Life of Abraham 7

Review

Abram called to leave home, family, and go to a land God will show him

God makes him big promises: great nation, bless you, name great, protection plan, all families of the earth will be blessed through you

God rescues Abram from tough situation in Egypt, and blesses him

God has helped Abram defeat a group of four kings and rescue his nephew lot . . . you can really tell God’s hand is upon him

God assures Abram he will have a son from his own body as his heir . . . Abram believed God . . . righteousness

God also made covenant with Abram to give the land of Canaan to his descendants

but this promise is slow in coming . . .

Genesis 16:1–2 NASB95

1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar. 2 So Sarai said to Abram, “Now behold, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Please go in to my maid; perhaps I will obtain children through her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

Summary of Chapter 16

Abram’s wife Sarai presents a common short cut in that day . . . take Hagar, my maid

Abram listens and Hagar gets pregnant, and begins to despise Sarai

Hagar surely now thought, the problem ain’t Abram

being barren was a sign that God’s favor was not on you, you had done something sinful

Sarai complains, but Abram is reluctant to step in

so Sarai takes matter into her own hands, and retaliates by mistreating Hagar

Hagar runs away, Angel tells her to return and act right, and tells her

her descendants will be multiplied

name her son Ishmael

says that he will have a future with many enemies

Hagar names the place, “The God who sees”

Hagar returns and Ishmael is born, Abram is 86

Who’s wrong?

we all want to know, who is the bad guy . . . . we have probably sided with Sarai, Hagar, and Abram . . . or maybe all three

the answer . . . everybody is wrong!

Sarai’s wrong for suggesting the idea

Abram’s wrong for agreeing to it

Hagar’s wrong for acting snooty

Abram’s wrong for ignoring the problem

Sarai is wrong for retaliating on Hagar and treating her bad

in context of Bible teaching, Abram’s the most wrong as head of the family, the one God made the covenant with . . . but he is not perfect, just like us

point - everyone was wrong, and everyone suffered, and will suffer . . . lasting consequences till this day (Jews vs Arabs)

Lesson #1 - “Adding your evil to the recipe won’t help the bitter taste”

Don’t add your negative flavor to soup, because you will have to get a bowl too.

Romans 12:21 NASB95

21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Who is right?

Hagar is right for listening to the angel

her going back and being respectful made living together possible . . . for a while

caused Abram to listen to her (named son Ishmael)

provided protection and security for her and her son for over 14 years

We’ll see in Chapter 17 that Ishmael will be blessed, 12 princes, great nation

Lesson #2 - “It only takes one person to make a huge difference.”

situation is improved when one person does right

marriages are improved if only one spouse does better

families are improved if only one child acts better

churches are improved if only one member does better

keeping the food references: One person putting the taking the food out the oven in time, saves the meal for the whole family

Lesson #3 - We serve a God who sees us.

God saw her in distress

Genesis 16:7 NASB95

7 Now the angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur.

God saw that she needed instructions

Genesis 16:9 NASB95

9 Then the angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority.”

God saw that she needed reassurance and encouragement

Genesis 16:10 NASB95

10 Moreover, the angel of the Lord said to her, “I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count.”

God sees your affliction and hears your cry

Genesis 16:11 NASB95

11 The angel of the Lord said to her further, “Behold, you are with child, And you will bear a son; And you shall call his name Ishmael, Because the Lord has given heed to your affliction.

Ishmael means, “God hears” . . .

apparently she had been praying because of her affliction

God sees and hears

God sees so much that He even sees the future

Genesis 16:12 NASB95

12 “He will be a wild donkey of a man, His hand will be against everyone, And everyone’s hand will be against him; And he will live to the east of all his brothers.”

not a great sounding future, but at least she can prepare her son for it

The question is: Do you recognize that God sees?

Genesis 16:13–14 NASB95

13 Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees”; for she said, “Have I even remained alive here after seeing Him?” 14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.

the well of the living one who sees me

most of Genesis is about Abraham, and his family, yet God sees Hagar too . . . and this same God, this living God sees you!

not just the pastor, not just certain religious folk, not just the rich (Abram and Sarai)

God sees you, yes you

just like God saw everything that Hagar needed . . . He sees your needs to

so have the faith to call out to him about your situation because he sees and hears

maybe people have done you wrong like in this situation

maybe people have taken advantage of you like in this situation

maybe you have made some mistakes just like in this situation

maybe you need some instructions, just like in this situation

maybe you need encouragement just like in this situation

maybe you need a heads up of the future just like in this situation

Remember that God sees you! . . . .billions in the world, yet God sees YOU!

We serve a God who sees us!

Mentor Moment

buy extra cell phone charging cords for

when one stops working

for bedroom, for kitchen, for work, for car . . . wherever you frequent

I have one in bedroom, home, office, car, church office, and extra in my briefcase for when I am out and about

also go ahead and buy a longer cord

Announcements

Delta Variant - as of right now, we are still meeting

watch for text messages and actually READ THEM

no communication mistakes

We are not going to fall out with each other or other churches

If we meet in person, and you don’t think it’s safe . . . don’t come until you feel safe

if we decided to not meet in person, don’t get mad . . . just be ready to come back when we do

visitor to our church for the last few weeks (went back once her church opened back up)

urge you to get vaccinated - but that’s my two cents, you do what you think is best for your health, pray and ask God for wisdom