Last week we saw the Lord protecting the integrity of the covenant by protecting Sarah from King Abimelech. (Remember how he had taken her to be one of his wives when she and Abraham entered his territory.)
This week we’re going to see the Lord protect the covenant again by making sure there’s no threat to Isaac being the sole recipient of his father Abraham’s estate and family lineage. Because remember, even though Isaac was the chosen one, Ishmael his half brother was still on the scene and by societal law he would have had access to Abraham’s estate even though he was the son of Abraham’s hand maid not Abraham’s wife.
Sao as we go through this passage we’ll once again see the faithfulness of God loud and clear as He fulfills His promise to Abraham and Sarah by giving them their son Isaac.
Now our response to the faithfulness of God should be faith in Him. Total and complete trust in the One who’s been so trustable. He so faithfully provided a Savior through the line of Abraham and we ought to respond to Him with faith.
That means that we don’t trust in our own works to establish a relationship with Him. That means we don’t try to earn our salvation with our good deeds and our morality. We realize that the faithful God asks us to trust Him for salvation. Him alone who so faithfully will deliver.
And this is something that’s spelled out in verse after verse after verse throughout the Bible. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but will have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
So if Scripture is so explicit about the means of salvation being faith, how come so many ‘Christian’ folks get caught up in a works-type salvation? How come so many people feel like they need to fulfill the Law, (10 commandments), for salvation?
Well, many people don’t quite understand the purpose of the Law of God and how it relates to having faith in God. The Law could never and should never take the place of faith in a person’s life. The Law of God does two main things in a person’s life:
1. The Law of God shows us God’s standards and principles for life.
2. The Law of God shows us our sin, (not achieving those standards).
The Law isn’t a means of salvation – it shows us the need for salvation. And that’s where
the faithfulness of God comes in. “But God demonstrated His own love for us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) When we put our faith in the Lord for what He’s done for us, then we’re saved. We are saved by faith.
But even though it’s clear how salvation is obtained, there are many that believe in upholding the Law of God either for salvation or to maintain.
[Catholics, Seventh Day Adventists, Church of Christ, Arminians, Baptists examples.]
If they would just go back and look at Genesis chapter 21 and reference it with Galatians chapter 4, they’d see how faith in God alone is the way of salvation. Works are not the way! So let’s look at the two sons of Abraham and see this great doctrine brought out.
I. Isaac – the welcomed son
[Read Genesis 21:1-8.]
Amazing! It finally happened! The Lord was faithful to His promise and brought forth a son through the union of Abraham and Sarah in such a way that it could only have been God that did this. This was no trick, this was no fluke, this was no accident, God made the barren womb fruitful and brought forth Isaac. Look at some of the key words in the first two verses.
[Read Genesis 21:1-2 highlighting key words, then do the same for Genesis 21:3-4.]
Abraham responded in faith to the faithful One. Sarah also responded in faith as well.
[Genesis 21:6-7.]
Sarah’s laughter of doubt from when she first heard the Lord say she would have a child has now turned into laughter of joy. Laughter of joy is such a wonderful thing. When something so astonishing happens that you laugh with joy is a great thing.
[Birth of my kids example.]
Sarah’s laughter has turned from doubt to joy. But that wouldn’t be the only laughter to be heard in Abraham’s household. Abraham’s son Ishmael laughed or scoffed at the celebration of Isaac’s weaning.
[Genesis 21:9.]
The word used for “mocking” is the same root word used for Isaac’s name. So it seems that Ishmael is using Isaac’s name in a way that mocks who he was. Now why would this 16 or 17 year old do something like that at his brother’s celebration?
Well let’s remember a few things about Ishmael:
1. His mother Hagar was so hated by Sarah that she ran away from home while she was pregnant. (Genesis 16)
2. She comes back home, has the baby, and we don’t hear about him until he’s 13 years old and being circumcised. (Genesis 17)
3. We don’t hear anything about him or his mother until Isaac is born.
You just get the feeling that even though they lived in Abraham’s home, they were never
really a part of the family. And probably when Isaac was born Ishmael saw all his hopes of an inheritance going away. Instead of being Abraham’s only son, now he’s Abraham’s other son.
I. Ishmael – the rejected son
[Read Genesis 21:9-21.]
