Answers Bible Curriculum Second Edition Unit 4 Lesson 36
This week in Sunday school, we look at two very significant episodes in the life of Abraham: the ceremony formally establishing the Abrahamic Covenant and the failed effort of Abram and Sarai to obtain the son of promise through Hagar. What can we learn from these accounts about God’s compassionate faithfulness? Why is Genesis 15:6 so significant for understanding salvation? And how can we know the difference between acting in faith and acting “in our own strength”?
Our main texts for this lesson are Genesis 15:1-21 and Genesis 16:1-16.
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all right thanks Greg well good morning Calvary welcome to Sunday school thank you for being here we’re talking again about Abram today as we continue through our chronological study of the Bible in the last week we jumped ahead in the chronology a little bit to talk about sodom and gomorrah from that account we saw god’s holy wrath and justice on display but also god’s great tender mercy we also saw that outside of Christ we today are just like the people of Sodom or perhaps even worse most likely even worse because we have even more blessings than the people of Sodom did and yet as a nation we ignore or repudiate God and even personally in our own lives we can take the kindness of God and use that as an excuse to sin but now we’re coming back to Genesis 15 and the promises of God to Abraham at this point God has made some amazing promises to Abram and to Sarai but there’s a big problem they still don’t have any children Sarah is still barren Abram still has no son now how could God’s great promises be fulfilled when there’s no child time keeps on passing there in Canaan but no child comes from Sarah I just get older and older is God really faithful look at today today we’re C God speak again to Abraham still called Abram at this point and encourage him about the Lord’s keeping his promise but we’re also going to see how Abram is Sarai shows some weakness in faith and try to fulfill God’s promise through illegitimate means so really from the two passengers we’re gonna look at today we’re gonna see more what it means to walk by faith before God here’s our outline for today we’re just looking at Genesis 15 and the covenant ceremony and then Genesis 16 and the Hagar solution it isn’t really a solution we’ll see how those things work out and we’ll consider application for our lives today because these things too were written for our instruction so we’d be encouraged and also so that we would be warned so let’s pray before we continue we’re great God we do need you we need your truth I pray that you would speak to your people now through your scriptures even through me I want to be able to explain these things well and I pray God they would find their necessary application in us in Jesus name Amen please open your Bibles and turn to Genesis chapter 15 that’s page 13 if you’re using the Pew Bible at Calvary we’re starting in Genesis 15 and let me remind you of the context here Abraham’s in Cain he’s parted ways with lot actually he just rescued a lot from some marauding Kings at this point that’s what takes place in chapter 14 but we’re picking up a Genesis 15 verse 1 and we’re going to read the entire chapter let’s see what’s happening to Abram here starting verse 1 after these things the word of Yahweh or the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision saying do not fear Abram I am a shield to you your reward shall be very great Abram said O Lord Yahweh what will you give me since I am jobless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus and Abram said since you are giving no offspring to me one born in my house is my heir then behold the word of Yahweh came to him saying this man will not be your heir but one will come forth from your own body he shall be your heir and he took him outside and said now look toward the heavens and count the Stars if you’re able to count them and he said to him so shall your descendants be then he believed in Yahweh and he reckoned it to him as righteousness and he said to him I am Yahweh who brought you out of ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess it he said O Lord Yahweh how may I know that I will possess it so he said to him bring me a three-year-old heifer and a three-year-old female goat and a three-year-old Ram and a Turtledove and a young pigeon then you brought all these to him and cut them into and laid each half opposite the other but he did not cut the birds the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses and Abram drove them away now when the Sun was going down a deep sleep fell upon Abram and behold terror and great darkness fell upon him God said to Abram know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs or they will be enslaved and oppressed for hundred years but I will also judge the nation whom they will serve and afterward they will come out with many possessions as for you you shall go to your fathers in peace you will be buried at a good old age then in the fourth generation they will return here for the iniquity of the amorite is not yet complete came about when the son had said that it was very dark and behold there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces on that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram saying to your descendants I have given this land from the river of Egypt as far as the great river the river Euphrates the key night McKenna’s I macadam a night and had you tight the perizzite and the breath of heme and am right and the Canaanite the girgashite and the jebusite right this is a nice long section here can’t comment on every detail but let’s observe some particularly important ones notice how God speaks to Abram in a vision in this passage identifies himself as Abraham’s shield he also says or he also affirms Abraham’s coming great reward there’s some difference in the translations here new American Standard says your reward will be very great the New International