Waiting for a Son

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 106:1-23

Psalm 106:1–23 ESV

Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! Who can utter the mighty deeds of the Lord, or declare all his praise? Blessed are they who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times! Remember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people; help me when you save them, that I may look upon the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation, that I may glory with your inheritance. Both we and our fathers have sinned; we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness. Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea. Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make known his mighty power. He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry, and he led them through the deep as through a desert. So he saved them from the hand of the foe and redeemed them from the power of the enemy. And the waters covered their adversaries; not one of them was left. Then they believed his words; they sang his praise. But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel. But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness, and put God to the test in the desert; he gave them what they asked, but sent a wasting disease among them. When men in the camp were jealous of Moses and Aaron, the holy one of the Lord, the earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram. Fire also broke out in their company; the flame burned up the wicked. They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a metal image. They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt, wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Red Sea. Therefore he said he would destroy them— had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to turn away his wrath from destroying them.

Scripture Memorization

Genesis 50:19–20 “But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

Scripture Reading: Galatians 4:1-7

Galatians 4:1–7 “I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”

Sermon:

Once again, and as always, good morning church. I was glad when they said to me let us go and worship in the house of the Lord.

Well, as we continue our way through the Book of Genesis, here are 29th sermon in the Book of Genesis. We find ourselves... And Abraham finds himself, I guess we could say.... At a bit of a crossroad.

We've had the Covenant been given multiple times. God has walked through the carcasses of animals. God has come back again. To Abram and changed his name to Abraham, but also reconfirmed the Covenant. This will happen! He has given him the promise, and he's given him the sign of the covenant. And now we start what we would call the waiting game. And here. Abraham and Sarai are waiting.

They are waiting For a son… waiting for the Fulfillment of God's promises of descendants that will become a nation. Of land, a place to call home. We're just waiting.

And today we have a rather long text versus chapter 17, verse 15 through 18, verse 21.

So the rest of 17 and then most of chapter 18? And I'll just tell you right now we're going to spend all of today, and all the verses… get all the way to the end of this very long text. And we'll still be waiting.

But often the waiting. Becomes for our souls and for our lives One of the most important parts. Learning to wait on God? I will wait for the Lord, my soul. Will wait. It's good for us. It's good for Abraham.

And so this morning, we're going to walk through a rather long text and see what this waiting for him. May look like.

Again. Our text for today is long. It's chapter 17, verse 15 through 18:21, and so, because it's long, let's Dive Right In and read God's word together.

Genesis 17:15–18:21 ESV

And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” 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. 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. But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.” When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all those born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him. Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. And all the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him. And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth and said, “O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, while I bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick! Three seahs of fine flour! Knead it, and make cakes.” And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man, who prepared it quickly. Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them. And he stood by them under the tree while they ate. They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.” 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. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.” Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.” Then the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.”

These are the words of the Lord for us this morning. Let's open our time together with a word of prayer.

Dear Lord, we do thank you for your grace and mercy for your goodness, your kindness. Thank you for all of the promises that you have given to us. That ultimately find their yes, and amen, In Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior forever. May we look to him the author and Perfecter of our faith as we learn to walk in your truth as we learn to live lives worthy of the calling that we have received. We thank you that you see fit to work with and in people such as us. May you open our ears to hear, give us eyes to see. I asked this morning you speak through your servant. It's in Jesus name that we pray. Amen.

So, there you go. It's a long text. And though there is a lot going on here, it does follow a straight path. It's fairly easy to follow the flow of the story. And so that's really just what I'd like to do today is unfold, Look through the story, see what the large portions are, and then hope to find some message and some lesson for us to hear in God's word today.

As we start in verse 15, it's important we know what exactly is going on here. Once again, God is confirming the Covenant

God confirms the COVENANT …

God confirms the Covenant again. So, we are still dealing with. God, coming back to Abraham and recapitulating, re-emphasizing, and retelling and giving and re-promising again. The Covenant. This is not sort of. Saying more things. God is always trustworthy. He's not like God has to come and double and triple down. This is not for God's sake rather. This is for Abraham's sake, Abraham, and in this case, Sarai's sake.

When God comes to confirm the Covenant part of what he's doing is saying when you tried it in your own strength and might. All of that stuff with Hagar and Ishmael.... All that you have tried on your own… that was wrong. But yet, I have still promised. So now Abraham has had his name changed, and Sarai will now be called. For the rest of her life… in eternity, Sarah.

Gone are Abram and Sarai, and now here we have Abraham and Sarah. God has made promises to these two. To Sarah verse 16, God says, I will bless her. Moreover, I will give you a son by her.

