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Genesis 20:1-21:34 Key verse: 21:1 GOD KEEPS HIS PROMISE ¡°Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah was he had promised.¡± In today message, God keeps his promise and Sarah finally gives birth to Isaac. And Abraham cleans the life of compromise. His life changed bit by bit after named ¡®the father of many nations.¡¯ Through the message, I pray that all of us realize God¡¯s love and faithfulness, and wash our old habits to wait on God¡¯s gift. Part 1. Abraham¡¯s bad habit and God¡¯s faithfulness (20:1-18) Abraham had been living near the trees of Mamre at Hebon. After he witnessed the devastation of Sodom, Abraham traveled to the Negev and settle down between Kadesh and Shur. This is Philistine region; it was notorious for being fierce and godless. Abraham said to himself ¡®There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife (20:11).¡¯ The old fear of godless world arises again in his heart. He forgets who he is and what God can do for him. Abimelech, the king of Philistine, seems someone able to rob of his wife and harm his life. Abraham grew into a good shepherd praying on Sodom and Gomorrah, but he still did not overcome his old habit. He compromised with the world again as what he had done in Egypt. He introduced Sarah to Abimelech as a sister; not his wife. She was, indeed, his half-sister, but a half truth is a whole lie. It turns out that Abimelech is not a godless man; he has the fear of God. God warned that he was as good as dead because he had taken a married woman. Abimelech hears God¡¯s judging words in his dream. Then he said, ¡°Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation?¡± (20:4) and ¡°I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands.¡±(20:5) He humbly asked God¡¯s mercy. God said to him, ¡°Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. Now return the man¡¯s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live.¡±(20:6,7) God closed up every womb in Abimelech¡¯s household and Abimelech was stroke by some disease. He needs the Abraham¡¯s recovering prayer. In the early morning, he summoned Abraham. He returned Sarah with richly restitution. Then Abraham prayed to God, God recovered Abimelech and his house. Part 2. Issac and Ishmael (21:1-21) Look at verse 1. ¡°Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised.¡± God¡¯s time eventually came. It took 25years. Abraham is 100 years old, and Sarah 90. It was likely to be late. But it is very time God had set. God keeps his promise regardless of how long it takes and how hard it happens. God is a God of promise. God¡¯s idea is different from our time schedules and calculations. So we need learn to wait on God. Hebrews 6:15 comments on this; ¡°And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.¡± Romans 4:19-21 said likewise, ¡°Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead-since he was about a hundred years old-and that Sarah¡¯s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.¡± For receiving what God promised, we must patiently wait on God. Although it seems too long to wait for us, we must stand firm on the basis of understanding his wisdom. He has perfect schedule about our life, and lead us on his good way. So we must learn to pray and wait on God, trusting in his faithfulness to keep his promises. Baby, Isaac, God gave brought great happiness to Sarah. ¡°God brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me. (21:6)¡± The laughter of unbelief became the laughter of joy and gratitude. Abraham had thought that he was satisfied with Ishmael—and indeed, he had enjoyed some human happiness. But Isaac, whose name means ¡°laughter¡±, was more than just a happy little boy who brought human happiness to Abraham. Human satisfaction is evanescent; it end up disappeared. And, furthermore, it blocks us from seeking the best happiness only God can give us. True happiness comes from a gift of God; it is what only God can give. It provides incomparable joy into our hearts. God can truly make us laugh. When we know this blessing, we can surely wait on God. The living joy came into the barren life of Sarah. Isaac represented God¡¯s love and faithfulness. He was God¡¯s gift of love. He brought spiritual joy in God to Abraham—joy that only comes when we have peace with God and when we realize that God really loves us personally and deeply. Isaac grew and was weaned. On the day Isaac was weaned, Abraham threw a big party. However, this party was marred by a small incident. Ishmael, a strong teenager, poked fun at little Isaac. Ishmael, almost a man, grew too strong for baby Isaac. This trivial happening became very big. Sarah realized that Ishmael was jealous of her baby, and she asked Abraham to throw out Ishmael. ¡°Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that slave woman¡¯s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac. (21:10)¡± Abraham feels distressed over Ishmael whom he had loved. He hesitates to do as Sarah asked, because he thought that this just came from her jealousy. But God told him not to be distressed, but to comply with Sarah in this matter. ¡°It is through Isaac that your descendants will be reckoned.¡± God also promised to take care of Hagar and Ishmael and bless them. ¡°I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also, because he is your offspring.(21:13)¡± So Abraham overcame his strong sense of human obligation and his feelings; he trusted and obeyed God. He got up early in the morning, gave Hagar and Ishmael a skin of water and some food and sent them away. This seems to be a cruel thing to do. But it was actually the way of blessing for Hagar. Ishmael was old enough to take care of himself and his mother. God¡¯s care and blessing were much better than anything Abraham could do for them. Abraham knew that he must protect and care for the covenant son by any means, for he was not only a blessing to Abraham¡¯s household-he carried with him God¡¯s promise to bless the whole world through him. Galatians 3:29 said, ¡°If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham¡¯s seed, and heirs according to the promise.¡± God was clear. Abraham¡¯s real descendants must be children of promise not children of the flesh. To cast out Ishmael was to cut away the last bit of human and worldly compromise from his life and heart. This was the fruit of real repentance and an affirmation of Abraham¡¯s acceptance of God¡¯s ways and God¡¯s work. He had to deny himself. Something in him died. In the desert, Hagar again met the God who sees and hears. She depended on God, and God was faithful to her, for Abraham¡¯s sake. God enabled her to raise her son and he blessed their family. Part 3. The treaty at Beersheba (22-34) When Abraham cast out Ishmael, he was ending his life of compromise. Fear went out of his heart. His relationship with the unbelieving world also changed. Abimelech recognized Abraham as God¡¯s servant. ¡°God is with you in everything you do, now swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or my descendants.¡± And Abraham recognized himself as God¡¯s servant. With his fear gone, he could confront Abimelech with the problem of a well which Abraham¡¯s servant dug, but which the Philisitnes had taken over. Abimelech apologized. Then, Abraham gave a gift to Abimelech as a sign that the well belonged to him. Abraham took the lead in their relationship. He met Abimelech as an equal. Abraham¡¯s relations with the unbelieving world change very subtly. After this, Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called on the name of the Lord. His spiritual victory over Abimelech did not make him proud; it made him more humbly dependant on God. His real victory was victory over himself through absolute obedience to God. In conclusion, it is not easy for us to wait on God. We are seduced to compromise with world and throw away our identity as a servant of God. God, however, must keep his promise according to his timing. He is on our side as we grew up to be fruitful. His timing is perfect, even which is different from our own idea. When we learn to wait on God patiently, the joy will finally come into our life as a gift of God which God really wants to give. Christianity is generally defined through the religion of promise. Christian, hence, is men or women who patiently wait on the time God keep promise. Therefore, I pray that all of us seek God only in any circumstances, and look forward the day of true happiness in our life like Abraham and Sarah today. |