Genesis 21
Genesis • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Welcome to Wednesday night at Bellshire. How exciting this is. We are getting into a lot of things in this book. We have finally reached the point of the promise coming to fruition. We have arrived. I mean seriously. 21 chapters 25 years. Here we go. Don’t talk to me about waiting on your promise any more. If you complain to me, I am just gonna hold up two numbers. 2 and a 5 and that’s it. No more. Now when you get to year 26 come holler at me. But until you get there you have no reason to complain. Let’s dive in.
1 The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised.
2 And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him.
3 Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac.
4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.
5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6 And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over 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.”
First two verses can we just say that these are huge verses. You might have just read right over them. But my goodness the power and authority in them. God through Moses is giving us some big ole blues clues. The Lord visited Sarah as he said. That phrase as he said. Who underlined that? You aught to. As He said. Just as he had proclaimed it. Just as he had ordained it. Just as he has promised it. There was no divergence. There was no hindrance. There was no plan b. Just as he had said is exactly how it happened. Then look and he did for Sarah just as he had promised. It is repeated not for naught but because he is emphasizing it. Moses wants you to know that if God says it, it is settled. Your responsibility is to say as you have said it so be it unto me. Yes Lord. Ok. Believe it. There are so many things in this word that we just refuse to believe and accept and I don’t understand it. Well I have believed it and it didn’t happen. I don’t know the answer but as God has said it. So it will be and I will believe it. Though he slay me yet will i trust him. Whether I am delivered from the fire or unto him through the fire I will trust him. This is to be our determined steadfast attitude.
Verse 2 at the set time of God. So who has the authority over it all. When was it going to come? When God said it would. Not a nanosecond sooner or later. There would be no other alternative. Just as the water stopped at the boarder he set and it is still there to this day.
Then notice that Moses emphasizes which son so there would be no misinterpretation he called the son born to him by Sarah Isaac. Then at the appointed time he circumcised him. 8 days. He does not deviate from that. Now we are in the new beginning of the promised time. Abraham was 100 years old. I love Sarah’s response
God has made me laugh and everyone that hears about this. We still do this yall. She was too old to have a baby. We have a friend that had a baby in her 40’s. We chuckle about it every time. lol Not laughing at her but laughing that huh I am so glad that isn’t me. Remember Isaac mean "he laughs”. So every time they call that boys name, I am sure there was a chuckle.
Let’s keep going because here is their sin yet again raising its ugly head.
8 And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.
9 But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing.
10 So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.”
11 And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son.
Great feast on the day that he was weaned. I don’t remember there being a great feast when Ishmael was weaned. Do yall? Nope. then look at this the boy born to Hagar is laughing. Another translation says scoffing. Laughing at who? It honestly doesn’t say but context clues would be that he is scoffing at Isaac. Maybe because he thought he was it. Maybe because his name means laugh. Maybe isaac is scrawny. We don’t know all we know is that whatever he did. Sarah didn’t like. She said I have had enough of this foolishness and he has got to go. I don’t care where he goes but Abraham, he ain’t staying here. She told on that boy so fast. Abraham don’t have a clue. I know women of course he don’t he is a man. He can’t understand anything.
So she tells Abraham what to do and he listens. But he didn’t like it. He knew that Ishmael was still his son. He didn’t want to separate from his kid. The boy is growing up. Yall know how old he is right now. He is probably around 16. He was 14 when Isaac was born and then the time of weaning so this is what the experts think. I would agree with them though I am not an expert. And we could all be wrong but we will just go with that. He definitely would not have been any younger than this. So honestly this is getting to some of the fun times of boys. You rough them up a lot more because they can handle it. They can do more chores around the house freeing us men up. So he is going to lose some of this.
12 But God said to Abraham, “Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for through Isaac shall your offspring be named.
13 And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring.”
God said don’t let it bother you. Follow your wife’s leading. I am going to bless Isaac as I told you but I will also because he is yours take care of your other son. He will not be left out in the cold. Here is what he is saying to Abraham. Your son is not going to die in the wilderness. I will take care of him. I am big enough to handle it. I know it looks bad and you think you are actually doing something by giving bread and water. But you are not delaying the inevitable. They are not going to die.
14 So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes.
16 Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, “Let me not look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept.
Don’t you just love the detail. The distance of a bowshot. Those of you hunting may know that. But I just find the little nuances of the language Moses uses to be quite awesome. Anybody when we go through this starting to be able to see the bible not just hear it.
Look at the grief in this mother’s heart. I mean just hearing her say those words, almost brings a tear. You know there is just something about the maternal instinct in women. Something that is different than a paternal. When we experience the same trauma, we grief equally but it is all together different.
Mothers have a connection that we are not in on. Men we have an influence that she is not in on. So you are seeing this struggle with this mom that she doesn’t want to see her son die but she is not too far that she can’t see him at all. She will not abandon him but she just can bare to watch.
So remember how old he is. I want you to think about what she has done how long they have been walking. She placed him under the bushes. That means at this point they have been walking so much that it is quite plausible that she was carrying him and his and her strength is gone.
Let’s keep reading
17 And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.
18 Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”
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 boy a drink.
