Isaac: A Living Testament of Divine Promise
Notes
Transcript
Genesis Series
Genesis Series
Good evening,
Grab your Bibles and make your way to Genesis 21.
We are in the 14th week of walking through the Book of Genesis.
Reminder about One Word for 25- Word and a Verse.
Opportunity for you to share on the 8th and 15th your word and verse. Whatever the Lord lays on your heart.
Bible Passage: Ge 21:1–21
Bible Passage: Ge 21:1–21
Genesis 21:1–21 (ESV)
1 The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised.
2 And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him.
3 Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac.
4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.
5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6 And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.”
7 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.”
8 And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.
9 But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing.
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.”
11 And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son.
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.
13 And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring.”
14 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.
15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes.
16 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.
17 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.
18 Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”
19 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.
20 And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow.
21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
These verses illustrate the extraordinary journey of Abraham and Sarah as they waited for the birth of their son Isaac.
We have seen their struggles reveals their with doubt, physically embodied in Ishmael.
We see the impact of external pressure on their faith, and ultimately, how God's promise was fulfilled in a way that surpassed their expectations.
Isaac's birth is not only a significant event in Abraham's lineage but also a pivotal moment that demonstrates God's faithfulness and ability to bring life from barrenness.
God is faithful.
If God can have a 90 year old conceive a child. He can get you through your situation. or better yet.
If God is willing to send his only begotten Son to die the death we were supposed to, you think God isn’t in the details?
Luke 12:6-7
6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God.
7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.
Thats more or less for others. I had a student tell me my hair was thinning. I told her, her grade is dropping.
But really- God is in the very last detail of life. We can trust him through it all.
We can see the greatest leaders of faith, like Abraham and Sarah, faced doubts and difficulties while waiting for God's promises.
I mean God Told Abraham He would have an heir and he still doubted. Because our timing and God’s timing rarely align.
This encourage us to consider it all joy, when we are dealing with life’s troubles. congregants to embrace their struggles when waiting for God's intervention, reinforcing the idea that faith does not eliminate challenges but instead provides strength through them.
In the larger biblical narrative, Isaac serves as a symbol of hope that points to Christ.
Just as Isaac's miraculous birth foreshadows God's redemptive work in the world, the birth of Jesus represents the ultimate promise fulfilled.
Both births exemplify divine intervention in human history, signifying that God will always fulfill His covenant promises through miraculous means.
1. Promise Fulfilled Miraculously
1. Promise Fulfilled Miraculously
Ge 21:1-7
The long-awaited arrival of Isaac is presented in a rather summary fashion.
The Lord visits Sarah and does what he promised through her union with Abraham.
God is our promise making, promise keeping Lord of our life.
She conceives the child, delivers Isaac, and little more is said (vv. 1–3).
The name of the baby means “laughter.”
Sarah says that God has brought laughter to her and that others will laugh with her (v. 6).
They will do so because she has conceived at an incredibly advanced age.
So advanced that it seems impossible.
Sarah says that this impossible act has happened precisely because God has kept his promise at the “appointed time” (v. 2).
This idea of laughter resulting from the fulfillment of the covenant points not just toward his people laughing.
It also points to the way God “laughs” over his enemies as he keeps his covenant through the ultimate son of Abraham (Pss 2:4–6; 59:8).
God laughs precisely because he brings about his promise despite the impossibility of the odds.
His birth was similar to that of Christ, because it came about as a result of a promise, and it was miraculous!
There were no natural means then, nor do they exist now, by which Sarah, being ninety years old, could give birth to a child.
I looked to see the oldest woman gave birth.
In 2019, a 74 year old in India gave birth to twins.
A 57-year-old woman from Concord, New Hampshire, is one of the oldest women in the United States to give birth.
Couldn’t find were a 90 year old was giving birth.
Its nothing Abraham or Sarah could brag about. It was a miracle that God and God alone could fulfill.
The Best of A. W. Tozer, Book Two Chapter 42: Denominations Can Backslide Too!
Paul spoke of his birth and of his register and standing among the fathers of his religious heritage and then testified that “for the sake of Jesus Christ, I count it nothing at all—I put it under my feet.”
