Jews from that day forward. 

This should be a lesson to us about sin.   God forgives the sin, but He doesn't wash away the effects of the sin.  When we choose to go outside of God's will, and choose to do things from our own knowledge, we sow the seeds of sin in our lives.  God allows those seeds to germinate, and mature.  With Ishmael, a moment of helping God through a loophole in the law of the land, they sired a child who would be a father of a nation that is in constant conflict with the Jews.  Sin grows, it matures, and it has full effect, forgiveness does not take away the effect of the sin.  The next time that temptation stares us in the face it would be good to remind ourselves of this truth.

Genesis 21:22-34 (NASB95)
²² Now it came about at that time that Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, “God is with you in all that you do; ²³ now therefore, swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my offspring or with my posterity, but according to the kindness that I have shown to you, you shall show to me and to the land in which you have sojourned.” ²⁴ Abraham said, “I swear it.” ²⁵ But Abraham complained to Abimelech because of the well of water which the servants of Abimelech had seized. ²⁶ And Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, nor did I hear of it until today.” ²⁷ Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a covenant. ²⁸ Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. ²⁹ Abimelech said to Abraham, “What do these seven ewe lambs mean, which you have set by themselves?” ³⁰ He said, “You shall take these seven ewe lambs from my hand so that it may be a witness to me, that I dug this well.” ³¹ Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because there the two of them took an oath. ³² So they made a covenant at Beersheba; and Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, arose and returned to the land of the Philistines. ³³ Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God. ³⁴ And Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines for many days.^[5]

Abimelech knew that Abraham was prone to dealing falsely and lying.  Therefore he felt that it was wise to strike a bargain with Abraham.  This is another instance where sin has a lasting effect.  Remember, Abraham had purposefully deceived Abimelech when he moved into the land by claiming that Sarah was his sister, but not claiming her as his wife.  God judged Abimelech harshly because of that, and Abraham had to pray for him.  The comedy stops there because an element of mis-trust was placed in the life of Abimelech toward the prophet of God. 

Part of the bargain included a well which established that Abraham had planned to live a long time in the land, the planting of the tree was a symbol of peace. 

I am going to close here, if you have any additional comments you would like to add please write in.

Questions for thought:

There were two sins dealt with in the study today and the lasting effects of those sins. 

1.  What do we learn about the lasting effects of sin?

2.  What does this passage demonstrate about believers who deal dishonestly with unbelievers?

Father, as we consider this passage today, build in us the assurance of your promises, and a caution against going against Your word.

In Him,

Joe Turner.