20 And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow.
21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
I have noticed this a hundred times and each time i do it still astounds me. I wonder why? God does not hear the plea of the woman. He hears the voice of the boy. Yet we have no record of the boy saying anything. Was he actually crying out? Was his voice internal? Did he actually say anything or was it moaning in pain and hunger? Then the woman we see saying something God doesn’t claim to hear. It is wondrous yet mysterious.
Then the angel talks to her and ask What ails you? What is wrong with you. Why are you upset. God has you. I think we could take that question to heart couldn’t we. I mean Maybe we need to ask ourselves that question the next time we are crying and complaining about what is going on in our lives. What ails you. Fear not for God has heard your voice.
Get up off the ground and go pick up the boy, I will make him a great nation.
Then this next part, I do believe I could preach on for an hr just by itself so you might want to hold on. Then God opened her eyes. and she saw a well. I don’t think you quite understand the concept of this miracle because you didn’t shout. Well let me kind of put in context for you. She had been traveling with provisions already. Provision given to her that should last because they are use to the weather here and know how to preserve. There are also other towns she could have stopped in but didn’t. So as she is walking and keeps on walking. She is getting tired and more tired. The whole time she is walking in a direction to a place of which she doesn’t know. And just as the provision runs out she just so happens to be near a well she can’t see. Oh ok let me make it plan for you. How many times in your life you been struggling. Trying to make it to a place. Everything seems to be running out. Your money is running out. Your patience is running out. Your strength is wearing out. You have nothing else to give or to lend. You are at the end of the rope hanging on by a thread and down to your last nerve. You are ready to just sit down and die. You are looking and the everything that you thought would sustain you is now depleted. This is her. And though she didn’t know where she was going God knew every step. He led her right to the well. Every move she made was to his purpose to get her right there. She was just turning left or right. The bible doesn’t say that he made the well appear. The bible says the well was there all the time but she was so caught up in what she didn’t have. She was so blinded by her sorrowful circumstance that she couldn’t see what was in front of her. Oh come on you have been there. So distracted by what you don’t have that you can’t see what you do have. It is the disiciples in the middle of the storm, they thought they saw Jesus. Jesus is that you? Prove it. It is elijah running from Jezebel. I am the only one left. I mean folks this is the human nature and God does such a miracle that he gets her to that well not early but as the water in the skin was used up, you are at the well.
Don’t you know you are always at the well. Don’t you know you have a well inside of you. The bible says you will have a well of living water flowing out of your belly. It is a well that will never go dry. Excuse me while I get a little bit of pentecostal on a wednesday. You can’t find no peace, go to the well. You ran out of joy, there is a well for that. You don’t have finances, you are at the well. You lost your patience there is a well for that. You can’t find the courage to stand up at your job, there is a well for that. You don’t love neough for the lost to tell them about Jeuss, there is a well for that. If you don’t get up at his word and get to the well. Stop asking God to move the well and say God open my eyes to where the well is and let me go there. YOu about to die and just gonna be satisfied with dying? No not me. Mama and them can’t get there for me. They gone. Daddy and uncle roy and aunt jamima can’t take me to the well nor can they bring the well water to me. I better ask the one who placed the well where it is and get up. OH boy can’t no body do for you better than you can do for yourself. We have a prayer list here at this church and it is a wonderful thing though I wish we had more testimony share from and we are getting there. But before you call the prayer team to pray, have you prayed yourself? We won’t other people to do the work for us. You think I am playing. Look at what God said. Get up and get the boy up. She could have laid there. But he opened her eyes to what was already present and she had enough understanding that if I stay here I can die with the answer right in front of me. No sir. Not today Satan. I am going to get up from this place go over to that well and draw one more time. I know that well aint’ empty. Though my skin maybe empty, that well still has plenty in there. Come everybody draw from this for it shall never run dry.
Ok back to the story.
So she draws from well and apparently they stayed right there in the wilderness. Ishmael grew up and was protected by God as he promised. He became an archer. His mother went to Egypt and brought him a wife. Where she was from.
22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “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 descendants or with my posterity, but as I have dealt kindly with you, so you will deal with me and with the land where you have sojourned.”
24 And Abraham said, “I will swear.”
Now hold up, Abimelech comes to Abraham with his army commander why? I know why he shows up by why bring the commander? To intimidate. You are trying to show force before I do anything because you are so insecure and intimidated by what I have or do, you have to strike preeminently. I literally had this conversation with a kid yesterday. No need to bow up and strike back. Everyone knows you are tough you don't have to prove anything. But abimelech has to because he knows that power that protected Abraham is too powerful so i better do something fast.
Then he gets him to swear by god. ABimelech you don’t even serve god lol what do you mean. lol And all he wants is to protect his stuff and his kids from an attack that ain’t even coming.
Did God tell him to make to swear to make an oath of any kind? No. But Abraham does. Proabbly because he don’t want no trouble. But he brings something up
25 Then Abraham rebuked Abimelech because of a well of water which Abimelech’s servants had seized.
26 And Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, nor had I heard of it until today.”
27 So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a covenant.
28 And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.
So they make the covenant after Abraham gets something straight about a well.
29 And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?”
30 He said, “These seven ewe lambs you will take from my hand, that this may be a witness for me that I dug this well.”
No i really don’t know what Abraham is getting from this except that he is keeping peace maybe. Beersheba means Well of oath.
31 Therefore that place was called Beersheba, because there both of them swore an oath.
32 So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army rose up and returned to the land of the Philistines.
33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God.
34 And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines.