Passage: Genesis 16 Man’s wisdom and men’s minds don’t accomplish God’s plan
There was a man who purchased one of those do it yourself kits from the sporting goods store. It contained all the parts to build a replica of the old muzzleloader guns used in days gone by. He pealed open the box, broke through 3 pieces of tape inscribed with warnings, tossed aside the safety manual, threw out the warning stickers and proceeded to sand and stain and assemble his new firearm.
When all was ready, he purchased a grade of powder, and with no regard to the warnings printed on the side he poured in what he thought was a good measure and tamped a lead bullet down the barrel. Setting the charge he leveled the piece at a target down the way and pulled the trigger...
When he arrived in heaven he was found to be a Christian man, and therefore was ushered into heaven. Jesus was standing there greeting him when the man interrupted and asked, "Why didn’t you protect me from the blast?"
Jesus eyed him momentarily and gently said, "Friend, you had 6 warnings- but you chose to do it your way instead of listening to the ones who knew better. What more should I have done?"
Like that man, we all have a need to consult the authority before we act. God has a plan in place, but God’s work done man’s way will most certainly end up disastrously.
We have a deep and pressing need to seek God’s face as we endeavor to press forward the gospel in our area. For many years, the thrust at Fame Church has been one of missions far off, and not much missions at home. I believe that God is calling us to bring our missions mindset into our own backyards. I believe that God is calling each one of us to be missionaries in every sense of the word, even doing the very things that an overseas missionary does, so that we can win our communities to Christ.
God has placed you where you are at to do his work, and he has revealed what that work is going to be, I believe it’s the work of Fame Church to spread the good news of life in Jesus Christ to every man, woman and child within 5 miles and later within 10 miles of this church.
I believe that God is calling us to spread his kingdom on this earth. And yet I also believe that our task must be accomplished only under the guidance of God’s will and power. Tonight’s passage comes to us as a warning against trying to accomplish God’s work, without involving God. If there’s one thing that tonight’s lesson teaches us, it is that very thought. There is a danger of doing God’s work, man’s way! When men try to fulfill God’s word apart from God, there is strife, contention, & failure
Turn with me if you will to Genesis 16 and read the passage with me.
Now remember please, the events of Chapter 15. Abram returns from his battles, God promises him a great reward and Abram wonders who will inherit whatever he has. God then promises Abram a son saying in verse 4, "...[your servant] will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir." In fact, God went on to promise that Abram’s would have more descendants than could be counted, just like the stars.
The second half on chapter 15 involved God entering a covenant relationship with Abram to prove to him that Abram’s descendants would indeed inherit the land.
Now we enter into chapter 16 and Abram’s wife is getting impatient. Look at what it says, "Sarai... Had born him no children, [but] she had an Egyptian [servant] named Hagar." SO Sarai said to Abram..."
Stop right there, you know what’s going on. Sarai has heard Abram related all these promises to him and she’s getting impatient.
Let’s face it, sometimes, we want God to work a little faster in our lives, don’t we? Wouldn’t we like God to sometimes hustle it along so that we can start getting the blessings he’s promised?
But have you noticed that whenever the ball starts rolling, we start yelling "Whoa God! Whoa! You’re going too fast!" I’m convinced that the problem isn’t necessarily that God’s timing isn’t what we’d like, I think the problem is much deeper, it’s an issue of control. Answer this in your heart, "what is it that God has promised you?" Now, follow up that answer with this question, "What are you doing about it?"
Sarai wanted to do God’s plan, her way so she does something that sounds absolutely shocking to our modern minds; she takes her servant and gives Hagar to Abram like a second wife! And Abram consents! Now I have to note that according to the customs of the society Abram was living in, that arrangement was humanly lawful. Please understand that Since Hagar belonged to Sarai just like a piece of property it was understood that whatever the slave produced (INCLUDING CHILDREN) belonged to the owner; so that Hagar’s children would be legally considered as Sarai’s children
Now, this text in no way supports polygamy. What this text does demonstrate is that polygamy creates an altogether unnecessary and unique set of problems, not solutions. We must acknowledge that it was a sin, even though in that culture and in that time, society’s rules said such behavior was not only acceptable but preferable. So that as John Wesley wrote: "though he may be excused, he cannot be justified; for from the beginning it was not so..."
