The birth of any person into the world is such a gift of God. Another person created in His image has come to be on the earth. The newborn needs grace. The newborn needs to be fed, clothed, bathed, protected and held. The baby is dependent on the love of others. The newborn even needs some help to take his or her first breath.
Abraham and Sarah have their first baby together. He’s 100 and she’s 90. But guess what? Abraham lived another 75 years and Sarah lived another 37 years. According to Genesis 25:7–8, Abraham was 175 years old when he died. According to Genesis 23:1, Sarah died at 127 years old. So, they were alive well into their son’s adult years.
Sarah testified, “God has made me laugh” and others will laugh too. I’m glad that our Heavenly Father likes us to laugh. Our joy is His joy! Our happiness is His happiness.
Abraham circumcised Isaac which is like our baptisms in the New Testament era. Circumcision was a sign of the covenant between God and Abraham. Baptism is a sign of the covenant between Christ and believers in Christ. The most important point here is to be in a relationship with God, and to happily and publicly profess that you belong to God.
Isaac grew and was weaned. He was able to eat grownup food. His father threw a great feast on that day. They celebrated Isaac. Every child should be loved and celebrated!
“And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing. Therefore, she said to Abraham, ‘Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.’ And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham’s sight because of his son. But God said to Abraham, ‘Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called. Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed.’” Genesis 21:9-13
During the celebration feast for Isaac, Sarah noticed Ishmael ridiculing him. Sarah became like a mother bear protecting her young. She demanded that Hagar and Ishmael be expelled. She did not want Ishmael to inherit their wealth. Abraham did not want to expel Ishmael. Ishmael was his son. But God told Abraham to listen to Sarah. Sarah was right. Messiah would come through Isaac’s descendants. Isaac needed to be protected from all threats. God made a promise to Abraham. God told Abraham that He would bless Ishmael and make a nation out of him.
“So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar and sent her away. Then she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba. And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs. Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot; for she said to herself, ‘Let me not see the death of the boy.’ So, she sat opposite him and lifted her voice and wept.” Genesis 21:14-16
Hagar might have turned inward in the moment, thinking, why did I not teach Ishmael to respect Isaac. She might have been angry with Sarah. Why did Sarah give her to Abraham in the first place to have a child with her if she was going to treat her this way. In any case, she is weeping not for herself but for her son. Their water is gone. Her son is lying under a shrub. She is sure that he is going to die.
“And God heard the voice of the lad. Then the Angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, ‘What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation.’ Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the lad a drink. So God was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness and became an archer. He dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran; and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.” Genesis 21:17-21
In Matthew 19:13-15, little children were being brought to Jesus that He should put His hands on them, and pray for them, but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. Jesus responded, “Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” He laid His hands on the children. Suffer means to bear with them. Yes, children do not have their minds on grown up topics, but they are still important to God. Psalm 68:5 says, “A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.” God cares for fatherless children. He cares for the woman who is raising a fatherless child.
God heard Ishmael’s voice. The Angel (Messenger) of God spoke to Hagar the Egyptian handmaiden. This is likely the voice of Jesus. Hagar was not a prophet or a pastor. She was a mother and she was a person... that was enough to warrant God’s attention and help. The Angel of God told Hagar to get up and take her son up into her arms. He prophesied to her about her son’s future. He opened her eyes to see water. There was enough water to fill her container full.
God was with Ishmael. He became an archer, that is a hunter. Hagar found an Egyptian wife for Ishmael. God took care of them.
The Arab nations, particularly those from the Arabian Peninsula, trace their roots to Ishmael. In the Islamic tradition, hadith literature links the Prophet Muhammad’s ancestry back to Ishmael through his son Kedar. The first-century Jewish historian Josephus explicitly called Ishmael the founder of the Arabian nation. [1]
“And it came to pass at that time that Abimelech and Phichol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, ‘God is with you in all that you do. Now therefore, swear to me by God that you will not deal falsely with me, with my offspring, or with my posterity; but that according to the kindness that I have done to you, you will do to me and to the land in which you have dwelt.’ And Abraham said, ‘I will swear.’ Then Abraham rebuked Abimelech because of a well of water which Abimelech’s servants had seized. And Abimelech said, ‘I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, nor had I heard of it until today.’ So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a covenant. And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. Then Abimelech asked Abraham, ‘What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs which you have set by themselves?’ And he said, ‘You will take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, that they may be my witness that I have dug this well.’ Therefore, he called that place Beersheba, because the two of them swore an oath there.” Genesis 21:22-31
Beersheba (Hebrew: Be’er Sheva) means “Well of the Oath” or “Well of Seven,” deriving from the Hebrew words for “well” and “oath” (shaba) or “seven” (sheba). The name commemorates the covenant between Abraham and the Philistine King Abimelech, sealed with an oath and seven lambs, establishing the site as a crucial southern landmark. [2]
In 1 Timothy 3:1-7, Paul describes the attributes of a godly bishop to Timothy. In verse 7, Paul wrote, “Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.”