“Maybe you misunderstood...” It's as if God is saying… maybe you kinda misunderstood the first time when I said you'll have a son and you thought, well, I'll do it in my own strength and have it with another woman… so lets make surer there can be no misunderstanding: when I promised you Abraham I promised your wife as well.

By her. Not by some other woman. Don't try this again. Don't think, oh well, the problem with Hagar, she was Egyptian. I'll find a Canaanite woman, and maybe it'll work this time. Don't do that. Sarah, your wife, Sarah. That is, who will have a child?

Genesis 17:16 “I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.””

All the promises to you. Abraham are also promises to your wife. So, in verse 17, Abraham does what any sane person would do being a hundred years old and having a 90 year old wife. He laughs. Laughter, in fact, becomes a very Central portion of the Isaac plot line in scripture. And if you go to Grace group this week, this is what we will talk about. Is this idea of laughter playing a key part, but just note: Abraham, He knows the truth, he knows Basic biology.

Genesis 17:17 “Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”

Is this really how it's going to go down? And so, Abraham… Always Trying to help God… You know, I know, the whole Ishmael thing was a mistake. But what if we just stick with that?

Genesis 17:18 “And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!””

Oh, that literally If you read the Hebrew, oh, that he might stand in front of your face.

It's a no to that from God no

Verse 19: But Sarah, your wife shall bear her son.

The Covenant is confirmed to Abraham through Sarah. That is the way God has decreed. That is the way God has ordered that is the way God will do it. No other way is good enough. No other way will Suffice. When God says, this is the only way. It's the only way.

If you want just one lesson for today's passage, Just one for all of it... This would probably be it.

When God says there is but one way There is but one way. You could call me exclusionary. You could call me bigoted and rude for saying there's only one right way and this is it… and yet, God has said there is only one way. And here in this story, we see once again when God says there's only one way. There is only one way.

And if the one way here that God has decreed here is, Abraham will have a son by his wife, Sarah. That's it. God will make it happen, and that is the way it will happen. Anything else trying any other way doing anything else in your own strength and might in your own intellect or reasoning anything else is Sin.

Genesis 17:20 “As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly.

As for Ishmael I have heard you. I, I know, that's your son. I will bless him. Not only have I promised his mom that when she was languishing over by the spring. I'll promise you that too. Don't worry, he will be blessed.

Genesis 17:21 “But I will establish my covenant with Isaac

Here's the Covenant confirmed. And note: the Covenant confirmed with a date!

Verse 21 continues: Genesis 17:21 “But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.””

Abraham has been waiting for years… decades. And God, here comes and tells him wait just a little while longer.

This time next year. She shall bear you a son. 365 days. Put it on your calendar. It's going to happen. The covenants confirmed to Abraham and his wife Sarah, through the son Isaac, and his Generations after him. Because this is it. This is the way I'm doing it. And you know, I will do it, because in one year? No longer waiting no longer... Just go to a land that I will show you and and waiting for unknown and waiting for these things one year. You'll have a son. I've given you his name. Write it down. It's as good As done.

God comes and confirms the Covenant. So, what does Abraham do?

immediately Abraham Obeys

God confirms the Covenant and Abraham immediately. Obeys.

Genesis 17:22–23 “When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all those born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day

Immediately Abraham obeys. There's no waiting. There's no.… You know, that's a big commitment God. That… if we were thinking in the terms of the Flesh in our own mind.… It's a rather large commitment God that you're asking me something very painful and difficult. How about - hear me out God - We wait a year. I make sure this whole kid thing is going to happen. Then, I will follow what you said

No. Abraham. Here's a word from God, and immediately that very day he obeys.

Genesis 17:24 “Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.”

A 99 year old man. Undergoing a Painful. Procedure to say the least. Difficult for sure. I'll do it.

Genesis 17:25 “And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.”

Old enough to know what's going on, and Abraham has to come to him and explain to him God's promises and why we're doing this. Abraham immediately obeys. That very day,

Genesis 17:26 “That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised.”

This is an immediate. Total and complete obedience to God that very day. Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised, and we can remeber all the men of his house,

Genesis 17:27 “And all the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.”

Abraham immediately obeys, and we could say, at the end of this, Abraham immediately obeys completely.

God says, do this. This will be the sign and seal of my Covenant. He confirms the Covenant again and again and says, do this. And to his credit. Once again, right, we pick on Abraham all the times he messes up when he lies about his wife, Sarah, when he, at that time, his wife, Sarah. What he tries all of this stuff with Hagar, the Egyptian. What we pick on him, but here we should note Abraham obeys. Immediately. God says, do this. And Abraham does it.