That ought to say something to us who have so many things about which we are proud. Some of us boast about our national and cultural forebears until we actually become carnal about it. We are proud of things and proud of what we can do. But Paul said, “Everything about which I could be proud as a man I count but loss for the sake of Jesus Christ.”
Even if we could boost about doing the miraculous in our lives, what good does that do?
Count it all nothing. Follow God. Brag about the things of God. Boast about knowing God. Testify to the goodness of God. Tell people about God. Invite your loved ones.
We serve a God that kept His promises to Abraham and Sarah.
And all the promises He made found their yes and amen in Jesus.
The Gospel of Matthew alone makes this crystal clear.
The events associated with the birth of Jesus fulfilled numerous Old Testament prophecies given centuries before the events they described.
Matthew 1:22 introduces a common statement in his work. He wrote, “So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet.”
Since he used this phrasing in at least a dozen passages, Matthew knew it was important to point out to his readers that many of the events he described fulfilled specific prophecies.
Lets just take a look at a few pertaining to the birth of Jesus.
The first use of the fulfillment phrase mentioned above introduces one of the best-known prophecies in the Bible.
Matthew 1:23 (ESV)
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
In reference to the birth of Jesus, Matthew cited a specific prophecy from Isaiah made more than 700 years earlier.
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)
Just as foretold, the virgin (Mary) indeed did conceive (Matthew 1:21) and bore a Son who is called Immanuel.
This amazing event demonstrates God’s infinite knowledge and power.
He is capable for foretelling the future with perfect precision, and He has the power to bring His prophecies to pass, even if that means a virgin would need to conceive and bear a Son.
After Christ’s birth the magi arrived in Jerusalem.
Herod gathered the chief priests and scribes and asked them where the Messiah was going to be born (Matthew 2:3).
They responded by citing an Old Testament prophecy pinpointing Bethlehem as the birthplace of the Christ:
“But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;
For out of you shall come a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.” (Matthew 2:6; cf. Micah 5:2; John 7:42)
Herod’s murderous response of slaughtering the young boys of Bethlehem led to the fulfillment of three more prophecies. First, this tragic massacre fulfilled the words of Jeremiah.
“A voice was heard in Ramah,
Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children,
Refusing to be comforted,
Because they are no more.” (Matthew 2:18; cf. Jeremiah 31:15)
The original context of this prophecy had to do with mothers in Israel lamenting the deportation of their sons to Babylon.
These mothers were personified as “‘Rachel,’ the mother in the days of the patriarchs whose sons Joseph and Benjamin had also been threatened with being ‘no more’ (i.e., carried away into Egypt; cf. Gen. 42:36).”
Ramah was a town close to Jerusalem and associated with Rachel’s tomb (1 Samuel 10:2–3).
The second fulfilled prophecy resulting from Herod’s paranoiac rage took place after Joseph took Mary and Jesus to Egypt. Upon their return, God’s words to Hosea were fulfilled.
“Out of Egypt I called My Son.” (Matthew 2:15; cf. Hosea 11:1)
This prophecy was originally made as a statement of history—God had called (and brought) Israel out of Egypt. Guided by the Holy Spirit, Matthew used these words to refer to the Messiah.
While Isaac’s birth is a miraculous birth it is not the greatest birth and is a foreshadowing of the greater birth.
But also realize that Isaac’s Birth and Ishmael’s birth is also different.
Ishmael's birth was not the result of a promise, nor was it miraculous.
Ishmael’s birth resulted from human efforts to work things out their way, rather than patiently waiting for the revelation of God’s plan.
2. Faith Amidst Family Friction
2. Faith Amidst Family Friction
Ge 21:8-13
After being weaned, milk was no longer the main source of dietary sustenance, as it was simply not enough!
So, Abraham held a feast on that day because it probably marked Isaac’s graduation from milk to meat, he was finally able to join the feast!
Incidentally, the symbolism between the weaning process for a growing child, and the process for a growing Christian is very similar.
One transitions from milk to meat, the other from the elementary to the mature things of the Word of God.
Hebrews 5:12 (ESV)
12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food,
An the problem is we have a lot of Christians who should be on solid food but they are still on milk and they are not being probably nourished.
Sarah is not the only one who laughs at the birth of her son. By the time Isaac is weaned, Abraham’s son Ishmael is also laughing. At Isaac. And not in delight over his half brother but in mockery (vv. 8–9). Ishmael is about 13-14 years old.
