Reading: Genesis chapter 21 verses 1-21.
Ill:
One stormy night an elderly couple entered the lobby of a small hotel and asked for a room:
• The clerk said they were full;
• And they would probably find so were all the hotels in town.
“But I can’t send a fine couple like you out in the rain,
would you be willing to sleep in my room?”
• The couple hesitated, but the clerk insisted.
• The next morning when the man paid his bill, he said,
“You’re the kind of man who should be managing the best hotel in the United States.
Someday I’ll build you one.”
The clerk smiled politely.
• A few years later the clerk received a letter containing and an aeroplane ticket;
• The letter invited him to visit New York.
• When the clerk arrived, his host took him to the corner of 5th Avenue and 34th Street,
• Where stood a magnificent new building.
• “That,” explained the man,
• “Is the hotel I have built for you to manage.”
• The man was William Waldorf Astor,
• And the hotel was the original Waldorf-Astoria.
It may have taken him several years:
• But he kept his promise!
• God too never breaks a promise.
• What he says he will do, he will do!
• Only he does not work according to our time-scale.
• Sarah had been childlessness for many years,
• A heavy burden in the culture and time in which she lived.
• What made the heartache greater was her husbands name ‘Abraham’:
• Which meant "Father of a multitude."
Ill:
• We may give somebody very small the nickname ‘lofty’.
• Or somebody very large the nickname ‘slim’
Every time Abraham heard his name mentioned;
• It was a reminder that as yet God had not kept his promise!
• He was the father of one son ‘Ishmael’.
• Hardly a multitude;
• And this was by his maidservant ‘Hagar’ and not by his wife ‘Sarah’.
• But Abraham would discover;’
• “God is never too early, he’s never too late, he is always just on time!”
(A). Abraham and Sarah: faith and promise
(verses 1-7):
(1). Fulfilment (verse 1-3).
“Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what he had promised.
2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him.
3 Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him.”
• And Sarah had never given birth.
• But now at long last her reproach was ended. She gave birth to a son called ‘Isaac’.
• But the birth of Isaac involved much more than parental joy,
• For his birth meant the fulfilment of God's promise.
Ill:
• When God had originally called Abraham to leave his home land,
• He promised to make of him a great nation that would bless the whole world. (chapter 12).
• Then He repeatedly promised;
• That he would give the land of Canaan to Abraham's descendants (chapter 17)
• Again God appeared to Abraham;
• And reiterated his promise to multiply his descendents (chapter 13 & 15).
• And God had made it clear to Abraham that Sarah (not Hagar);
• Would be the mother of his promised child (chapter 17).
• The birth of Isaac in this chapter,
• Is a reminder us that God keeps His promises,
(2). Patience (verse 2).
“Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him”.
• Isaac's birth also meant the rewarding of patience.
• Abraham and Sarah had to wait twenty-five years for their son to be born.
ill:
Twice a year we change time.... well our watches anyway.
• We put them forward or backward by one hour.
• A reminder that the whole of our lives revolve around time.
• But God doesn't operate in the realm of the clock:
• He is not restricted to a calendar or a diary, God is in no hurry!
• In fact the promises of God:
• Are fulfilled more by our obedience, than by our calendars.
Ill:
• The great New England preacher Phillips Brooks;
• Was noted for his poise and quiet manner.
• One day a friend saw him feverishly pacing the floor like a caged lion.
• “What’s the trouble, Mr. Brooks?” he asked.
• “The trouble is that I’m in a hurry, but God isn’t!”
Ill:
• Just as Olympic athletes develop their skills as they practice hard;
• Long before the big event actually takes place.
• So God's children grow in godliness and faith;
• As they wait for the fulfilment of God's promises.
• Trusting God's promises not only gives you a blessing at the end;
• But it gives you a blessing while you are waiting.
God wants to build our character:
• And at times for him to do that we must be patient,
• We might have to face difficulties;
• But this waiting and those difficult situations and circumstances of life;
• Create in us, qualities that we could not get any other way.