Version the NIV in the New King James Version they say I am your very great reward God himself saying I am your reward Heber really could be translated either way and there is some overlap in meaning but how does even respond to this repetition of God’s promise of blessing well Agron reminds God that Abram has no child it says Eliezer of Damascus is my heir he has an adopted heir probably a servant in Abraham’s household but in response God says Eliezer would not be your heir but your heir will be one who comes from your own body and then God gives a stunning picture of Abraham’s future descendants God tells Abram hey go outside look up and Number the Stars if you can I believe it or not man at one time thought that he could number the stars early astronomers attempted to do this but technology advances in technology has opened our eyes to the absolute inability to count the stars there are about 10,000 stars that are visible to the naked eye but according to modern estimates based on our telescopes and other resources we now estimate that there are 100 billion stars just in our galaxy and how many galaxies are there well according to Hubble we asked me now about 100 billion galaxies but that numbers expected to increase as our telescopes get better and we see more in the universe so think about that we have a hundred billion galaxies and 100 billion stars per galaxy that’s a lot of stars but I think Abraham would get that point even it without telescopes humans just can’t calculate even the stars that are our naked eye we can’t just look at them point them remember them this is the idea he says Abraham so will your descendants be they will be uncountable now could you imagine if God said something like that to you so will your descendants be you more than the number of stars now at that time such a statement would have been considered an even greater honor because there’s a particular value and honor assigned to having descended having many children and there’s still some of that today we would still feel very honored to have a large family or to have many descendants and God says this is gonna be true about you now notice verse 6 in response to this direction to count the Stars and response to God’s explanation text says Abram believed in Yahweh and he reckoned it to him as righteousness now what does reckoned mean that means counted or assigned or imputed and who reckoned what to whom well God reckoned Abraham’s belief in Yahweh to Abram as righteousness what is it Abram believes and says he believed in Yahweh he believed God and he believed God’s promises including this specific promise about uncountable descendants now what’s interesting from verse 2 to verse 6 has anything changed in Abraham’s physical situation that would cause him to see this promise as more believable no nothing’s changed except that God has just spoken to him and Abram believes God God then reminds Abram also of God’s promise regarding the land of Canaan as I’m giving this land to you and then this time it also responds to God who says or and he asks God for a sign for the proof that this promise will come to pass a new reply God it’s kind of interesting set of directions it commands Abram to brings five five specific animals cut some of them in half and arrange them then Abram does this he lays he cuts these animals and lays the pieces apart from each other out I’m sure this would have been a little bit a little bit of a bloody scene I mean you don’t just cut animals in half and everything’s neat and tidy a little bit a little bit bloody here so Abram sets the animal pieces apart and then he waits and darkness soon falls and notice what happens when night falls first Abram has a nightmare and in this nightmare God reveals to him the timing of Abraham’s descendants inheriting the land God promises the Abraham’s descendants will be oppressed slaves and in a foreign land for about 400 years before that land is plundered and judged in Abraham’s descendants returned to possess the land now notice why such a long wait according to the text God says for the iniquity of the amaura is not yet complete and the EM rites were part of the current inhabitants of the land of Canaan and likely they’re used to represent all of the inhabitants of Canaan God says there needs to be this time to go by because the iniquity is not yet complete it’s not yet been filled up hasn’t yet reached the limit Abram however is told that he himself will die in peace at a good old age so there’s this nightmare that Abram experiences and the revelation through it but second and perhaps more strangely a smoking oven and a flaming torch appear and they pass through the pieces of the cut animals and notice who does not pass through these cut animals Abram himself he’s just stuck in sleep he didn’t walk through and then the final section of this chapter God tells Abraham at the borders of the land at his descendants will be given it says from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates and this land is currently occupied by a number of different people groups and they’re listed at the end now little bit geography here many of you may be familiar with the Euphrates River that’s one of the two major rivers in Mesopotamia the Tigris and Euphrates would have been very commonly known to the people of Israel but what is the river of Egypt I might think it’s refers to the Nile hey the Niles that big important river in Egypt it is the principal river of Egypt that’s not the word here used in Hebrew there’s a specific word and key before the Nile and it’s not this is a different word and it likely refers to a different River at least a different part of the river this term the river of Egypt or the brook of Egypt it may refer to a non what is now a non-existent branch of the Nile which once flowed to the city of Pelusium on the border of the Sinai Peninsula so think a little bit about Egypt in Israel you know that is that little chunk of land the Sinai Peninsula that sticks down between them so it’s possible that