We Can Trust God's Promise

Genesis 16:1-16

People make bad choices; but when we trust God’s promises we find the path to freedom.

Scene 1/ People make poor choices!

Is a common phrase; a phrase which is used a lot in educational settings.

I have heard it used in schools, in courts and in government departments.

Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear made a poor choice when he hit the producer who did not provide a hot meal.

John made a poor choice when he used government funds to pay for his new yatch.

James made a poor choice when he pushed Jenny off the swing.

“People Make Poor Choices” is a politically correct term.

If you say James did the wrong thing when he pushed Jenny off the swing you are implying that James might be bad.

If you say that John embezzled funds from his employer you are implying that John is a thief.

If you say that Jeremy punched the producer you are implying that Jeremy has a violent temper

When you say someone made a poor choice you are seen as being non judgemental.

But in reality you are avoiding the fundamental question which determines every action a person makes.

Wether conscious or unconscious every action and inaction is a result of character.

I have noticed that a lot of organisations have what is called mandatory training; it is especially prevalent in government and industry.

In essence someone tells a group of people the things that they should not do.

They usually address this from the perspective of disciplinary consequence, health effects, reputation and the organisation’s stated values.

The idea is that if you tell people that they are not to do something and then spell out the negative consequences for them if they do, then they won’t do them.

The problem is it doesn’t work.

It doesn’t work because it fails to address the issue of character.

If character is not well developed and based upon a sound moral and ethical framework then people will not automatically do the right thing; some will intentionally do the wrong thing.

Scene 2/ Sarah made bad choices

Originally known as Sarai this woman was the wife of Abram.

In Genesis 16:1-2 we read about a time when Sarai found it difficult to trust God and sought to apply a cultural solution to her problem rather than relying on God’s promise.

Genesis 16:1–2 NLT

1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. 2 So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal.

Sarai was the wife of a powerful patriarch by the name of Abram.

Later on she would be known as Sarah and her husband as Abraham.

These people were semi nomadic.

And Abraham was very wealthy.

God had promised Abraham, wealth and descendents and land.

But he didn’t have any children.

In those times if a couple didn’t have any children it was assumed that the problem was with the wife.

For a woman to be barren was a great burden, not only did she have to deal with the emotional pain of not being able to conceive she also had to deal with the cultural shame.

The Patriarch of a clan was the absolute ruler of his household and in Abraham’s case we are told in Genesis 14:14 that he had 318 trained men born in his household.

So by the time you add in women and children you are looking at a clan group of over a thousand people.

And everything belonged to Abraham and he needed an heir or in accordance with the rules of the day it would all go to the most senior servant.

So Sarah was feeling the pressure, God had promised a son and she was not able to produce one.

In her time this was an especially great burden.

So instead of trusting the promise God had given, Sarai decided to apply a culturally accepted solution to her problem.

If a woman had a servant and gave that servant to her husband then she could claim the child as her own.

The idea being that if the husband was hers and the slave was hers then any resulting child was hers.

But her solution didn’t deliver what she wanted.

In Genesis 16:4-5a we read that the slave Hagar became pregnant and knew that she was now in a position of power.

She will bear a child, possibly a son.

This will be cause to win the affections of the Patriarch Abraham.

In essence we are seeing a contest for the top position.

Sarah’s response is also predictable.

In Genesis 16:5 we see bitterness.

Her plan has not worked out; it is blowing up in her face.

So she blames her husband (16:5b).

Scene 3/ Abraham made bad choices

Abraham had been given a promise.

Abraham failed to trust God.

Rather than seeing the reality that the actions of his wife were a failure to trust God, he willingly accepted the solution she offered.

Genesis 16:2b-4a doesn’t record Abraham offering any resistance to the idea of having the slave Hagar.

She was certainly much younger than Sarah who was now quite old.

So Abraham accepts the offer.

Now you would think that after clearly receiving a promise from God that he would have a son of his own Abraham would check with God before he did anything about that promise.

But he didn’t, he just went ahead and took Hagar into his tent.

God had given a promise, but Abraham and Sarah decided to take things into their own hands.

They came up with a solution which was acceptable in their culture, but it was a solution which would bring untold suffering, a solution which did not trust God.

Have a look at Genesis 16:6b-12

Genesis 16:6b–12 NLT

7 The angel of the Lord found Hagar beside a spring of water in the wilderness, along the road to Shur. 8 The angel said to her, “Hagar, Sarai’s servant, where have you come from, and where are you going?” “I’m running away from my mistress, Sarai,” she replied. 9 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her authority.” 10 Then he added, “I will give you more descendants than you can count.” 11 And the angel also said, “You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael (which means ‘God hears’), for the Lord has heard your cry of distress. 12 This son of yours will be a wild man, as untamed as a wild donkey! He will raise his fist against everyone, and everyone will be against him. Yes, he will live in open hostility against all his relatives.”