I have spent over a decade now teaching teenagers. They can find everything funny somehow.
Sarah doesn’t find it funny.
Sarah responds to his mocking by seeking to throw Hagar and Ishmael out into the wilderness again (v. 10). She doesn’t just want to send them away. She wants them driven out to die alone.
To his credit, Abraham is hurt at the thought of such a fate for his first son. He finds it “very distressing” (v. 11).
But God, knowing that the separation will not lead to the pair’s death, tells him to “listen to” Sarah.
Why? Because in spite of Sarah’s wicked reaction, Abraham’s line—that is, the promised line—will “be traced through Isaac” (v. 12).
Why did Abraham send them away with just a bottle of water and a little bread when he had the resources to see that all their needs were met? I think he it because he was taking God at His word. He simply released Ishmael and Hagar into the sovereign hand of God, He trusted God to do right by them.
God promises to protect “the slave’s son” and bring forth “a nation” from Ishmael because he is Abraham’s child (v. 13).
But now Hagar and Ishamel are in a desperate situation.
They are in a desperate situation! But, that’s how life can be at times.
Consider 2 Cor. 1:8 The word “burdened” in that verse means “to throw beyond.”
8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.
God took Paul beyond what Paul was able to handle within himself.
God will never give you more than you can handle- 100% false.
Sometimes the burdens of life really are more than we can bear.
Even when the burdens of life exceed our ability to bear them, they never exceed His, 2 Cor. 1:9-10.
Praise the Lord, even when the load gets heavy, remember, He is in the yoke with you, Matt.11:28-30.
Hagar’s heart is broken. She is sure Ishmael is going to die.
She leaves him under a bush and she goes away because she does not want to witness the death of her son. A “bowshot” is about 1000 feet. Hagar leaves Ishmael there and she goes off to weep.
She found herself in a situation she could not fix and from which she could not escape.
Most of us have been there.
David found himself in a hopeless place and he wanted to fly away, Ill. Psa. 55:1-8.
Most of us like to be in control of our lives, when we can’t control it or fix it, we get desperate!
Of course, Hagar shouldn’t have worried.
She had the promise of God that He was going to make Ishmael the father of a great nation, Gen. 16:10-11.
He wasn’t going to die out there in that wilderness. In that moment of desperation, Hagar’s pain blinded her to God’s promise.
But that is a sad reality of life.
Sometimes life hurts, and sometimes it hurts real bad!
When it does, we want to run away from our problems and for our pain.
What we fail to see is that our pain is the path God is using to fulfill the promises He has made to us.
If you can learn to trust Him, even when you can’t trace Him, He will grant you His peace in your times of pain, Phil. 4:6-7
Philippians 4:6–7 (ESV)
6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
We don’t know whether Hagar prayed or not, but Ishmael certainly did. God heard him and moved to help him.
By the way, the name “Ishmael” means “God Hears”.
Prayer is an ever-present resource for the believer. We can run to Him anytime, anywhere, for any purpose and He has promised to hear us and help us! Ill. Matt. 7:7-8; Jer. 33:3; Phil. 4:6-7.
Prayer should always be our first priority, not the final straw!
Here’s the truth:
Problems are going to come in our lives.
When they do, they will come unwanted and unannounced.
When they come, they will hurt us deeply at times.
When they come, we must not delay, but we must run to the Lord. He will hear us and He will help us.
He may change the situation, more often, He will change us in the situation, 2 Cor. 12:7-11.
The difference between Paul's attitude in trouble and my own is that I have not yet reached the place where I openly welcomed trouble. Maybe I should!
Many years ago, A.W. Tozer said, “The devil, things, and people being what they are, it is necessary for God to use the hammer, the files, and the furnace in His holy work of preparing a saint for true sainthood. It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply.”
If the Lord is going to develop you into the image of Christ, which is why He saved you in the first place, He will do so through the events of your life.
He will send you exactly what it is going to take to transform you into the person He saved you to be. Ill. Rom. 8:28-29; Eph. 4:13-14.
Nevertheless, going forward there can be no confusion about which is the child of promise. Abraham’s attempt to obtain the promise through the means of the flesh is obscuring the work of God. Therefore, Hagar and Ishmael are sent out (v. 14).
