Genesis 21

a Fulfillment of Gods promise

Have you ever broken a promise

Has anyone ever broken a promise to you...

doesnt it stink....

in this passage we are going to see that God is a promise keeper.

He doesnt break His word.

but before we go on lets get caught up to this chapter..... what is has happened before genesis 21....

Fall of man…

satan tempts eve

adam and eve rebel against God

plunge human history into sin…

we now have a problem…

God is perfect in holiness

we are stained with sin

He will not be in the presance of evil

and we now are corrupted in our nature...

this is why bad things happen, this is why we do bad things and have bad thoughts..

this is why there is murder..rape, lies, sexual immorality… etc..

but God promised that He would send a savior to defeat sin and death

and to save humanity

You have sin

and your payment for that sin would come in the person of Jesus Christ

this makes you perfect and just in the sight of the Lord

and restores the relationship that adam and eve had

genesis 3:14-15

Genesis 3:14–15 NKJV

So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

we get the first good news

and the rest of Genesis is the story of how God would make a nation to bring about the savior of the world…

Q. So what has God been promising to Abraham over the past 12 or so chapters

son, descendants

Q. How has it looked for Abraham and sarah?

Not good

So bad that they planned to Have Abraham sleep with Sarahs servant

and have a child with her.

her name was haggar

They have a son and name Him Ishmael

However this is not the promised son that God had made for Abraham.

God stands by His promise that Sarah will bear a son.

and this is where we pick up

in verse 1 of Chapter 21

Genesis 21:1–7 NKJV

And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him—whom Sarah bore to him—Isaac. Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me.” She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.”

God has fulfilled His promise to Abraham and to Sarah

It took a very long time.

but as we see in verse 2 it was at the set time that God apointed.

We see that God is always on time..

it may not be the time frame that we would like

or expect

but God always shows up at the right time..

As God gives them a son

He names their Son Isaac

Abraham Circumcised Isaac

and we read that Abraham was 100 years old when He was born

Q. Does anyone know what Isaac means …

laughter,

Sarah laughed for Joy this time instead of disbelief

If you remember She doubted God and laughed at Him When He said HE would give her a son…

Now She is laughing for Joy

She has a baby Boy Isaac

Here we are introduced to the next patriarch…

meaning father rule

we will group

a portion of the genesis story in a category of the patriarchs

because we have the story of how Israel became a great nation through the fathers who led the family.

The patriarchs are Abraham,

the promise gets passed down to Issac

it then gets passed down to the next patriarch Jacob

who then will have 12 sons

How many tribes are their in Israel?

12

Israel stemmed from this family of patriarchs,

Who were Gods chosen people…

Q. Why did God choose these people…

not because they were Good

God fulfilled His promise not because Abraham and sarah were Good

quite the opposite.

they failed quite abit

God fulfilled His promise of Isaac because He is Faithful…

God is Faithful

So why did God choose to fulfill His promise to Abraham and Sarah

one is because He said He would

The other reason is because He made the promise of another son

A better version of Issac…

A son promised from a miraculous birth like Issac, yet one who was far better than him.

God has promised that a messiah would crush the head of the serpent

God promised that all the nations will be blessed through abrahams seed

but it wasnt issac,

It was another son to come

and that Is Jesus Christ.

God was faithful to Abraham because He chose Abraham to bring about His son Jesus Christ

to pay for the sins of the world.

When your struggling to see Gods faithfulness in your life

be reminded that His plan is always about bringing you closer to Him

When you repented from your sin and put your faith in Jesus

He made a promise to you

He will sanctify you into the image of His son

Philippians 1:6 NKJV

being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

He will not stop loving you

He will not stop growing you

He will bring it all about in His time’

As we continue on in the chapter we read

About what happens to Hagar and Ishmael

Abrahams mistress and illegitimate son

Genesis 21:8–11 NKJV

So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing. Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.” And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham’s sight because of his son.

About 3-12 years later

When Issac was weaned off of breast milk

Abraham through a big party…

during this feast

Sarah noticed Ishmael scoffing..