Hagar ran away.

On her journey back towards her homeland of Egypt the angel of the Lord found her.

Now whenever the angel of the Lord turns up, we need to understand that this is a way of referring to a theophany, a physical manifestation of God.

And in the Old Testament his appearances are associated with dramatic announcements and times of great distress.

But his announcement, while of comfort to Hagar was not such good news for a peaceful future.

Hagar would have a son and name him Ishmael; he would have more descendents than you can count.

But ---- he would be forever in conflict with his relatives and with everyone.

Ishmael is the father of the Arab peoples and to this day his descendents are a people in conflict with each other.

Ishmael’s descendents are also in conflict with their relatives, the Jews, the people who would descend from Ishmael’s half brother Isaac who would later be born to Abraham & Sarah.

Abraham failed to trust God’s promise and he failed to stand up & defend the weak (16:6)

Genesis 16:6 tells us that Abraham simply let Sarah do whatever she wanted to Hagar.

Hagar was largely an innocent victim of the failures of her masters Sarah & Abraham.

Abraham had a duty to protect her and he didn’t.

He allowed Sarah to mistreat her and drive her away.

Hagar was carrying his child and he didn’t intervene.

Abraham failed miserably on all accounts and Genesis 16 is in many ways a parallel account of Genesis 3.

Just as in the garden of Eden, Adam & Eve fell so did Abraham & Sarah.

Eve doubted God’s word and took the forbidden fruit and offered it to her husband.

Sarah doubted God’s promise and took Hagar and offered her to her husband.

Adam didn’t object to his wife’s offer and took the fruit.

Abraham didn’t object to his wife’s offer and took Hagar.

Adam blamed Eve

Sarah blamed Abraham

And in both cases untold suffering has been the result.

But even in the midst of this God is still concerned for the oppressed woman Hagar and offers her the comfort of knowing her child will have many descendents.

And Abraham proves the point that throughout Scripture the idea of having more than one woman is never a good idea.

One woman is truly more than enough trouble for any man

Scene 4/ It is hard for us to trust God’s promises, especially when they are counter cultural; but trusting in God’s promises is the path to freedom.

God promises to bless us, but we take things into our hands.

Instead of being wise and balanced in our work we over commit and try to fit in more than we should in order to get a head.

We swallow the cultural lie that we can make it on our own.

Instead of taking the time to be wise, to look for God’s hand in everything we do, we rush ahead.

The result, tiredness and stress and worry.

God promises to love us and to give us complete fulfilment in relationship with him.

But we swallow the lie that fulfilment is found is having lots of nice stuff.

Our homes, our cars, our boats, our hobbies, our business become out idols.

And we are never satisfied.

We seek self worth from the praise of family, friends, and colleagues.

But we fail to realise that no matter how good we are, no matter how much we strive to please them it will never make us completely fulfilled.

Only the peace of relationship with God can meet that need.

The Apostle Paul addressed this problem when he wrote to the church in Galatia.

They weren’t trusting God’s promise of salvation by grace.

Instead they were trying to make it on their own by following religious rules.

They had fallen for the lie that if they were just “good enough” then they would make it.

They were like Sarah, trying to use the slave woman Hagar to achieve her own ends.

But this was not God’s will.

He made a promise, he would keep it.

Read Galatians 4:21-5:1 or (4:21-23)

Galatians 4:21–5:1 NLT

21 Tell me, you who want to live under the law, do you know what the law actually says? 22 The Scriptures say that Abraham had two sons, one from his slave wife and one from his freeborn wife. 23 The son of the slave wife was born in a human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promise. But the son of the freeborn wife was born as God’s own fulfillment of his promise. 24 These 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. 25 And now Jerusalem is just like Mount Sinai in Arabia, because she and her children live in slavery to the law. 26 But the other woman, Sarah, represents the heavenly Jerusalem. She is the free woman, and she is our mother. 27 As Isaiah said, “Rejoice, O childless woman, you who have never given birth! Break into a joyful shout, you who have never been in labor! For the desolate woman now has more children than the woman who lives with her husband!” 28 And you, dear brothers and sisters, are children of the promise, just like Isaac. 29 But 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. 30 But 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.” 31 So, dear brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman; we are children of the free woman. 1 So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.

The law would say: “If you earn your freedom, you will become free.”

But grace says: “You have been made free at the tremendous cost of the death of Christ. In gratitude to Him, you should trust his promise.[1]

Through Christ, God has promised us salvation and peace.

He has promised great blessing and joy.

He has promised to never leave us or forsake us.

He calls us to live in obedience to his commands.

To live honestly and righteously

Love him with all our heart and strength.

Love our neighbour as ourselves

And to go into the world and make disciples.

So when you are faced with choices; trust God’s promises, even when they are countercultural.

[1] MacDonald, W. (1995). Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. (A. Farstad, Ed.) (p. 1890). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.