12 Extraordinary Women, Week 8

12 Extraordinary Women  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  57:33
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Persevering Through Silence

How many of us would continue in a relationship where no one has spoken to you for years? Do you consider it a valid relationship? No, it would almost be more of a “friendship”. I mean, we have friends that we may not have spoken to in a long time but immediately can strike up a conversation when we see them. But what if they ignore you? What if they won’t answer you? It had to be a struggle.
How many of us today are dealing with unanswered prayers? Things that God has been silent on for days, weeks, months, years? How do we deal with that? The lack of answers? The frustration that compounds year after year. She wanted a child. She had been promised a child. She still had no child. What was she to do? She knew her husband was frustrated. But God made a promise to Abraham.
Genesis 15:3–4 ESV
3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.”
But the frustration was still mountain, and Sarah devised a compromising solution.
Genesis 16:1–2 ESV
1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. 2 And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.
In her frustration, she tried to help the situation out. It worked, but it went against God’s plan.
Genesis 16:16 ESV
16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
Looking back, this had been 11 years since their move from Haran and the promise of a great nation from God.
Genesis 12:2 ESV
2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
Yet, Sarah still had no child.
Now, 13 years later, God appears to Abraham again, encouraging him that He will provide a son as promised.
Genesis 17:1–4 ESV
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, 2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.
Abraham laughed. He was 99 and Sarah 90. There was no way… surely the great nation would come from Ishamel.
Genesis 17:19 ESV
19 God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.
Genesis 17:22 ESV
22 When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.

Joy in Fulfillment of the Promise

When God speaks, He means what He says. It doesn’t mean we always believe Him though, right?
Sarah Laughed.
Genesis 18:10–12 (ESV)
10 The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him.
11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah.
12 So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure (joy or delight)?”
And so God delivered on His promise to Abraham and Sarah.
Genesis 21:5 ESV
5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
Patience, endurance, faithfulness…even through frustration.
Genesis 18:14a (ESV)
14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? ” ....
Think about what God says here, is anything too hard for the Lord? But don’t we (like Abraham and Sarah) question God, get frustrated with His promises, and try to “help” Him out, often making a bigger mess than ever could have been expected? Dr. Howard G. Hendricks of Dallas Theological Seminary made this comment “You are free to make choices. You are not free to escape the consequences.” We know that there was a promised heir, the covenant fulfillment, the chosen of God, Isaac - but the choice of Sarah and Abraham with Haggar and Ismael to this day still have consequences that are being realized.

Harsh Treatment of Ishmael

A great feast was made the day when Isaac was weaned. (Usually between 2 to 4 years old in biblical times)
Genesis 21:8 ESV
8 And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.
The best way to describe what has been going on so far is Sarah tolerated Haggar and Ishmael. HOWEVER…this was going to change. At the time of celebration, Sarah noticed something going on with Ismael.
Genesis 21:9 ESV
9 But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing.
Now, let’s think through the timeline here:
Abraham left Haran @ 75 (Genesis 12:4)
Traveled through the land of Canaan and on to Egypt. (Genesis 21:5-10)
Presume Hagar was acquired in Egypt. (Genesis 21:9)
Left Egypt into Negeb to Bethel and Ai, and settled in Hebron, Lot went to the Jordan Valley (Genesis 13)
Abraham and Hagar have Ishmael (Genesis 16:15) and Abraham is 86.
Abraham was 99 when promised Isaac. (Genesis 17:1 & Genesis 17:19)
Isaac is born (Genesis 21:2) when Abraham is 100 (Genesis 21:5)
Isaac weaned @ 2-3 yr old (Genesis 21:8)
Which would make Ishmael in the middle of his teenage years. (102/104-86)
Now think of this, how many teenage boys do you know that are the perfect example of a model gentleman? While we don’t know why, we do know Ishmael laughs at Isaac which made Sarah mad. Her response shows a second dramatic response towards Hagar and Ishmael - throw them out.
Genesis 21:10 ESV
10 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.”
While Abraham didn’t agree, was displeased, God gave him the clarity to do what Sarah requested.
Genesis 21:12 ESV
12 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.
Even though Abraham looked at this as though Ishmael was his son too, God made him the promise that Ishmael would be blessed also.
Genesis 21:13 ESV
13 And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring.”
Was Sarah really being overly harsh? In truth, she was not. Virtually any woman forced to share her husband with a concubine would respond to a situation like this exactly as Sarah did. She was Abraham’s true wife. Hagar was an interloper. Besides, according to the promise of God Himself, Isaac was Abraham’s true heir, promised by God to be the one through whom the covenant blessing would eventually see fulfillment. It confused things beyond measure for Ishmael to be in a position to claim the right of the firstborn over the one true heir appointed by God to succeed Abraham. Ishmael was a threat to God’s purpose for Abraham’s line as long as he remained in any position to claim that he, rather than Isaac, was Abraham’s rightful heir. So what may appear at first glance to be an extreme overreaction was actually another proof of Sarah’s great faith in God’s promise.

Happiness in Later Years

After Hagar was cast out, Sarah returned to a healthy, monogamous life with her beloved husband and their child, Isaac, who was a perpetual reminder to both Sarah and Abraham of God’s staunch faithfulness. As far as we know, the rest of her years were lived out in joy and peace.
Sarah doesn’t even appear in the biblical account of Abraham’s near sacrifice of Isaac. That whole event was uniquely meant as a test of Abraham’s faith. Sarah seems to have been kept completely isolated from it until it was over. It occurred in the land of Moriah (Gen. 22:2). (In later generations, the city of Jerusalem surrounded the area known as Moriah, and Mount Moriah, at the heart of the city, was the precise spot where the Temple was situated, according to 2 Chronicles 3:1). Moriah was some forty-five miles from Beersheba, where Abraham was then residing (Gen. 21:33–34). In any event, Sarah’s faith had already been well tested. She had long since demonstrated her absolute trust in God’s promises. And the stamp of God’s approval on her is contained in those New Testament passages that recognize her for her steadfast faithfulness.
In fact, in the very same way the New Testament portrays Abraham as the spiritual father of all who believe (Rom. 4:9–11; Gal. 3:7), Sarah is pictured as the spiritual matriarch and the ancient epitome of all faithful women (1 Peter 3:6). Far from isolating those memorable instances where Sarah behaved badly, it commemorates her as the very epitome of a woman adorned with “the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit” (1 Peter 3:4 NKJV).
Sarah spent the majority of her life believing for the fulfillment of a promise that didn’t immediately come to pass, but in the end God was faithful. I think we can all find peace, patience, and comfort in knowing God WILL execute His Will at His perfect time. We just need to trust in Him.
Next Extraordinary Women - Rahab
MacArthur, John F., Jr. 2005. Twelve Extraordinary Women: How God Shaped Women of the Bible and What He Wants to Do with You. Nashville, TN: Nelson Books.
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