(3). Revelation (verses 5-7):
“Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6 Sarah said, God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.
7 And she added, Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
• The birth of Isaac was certainly the revelation of God's power.
• That was one reason why God waited so long:
• He wanted Abraham and Sarah. to be "as good as dead",
• So that their son's birth would be a miracle of God and not a marvel of human nature.
ill:
• Many years ago the English traveller Wilkinson.
• Discovered an Egyptian mummy pit.
• In the pit was a sealed vase, which he sent it to the British Museum.
• But the librarian at the museum managed to drop the vase and break it.
• From the ruins the librarian gathered a few peas.
• They were old, wrinkled and as hard as stones.
• On the 4th June 1844, the peas were planted carefully under a glass.
• Thirty days they had sprouted and were growing well.
• They had been buried as dead, for about 3,000 years,
• Yet were brought to life by the librarian.
• God wanted Abraham and Sarah. to be "as good as dead",
• So that their son's birth would be a miracle of God and not a marvel of human nature.
• Abraham and Sarah experienced God's resurrection power in their lives;
• Because their bodies were as good as dead, yet from them God brought forth new life.
(4). Purpose (verses 1-7).
• The birth of Isaac was a step forward in the accomplishing of God's purpose.
• The future redemption of a lost world rested with a little baby boy!
• Isaac would beget Jacob,
• And Jacob would give the world the twelve tribes of Israel;
• And from Israel;
• The promised Messiah would be born.
• Down through the centuries, some of the "living links" in the chain of promise;
• May have seemed insignificant and weak; but they helped to fulfil the purposes of God.
Application:
• Christian be encouraged this evening:
• You may wonder if what you do is really important to God and His work in this world;
• But it is, if you are faithful to trust His Word and do His will.
• You are a vital link in the chain.
Ill:
• Man walking along the beach;
• And he notices that, a load of starfish have been washed up onto the shore.
• In the hot sun it is only a matter time before they dry out and die;
• Or before some predator comes along and eats them.
• So the man kept throwing them back into the water;
• But the tide kept washing some of them back up to the shore.
• A group of young people were watching this take place and started to mock the man;
• “You should give up, you are not making any difference”.
• As the man picked up a starfish, he threw it into the sea saying;
• “I’m making a difference to this one!”
(B). Isaac and Ishmael: Spirit and flesh
(verses 8-11):
(1). Isaac symbolic:
• In the New Testament book of Galatians chapter 4 verses 28-29:
• The apostle Paul makes it clear that each of Abraham’s children are a type, a picture:
• Ishmael represents the believer's first birth (physical birth or the flesh);
• And Isaac represents the second birth (born of the Spirit).
• Ishmael was born in the ordinary way;
• Abraham was young enough to physically father a child with a younger woman.
• But Isaac was born miraculously, by the power of the spirit.
• Because although Abraham and Sarah still enjoyed a healthy sex life;
• Their bodies were past it as far as conception and birth were concerned.
• Only a miracle, only God's power could have brought conception and birth.
So Paul the apostle tells us they represented different pictures:
• Ishmael represents the believer's first birth (the flesh);
• And Isaac represents the second birth (the Spirit).
Notice:
• Ishmael was born first,
• Because the natural comes before the spiritual (ill: Be born before you can believe).
• But when a person trusts Jesus Christ as their Lord and saviour;
• They experience a second birth, ‘Born again’ by the Spirit of God.
• Our first birth was visible: outward people could see.
• But the second birth is invisible (new heart & new mind).
• Our first birth is the result of earthly parents (a physical sexual act).
• The second birth is the result of our own actions (faith in Christ).
Quote:
“If you are born once, you will die twice, but if your born twice, you will die once!”
Quote: George Whitfield:
• Who went around preaching on the text; “You must be born again”
• Someone said to him;
• “Mr Whitfield, every where you go, you preach on being ‘born again’, why?”