And in many ways, this right here, the end of chapter 17, then. Becomes the ending. Of all the Covenant stuff. The Covenant has been. Re-Given to Abraham. The Covenant sign of circumcision has been instructed to Abraham. The Covenant, once again, is confirmed through his wife, Sarah. This is what's going to happen. You will have a son within a year, the Covenant is confirmed. And then Abraham takes upon his own flesh, literally his own flesh. The sign of the Covenant. any yet… Still no son.

And so we wait.

But even in the waiting. God is still working. Okay, wait a year. You gotta wait a year. That's all you gotta wait, Abraham. But the world still moves and things still go on in the year of waiting. Abraham and Sarah are not just sitting there. Okay, a year. And they just sit on the front porch, and then another day goes by. Sit on the front porch and another day goes by, just waiting. Life still happens. And so we have a very interesting story that acts as a transition. Between the Covenant work and and speech and all the stuff that's going on the Covenant with God and Abraham. and the fulfillment of all of these promises.. we have the interlude of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Most of us are vaguely at least familiar with the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, and we're going to spend the next few weeks looking at it. It is a very important story in the Book of Genesis. But it's interesting to note that it comes here. And I think we might miss this if we just sort of treat the Book of Genesis as an anthology of stories and you have the creation story… the Noah story.. and the Abraham story… the Sodom and Gomorrah story… and the Isaac story... and the Jacob story, and then the Joseph story.… And we don't see it as one book put together to teach us about God and about his Covenant towards us.

So we have the Covenant and God's coming and He's given the Covenant again and again and reiterated and reconfirmed and done all of these things. Now, we wait. And it's in this waiting. That we will come to see God and his goodness and strength and might. As God pours out his wrath upon sin and sinners.

Ultimately, that will be what the Sodom and Gomorrah narrative is about. At its core, it's God in his wrath towards sin and sinners… But That's not how it starts here. It starts with Abraham receiving Guests.

Abraham receives GUESTS …

There's some difficulty in this. We read that the Lord appears before him and that the Lord's talking. What exactly is happening is a bit puzzling but likely this is Jesus before Jesus was Jesus in what is known as a Christophany… I have a paper printed out in the back for those of you that have questions about that… but for our purposes today just know that these are God's words. This person is speaking with the authority All the power vested in the words of God who appears before Abraham. That's really what we need to know here.

In chapter 18, verses 1 through 8. Abraham will receive some guests. He is out there, so maybe.. I said, it's not just sit on your front porch and wait, so that maybe that's what they're doing for a little while, but as soon as Abraham sees these guests. Because there he is. He's sitting at the door of his tent In the Heat of the day. So, in the hottest part of the day when no one should be walking around. Abraham, sitting in his door and here these. There's these these men. he lifted his eyes and behold three men were standing in front of him.

Did they just magically appear? Kind of. That's the way the story reads. Here they are. That's who he sees him. He runs from the ten door to meet him. He sees in those: “These are important guests and says, O Lord. If I have found favoring your site, do not pass by your servant,”

Abraham knows. Once again, credit to Abraham when he saw King Melchizedek. We remember back to that story, he knew Here's someone important I need to tithe it to him. he see Now, here, these three men. One of which An appearance we have here of the Lord. Abraham bows before him. If I found favor, don't pass by. Let me care for you.

And he goes all out. Wash your feet. We'll make some bread. We'll kill a calf. Mi cases es su casa.

Come on in, and he yells to his wife. Hey, start cooking. He calls you a servant. Go kill a calf. when we read in verse 7 that There's a young man who “prepared the calf quickly”. He slaughtered it. And got it ready to be dinner. Took care of these guests. He took curds and milk and the calf that he prepared and said it before them.

He, he feeds them. Verse 8 is actually important. He takes this, and then he stands by as they eat. Here, Abraham Graciously to his guests, serves them. I am your humble servant. Abraham receives these guests and cares for them.

Now, there are some who will say. I feel the need to say this when we get to the full Sodom and Gomorrah story. Well, the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah is that they were not as gracious and generous as Abraham. And to those people I will say: You've missed the point of Sodom and Gomorrah completely.

One of their sins, sure. Is that they were not generous. The way Abraham was, but that that's not their only or even close to their worst sin. And I, I believe what scripture is trying to do, is not emphasize one particular sin, but the lifestyle of those who love God and the lifestyle of those who will rebel from God. And so It's the lifestyle of one who loves God that it is hospitable. God’s people are Generous serving people.

