The God Who is Listening - Genesis 21:1-21

©Copyright June 2, 2019 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche

Sometimes we grab hold of God's promises and we hold fast to them . . . for a while. However, if the fulfillment of that promise is delayed, it is easy to begin to lose our grip. We wonder if the promise is invalid, if we have misunderstood, if we have done something wrong, or . . . if God cannot really deliver.

Imagine what it must have been like for Abraham and Sarah. They are promised many descendants if they will just follow God's lead. They responded faithfully and waited. They waited for dozens of years. They tried to help God. And maybe some of the strange things we have been reading about the last several weeks are a result of a growing restlessness and crisis of faith.

What we look at today is God's faithfulness. Today we see the fulfillment of the promise God made to Abraham and Sarah. From this I hope to show you some important lessons we should take from this text to help us in our own walk of faithfulness. Let's look again at the text:

The Lord kept his word and did for Sarah exactly what he had promised. 2She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. This happened at just the time God had said it would. 3And Abraham named their son Isaac. 4Eight days after Isaac was born, Abraham circumcised him as God had commanded. 5Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born.

6And Sarah declared, “God has brought me laughter. All who hear about this will laugh with me. 7Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse a baby? Yet I have given Abraham a son in his old age!”

The Laughter of Blessing

Isn't this a great picture? You can likely relate to Sarah and her laughter. There is something about the joy of a dream realized that makes us smile and at times laugh just out of pure joy. And when the thing realized seemed impossible, but God brought to pass, there is even more reason for laughter.

Sarah, and I am sure Abraham, laughed at the wonder and the absurdity of this birth. I suspect they also cried. Sarah was 90 and Abraham was 100 years old. They laughed for joy at the faithfulness of God.

What encouragement this provides for us. God makes promises to us. When we hear and interpret those promises faithfully this passage reminds us that God is true to His Word. We can be confident

That if we trust in Christ we will be forgiven and live forever in Heaven.

That God will supply all our needs in His timing.

That we will never be alone (even when we may feel like it).

That He will give us the strength we need, the wisdom we seek, and the words we lack for the difficult times of life.

That He will never ever give up on us.

Is your grip on His promise weakening? If so, know that God can be trusted. You may waver but He will not. Draw strength from this account. Dr. Boice draws a powerful application,

When you and I read a passage like this, we tend to say, “Well, that was all right for Abraham and Sarah. God certainly did a miracle for them. But God can’t do that for me. My situation is different. I am too old.” Or, “Those who are opposing me are too strong.” Let us face this for what it is: simple unbelief. Is God sovereign? Is God all-powerful? Then he can and will do what he has promised. I think this has special bearing in the matter of age. Some of us say that it is too late for God to work, that we are too old. But if the biblical record of Abraham’s life is true—as it is—then we are never too old for God to do a new thing in us and with us. Moses was eighty when he began to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt, and he got in the modern equivalent (in years) of two full government careers (two times twenty years) before God finally retired him. As for Abraham, he lived seventy-five more years after the birth of Isaac, dying finally at the age of one hundred and seventy-five. Even if you are at the age of retirement, God may well have important work ahead for you to do.[1]

God is true to His Word but . . . His timing is not the same as ours. If Abraham had known how long it was going to be before God fulfilled His promises he probably would not have followed or would have delayed in following. Here's the thing: all of these steps were necessary to make Abraham into the king of person who could handle the promise.

Imagine a Doctor in a coveted specialty tells a high school student he will help mentor him into in this specialty. The student may start imagining working for the Doctor but has not thought about the reality that before he can be mentored he will have to finish high school, college, medical school, and finish his internship. Then the student will be ready to be mentored by the Doctor.

I think it is the same for us. No matter what God has called you to do . . . there is likely a training period for it. Some of that training will be through negative experiences and some in positive. In fact, God has been training you for the very thing to which He calls you right now. God is not slow in fulfilling His promise, He fulfills His promises when we are ready.

The Curse of the Competitive Spirit

The second thing to see is the curse of the competitive spirit. We love competitions: Sports, Talent Competitions, Cooking Competitions, Feats of Strength, Quiz Shows, even Spelling Bees. These competitions are designed to entertain and to bring out the best in us. However, when competition comes into families and our interpersonal relationships, that's when we get into trouble. That is when the competitive spirit does damage. We compete over

Who is the favorite

Who deserves more (think about squabbles over wills)?