• Whitfield replied: “Because you MUST be born again!”
If is worth noting that, in the biblical record,
• God often rejected the firstborn;
• And accepted the second-born.
Ill:
• He rejected Cain, and chose Abel (Gen. 4:1-15).
• He rejected Ishmael, Abraham’s firstborn, and chose Isaac.
• He bypassed Esau, Isaac's firstborn, and chose Jacob (Rom. 9:8-13);
• And He chose Ephraim instead of Manasseh (Gen. 48),
I suggest the important thing that this principle is showing to us:
• Is that nobody inherits salvation and a relationship with the living God:
• Quote: “God has no grandchildren”.
• These things are ours to experience but not by natural means.
• But by supernatural means (by faith in what Christ has done for us!).
• Each person, individually must humble their own hearts;
• And come to God to find forgiveness and new life!
(2). Isaac matured (verse 8):
“The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned
Abraham held a great feast”.
• There is another comparison here between Isaac and the Christian.
• “He grew and was weaned” (verse 8).
• The new birth that a Christian experiences is not the end,
• But the beginning of a brand new life.
Ill:
• A man had worked with one company for 25 years,
• And he was still doing the same old job and drawing the same salary.
• Finally he went to his boss and told him he felt he had been neglected.
• “After all,” he said, “I’ve had a quarter of a century of experience.”
• “My dear fellow,” sighed the boss, “you haven’t had a quarter of a century of experience, you’ve had one experience for a quarter of a century.”
Some Christians are like that man:
• They may have been born again for some time;
• But they are still spiritual babies.
• Ill: Just as Isaac was weaned from milk to solid food;
• Christians need also to be developing and maturing in their faith.
• The time comes in every Christian life when toys must be replaced by tools;
• And selfish security by unselfish service.
Quote: Hymn A.B. Simpson:
Once it was the blessing; now it is the Lord.
Once it was the feeling; now it is His Word.
Once His gifts I wanted; now the Giver own.
Once I sought for healing, now Himself alone.
Once 'twas painful trying; now 'tis perfect trust.
Once a half salvation; now the uttermost.
Once 'twas ceaseless holding; now He holds me fast.
Once 'twas constant drifting; now my anchor's cast.
Once 'twas busy planning; now 'tis trustful prayer.
Once 'twas anxious caring; now He has the care.
Once 'twas what I wanted, now what Jesus says.
Once 'twas constant asking; now 'tis ceaseless praise.
Once I tried to use Him; now He uses me.
Once it was my working; His it hense shall be.
Once the power I wanted, now the Mighty One.
Once for self I laboured, now for Him alone.
Once I hoped for Jesus; now I know He's mine.
Once my lamps were dying; now they brightly shine.
Once for death I waited; now His coming hail.
And my hopes are anchored safe within the veil.
(3). Isaac was persecuted (Gal 4:29).
“At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son
born by the power of the Spirit”
• Ishmael was apparently an obedient son until Isaac entered the family,
• Then for a host of reasons (maybe jealous, envious) he started persecuting Isaac.
• Jewish children were usually weaned at about age three,
• So if you do your maths (Genesis chapter 16 verse 16 tells us Abraham’s age).
• You can figure out that Ishmael was probably seventeen years old at this time.
• Hardly a fair battle,
• That a boy of seventeen should torment a little boy of only three!
• But that was the situation that was taking place in this chapter.
• Once again if we look at the symbolism:
• The flesh and the Spirit are always in conflict with each other;
Ill:
• Stan Mikita, a professional hockey star,
• He used to get into a lot of fights during games.
• He stopped when his eight-year-old daughter asked a very grown-up question:
• “How can you score goals when you’re always in the penalty box, Daddy?”
• From that moment on in his career he realised that;
• He could only score a goal when he was on the ice and not sitting in the sin bin!