He was getting Jealous

and probably saying evil things about Isaac

Q. How do you think Ishmael felt...

He was jealous and covetous

He probably wanted what Isaac was going to get

He wanted to be heir of the family

and Sarah saw this..

So Sarah noticed this and told Abraham… You better get them out of here

and Abraham was very sad because he loved his son

Q. Do you think this was bogus of Sarah?

What she saw was essentially Ishmael's plot to kill her son

Genesis 21:12–13 NKJV

But God said to Abraham, “Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called. Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed.”

Abraham may not have done anything had it not been for God

We need to be listening for Gods direction

Just like abraham

as He hears God remind him of the promise

and the mission

Dont be sad about this, for Sarah is right

I am bringing about my son Jesus through Isaac

but dont worry about your son Ishmael

I will take care of Him and make Him into a great nation

because why?

He is your son....

God can be trusted

Sometimes we can find ourselves

not wanting to submit to What God says

Sometimes we need that reminder that He can be trusted.

Abraham wanted to surely raise both kids in the household

but it would have been detrimental to Gods plan

For this situation it was best for them to send Ishmael and Hagar away

It was a difficult decision to make

but it showed Abrahams faith and obedience to God

Genesis 21:14–16 NKJV

So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and sent her away. Then she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba. And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs. Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot; for she said to herself, “Let me not see the death of the boy.” So she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept.

Here Hagar finds herself in a similar spot

She had cried out to the Lord

as she finds herself in the wilderness about to die with her son

Genesis 21:17–21 NKJV

And God heard the voice of the lad. Then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, “What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him 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 lad a drink. So God was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. He dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran; and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

Not only does hagar cry to the Lord,

but so does Ishmael

It says that God heard Ishmaels cry

and tells Hagar,, fear not..

Get up

dont worry

your son is not going to die

for I will make him a great nation

He then opens her eyes to see a well filled with water

God saves them from death

and Ishmael Grows into a strong man who was good with the bow

He ultimately marries an egyptian woman

God is a provider

We see from this story

God has provided a son for Sarah

He has provided peace in and safety for sarah and Isaac

and he has provided water for Ishmael and Hagar

not only that

But He has provided

the means for Israel to continue as the nation that will bring about the salvation of the World

Romans 10:11 NKJV

For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”

God has provided us with the ultimate Gift

the forgivness of sin

that leads to reconciliation

and salvation

Just like the well He gives to Ishmael

God is a well of salvation

and all who drink from it will live

the best provision God can make for you is His son

and He did this for you 3851 years ago

when He kept the lineage of Abraham alive

lets close in finishing up the chapter

Genesis 21:22–34 NKJV

And it came to pass at that time that Abimelech and Phichol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, “God is with you in all that you do. Now therefore, swear to me by God that you will not deal falsely with me, with my offspring, or with my posterity; but that according to the kindness that I have done to you, you will do to me and to the land in which you have dwelt.” And Abraham said, “I will swear.” Then Abraham rebuked Abimelech because of a well of water which Abimelech’s servants had seized. And Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, nor had I heard of it until today.” So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a covenant. And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. Then Abimelech asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs which you have set by themselves?” And he said, “You will take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, that they may be my witness that I have dug this well.” Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because the two of them swore an oath there. Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba. So Abimelech rose with Phichol, the commander of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines. Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there called on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God. And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines many days.

The end of the chapter tells us of a covenant between

Abimilech and phicol his commander

and Abraham

Abimilech Knew that God was with Him

There is nothing greater that we can possess than the presance of God

That your a man or woman of God

and that He walks with you.

Abraham makes a peace treaty with this king of the philistines

we are introduced to the well he had a dispute with the king over

and then He plants a tamarisk tree in the place He called beersheeba

this means watering place

At the end of the chapter we get the sweet words that

Abraham Called on the name of the Lord

The everlasting God

Showing that all of the conflict in His family life did not push him further from God

but closer to God