this river of Egypt this brook of Egypt flow to the western side of the Sinai Peninsula so basically the western edge of the Sinai Peninsula that would be the border that would be the river of Egypt the other possibility is that their River was on the eastern side of the Sinai Peninsula a river called the wadi el arish now Wadi if you’re not familiar a Wadi is a riverbed that is normally dry but it flows with water in an areas rainy season so think of it like a seasonal River the wadi al irish it flows on the northeastern side of the Sinai Peninsula and it empties into the Mediterranean near the modern-day city of harish this if this is the border if this is the river of Egypt in the eastern side of the Sinai Peninsula then it’s not very far from Israel’s modern-day border so if you think about where Egypt and Israel are today a little bit beyond that border would be where the river of Egypt or the brook of Egypt was in ancient times now why am i taking time to explain this because this description actually keeps on coming up as we go to the Old Testament Israel historically has never occupied the area from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates those Solomon in his day did exercise influence over this area according to second chronicles 926 but we will see or you will see as you stated the Old Testament I think it will come up more in class this description of the brook or the border or the river of Egypt to the Euphrates to refer to the land that God allotted by promise to Abram and his all right but that doesn’t for observations let’s move now to interpretation and interpretation questions let’s start with a pretty big one here what is the significance of Genesis 15:6 abraham believed in yahweh and he accounted it to him or he reckoned it to him as righteousness this is very very key this verse reveals justification by faith even in the Old Testament justification my faith is a very important concept for us it’s explained very much in the New Testament but here because we see this concept displayed we see that it is consistent with the Old Testament so far Genesis we’ve been seeing people acting in faith and we’ve seen people demonstrating lives of righteousness before God but we haven’t seen the connection between those things explained to us specifically or how how those things interact with some what’s righteous standing before God but here who is this by the sphere together very specifically reports Madeleine why 81 was counted righteous by God was Abram counted righteous by his works no not according to this verse what was Abram counted righteous by a ritual like circumcision no that cannot be because circumcision hasn’t even been given to Abram at this point that comes in Genesis 17 so then by what was Abram counted righteous simple faith belief in God belief in God’s promises as I say this is exactly what the New Testament says about how a person is made righteous before God how vs. made acceptable how a person is made justified before God and you know that this is explained very well in the fusions chapter 2 verses 8 & 9 ephesians 2:8 and 9 by grace you have been saved through faith and this not of yourselves it is a gift of God so that no one may boast salvation is by faith and not by works and indeed when trying to demonstrate this concept to New Testament believers what is it that the New Testament writers often do you refer back to Abraham and say look it’s always been salvation by faith it’s always been a righteousness by faith because look at Abraham in fact let’s look at one of the ways the New Testament makes this appeal keep your finger in Genesis 15 but turn to the New Testament to the book of Romans chapter 4 Romans 4 this is one of the times where Abraham is highlighted as an example of what salvation is well read verses 1 to 5 and then verses 9 to 12 so romans 4 paul speaking his what he says what then shall we say that Abraham our forefather according to the flesh has found where if Abraham was justified by works he has something to boast about not for God what does the scripture say abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness that the one who works his wage is not credited as a favor but as what is due but to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly his faith is credited as righteousness now skip down to verses 9 to 12 is this blessing then on the circumcised or on the uncircumcised also where we say faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness how then was accredited while he was circumcised or uncircumcised not while circumcised the while uncircumcised and he received the sign of circumcision a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised so that he might be the father of all who believed without being circumcised that righteousness might be credited to them and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised you see it’s just as we said salvation is consistent it’s always been by faith in fact Paul explains that promise about Abraham having a multitude of descendants it was not only a physical promise but also a spiritual promise because Abraham is the father of faith he’s the father of those who believe in God by faith indeed the reason he has this title is because he’s the first one in the Bible to be specifically again identified as counted righteous by faith therefore he has become the father of all of those who by faith in God are also counted righteous and that includes you if you know Jesus Christ you prove yourself to be a spiritual descendant of Abraham now of course the implications of this truth are massive and I know many of you appreciate this already because Genesis 15:6 it destroys any effort to seek acceptance by God through works through various good deeds through various religious acts you cannot be made acceptable to God through those things or a combination of those things that say yeah I need faith to be justified but I have to do these other things to be justified or made righteous no this verse shows no it is belief in God it