Just like God had heard Hagar’s cry in the wilderness 17 years earlier, He hears Ishmael’s cry in the wilderness and saves them from their horrible situation. God shows His faithfulness to them by helping Ishmael to grow and be strong and to even bring forth nations from him like he told Hagar many years earlier. Ishmael would live in the region of Paran, which is modern day Arabia. Ishmael is the father of Arabs as we know them today.
Now Abraham was distressed that he had to send his son away. In his heart he loved his son even though he knew he wasn’t the chosen one from whom the covenant would be fulfilled. But God reassured him that it was the right thing to do. By sending Ishmael away the covenant was protected and there would be no rivals to the nation of Israel being born through Isaac. God’s plan would go forth.
So we see quite a difference between Isaac and Ishmael. Isaac is the welcomed and celebrated son while Ishmael is the rejected and embarrassment of a son.
Thousands of years later the Apostle Paul uses these two boys to illustrate the differences between trusting the Lord for salvation and upholding the law for salvation. Turn with me to Galatians chapter four.
You see there was a problem in the church of Galatia – some of the people were teaching that grace wasn’t enough for salvation. The Judaizers were teaching that works were necessary for salvation and that Paul’s gospel of grace was heresy. So under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he uses Ishmael and Isaac to set the straight. Salvation is by grace through faith. Nothing more, nothing less.
Now when we read this passage we’re going to see Paul say that he’s speaking allegorically. This doesn’t mean that the story of Abraham and Sarah and Isaac is some fictitious story written with some hidden, mystical meaning behind it. It simply means that he’s using the actual events from these people’s lives to teach the difference between Judaism and Christianity. And it ties in beautifully since Isaac’s descendant is Jesus who is the Head of Christianity, and is the ultimate fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant that Isaac was a part of.
So we read this passage, look at all the differences mentioned here.
[Read Galatians 4:21-30.]
Ishmael Isaac
Mother – Hagar Mother – Sarah
Born into slavery Born free
Born by the flesh Born through the promise
Ordinary birth Supernatural birth
Law, (Mt. Sinia) Grace, (Jerusalem above)
Persecutors Martyrs
Cast out Heirs of the promise
[Read Galatians 4:31-5:1, 5:5-6.]
Salvation is by grace through faith, nothing more – nothing less! Our faithful God has provided so wonderfully for us. And you know, when we try and add anything to that salvation it’s almost as if we’re saying that:
He didn’t or couldn’t or hasn’t provided the way. It’s like we’re saying Jesus’ death wasn’t good enough to satisfy the sin-debt we all owe to God. We’re saying that faith couldn’t possible be enough. That’s just too easy! Faith? That’s it? God’s done it and we must simply believe it? There must be more!
[Read Galatians 4:21.]
That’s why Jesus came in the first place! We can’t do it! We can’t uphold the Law in perfection as God requires. So God’s Son came to earth, took the form of a man, upheld the law with a sinless life, and substituted His perfect life for ours when He died on the cross. Faith in who Jesus is and what He’s done attributes His payment for the sin-debt we owe to us.
So as we look at how God faithfully brought forth the covenant through Isaac, and ultimately through Jesus Christ, when we see that we respond in faith. Not just for salvation, but for every day life. Even when we don’t understand what He’s doing, we must choose to believe that God will always act faithfully towards us. Faith is a daily exercise of our will to believe the One who saved us.
Let me close with a story that was printed in the London Observer some time ago.
Imagine with me a family of mice who lived inside a large piano. Their world was filled with music that filled every area of darkness with sound and harmony. At first the mice were impressed by it. They drew comfort from the belief that there was someone who made the music – even though invisible to them – the person was above them yet close to them. They loved to think of the great player whom they could not see.
Then one day a daring mouse climbed up part of the piano and returned very confused. He had found out how the music was made. Tightly stretched wires of graduating lengths which trembled and vibrated made the music they loved. They must revise their old beliefs. None but the most conservative mouse still believed in the unseen player.
Later, another exploring mouse carried the sound’s explanation a little further. Hammers were the secret. A series of hammers that fell on the wires vibrated them into the sounds they heard. This was more complicated than ever. Now it seemed they lived in a purely mechanical and mathematical world. So the unseen player came to be thought of as a myth.
But the pianist continued to play.
God will continue to play if you will in this world. He continually makes music for all to hear. Hopefully our faith will enable us to hear His music and grow in our faith. That’s what enables us to live the life of faith as He intends us to. And it’s so important, because a day that’s lived without faith, is simply a wasted day. “Without faith it’s impossible to please God.” (Hebrews 11:6)
