God Fulfills His Promise
Notes
Transcript
Genesis 21:1-7
Genesis 21:1-7
Genesis 21:1–7 (NASB95)
Isaac Is Born
1 Then the Lord took note of Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had promised.
2 So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him.
3 Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.
4 Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.
5 Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6 Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with 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.”
Prayer
God is faithful
At last the day has come. The long awaited promised child is here. Their marriage was never absent of twist and turns, and as much as they tried their best to deter God’s promise. God’s will was fulfilled as He did for them as He promised.
God is a faithful God. Meaning, God told them that He would do this through them and God did what He said.
Isn't it good news to know that God never breaks His promises. If you’ve ever been in a place where only God could deliver you, and you know hat the only way you made it though was because of God’s grace, then you will be able to relate to hope found within these verses. And if you've had a easy life. A life without any hardships, a life without any worries. hen I want you to know that every second you have is a grace gift from God. And the God that has provided for you all these years, will provide for your again.
This is the hope found in the birth of Isaac. The foundation and surety, that God did fulfill His promise to Abraham. And I believe we can find our security in the fulfilled promised God for our lives.
Look with me at verse 1:
1 Then the Lord took note of Sarah
The word “took note” in the original language gives us the picture that God visited Sarah.
See God is not this big God that just sits back and barks directives, Nor a God who sit around and watching people fall flat on their faces. No, we see here that God is Intimately involved in the affairs of His creation.
The Lord took not of Sarah.
But there is another side to God’s with Sarah.
He visited because He said he would.
Genesis 18:10 records the Angle of the Lord speaking to Abraham about his wife Sarah. It is in this conversation that God provides hope as they waited 25 years for God to fulfill his Promise to them.
10 He said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him.
Can we trust that God will keep His promises?
Well verse 1 ends with Abraham and Sarah’s confirmation:
Genesis 21:1 (NASB95)
“and the Lord did for Sarah as He had promised. “
The word that we translate into the word “promise” is the word, (DeBell) in Hebrew. This word means to speak, to express in words, to express in speech. In other words, What God speaks He fulfills.
In this case, the promise given in Genesis 17:7
7 “I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.
Notice here that God states your descendants. This means the decadents from Abraham and Sarah, not the decadent between Abram and Hagar.
So when this promise that seems so bleak because it seemed so unnatural because both Abraham and Sarah was past the child barren age. God did a miracle in their midst. God set in motion His everlasting covenant despite their failures, and despite their age.
Genesis 21:2 (NASB95)
2 So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him.
Do you know that God blesses patience.
Hebrews 6:12 (NASB95)
12 so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
The writer of Hebrews wanted to make sure that the reader understood the difference between laziness and patience. Laziness is the word”slow”. This would mean slow to learn. The sluggard loves to sit in a state of immaturity. In contrast, patience is being an imitator of Christ and the apostles through faith and patience we inherit God’s promises.
Are you willing to wait on God?
Well Abraham and Sarah did, and God rewarded their faithfulness.
Genesis 21:3 (NASB95)
3 Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.
Isaac
A name who fits his circumstances perfectly. Genesis 21:6 (NASB95)
6 Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.”
Genesis 17:17–19 (NASB95)
17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”
18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before You!”
19 But God said, “No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
Genesis 18:11–15 (NASB95)
11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was past childbearing.
12 Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”
13 And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?’
14 “Is anything too difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”
15 Sarah denied it however, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh.”
I want us to note 2 good reasons for Isaac’s name:
When Abraham received the promise of him he laughed for joy.
Mathew Henry states in his commentary, “When the sun of comfort has risen upon the soul it is good to remember how welcome the dawning of the day was, and with what exultation we embraced the promise.”
2. When Sarah received the promise she laughed with distrust and difference.
When God gives us the mercies we began to despair of we ought to remember with sorrow and shame our sinful distrusts of God’s power and promise, when we were in pursuit of them
But i also want us to note that this promise was sealed and signed by God.
Genesis 21:4 (NASB95)
4 Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.
Remember in Genesis 17, God gave a Abraham a command to circumcise every male and his decedents.
Genesis 17:12 (NASB95)
12 “And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants.
In other words, and Old Testament visible sign of inheritance was the physical removal of the foreskin.
Now we see God fulfilling His promise to Abraham, by giving him a son through his wife Sarah, even at an old age. And now we see Abraham sealing the deal by being obedient to God and circumcising his son.
I truly believe this is Abraham’s way of offering this beloved son back to God.
By being obedient to God. By following God’s commands. And by putting all of his trust in the Lord.
See the God of Abraham will become the God Isaac. And the God of Isaac will become the God of Jacob. And the God of Jacob will become the God of David.
And it was Jesus who placed Himself in the seat of all authority.
Luke 20:41–44 (NASB95)
41 Then He said to them, “How is it that they say the Christ is David’s son?
42 “For David himself says in the book of Psalms,
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
43 Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” ’
44 “Therefore David calls Him ‘Lord,’ and how is He his son?”
My friend, Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promises.
Just as the bible does not gives us a lot information into the life of Isaac. Jesus is the greater promise. He is the miraculous work of God, and He is the source of all faith.
God is faithful. I want to you know that God is trustworthy.
Deuteronomy 7:9 (NASB95)
9 “Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments;
Hebrews 6:13–18 (NASB95)
13 For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself,
14 saying, “I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.”
15 And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise.
16 For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute.
17 In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath,
18 so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.