Rushing God
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· 26 viewsWhen God makes a promise, God keeps a promise. No amount of our rushing Him and proding Him will change His timeline. Our best bet is just to trust God and follow God.
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Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good morning and welcome back!
This morning if you will, turn again in your Bibles to the Book of Genesis.
This time to chapter 16.
Now, last week we talked about Isaac and a time when he began to waver in his faith in God.
But even though Isaac wavered for a while, ultimately he stayed true to God and trusted in God.
This morning we are going to go all the way back to Abraham, and a time when he also wavered in his faith in God.
We are going so far back that this is before Abraham has even had children.
Now that doesn’t mean that Abraham was a young man, because at this point he was probably in his 60s or 70s, but still he and Sarah had not yet had any children.
And he and Sarah are pretty frustrated by this, especially since God had promised them kids.
But before we get into all of that, let’s look at our Scripture focus and then we can dig in and break it down a bit more.
Again, Genesis 16, starting in verse 1 . . .
Scripture Focus
Scripture Focus
Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed to what Sarai said. So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my servant in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.” “Your servant is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her. The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered. Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” The angel added, “I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count.” The angel of the Lord also said to her: “You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.”
The Promise of God
The Promise of God
Now, like I had said in the very beginning of the sermon, ever since the time that Abraham had left Ur in search for the Promised Land God had made him a promise to be a great nation . . .
The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
And God also repeats this promise to Abraham several times as he journeys toward his new home . . .
Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
**AND**
The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted.
**AND**
After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”
**AND**
On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates— the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”
So, on no less than (5) occasions God reminds and reassures Abraham of this covenant and promise to him.
And at this point, we would think that Abraham should be believing what God is saying, right?
At least that what we can say right now sitting here looking back at Abraham's life.
But what about us?
How many times has God reassured us of His promises to us?
What has been our response to God’s promises?
He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
**AND**
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
And we know these things because we have heard these verses over and over again.
And when we hear them we say “yes, I believe” but then something happens.
Some sort of trial or tribulation.
Some sort of problem.
And our patience to wait on God wavers, as well as our faith in God to move.
Which is exactly what was happening here with Abraham, time and time again.
The first example of this was when the drought came and Abraham was forced to go down to Egypt.
We talked a little about this last week.
Abraham was afraid that the Egyptians were going to kill him and steal his wife, so . . .
As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”
It all eventually works out but, then a little later he begins to question God and begins to offer up his own solution in an attempt to "help God out."
Since God is not working on his time-frame, he is going to take matters into his own hands now . . .
But Abram said, “O Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.” Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.” He took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
So, Abraham is just going to leave everything to one of his trusted servants.
And the reason Abraham is getting discouraged is because and and his wife are no longer spring chickens.
They are starting to get up there a bit.
So, once again God reassures Abraham that it is okay and He knows what He is doing and Abraham would have an heir.
However, it really doesn't last that long .
Kind of like things are today, we want it and we want it now.
We don't want to wait on God or on God's timing.
We think that if God promises something and it doesn't come to pass right then, then its not going to come to pass.
So, we do like Abraham and Sarah and decide we are going to "help out God" again and begin to take matters into our own hands.
And, as we will see, nothing but a mess results . . .
Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed to what Sarai said. So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife.
So, here we go!
Now, in fairness to Abraham, it had been about (10) years since the last time God had spoken this promise to Abraham and Sarah had yet to get pregnant and give Abraham an heir.
So Sarah begins to think in her mind, "maybe it's my fault," and begins to look around for a solution to the problem.
She looks around and thinks, "Hmmm....I've got this Egyptian servant girl, Hagar, I wonder if she can give Abraham a son."
After all, what harm can come of it?
She is, just a servant. He's not interested in her, so nothing to worry about.
She could be kind of like a surrogate.
Now, where do you think this hair brained idea came from?
Do you think Sarah just came up with it on her own?
Now, no, the devil didn't make her do it, but he certainly planted the thought in her path.
Just like he has been doing for generations since.
But at any rate, Sarah has this idea in her head so she approaches Abraham . . .
so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed to what Sarai said.
WORD OF ADVICE FOR HUSBANDS.
IF YOUR WIFE EVER, EVER, EVER, APPROACHES YOU WITH THIS TYPE OF IDEA . . .RUN FOR THE HILLS.
IT IS A TRAP, NOTHING BUT A TRAP!
After all, what could go wrong here???
At any rate, she tells Abraham, "Hey, I can't have kids for you. BUT . . . here is my servant Hagar, how about you take her and have a child with her and that will be our heir!"
Problem solved, right?? WRONG!
The Bible says though that Abraham, hearkened to the voice of Sarai.
In other words he says, "okay...."
BAD MOVE ABRAHAM, BAD MOVE!
So . . .
So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife.
The Immediate Consequences
The Immediate Consequences
And of course the problems begin almost immediately . . .
He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my servant in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.” “Your servant is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.
Okay, we’ve got a mess here now.
Abraham sleeps with Hagar and she becomes pregnant.
When she realizes that she is pregnant, her attitude toward Sarah begins to change.
No longer does she view herself as just a servant, but rather she is going to have a baby by the master of the house.
In her mind, she doesn't have to submit to Sarah's authority or listen to Sarah any longer:
She is just as important as Sarah, after all she has been in a relationship with Abraham, just like Sarah.
She has one up on Sarah, after all Sarah couldn't even have a child, but yet she is going to bear him a child!
See how the devil has already began to twist and turn their dumb idea?
So Hagar began to despise Sarah and treat her with contempt and disrespect.
However, instead of accepting responsibility for her part in all of this, Sarah begins to blame Abraham for it all . . .
Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my servant in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.”
Abraham, YOU SLEPT WITH HER, YOU GOT HER PREGNANT.
It's your fault that she now despises and is disrespectful to me!
Sarah then makes the comment, may the Lord judge between you and me... ( may the Lord judge who is right here, you or me).
You see what has happened here.
Total chaos has ensued.
Things are a mess.
Sarah comes up with this idea and Abraham, like a dummy agrees with it, and they enlist their servant Hagar into this mess and now the whole household is at arms.
Hagar is being ugly and cakniving toward Sarah because she is jealous and has a chip on her shoulder, thinking she has some special privileges now.
Sarah is jealous of Hagar and mad because of the way Hagar is acting, and blames Abraham for it all.
Abraham is upset because he was "just doing what his wife says" right!
So, he puts it back on Sarah . . .
“Your servant is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.
She's your servant, do what you want with her, was Abraham's response.
And Sarah decides enough is enough and the Bible says, Sarai dealt hardly with her, or was very cruel and mean to her so Hagar fled from her face.
Things didn't work out quite the way they were expecting them to.
See the devil had shown them just a glimpse.
A solution to their problem, an heir for Abraham.
However, he didn't show them all the consequences for doing it their way and not God's.
His whole intention was to destroy God's heir before he was ever born.
So the immediate consequences were:
Division in the household
Hurt feelings
Confusion
Chaos
Loss of a servant
Mistrust
The Unseen (Eternal) Consequences
The Unseen (Eternal) Consequences
There was more to it though than just these immediate factors that were present.
There was damage done that would stretch for generations, even to this present day.
The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered. Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.”
The first thing though, God had to fix things in Abraham's house.
There were things that Abraham had to get done.
He couldn't do them if he and his household were distracted by all this mess.
Hagar is out hiding in the woods near Shur and the angel of the Lord comes to visit her.
He inquires, where have you been and where are you going?
How many times has God asked us that?
Where have you been and what direction are you going in?
What has our answer been?
Do we know what direction we are going?
Do we even know where we've been and what God has brought us through??
Hagar doesn't really know what direction she is going in.
Her response is just I flee from the face of my mistress Sarah!
We don't flee from our earthy masters, but how often do we flee from the face of God?
Hide in the trees like Adam and Eve, hoping God won't see us, hoping He won't discover our sin and disobedience.
It doesn't work, does it. The angel tells her . . .
Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.”
Go back and make things right.
Repent and submit to the authority of your master.
So, first long term consequence, Hagar was going to have to eat some crow and submit to Sarah.
Here is where it get's sticky though . . .
The angel added, “I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count.” The angel of the Lord also said to her: “You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery.
So, the angel first tells her that her seed, or her decedents will be multiplied exceedingly or that she herself will be the mother of a great multitude of people.
The angel then tells her that she is going to have a son and name him Ishmael (which means "God Hears") because God has heard her affliction.
Don't sound too bad, right? WRONG!
The next verse is the kicker . . .
He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.”
So Ishmael and his descendants are describes as "wild men". Other translations say "a wild donkey of a man."
What do we know about donkeys?
They are stubborn and do what they want.
His hand will be against everyone.
In other words he will always have a chip on his shoulder and oppose any and everyone.
He will be constantly in a state of hostility toward everyone else and everyone else will be hostile toward him.
Even his own brothers (other descendants of Abraham).
Ishmael's descendants still live today.
They are the nations of Islam in the Middle East that live in constant hostility toward Israel and toward the rest of the world.
The saga continued, Hagar returned to Abraham and Sarah and served them, until Isaac is born.
At that point, Sarah convinces Abraham to cast out Ishmael and Hagar.
But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.” The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.
So further consequences, Abraham has to now cast out his first born son, because he is not the heir of God.
The heartache and devastation of not listening to God.
The same heartache and devastation that continues today with the constant state of war between the Islamic nations and Israel.
Also the constant threat of the Islamic nations on the rest of the world.
THE MORAL OF THIS STORY IS DON'T RUSH GOD AND DON' TRY TO TAKE THINGS IN YOUR OWN HANDS.
Altar/Challenge
Altar/Challenge
This is where so many get into trouble.
We have been saved but have never received the power from on high.
We forgot to wait on God, to tarry in Jerusalem like the disciples, waiting on the Holy Spirit.
We run out and try to save the world, but try to save it under our own power.
We may burn bright but eventually we burn out, give out, give up, and backslide.
Are we waiting on God and responding to God?
Or are we trying to rush God and trying to do everything in our own way?
Are we tired of waiting?
Well, how’s that working out for us?
Let’s spend so time submitting to God, and waiting on God, can we do that?
Let’s pray . . .