THE TROUBLE WITH TAKING MATTERS IN YOUR OWN HANDS

Impatiently Waiting for the Lord

Genesis 12:2 “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.”

Genesis 15:3–6 “And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 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.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.”

Just looking at Hagar should have been a reminder of the everything that had transpired in Egypt by not trusting in the Lord.

This whole shocking ordeal seems to be a repeat of what happened in the Garden of Eden. They doubted the Lord’s Word, and Abram listened to the voice of his wife, just like Adam had done.

Ecclesiastes 1:9 “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.”

Proverbs 14:12 “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.”

Sin looks appealing: Abram would be making his wife happy, would finally have a child of his own, and would have a younger wife. Though sin has appeal, it always destroys. They should have waited on the promise of the Lord.

Lamentations 3:25–26 “The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”

The Lord expects us to be busy while we wait, but He never expects us to turn to sin while we seek to obtain His promises.

Creating Our Own Problems

Genesis 2:24 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

Deuteronomy 17:17 “And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.”

Polygamy always ends with heartache, trouble, and tragedy in Scripture. Lamech, Abraham, Jacob, David, Solomon, and Samuel’s father Elkanah are several examples. And in this passage, we see jealousy, contempt, Abram relinquishing his leadership role, harsh treatment, and the fleeing of Hagar. In this account, Abram and Sarah are walking by sight, not faith.

2 Corinthians 5:7 “for we walk by faith, not by sight.”

A delayed answer to prayer doesn’t give us a license to sin. Since the fall of man, living faithfully is difficult enough. How much more do we make our lives difficult when we choose sin instead of righteousness?

Genesis 37:27 “Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him.”

See Isaiah 46:8-11...

Hebrews 6:13 “For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself,”

The God Who Sees and Hears

Hagar was told to return and submit to Sarai. He also promised to multiply her offspring.

Genesis 17:20 “As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation.”

Genesis 21:13 “And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring.””

She was to name the child Ishmael, which means “God hears”, since the Lord had listened to her affliction.

Psalm 140:12 “I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and will execute justice for the needy.”

Ishmael will be a wild donkey of a man. He will have strife with everyone, and will dwell over against all of his kinsmen.

Job 39:5–8 ““Who has let the wild donkey go free? Who has loosed the bonds of the swift donkey, to whom I have given the arid plain for his home and the salt land for his dwelling place? He scorns the tumult of the city; he hears not the shouts of the driver. He ranges the mountains as his pasture, and he searches after every green thing.”

Genesis 25:18 “They settled from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt in the direction of Assyria. He settled over against all his kinsmen.”

The Lord sees us, hears us, and will never forget or forsake us.

Hagar called the Lord “a God of seeing”. The name of the well meant, “The well of Him that lives and sees me”. We can have strong confidence in the Lord, knowing that He sees us, hears us, and will never forget or forsake us.

Isaiah 49:15–16 ““Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.”

Hebrews 13:5 “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.””

2 Timothy 2:11–13 “The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.”