is simple faith in God to which God attributes counts reckons righteousness a person today is made right by God by faith alone just as Abram was and will say more about that concept as we move through today’s lesson let’s move to another question of interpretation to Abram sin and asking God for a sign I asked this question because we have other people in the scriptures who do this it’s not times the outcome is not always a commendation was Abram expressing doubt when he asked for a sign this is a difficult question to answer you may remember New Testament Christmas narrative Zacharias he also asked God for a sign and he’s in a very similar situation he’s an old man doesn’t have a kid Gabriel says you’re gonna have a son and he says how will I know this for certain because I am an old man but when he says this the angel rebukes him he says look I’m Gabriel I I came to you to give you this good news and you don’t believe it you’re gonna be mute until it happens and Jesus – he rebukes the unbelieving Jews of his day because they continually asked for signs they wouldn’t believe the other hand a brewmaster assignment he’s not produced here and others in the scriptures experienced a similar accommodation fact in Isaiah 7 another somewhat christmas-related passage God through Isaiah commands the wicked king of Judah King Ahaz to ask for a sign God wants to give you a sign what kind of sign new one he says of course a has dim yours and he says oh I won’t ask God for us I don’t want to test him but in doing so we actually test God certainly God has never is never obligated to give signs or proofs that what he says will come to pass his word is sufficient but he often grants a sign he gives people what they asked for and why does he do this kind of a compassion kind of kindness out of a desire to show himself more glorious and to encourage the faith of those who belong to him and we see God doing just the same thing here for Abraham he says you want to sign I’ll give you one but the sign is somewhat interesting God has Abram prepare for certain rituals but what is the point of separating these animals in this bloody manner and this weird thing about the oven in the torch passing through them what’s this all about ah this is the ratification of a covenant you see abram was not confused as to what God was setting up at this time this is something that he would have been familiar with in his culture this is a treaty ratification ceremony just as two people today might shake hands to indicate their commitment to a common promise or just as a bride and groom exchange vows and rings today in front of witnesses to show their commitment in marriage there’s a custom at the time of Abram when it came to agreements to permission two participants would cut animals apart and walk between them now why why why cut animals Oh apart in this gruesome way well it was to symbolize a very serious truth the Covenant participants by walking through these animals would say if I don’t uphold my part of this agreement let me be cut in pieces like these animals I deserve it if I break the promise you see these bloody animals let me be like them if I don’t keep this promise if I don’t fulfill the terms of this covenant this is what God is setting up for Abram according to verse 17 genesis 1517 the god of the universe enters into a treaty a covenant with abram literally cuts a covenant with abram but notice who passes through the animals god represented by the oven and torch he passes through the animals but Abram doesn’t Abraham’s incapacitated on the side he can’t pass through the animals so what is God saying well God says if I don’t upholding stick oven it let me be accursed but Abram doesn’t have conditions for this covenant this is unnormal for how a covenant ceremony would be conducted at the time only one of the participants passes us through which means God is making a unilateral covenant with Abram unilateral meaning one-sided God by walking through the animals he affirms that his promises to Abram will come to pass without regard to Abraham’s performance without conditions God is taking the entire responsibility for bringing his promises to pass himself says this covenant I will make sure it happens it’s all on me and if I don’t do it let me be accurst this would be a great encouragement to Abraham would it not this is another example above the abundant compassion of God and also the abundant power of God and not just Abraham but also to inheritors of the Abrahamic covenant you see all of those and we’ve already discussed this to some extent all of those who are inheritors of the blessings of Abraham through the Abrahamic covenant including those believing Jews and believing Gentiles who are in Christ it is the same for them as it was for Abraham God does it all God brings the blessings of the Covenant to them all on his own God doesn’t say to Abraham or to us who have become inheritors they became a covenant do this and I will bless you but don’t do this then sorry you lose it all you’re cursed now God says I’m bringing it all to pass by myself this is very different than the Mosaic Covenant that covenant given to Israel where God says hey you got you got terms you’ve got to uphold we don’t see that here for this for the recipients of the Abrahamic covenant God does it all and God gets the glory of it all and those who are the beneficiaries of this they are to respond to it with justice Abraham was with continued trust with praise and thanksgiving and obedience to God now it’s not a condition but it is an expected result so then does this one-sided nature of the Abrahamic covenant does it mean that its inheritors are free to sin and disobey God well no they are not in fact we’re gonna see something very interesting later on doesn’t come up in this passage but when we get to Genesis 22 and the sacrifice of Isaac Abraham is being called to sacrifice Isaac we’re gonna see an explanation there of the Abrahamic covenant that sounds like it is conditional I don’t want to give it all the way