God Keeps His Covenants

Losing Focus

Genesis 21:8–13 (NIV)

The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”

The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. I will make the son of the slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring.”

Sarah is so fixed on the inheritance that she misses the truth that God is in control. Instead, jealousy is allowed to corrupt the relationship because the focus upon the Lord was lost.

Abraham is filled with distress as his eyes are fixed on the jealousy and brokenness in his home. His distress moves him to call upon the Lord.

God reminds Abraham that He has a plan and that He is in control.

Making Our Own Plans

Genesis 21:14–16 (NIV)

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.

When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there, she began to sob.

Abraham tries to fulfill the plan of the Lord with his own equipping. How feeble our attempts are to fulfill he plans of the Lord.

Trusting in God’s Plan

Genesis 21:17–21 (NIV)

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. Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”

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.

God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.

God fulfills His covenant with Abraham through Ishmael as He will also do through Isaac. Ishmael will be the father of a nation, increasing the fulfillment of the Lord’s covenant with Abraham.

God is able to work our mistakes into the glory of His story. He designed us for a purpose, but He also intervenes in our lives to fulfill that purpose.