Who is the best looking, most successful, has the best kids, the most talent?

Couples compete with each other to have the best wedding (which explains the cost of weddings)?

Parents compete over which child gets the lead, the scholarship, the starting position.

Unfortunately, we can see this spirit in others much better than we can see it in ourselves. It's this competitive spirit that leads to the expulsion of Hagar and Ishmael. The potential competition was something Sarah aggressively made moves to stop.

8When Isaac grew up and was about to be weaned, Abraham prepared a huge feast to celebrate the occasion. 9But Sarah saw Ishmael—the son of Abraham and her Egyptian servant Hagar—making fun of her son, Isaac. 10So she turned to Abraham and demanded, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son. He is not going to share the inheritance with my son, Isaac. I won’t have it!”

11This upset Abraham very much because Ishmael was his son. 12But God told Abraham, “Do not be upset over the boy and your servant. Do whatever Sarah tells you, for Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted. 13But I will also make a nation of the descendants of Hagar’s son because he is your son, too.”

14So Abraham got up early the next morning, prepared food and a container of water, and strapped them on Hagar’s shoulders. Then he sent her away with their son, and she wandered aimlessly in the wilderness of Beersheba.

Certainly, Abraham loved Ishmael. He was his son. He was at that age when dads and sons bond the strongest. They can now work together and talk to each other more like men than father and son. Don't get me wrong, Abraham loved Isaac but he had loved Ishmael for longer. But, when Ishmael made fun of Isaac the competitive juices in Sarah rose. Ishmael was 13-14 when Isaac was born he was 16-17 when he was weaned. If this was the normal kind of making fun as we see between most siblings, Sarah may have rebuked Ishmael but not insisted he be sent away. It is likely this making fun was seen as a threat to Isaac's claim on the inheritance and promise of Abraham. Ishmael was obviously the firstborn. Perhaps it appeared Ishmael was intent on challenging the inheritance of Isaac.

We know from other Biblical accounts that in these days there were times when one sibling would kill another to eliminate them as competition. This sounds barbaric but is it really much different than what happens in many families today at the division of an estate? Perhaps Sarah justified her demand out of concern for the well-being of her son. This doesn't make her actions right; it may simply explain some of her reasoning.

God told Abraham to listen to Sarah. Was God protecting Isaac as the one through whom the promise would be given?

We are reminded once again that the consequence of going our own way, of trying to "help God," leads only to heartache. It is true that Ishmael was not at fault in the foolish plan of Sarah to gain a child through Hagar. But he is left to bear the consequences of that decision. We repent of our sin, but there is often a ripple effect that touches the lives of those around us. such is the case here.

Hagar and Ishmael are sent away. This time, it appears, for good.

God Hears a Cry

15When the water was gone, she put the boy in the shade of a bush. 16Then she went and sat down by herself about a hundred yards away. “I don’t want to watch the boy die,” she said, as she burst into tears.

17But God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, “Hagar, what’s wrong? Do not be afraid! God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. 18Go to him and comfort him, for I will make a great nation from his descendants.”

19Then God opened Hagar’s eyes, and she saw a well full of water. She quickly filled her water container and gave the boy a drink.

20And God was with the boy as he grew up in the wilderness. He became a skillful archer, 21and he settled in the wilderness of Paran. His mother arranged for him to marry a woman from the land of Egypt.

This is a wonderfully touching passage. Hagar and Ishmael are struggling. In fact, they are dying in the wilderness. I am sure being cast out by Abraham did not make this time easier to bear.

We are told God heard the boy crying . . . don't miss this. God did not turn a deaf ear to Ishmael because God hated him. He did not wash His hands of Him because He was not conceived in the way God desired. Though God told Abraham to send them away, He did not abandon Hagar or Ishmael. He provided for them and promised that Ishmael would become a great nation as well as Isaac.

God was true to His word. Ishmael grew up became a skilled archer, found a home and then got married. God still took care of this outcast. And He wants to take care of you. He hears your cries (both the audible ones and the ones that are deep and hidden). Do you feel broken, rejected and discarded? God is not indifferent to your plight. He love you. He stands ready to rescue you and heal you.