now but just so that you’re not unsettled I’ll preview how these truths work together and that is yes you are expected to be obedient as an inheritor of the Abrahamic covenant but where’s that obedience come from it comes from God your obedience is ordained it’s brought about by God and thus he is able to be just and still bless you it’s like what Philippians 2 Philippians 2 verses 12 to 13 says Philippians 2:12 2:13 it might be familiar with these verses Paul says so then my beloved just as you have always obeyed not as in my presence only but now much more in my absence work out your salvation with fear and trembling for verse 13 it is God who is at work in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure so don’t think you’re contributing anything to your salvation to your reception of these blessings God does it all nevertheless he works in you in such a way that you will believe and you will obey not perfectly of course but you will follow God and you will continue to become more like him this was true for Abraham and true for the inheritors of Abraham his promise this I think points us to the purpose of this passage in general why didn’t Moses write this passage people of industry all that he’s reading – they’re passing through the wilderness receiving the law of God preparing to enter the Promised Land well I report this whole thing about this covenant ceremony with Abraham well one way is as an affirmation of their right to receive the promised land but importantly it is to teach a lesson about faith people of Israel were to learn from the faith of Abraham believe God’s promises and receive and obtain God’s acceptance and blessing and we are to learn the same lesson should we not walk before God in faith knowing that his good will on our behalf is going to be accomplished it will never be thwarted God is gonna make sure he’s taking the responsibility himself so let us not be like those who must see with physical eyes before they can obey let’s instead be like what Hebrews 11 and 12 described let’s be those who see with the eyes of faith what is unseen and therefore walk worthy before God and let us be aware of any sort of thinking that begins to put us into a works wages mindset now somehow we have to work enough suffer enough wait long enough do enough good before we can embrace God’s mercy before or after salvation do holiness and good works result from faith yes they do always but they do not and they cannot come before faith there’s no waiting period before one can embrace Christ the banquet of repentance is always open to their broken and contrite you don’t clean yourself up first you come to God to be cleaned up he cleans you up he does it all himself therefore now is the day of salvation always and even after salvation for those you who are in Christ when you sin don’t put yourself in spiritual timeout continue obliterate yourself not think that you can even approach God until you read the Bible a whole lot and pray a whole lot and witness a whole lot so that you can make up for your sin then you did no that’s not the way it works yes it’s natural for us to grieve over sin that’s good and that’s worshipful but such grief should not prevent us from being like the prodigal son who immediately turns around and returns to his father’s house and he embraces his father’s mercy and generosity we ought to do the same so that we might know God’s blessing be aware that works wages mindset and think again of what God showed Abraham we simply believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness now this passage Genesis 15 is so triumphant I mean God’s grace is put on display power saving fate I should mention just briefly the content of his faith is a little bit different than the content of our faith we have much more revealed we know we we know Jesus Christ specifically God’s promised substitute Abraham only saw this dimly but he knew that God had to provide a substitute for him in some measure so in one sense his faith was the same even though what the content of his faith was the same even though ours has the content of ours has been expanded we know more nevertheless it’s the same faith and the same righteousness that comes through faith but as I say very triumph it glorious what a wonderful encouragement of this passage and then we get to Genesis 16 students 16 is gonna teach us a little bit more about how faith interacts with the nitty-gritty of life because despite these wonderful affirmations of God to Abram at Genesis 15 Abram said I still don’t have a son and God’s promises haven’t yet come to pass so what are they gonna do let’s now look at Genesis 16 so turn back over there Genesis 16 we’re gonna read this little chapter – it’s about 16 verses let me get there in my Bible Genesis 16 1 to 16 okay all along music now Sarah Abraham’s life had borne him no children she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar so Sarah I said to Abram now behold yahweh has prevented me from bearing children please go into my maid perhaps i will obtain children through her and abram listen to the voice of Sarah after Abram had lived 10 years in the land of Canaan and his wife Sarah I took Hagar the Egyptian her maid and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife he went into Hagar and she conceived and once she saw that she had conceived her mistress was despised in her sight and Sarah said to Abram may the wrong done me be upon you I gave my maid into your arms but when she saw that she can see if I was despised in her sight may Yahweh judge between you and me Abram said to Sarai behold your maid is in your power do to her what is good in your sight so Sarah I treated her harshly and she fled from her presence now the angel of Yahweh found her by a spring of water in the wilderness by the spring on the way to shore he said Hagar Sarai’s me where did you come from where are you going and she said I’m fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarah and the angel he always said to her return to your mistress and