Isaac's Birth

Good morning everyone…right now we get to welcome our kids to go back to their amazing teachers who are ready and waiting to teach the Gospel in a way that makes sense to them. Wow…next week is Easter everyone…do you realize that? Wow…times really flies doesn’t it. That is amazing. Ok, so last week I asked you guys to text a friend right then during church and I would love to hear about any conversations with anyone. I heard a couple and some of them were pretty funny actually…BUt…here we go again.Im gonna wait until everyone pulls out their cell phone and holds it up…remember., Ive got all day here…you too teens…Ok, now that I see most of your cell phones, then I want you to open your texting app, or whatever messaging app you use snapchat, instagram, messenger, whatever new apps are out there…Ok, so now that you’ve opened that app…here are a couple of messages options you can send to someone in your contacts…right now. Im gonna leave this up there for a minute and let you send this out…You can even take a photo of this and send that to someone making fun of what your crazy pastor is making you do…oh and by the way…I would love to have you join me next Sunday. See how that works. :) Remember we are gonna be talking about Abraham and Isaac and how their story points us to Christ sacrifice and resurrection bringing us brand new life…Even today we will see how God uses the story of Abraham to mirror the story of Jesus.

For now though, I want to welcome you all, and I want to thank all of volunteers that make our church function the way that it does. I love the way that people will message me through the week and ask about ideas that they had to serve the family here…It is amazing to get those messages so frequently. Listen, if you have messaged about volunteering in some way, know that I will still get back with you because God is using you to do amazing things within this fellowship of believers here in leaf River. Also, we want to welcome those of you joining us online, and thank you for being a part of our extended spiritual family today.

So, I was thinking this week and I was wondering…who is the oldest new mother…Meaning the oldest woman who has given birth, at least that is on record. Well…I found that in 2019 there was a woman in India named Mangayamma Yaramati who gave birth to her first children…twin girls. I mean we have made some jokes around here but 74 years old is a pretty advanced in age and I cannot imagine being a new parent at that age. I’m not sure how old Mangayamma’s husband is, but it appears he is not young himself. Then of course everyone has heard of Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger, well he had a son 5 years ago at the young age of 73…but that’s nothing compared to the story we have been following with Abraham and Sarah.

You see, we have been following this story with Abraham and Sarah for a while now and this week we will see yet another of God’s promises be fulfilled. Not just a promise to Abraham, but also a promise to Sarah. However, that is not what we are going to focus in on this morning. We are going to talk about that for sure, but there is something else that is happening that is really encouraging to see and I hope that you will be encouraged and maybe even challanged as we see what God is, not only capable of…but continues to do throughout Scripture, and throughout our lives. So, as we work through this chapter, I want to ask you to think about

What is Most Encouraging?

I want to ask yourself that question and think about the different things that are powerful in todays passage and then I want you to email or text me with your thoughts and you will see that my phone and email is at the bottom of your note sheet this week. So this week we are going to look at three sections in this chapter. First we will look at the birth of Isaac…then we are going to look at Hagar and Ishmael…then we are going to look at a treaty between Abraham and Abimelech, and your job while we are looking through these passages is to see what you feel is important about these different sections, and see what you think might be the most encouraging thing about this chapter as we go through this. Look, Im planning on having at least a hundred messages when I get home, so Im gonna need your help to get there. You don’t have to say anything other than, what you think is encouraging in this chapter. So, let’s getting started looking at how...

ABRAHAM AND SARAH RECEIVE THE SON GOD PROMISED THEM (21:1-7):

This is amazing right here, and this is incredibly encouraging if we are honest about it. You see, 25 years prior to this even we saw that God promised to make Abraham into a nation. Now, in order to be made into a nation, you must have a family, which includes having a son. Now, when we look at this passage we have to acknowledge that we could spend an entire sermon just on these seven verses. I mean there is so much truth and so much encouragement in these short verses, but we aren’t gonna camp out here to long. maybe we will come back some day, but today we are going to just look somewhat briefly at each of these events that took place. So, what do we learn from this passage. This is what you need to ask and answer for your self…What do I learn from this passage? Well, let’s read it...

Genesis 21:1–7 (ESV)

The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” 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.”

Well clearly Sarah is excited here :) In this passage we see the fulfillment of God’s promise to Sarah from a year ago

Genesis 18:12–14 (ESV)

So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.”

So we see that God keeps his word. That’s a great thought to hang out on isn’t it? We see that God caused Sarah to become pregnant, which is something that she couldn’t not do on her own. We see that Abraham obeyed the Lord and had Isaac circumcised on the 8th day. So through that we are encouraged in our obedience to the Lord. You will also notice that Abraham’s obedience was not to receive something from God, but it was an act of thanksgiving to God’s faithfulness. You know, I love how both Abraham and Sarah’s laughter of disbelief was turned into laughter of joy due to the faithfulness of the Lord. That same laughter is available to us today as we trust in the Lord and acknowledge his faithfulness in our lives.

That’s not all we see in this chapter though. We also see that...

HAGAR AND ISHMAEL ARE BANISHED (21:8-21):

Yeah…this is kind of a messed up story here if we are honest. I mean, just a quick glance at this we see a father who sends away his sin. However, this was done only after God told him to, so we have to believe that God knows more than we do, right...Let’s take a quick look at what is going on here.