Even if the problems are your own doing, your failures can be forgiven. Your pain can be healed. You are not too far gone! Perhaps you can think of someone you think IS too far gone. That may be true in your eyes, but not in His! Your reputation may be poor. Your vices may be many. Your failures may be buried deep. God knows it all and still loves you.

God loves YOU! He wants you to know His forgiveness and new life. He wants to cleanse the stain of the past which has bound your soul. If you learn anything from a study of the book of Genesis (or any other part of the Bible) you should learn that God uses imperfect people. He used Shepherds, tax-collectors, murderers, adulterers, fisherman, scholars, rebels, prostitutes, priests, young men and old, those who were initially willing, and those who at first ran away. And what this means is God can and wants to use you.

So stop licking your wounds from the past. Don't let the stares or comments of others keep you away. Don't let past failures leave you defeated. The Lord is an artist who takes broken pieces of lives and turns them into works of art.

Application

Children of the Promise will be hated (ridiculed) by the world. There are people who walk away from the Christian faith saying, "It is too hard. I am not finding the happiness I thought I would find." These people have not listened to the words of Jesus.

Jesus said, "If they hated me, they will hate you." He told us, "In the world you will have tribulation, but take courage, for I have overcome the world." He told the disciples they would be cast out of synagogues and rejected by people. It is not the easy road, but it is the best road. It may not make us popular to follow Christ, but it will make us a part of His family. That is a blessing worth more than the world has to offer.

You may be attacked and cast aside but you will NOT be alone. God promised hard times and He also promised He would walk through those hard times along with us. So, don't give up because the way is hard. It is still the right way, the only way to God's house. It is not the easy way but it is the way to joy, fulfillment, and eternal life.

This is an illustration of salvation by faith rather than works.

Paul uses this story tin Galatians 4 to illustrate the essence of the gospel. He says Hagar represents those who try to bring about the fulfillment of God's promise by human plans.

24These two women serve as an illustration of God’s two covenants. The first woman, Hagar, represents Mount Sinai where people received the law that enslaved them. 25And now Jerusalem is just like Mount Sinai in Arabia, because she and her children live in slavery to the law. 26But the other woman, Sarah, represents the heavenly Jerusalem. She is the free woman, and she is our mother.

28And you, dear brothers and sisters, are children of the promise, just like Isaac. 29But you are now being persecuted by those who want you to keep the law, just as Ishmael, the child born by human effort, persecuted Isaac, the child born by the power of the Spirit.

30But what do the Scriptures say about that? “Get rid of the slave and her son, for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the free woman’s son.” 31So, dear brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman; we are children of the free woman.

This contrasts two ways of salvation: trying to earn heaven (Hagar and Ishmael) and receiving heaven as a gift (Sarah and Isaac). Paul tells us that we need to get rid of the slave woman much like God told Abraham to do.

Just as sometimes we have to make a break with our past in order to find health and joy in our lives, so we need to banish any notion that salvation has come as a result of our efforts. God alone is to get the credit for eternal life.

Those who place their faith in human effort or goodness have misunderstood the gospel. Those who add anything to God’s grace, diminish God’s glory. Salvation comes because of God’s promise and not our effort! We seek to follow God. We want to obey Him . . . but not because we think it will get us to Heaven. We do so because we have been changed by God’s Spirit which He gave us when He made us His own. We obey out of gratitude and love.

The thought that we can earn Heaven gives us a reason to boast. Understanding the grace and mercy of God in doing what we cannot leads us to humility and to confidence. We don't have keep looking over our shoulder or staying awake at night fearful that we have forgotten to do something. We don't have to fear death or Judgment. Christ has done everything we need! Now we can live confidently and joyfully in relationship with Him.

We can also confidently tell others that God wants to love them too. We can let them know if they will but admit their sin and their helplessness and turn and embrace Christ as their Lord and Savior, they too can know new life. The sacrifice of Jesus was sufficient for any who will genuinely trust Him.

It is a staggering thing when you recognize God has done for us what we cannot do for ourselves. In spite of our failures, weaknesses, and past rebellion God has made us a part of His family . . . forever. And when you grasp that reality, you will want to worship, serve, sing, and yes, maybe even laugh in joyful exuberance.

[1] James Montgomery Boice, Genesis: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1998), 656.