submit yourself to her authority over the angel be always said to her I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count angel you always said to her friend her behold you are with child and you will bear a son and you shall call his name Ishmael because Yahweh has given heed to your ex election he will be a wild donkey of a madman is handli against everyone and everyone’s hand will be again yeah and he will live to the east of all his brothers and she called a name of Yahweh who spoke to her you are a God who sees where she said if I even remained alive here after seeing him there for the well was called by air Lahaie ROI behold is between kadesh and berried so Hagar bore even the Sun and Abram called the name of his son whom Hagar bore Ishmael Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him what an interesting juxtaposition of passages right let’s start with observations here notice verse 3 says that at this point Abraham Cain in ten years and he still has no son and how old is Abram at this point he was 75 when he left Tehran he’s about 85 years old now that means he’s must be about 85 years old now and how old is Sarah well we learned a little bit later on Genesis 17 17 this era is about 10 years younger than Ava so he’s 85 and she is 75 now apparently Sarah I was still her she was known as a beautiful woman even as even as she aged but do you know any women who have children at age 75 note Sarah’s proposition to Abram she says marry and have relations with a got Hagar the Egyptian as a concubine and Hagar child will count as Sarah’s child and note her reasoning for this proposal in verse 2 she says Yahweh has prevented me from bearing children perhaps I will obtain children through Hagar now has Yahweh prevented Sarah from having children well up to this point yes she has had a me so Sarah thinks because of this maybe God means for able to obtain children for from Sarah in a roundabout way using Hagar by the way this idea sounds totally crazy to you and one sense it is but it was apparently a well-known customer the day in those times a barren wife would often provide another wife or a concubine for her husband to obtain children for her husband even through the second wife we’re gonna see this again in the Old Testament and we see this outside the Bible archaeologists have uncovered marriage contracts from ancient Mesopotamia in which the same custom is described even before a marriage of their this one tablet I can remember she says if I don’t bear you children by a certain day or a certain year I’ll provide you with another wife I mean that sounds totally weird to us today and in a sense it is but it was a custom of the time not everybody did that of course but it was known so what’s there I suggest to Abram was a culturally accepted idea what does Abram do he listens to the voices wife verse 3 he a seeds to her plan and does Sarah’s proposal work in bringing about a conception it does what’s the problem well once Haggai realizes she’s pregnant she no longer respects her mistress and thus a Reich it’s pretty upset about this whom does she blame Abram she said let the wrong done to me be upon you it’s your fault what is Abram doing response he says whatever you want to do with Hagar is fine with me and we see what Sarah wants to do with hang art she treats her harshly I don’t know exactly what that looks like but it was enough to make Hagar run away so it must have been pretty nasty this is not exactly a shining example of godly people following Yahweh but you know what this is reality the Bible this is a true book it doesn’t dr. up it’s heroes to make them look better no even men of God men and women of God in the Bible they are shown to be imperfect even at times to commit some pretty shameful acts and we see we see them doing that here verse earth Hagar runs away verse seven says though that she’s found by the angel of Yahweh by spring on the way to shore now this would have been from where Abram was going to Egypt so it’s likely that Hagar as an Egyptian was trying to return to the land of her origin but the angel of the Lord appears to her and speaks with her says to Hagar returns mature mistress verse nine I will greatly multiply your descendants first ten and you will have a son and call his name Ishmael verse 11 now notice why the name Ishmael your Bible might have a couple of footnotes that explain that text itself says because Yahweh has given heed to your affliction but more literally the Hebrew says because Yahweh has heard your affliction I mean it’s the same idea but why why is that important because that’s that concept is captured in the name Ishmael what does this male mean God hears God hears and now would now notice verses 13 and 14 whom is it that Hagar says spoke with her Yahweh himself and she gives Yahweh a name she says you are a god who sees and she marvels us she’s still alive after speaking with God she calls the well where she met the angel the air Lahaie or ye well of the Living one who sees me does what the angel announce come to pass it does verses 15 and 16 she returns she submits to Sarai and she bears the Sunday you’re my name is 86 years old abram calls the boyish man now notice oh is it that God rebukes in this passage doesn’t rebuke anybody doesn’t rebuke Abram doesn’t rebuke Sarah really doesn’t rebuke Hagar though he does tell Hagar to return after giving her a promise doesn’t mean they got approved what happened I will talk about that and some good to me interpretation step but first let’s ask who is the angel of Yahweh it has to be God himself the angel of Yahweh is Yahweh this is one of those amazing details the Old Testament but we’ve already seen this the details of the text like the angel saying I will multiply your descendants and the way to Hagar reacts to the angel shows that this is God himself this appearance then is a another theophany or likely a christophany remember theophany that’s an appearance of God to man visibly tangibly but a christophany is the idea that it is the son of God