Each day as Christians we have a choice:
• To allow the flesh to have dominance in our lives;
• And keep us in the sin bin, away from the will of God
• Or we can use a new winning game plan;
• Where we are on the ice, scoring goals, achieving our aims!
• Each day the Christian has a choice to make:
• “My will be done” (flesh) or “Thy will be done” (Live in the power of the Holy Spirit).
(4). Isaac was born free
• Once again there is an important contrast here between the two boys:
• Isaac was born free; while Ishmael was the son of a slave.
Quote: Jesus taught that (John chapter 8 verse 34):
“Whoever sins becomes a slave to sin”.
Ill:
• Thomas Costain’s history, The Three Edwards,
• He described the life of Raynald III, a fourteenth-century duke in what is now Belgium.
• Grossly overweight, Raynald was commonly called by his Latin nickname, Crassus,
• Which means “fat.”
• After a violent quarrel,
• Raynald’s younger brother Edward led a successful revolt against him.
• Edward captured but Raynald but did not kill him.
• Instead, he built a room around Raynald in the Nieuwkerk castle.
• Edward promised Raynald that he could regain his title and property;
• As soon as he was able to leave the room.
• This would not have been difficult for most people since;
• The room had several windows and a door of near-normal size, and none was locked or barred.
• The problem was Raynald’s size.
• To regain his freedom, he needed to lose weight.
• But Edward knew his older brother,
• And each day he sent him a variety of delicious foods.
• Instead of dieting his way out of prison, Raynald grew fatter.
• When Duke Edward was accused of cruelty, he had a ready answer:
• “My brother is not a prisoner. He may leave when he so wills.”
• Raynald stayed in that room for 10 years & wasn’t released until after Edward died in battle
• By then his health was so ruined he died within a year;
• A prisoner of his own appetite.
Quote: Jesus went on to say (John chapter 8 verse 38);
“If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed!”
• Jesus is able to set us free from wrong habits and practices that spoil our lives.
• And free us to be able to do all that God has for as in Jesus Christ.
Quote: Wesley’s hymn ‘And can it be?’
“Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
fast bound in sin and nature's night;
thine eye diffused a quickening ray;
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
my chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed thee”.
(3). Sarah and Hagar: (verses 9-13):
(1). Sarah-Abraham Conflict (verses 8-11).
“The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast.
9 But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking,
10 and she said to Abraham, 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.
11 The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son”.
Ill:
• 2 men who lived in a small village got into a terrible dispute that they could not resolve.
• So they decided to talk to the town sage.
• The first man went to the sage’s home and told his version of what happened.
• When he finished, the sage said, “You’re absolutely right.”
• The next night, the second man called on the sage and told his side of the story.
• The sage responded, “You’re absolutely right.”
• Afterward, the sage’s wife scolded her husband.
• “Those men told you two different stories and you told them they were absolutely right.
• That’s impossible—they can’t both be absolutely right.”
• The sage turned to his wife and said, “You’re absolutely right.”
Conflicts of course need dealing with:
• In our ‘so called enlightened times’
• We might make some suggestions to Sarah and Hagar regarding settling there dispute.
Ill:
10 tips to settle a dispute:
• (1). Set a time and place for discussion.
• (2). Define the problem or issue of disagreement.
• (3). Talk about how each of you contributes to the problem.
• (4). List past attempts to resolve the issue that were unsuccessful.
• (5). Brainstorm new ways to resolve the conflict.
• (6). List all possible solutions.
• (7). Discuss and evaluate these possible solutions.
• (8). Agree on one solution to try.
• (9). Agree on how each individual will work toward this solution.
• (10). Set up another meeting to discuss your progress.
In Sarah’s culture (remember Hagar was a slave) things were done differently
• The conflicts in Abraham's home;
• Could have been solved in at least four ways:
• (1). Isaac could have been sent away,
• But that would mean rejecting the promises of God and all that God had planed for the future.