Genesis 21:8–21 (ESV)

And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing. 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.” And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son. 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. And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring.” 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. When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes. 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. 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. Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 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. And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow. He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

OK, so here we see a few things I think, but we also should ask ourselves, What do I learn from this passage? Well, first of all we see that when Isaac was weened from breastmilk, which would have been potentially 2-3 years old, he had a feast…I wonder how Ishmael would have felt about that? Well we see how he behaved. I mean he was laughing and making fun of Isaac. Remember Ismael would have been like 15-16 years old now…he is practically a man at this time. Of coarse realizing how old Ishmael is gives the rest of this story a bit more context I think. We can also see how this troubled Abraham as Ishmael was his son. However, only giving a canteen and a little food seems pretty cold doesn’t it? I mean, God said to send Ishmael and Hagar away, he didn’t ay to send them to their deaths…That part was Abraham for whatever reason. Later we see that they run out of food and water and they each crawl under a tree to die…But something happens. Look again at vs 19

Genesis 21:19 (ESV)

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.

You see, here we have God providing for the needs of those who are desperate. Even though Hagar was Egyptian, you know that she has lived with Abraham and Sarah long enough to know who God is. She has worshiped with them, and they have all raised Ishmael together for the past 16 years, well at least until Isaac came around. However, we see that Hagar cries out to God, and seems to have lost all hope. Thats not the case with Ishmael, in vs. 17 we see that God heard the voice of the boy, and came to Hagar. God heard their cries…just like God hears your cries…Amen.

That’s not all that’s going on though is it? No, we also see this really interesting event happening when...

ABRAHAM AND ABIMELECH MAKE A TREATY (21:22-34):

Ok…so this is the same Abimelech as last week that Abraham lied to in order to keep himself from being killed. Let that sink in a little bit. Like, this is the guy that only a few years ago made Abraham so scared that he lied about his wife…Now…Abraham is powerful enough that these people groups are fighting enough that the leaders need to come together to make a treaty. Check it out...

Genesis 21:22–34 (ESV)

At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do. 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.” And Abraham said, “I will swear.” When Abraham reproved Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech’s servants had seized, Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until today.” So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant. Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock apart. And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?” 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.” Therefore that place was called Beersheba, because there both of them swore an oath. 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. Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God. And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines.

Now again we should be asking, What do I learn from this passage? First of all we see that Abraham named this well Beersheba. So…in Hebrew names have meanings, so let’s take a look at what that name means. Beersheba means: well of seven. In other words, the name is very specific to the event that just took place here, isn’t it? That’s a little confusing though because we also saw that Hagar was wondering the desert of Beersheba, which means that the wilderness that Hagar was wondering in, is the area where this specific well was. Check out these photos of modern day Beersheba and the excavated area of Beersheba. Now, in this wilderness there would have been multiple wells dug, and as a matter of fact, you can see in this photo that there are multiple wells found in this same area that all date back to when Abraham would have been there…at least within a few hundred years. Here are a couple of photos of Abrahams well, well at least the 2 areas where it is believed to be Abraham’s well, and both locations seem really compelling to be honest. This is why I great excited about Scripture. When we can see archeological evidence that seems to align with what the Scripture claim…thats pretty compelling, isn’t it...

So, that is the basic stories here, and all three stories are kind of separate, but also kind of connected aren’t they? You see, God fulfilled his promise through Abraham and which caused some jealousy from Hagar and Ishmael that got them kicked out. Then God protected Hagar and Ishmael using one of the wells that Abraham dug, and potentially the well that led to a treaty between Abraham and Abimelech.

What we can see through a chapter like this and events like these, is that God really is sovereign over everything…meaning that God oversees and uses all things to bring about his will. In this case God has promised to use Isaac to build a nation, and God has promised to use Ishmael to build a nation as well. As you continue through Scripture you can see Isaac and the nation that was birthed through that boy…but see if you notice the Ishmaelites and what they do. Today we see the promise of God through Isaac as the church, and we see that through Ishmael, Islam is born…Ishmael mocked Isaac, and Islam mocks God. The Ishmaelites actively fought against God for centuries leading to the birth of a religion through Muhammad that seeks to take God’s place…

What about you, are you seeking to take God’s place? What situation in your life have you been actively trying to take or keep control of. What situation is going on around you that you need to trust in the promises of God instead of the efforts of yourself. You see, what God is working on you cannot manage, so it’s time to let Christ take his rightful role in your life as King...

Mark 11:7–10 (ESV)

And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”

This morning we are going to take communion and I want to ask you to focus in on who is king in your life? Be honest with yourself…are you king, or are you allowing something or someone else to sit on that throne, or is Christ the king of your life? If Christ is king, and I mean practically... then are you living your life in a way that honors your king? Are you praising and singing Hosanna! or are you trying to get lost in the crowd…Whatever you are facing this morning, whether good or bad, join me as we each acknowledge Christ as the king of our lives.

Right now I want to ask the Elders to please join me up front as I pray to prepare for communion.

Let’s pray

So, as the Elders are up here we will look at what happened at the last meal that Jesus had with his disciples. We will recognize that Jesus has just spent the last week in Jerusalem teaching what needed to be taught, and rebuking those that needed rebuked. There were people that loved Jesus, and there were people that hated Jesus. Well, this is the night Jesus is going to be betrayed and the night Jesus will be arrested and his torture will truly start as Jesus takes a journey to the cross. On that night Jesus knows what is coming and this happened,

Luke 22:14–18 ESV

And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

At this time I will ask the Elders to pass out these elements to you

Elder prays for bread...

Then this happened...

Luke 22:19 ESV

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

Elder prays for drink

Then this happened

Luke 22:20 ESV

And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

Elder closes in prayer