who appears to Hagar it is an appearance of the son of God before his incarnation and again I’ve argued before why do we think it’s christophany because he’s the go-between between God and man he’s the explainer of the Father and so it makes sense he’s the one who makes himself visible so this is probably the son of God speaking to Hagar as it is many times that the Old Testament when you hear angel of Yahweh in the Old Testament most of the time is referring to God himself what’s amazing is the angel of Yahweh speaks to Yahweh at certain points so you can even see the doctrine of the Trinity basically being revealed mysteriously and not in full but being revealed in the Old Testament alright but let’s come back to that question I raised at the end of our observation step did Abram and Sarai do wrong in the following the polygamist custom of their day to obtain a child they’re not rebuked in this passage but did they do wrong they did they did and how do we know that not because of the narrator’s comment because there is none but because of God’s design from creation what is Genesis 2:24 say after the creation of Eve and her being brought in marriage to Adam therefore a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two will become one flesh at verse sets the paradigm for all marriage God’s promise to Genesis 15 was consistent with God’s design for marriage when he said Abram 1 for your own body will be your heir it was implied that Sarah would be the mother because that’s how God designed marriage one man one woman one flesh for life and if God closed Sarah’s womb Sarah’s womb it would not be impossible for him to open it so even though it’s not stated explicitly in the text they did violate God’s design for marriage and they did wrong in doing this even though they were seeking to obtain the promised you know it’s actually kind of interesting there’s some aspects of this passage aspects of this passage that are reminiscent of Genesis 3 did you notice that we have the wife suggesting a basically a sinful course of action to her husband man listens to the voice of his wife and then when the negative outcome occurs there’s blame-shifting and mistreatment now in some ways that’s not surprising because that’s what all sin is right this is just another example of sin and this isn’t saying that men should not listen to the voice of their wives no I mean the man is responsible even if his wife suggests a simple course of action you can’t say hey she made me do it now he needs to lead her in righteousness the men you husband’s you’ll be very wise to listen to the voice your wife because she does have a lot of wisdom let’s make sure you do that but here Sarah it was not leading was not helping her husband by suggesting this proposal were they acting in faith when they sought to bring this about you know way in a twisted way they did believe that God would provide a son what was the problem they were willing to violate God’s design in order to obtain God’s promise nevertheless as we noted God does not rebuke them how doesn’t her bouquet remorse a right here at least it’s not reported and that’s similar to what God does at other parts in Abraham’s life you remember we didn’t talk about specifically in a class but when Abram goes down to Egypt and he’s afraid that the Egyptians will kill him over Sarah yes a right to lie he does the same thing later on with King Abimelech twice he says tell him you’re my sister not my wife and twice she’s taken as wife for another man day brother I did wrong in that yet God didn’t rebuke them then that God protected Sarai from any sexual violation and God blessed Abraham through it why why doesn’t God call out sin why didn’t say hey brother let’s talk you need a little bit of chastening why doesn’t he do that why doesn’t he do that here I don’t know it the answer seems to be has to be God is simply being gracious God is simply being patient I think they knew I think they knew what they were doing was not consistent with what with what God called people to do then we have to recognize also they’re in a very early time there’s not there’s not scriptures like we have today they’re not around a whole bunch of godly people to teach them they were some of the some of the earliest people earliest followers of Yahweh so we have to cut him a little bit of slack and certainly it seems that God was doing that cause being very gracious and patient with them doesn’t mean that God didn’t care about their sin but he was committed to blessing them they had genuine faith in perfect faith but growing faith and God was patient with their weaknesses and he had even made a covenant with that I covenant with Abram and this very patient response from God doesn’t this disprove the idea that the God of the Old Testament is just a cranky fire and brimstone monster that’s not what we see here look how gentle faithful patient God is with Sarai with Abram and even Hagar and aren’t you glad that God is that way because he’s similarly gracious and patient with you and with your sin even you who are spiritual descendants of Abraham may God’s kindness bring us to repentance it caused us to follow him more closely now Abraham’s error here with Hagar it did not derail God’s sovereign plan God is still gonna bring about a son of promise got a bless me all for Abraham’s sake but Ishmael would not be that son of promise that son of promise was still to come and it would be from both Abraham’s body and Sarah’s body but let’s note Hagar for a moment how should heyguys interaction with God bring us further comfort and encouragement well hey God learned that God is both a God who hears and sees the affliction of those to whom he has chosen to show favor God hears and sees those the affliction of those to whom he’s chosen to show favor now I phrased that somewhat carefully because we might ask was Hagar a true follower or believer in Yahweh we don’t know the text isn’t very explicit about what she believed perhaps she was nevertheless whatever she believed and ultimately