Paul recognizes the significance of this moment in the book of Galatians. From his own perspective, after Christ’s first coming, death, and resurrection, he sees that there is more going on here than simply curbing a volatile domestic dispute about inheritance rights.
Rather, the matter of Hagar and Sarah and their sons figuratively represent two covenants (Gal 4:24).
Galatians 4:24 (ESV)
24 Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar.
Ishmael, the son of Hagar, represents the then-yet-to-come Mosaic covenant from Mount Sinai that was associated with the law that binds its children in lifelong slavery to sin Rom 6:20
Romans 6:20 (ESV)
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
In contrast, Isaac, the promised son of Sarah, figuratively represents the Abrahamic covenant that was associated with a promise. Jesus sets believers free from slavery to sin by making us children of promise Gal 4:28 ; 5:1
28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.
1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
God uses the evil actions and wicked spirit of Sarah to help bring about the inheritance for Isaac. The inheritance her son receives will lead down the line to Jacob and the people of Israel, culminating in the Lord Jesus Christ.
While this does not commend the actions of Sarah, it does point ahead to a crucial theme that reappears at the end of Genesis. What one person means for evil, God means for good (50:20).
3. Provision in the Desert
3. Provision in the Desert
Ge 21:14-21
God does not leave the exiled woman and boy alone in the wilderness. Rather, just as he promised Abraham, he protects Hagar and her son.
Back in Genesis 16:11 Hagar was instructed to name this boy Ishmael because the Lord listened to her affliction.
Now, the God who listens is the one who hears the cries of the young man whose name means “God listens” (21:17).
Back in Genesis 16:13 Hagar declared that the Lord is a God who sees her.
She didn’t realize it, but God was there and He had just what she needed to see her through. She was so overcome by her grief that she could not see the resources that were right there before her eyes. Ever been there?
God had a plan in all of this. In Gal. 4:21-31, Paul speaks of this episode as an illustration of salvation.
• Sarah is a picture of the grace of God.
• Hagar is a picture of the law of works.
• Isaac is a picture of faith.
• Ishmael is a picture of the flesh.
The lesson in Gal. 4 is clear.
Grace and Law are incompatible, and so are the flesh and faith.
Ishmael represented the efforts of the flesh, and he had to go so that the son of faith, Isaac might obtain his rightful place.
The pain and the suffering were both a part of God’s eternal plan. Both in the short term, and in the long term.
God was using these events in the life of Abraham and Isaac, and He is still using them to teach us about His plan to save sinners.
The same is true for us. God has a plan and sometimes it involves us walking through some hard places. He knows what He is doing. Until you walk through the valley, you cannot appreciate the mountain top.
Elijah, Widow of Zarephath; Three Hebrews; Daniel; Disciples on boat; 5,000 plus hungry folks; Mary and Martha; etc.You will never know what God can do until He puts you in a place where He has to!
God was working in every one of those situations to bring glory to His name and to accomplish He eternal purpose. Ill. Isa. 55:8-9; Rom. 8:28; 2 Cor. 4:17.
Thank God He is behind the scenes pulling all the strings of life, Psa. 37:23; Psa. 115:3. There are no accidents, Eph. 1:11.
She didn’t know it, but God had been there the whole time.
By the way, He won’t leave you either, Heb. 13:5; Matt. 28:20. You will never live one second, or take one step in this world as a child of God without Him! Ill. Deut. 31:8; 1 Sam. 12:22; Isa. 41:10; 43:2.
God’s Peace – God called her by her name. Notice the contrast between verse 17 and verse 10. God was concerned about her problem. God spoke peace to her heart.
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.”
17 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.
• God knows – Job 23:10.
• God cares – Heb. 4:15-16.
• God can speak peace to your heart – John 14:27; Phil. 4:7.
He opened her eyes and showed her what had been right in front of her all along! The Bible says, “And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water...”
There are two words in the Old Testament referring to “well”. One word speaks of an “artesian well, or a spring of water.” This kind of “well” occurs naturally.
The word used here refers to a “dug well.” Think about that! At some point in the past, God had moved on the heart of some traveler to dig a “well” right here.
God did that because He knew that Hagar and Ishmael would be in that spot on that very day, and that they would need the water that “well” had to offer them.
We can trust Him.