• (2). Isaac and Ishmael could have lived together,
• But that would mean constant conflict, the type that could not be pacified.
• (3). Ishmael's nature could have been changed to make- him more agreeable;
• But that would have required a miracle.
• (4). The only other solution was what Sarah came up with in verse 10,
• To send Ishmael and his mother out of the camp and, make Isaac the sole heir.
The prejudice in Sarah’s words grieves Abraham (verse 11):
“The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son”.
• Abraham was grieved because Ishmael was as much his son as Isaac.
• He now has a tough decision to make.
• To send Hagar and Ishmael away, an action that will please Sarah and benefit Isaac;
• Or let them remain and continue to leave in a home full of sibling rivalry.
(2). God-Abraham dialogue (verse 12-13):
“But God said to him, Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.
13 I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also, because he is your offspring.”
• Abraham finds himself in a no-win situation;
• But God steps in to point the way.
Sarah’s emotions may have raged out of control:
• But God says to Abraham that her plan to send Hagar and Ishmael away was a good one.
• It will bring domestic harmony back to their home.
• And the absence of Ishmael will mean;
• God’s plans for Isaac will not be hindered.
Quote: Proverb:
“Every cloud has a sliver lining”
• This dark narrative, which is full of despair;
• Has a silver lining running through it.
• God promised Abraham (verse 13) that Hagar and Ishmael would not be abandoned;
• But he would watch over them, making Ishmael the father of a great nation (Arabs).
Ill:
• A little over a month before he died,
• The famous atheist Jean-Paul Sartre declared that:
• He so strongly resisted feelings of despair that he would say to himself,
• “I know I shall die in hope.”
• Then in profound sadness, he would add,
• “But hope needs a foundation.”
Abraham’s hope regarding his first son Ishmael & his mother Hagar had a foundation:
• It was rooted in the promises of God.
• God had always kept his word to Abraham and not failed him.
• So Abraham could be confident that God would continue to keep his word;
• And look after Hagar and Ishmael.
(3). God-Hagar encounter (verses 14-21):
“Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the desert of Beersheba.
15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes.
16 Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bow-shot away, for she thought, I cannot watch the boy die. And as she sat there nearby, she began to sob.
17 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there.
18 Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.
19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
20 God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer.
21 While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.”
Abraham’s heart must have been breaking:
• As he carried out God’s instructions;
• But there is no hesitation on his part to obey God (verse 14).
Hagar finds herself in the desert (verse 14b):
• Alone except for Ishmael;
• And very quickly her supplies run out (verse 15)
• Hungry, tired and fearing the worst that might happen;
• Verse 16b: She sits down and starts crying.
God had promised Abraham that he would look after Hagar and Ishmael:
• And in verses 17-21: He starts to fulfil that promise.
• In fact he fulfils his promise in 3 ways.
FIRST:
• In verse 18: He meets their immediate needs.
• He does that in two ways.
• Physically: He shows them where to find water.
• Emotionally: he strengthens them, Gives them hope by repeating his promise.
SECOND:
• Verse 20:
• God continued to watch over him as he grew up.
• Ishmael became a great archer.
• I think that refers to bow and arrow, not the radio programme!
THIRD:
• Verse 21:
• Family life is once again resumed.
• They found a new home (found a new community),
• And Ishmael found a wife (marriage is symbolic of a new start, a new life!)
Ill:
• Two brothers were playing in the kitchen;
• When the older brother said to the younger:
• “I’ll give you a pound if you let me break three of these eggs on your head,”
• “Promise?” asked the younger brother.
• “I Promise!” the older boy said.
• He then broke two eggs over his brother’s head.
• Standing stiff for fear the gooey mess would get all over him, the little boy asked,
• “When is the third egg coming?”
• “It’s not,” replied the older brother.
• “Because that would cost me a pound!”
Unlike that older brother:
• When God makes a promise he keeps it!
• Hymn says: “Them that trust him wholly, find him wholly true!”