worshiped god chooses to show favor to her just as God chooses to show favor to us all in a very overwhelming and complete way to those of us who are in Christ truly God is aware of all affliction sinful oppression and hardship that occurs in the world but he’s not obligated to intervene for anyone except for those to whom he has chosen to show love elihue in joke 35 verses 9 to 13 he points out you know what there are people who cry out because of oppression but they don’t cry out to Yahweh and it will cry out to him in truth he’s not obligated to intervene know what that’s true nevertheless for those that God has chosen God the ones that got us set his love on for them he always sees and always reacts to their affliction God sees God hears he knows I mean think about it for yourselves God has shown you favor he knows your afflictions he knows your hardships he knows your oppressions he knows your trials he knows your temptations and more than that the book of Hebrews tells us that Christ intercedes for you has a sympathetic high priest who knows what it’s like to live with weaknesses and he helps you during suffering and temptation I don’t have time to read the references but Hebrews 2:17 2:18 Hebrews 4:15 2:16 they make this quite clear so brothers and sisters you want to be encouraged you have a God who sees and hears you his ears attentive to your cries you can say Ishmael God hears he is so compassionate and patient and gentle he cares about you and he delivers us from sin and from discouragement when we call upon him in faith we look to him in faith I know some of you probably all of you are going through difficult circumstances in your life one way or another you’re all continuing to battle against sin fighting against the flesh trying to overcome discouragement while God does with Hagar is an encouragement to you don’t despair God sees and he continues to deal gently and lovingly with you as a father keep trusting in him this deliverance will come and you will see the blessing if you persevere remember that God truly loves you if you’re his child and he loves you with a greater love than anyone in the world can it is a faithful there’s a covenant love and we see that love on display here in Genesis 16 just to Hagar to Abram to Sarai and of course that we’ve been showing that kind of love and gentleness from God then we want to show it to others now one last question what does it mean to do something on your own strength we use this phrase I think a lot as American Christians oh I don’t want doing on my own strength or oh I think he’s doing it on his own strength what does that really mean well just to say briefly it doesn’t mean taking action no the Bible calls you to take action if you have faith you will take action I mean Abram said I had to do this it’s not like God’s gonna provide them a child just falling from the sky like a stork now they have to continue to have marital relations they had to act in faith but what does it mean to do something on your own strength it’s when you seek to violate what God has called you to or you ignore what God has called you to in order to obtain God’s promise and this was the error that Sarah and Abram made they did believe that God provide him a child but they thought they had to go outside of what God ordained they had to go outside God’s expressed will to obtain it and this we can do we can look to do things in our own strength God commands us to pray but we say no I just got to work hard I’m not gonna pray and a lot of time to pray that’s doing it on your own strength or God says that he’ll provide he’ll provide for all your needs including a spouse if God is a dame for you to be married it’s a I got a roundup team what God’s provided so five to date on believers so be it I got up team God’s promise or I really need a job God says he’ll provide a job so if I have to fudge some information on my job application I’ll do that if we do that that’s that’s doing it on your own strength and god still gonna provide but he wants you to trust him so if you do that you’re gonna afflict yourself yeah I flicked yourself what the consequences of sin and God might have to chasten you as a good father yes God is patient with you but he loves you so much that he’ll let you feel the consequences of your sin and you may even discipline so we don’t want to act on our own strength we do an act in faith but doing still means that we actually obey what God si we say I don’t have to sin to obtain God’s promise it may mean I have to suffer the may mean I have to wait it may mean I have to give up certain desires but I know that God will provide in his wisdom his way at the right time we can learn even from the failure of Abram and Sarai that God doesn’t need your sin to give you his promises now that’s all the time we have for today if you have questions about what you’ve heard or about these passages make sure you email me next week we’re gonna see the fruition of Abram and Sarai faith we’re gonna see the child a promise come Isaac in Genesis 17 yeah Genesis 17 of falling so I’ll look forward to talking about that with you let’s close in prayer well we thank you for your love God we thank you for your tender compassion toward those you just chose my sure love – we didn’t deserve it we didn’t in a sense even asked for it because we didn’t you weren’t looking for you but then you changed us you open their eyes and you regenerated our hearts and you’ve shown such great love to us and you still do God not just what you’ve done in the past but continually your your providing it the present you hear God you see so listen to the cries of your people who hurt in different ways and you have difficult circumstances you know god these things come from you they are deemed by you but not so that we will sin but is that we will exercise faith and obtain the blessing so God I pray that that would be accomplished in your people by your spirit today okay god that the rest of the service would encourage them and continue to instruct them Jesus name Amen