The devil is always looking to sabotage the good witness of God’s representatives. People “without” the Lord, those who have not been purified by His Spirit’s presence, may find it amusing to ruin the good reputation of God’s witnesses. Thus, they look for soundbites and listen for rumors that they can use against them. Titus 1;15 says, “Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.”
Therefore, a bishop must not be careless about his witness to outsiders. And Abraham, being noted by the Philistine King as a man of God, needed to be careful in his relationship with him.
In Genesis 21:22-31, King Abimelech and his General see that God favors Abraham. He asks Abraham to promise to be honest with him and with his descendants to come. To treat them kindly as they treated him! Ha! Abraham respectfully promised to do so, but then, rebuked Abimelech because it was Abimelech’s people who stole a piece of property from Abraham. Nevertheless, Abraham gave sheep and oxen to Abimelech and made a covenant with him. Then, he took seven more ewe lambs and gave them to Abimelech and said they were his witness to Abimelech that he dug the well at Beersheba. It belonged to him.
“Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba. So, Abimelech rose with Phichol, the commander of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines. Then, Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there called on the Name of the Lord, the Everlasting God. And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines many days.” Genesis 21:32-34
The deal was sealed and Abraham planted a slow growing tamarisk tree. Some tamarisk trees have been known to live 100 years. [3] Abraham’s tamarisk tree would serve as a landmark in that place. He also called on the Name of the Lord. Only the Lord can preserve integrity among neighbors.
“Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ Then He said, ‘Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you. So, Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said to his young men, ‘Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.’” Genesis 22:1-5
God asked Abraham to do what He Himself will do, that is, offer His Son on a hill for the sake of people’s faith in God. Hebrews 11:17-19 says of Abraham, “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, ‘that in Isaac shall your seed be called:’ accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.” Abraham believed in the resurrection of the dead, which is a primary doctrine of Christ followers today.
“So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, ‘My father!’ And he said, ‘Here I am, my son.’ Then he said, ‘Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?’ And Abraham said, ‘My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.’ So, the two of them went together.” Genesis 22:6-8
Abraham believed that God would provide a lamb for the burnt offering.
“Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ So, he said, ‘Here I am.’ And He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now, I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.’” Genesis 22:9-12
Gasp! The same Angel of the Lord that spoke to Hagar earlier tells Abraham not to slay his son. Abraham passed the test of faith. He had doubted God’s promise prior to his son Isaac’s birth but now he doubts God no longer. Kind of like when Jesus gave Peter the opportunity to confess love for Him three times after Peter had denied Jesus three times. God is the God of second-chances, and third, and fourth, and etc.
“Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So, Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.” Genesis 22:13-14
“There, you see Isaac, it’s just as Papa said.” The Lord provided an animal for the offering. God even took the ram by the horns and stuck him in a thicket so Abraham did not have to chase it down. Imagine if a man over a hundred years old had to rundown a ram and catch it!
“Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: ‘By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son—blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.’ So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.” Genesis 22:15-19
God rewards us for believing in Him. His rewards to Abraham were going to keep going way on into the future for many generations. God’s promise to Abraham is fulfilled in the Gospel. Jesus offered His life on the cross for our sins and resurrected from the dead. Afterwards, His offspring have flourished like the stars of heaven and like the sand which is on the seashore. People from every tribe and tongue shall believe in Him and profess Him before He returns the second time.
“Now it came to pass after these things that it was told Abraham, saying, ‘Indeed Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor: Huz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.’ And Bethuel begot Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Thahash, and Maachah.” Genesis 22:20-24
This passage sets the stage for Rebekah to enter the story of Christ. Her life is important to Messiah’s story. Isaac needed to have a child to keep Messiah’s family line moving forward. Rebekah will eventually become Isaac’s wife and bear two sons for him – Jacob and Esau.
Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah were important to Messiah’s story. A good question to ask ourselves is: “How am I important to Messiah’s story?” I am created in His image and for His glory. How is Messiah interacting with me and me with Him to make His glory known?
[1] Googles sources
[2] Jamieson Fausset Brown Commentary
[3] Googles sources
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