(John Wesley’s notes on the Old Testament, Page 96.)
Let it stand as a warning to the church that we dare not adopt societies rules as we attempt to fulfill God’s command. We are under a higher authority than societies rules. We are under God’s word! So when, Abram was 10 years in to his faith journey, he makes another whopper of a mistake and he takes Hagar as his wife, and now the plot thickens.
In 16:4 Hagar begins looking down on her owner as soon as she finds out she’s pregnant. Apparently she’s walking around saying, "I’m better than you are!" This of course upsets Sarai and Sarai loses her cool! She marches over to Abram and starts blaming HIM for the problem! Now at last examination I thought it was her idea!
But that’s what happens when we ignore God’s role in fulfilling his plan, our attempts fail and then we’ve got to find someone to blame for it. Now listen, do you realize that if Sarai had just waited for God to move, that none of this would have happened?
As it is, Abram is quick to distance himself, and he says "OK, you gave her to me as a wife (v3) and now you’re not happy, so here she is - you take her back and do what you want with her." Sarai beats her slave so that Hagar runs away.
Now the problem is even worse! Now, not only are Abram and Sarai fighting, but the very hope they were trying to create has vanished on them! Hagar is on the road back to Egypt where she would have raised Abram’s son to worship idols! Once again I tell you that when we start trying to fulfill God’s word without God’s involvement, there’s nothing but sorrow.
But now God steps in at verses 7-12, He identifies Hagar’s true position by calling her Sarai’s maid", He questions her (v7), corrects her by telling her she needed to go back and act humbly (v8), God then Promises to bless her (v10), Tells her what’s going to happen to the boy -[no holds barred] (v11-12) and sends her back to Sarai.
Now this is God’s grace in action. Hagar the haughty has become Hagar the humble and for a time at least peace is restored to the family. Because in 16:13-14 we see that Hagar is transformed by her encounter with God.
She has seen God, she has spoken with God, and she is amazed that after such a meeting she would still be alive. She calls God, "the God who sees me" and names the well where it happened "the well of the living one who sees me."
And now verses 15-16 give us The conclusion of the matter. Hagar gives birth to a son (just like God said she would) and Abram gives Ishmael the name which God had told Hagar.
The lesson of the story is strong, Man’s wisdom and men’s minds don’t accomplish God’s plan. And yet just the same we begin to see that even in the midst of allowing us to flounder in our own decisions, God is still gracious. There is a danger of doing God’s work, man’s way! When men try to fulfill God’s word apart from God, there is strife, contention, failure ... And yet oddly enough there is also grace!
So tonight the lesson is one of warning and reassurance.
The warning: When God gives a plan, allow him to direct it and fulfill it. God had a plan for Abram to have a child of his own, but neither Sarai nor Abram waited to see what that plan was. Are you waiting to see God’s plan?
The Reassurance: God is gracious still, "He causes all things to work together for good to them that love the Lord, to them that are called according to his purpose." If, in your life you have jumped the gun and taken God’s plan into your own hands, I counsel you to repent and submit. Repent because such an action is sinful, and to submit because God has required it and the testimony of this story seems to indicate that even as your life spins out of control, that God is in control, and he will bring a blessing somehow out of the curse.
And I end with these reassuring words from Adam Clark, "How gracious is God! He permits us to get into distressing circumstances that he may give us ... relief; ... that we may learn to trust in him in all our distresses. God delights to do his creatures good."
(Adam Clark’s Commentary on the Old Testament. p.189)