So, Abraham receives guests, and these guests bring some good news.

who bring GOOD NEWS …

They re-reconfirm the Covenant. They're eating, and like, hey, where's Sarah? And now, maybe Abraham should be. Like, wait, how do you guys know my wife, what's going on here? You're just guests walking by. But he's like, now, she's in the tent don't worry. She's here.

They say, we'll be back. Give us one year. And when we come back. Your wife will be holding your son.

What God has already said once? The these three men. These three guests of Abraham, they reconfirm one year. It's good news. Good news! Abraham and Sarah one year when we come back in one year, God said it. We're saying it, too. You will be holding a baby boy.

Interestingly Sarah has the same response as Abraham, but a little different.

She also laughs. But Her laugh is filled with maybe a little doubt and entitlement. Oh, now that I'm old. Now that I'm worn out now, I'm gonna have this pleasure. Maybe to give her some benefit of the doubt she's thinking, wait, I have to be 90 and pregnant. That's not going to be fun.

But the heart behind. This is. This isn't going to happen. My life's been hard, all this life. It's not going to get me better. The men seem to know? Why is Sarah laughing? in verse 13... Did we? We didn't say a joke. They were dead serious. She will have a child in a year. Why is she laughing?

Verse 15 Sarah denies Laughing. That's just a nervous tick. I wasn't laughing. And then I just love when scripture gives us these… because I am a sarcastic person. I love when scripture gives us. He's sort of like sarcastic quips. He said, yeah, no, you did?

Yeah, you did. Check your heart. You still have the promise you're still going to have a child, but you need to check your heart. Sarah, you laughed. Is it because you doubt God? Is that what you need to understand in your life? When you hear this good news, and you struggle to believe that God could do this good for you, and you laugh. That's a you problem, not a God's promise problem. You laughed. Trust in God. Trust the Lord. once again, here in one of the main calls in all of scripture, trust the Lord.

Trust the Lord.

And while, you trust the Lord, The world will still keep on going… because they also bring just a hint. They start to hint.… That's some bad news.

… and hint at some BAD NEWS

The whole next scene. It's, it's a little puzzling. In short the men are like: okay, we visited Abraham, but our work's not done here yet. And the focus will now shift in many ways. From Abraham to these men and their their goal and their goal here is stated. We gotta go, do some work. They know what they're going to do. Sodom and Gomorrah will be destroyed… but, shall I hide from Abraham? What I'm about to do?

Abraham's busy dealing with the stress and difficulty and waiting for what God is going to do in his life. Do we need to add more knowing what God is going to do in the world around him? Does Abraham at this point really need to know? What is about to happen?

Now, it turns out. They will share. These questions are rhetorical. And we know Abraham knows because in the next scene, Abraham's going to plead. For God to not do? What he said he's going to do. So, the interesting situation Abraham is going to find himself is on one hand. He desperately needs God to do all that he said he would do. But he also was, like, I don't know if I want God to do all that he said he would do, right?

One in his life, he needs all that God has said. But what that means... judgment upon the world? I don't know if I like that.

Maybe that's a lesson for us? Oh, I want to be saved. I want the peace and joy of Salvation, but, but the fact that God also said that this was sin and that he would judge sin and that we must call sin sin and call people to be accountable for sin. Oh well, that's hard. So, I want God to do this, but I don't want God to do that. It doesn't work that way.

But they hinted some bad news. Something's going to happen. I gotta go do to Sodom and Gomorrah. What I'm going to do?

Abraham, still blessed. Abraham will be Mighty. He'll be a nation. There's also a hint. As some scripture long principles here… That when a nation turns their back on God and seeks to live in their own way? Judgment will come. Here, it's true of Sodom and Gomorrah. It will eventually be true. Even of God's people.

As I say, bad news... It was only bad news. For those who are living in Rebellion.

For those who trust the Lord, God will work and move. God is still going to care for and love and Shepherd and guide and be there for Abraham. While still dealing with the sin in the world around all of them. The outcry from Sodom and Gomorrah is great. Their sin is very great. Their sin is very grave and so god is going to destroy them. These three men are not done yet...

And Abraham Waits.

Again, I say. The story hasn't changed much. Abraham Waits. And weights and weights. The world still goes on. He still has the promises. And in fact now, Abraham carries the promise of God in his flesh. This is the point of circumcision.

He has. In his own flesh, a constant reminder of God's promises. And yet, he still. Has to wait. Good news comes still. Gotta wait. Bad news comes. You still have to wait, guests arrive. You're still waiting for God. Life is going on, you've been obedient. You still wait, and you wait, and you wait. And he waits, and he waits.

This often is the life of faith.

So, the question before us is: Will you wait?

Let's pray.