Genesis 16B (2011) In that covenant ceremony, the Lord appeared in the form of fire and smoke while Abram was in a deep sleep

Transcription

1 Genesis 16B (2011) Remember in chapter 15 we witnessed the Lrd take upn Himself a cvenant with Abram In that cvenant ceremny, the Lrd appeared in the frm f fire and smke while Abram was in a deep sleep When the mment fr the agreement t the cvenant came, nly Gd acted He prceeded thrugh the bldy animals, thus binding Himself t His vws t Abram And the vws Gd made included nt nly the wrds spken in that mment They als included the wrds Gd spke t Abram in all three f the appearances Gd makes t Abram Gd prmised t make Abram a great natin, t grant him descendants, an inheritance, and t bless thse wh bless him while cursing his enemies These prmises were affirmed in Chapter 15, and they were a ne-way, suzerainty grant withut cnditin Abram need d n mre t keep these prmises than he did t btain them in the first place They depended n Gd s faithfulness, nt Abram s Because they reflected glry upn Gd and nt Abram Nw in chapter 16, we ve witnessed a great sin in Abram s life, a sin f faithlessness Sarai was unwilling t wait n Gd fr a sn, while Abram was unwilling t act t crrect his wife The results f their sin are prfund, bth in the immediate mment and ver the curse f centuries and millennia The secnd half f the chapter examines thse cnsequences But abve it all, it highlights Gd s faithfulness 2011 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

2 Genesis 16B 2 When we ended last week, Sarai s handmaiden Hagar had becme pregnant with Abram s first sn The cnfirmatin f Hagar s pregnancy had created a new and dangerus dynamic in the family The slave nw had the upper hand n her wner Scripture said that Hagar shwed cntempt fr Sarai And Sarai, knwing that Hagar culdn t be sld nw that she was Abram s wife, is at a lss fr what t d next S she prtested t Abram and demanded he cme t her prtectin Abram fr his part as husband is lying dwn n the jb, s t speak He fails in crrecting his wife and nw he fails in supprting his wife His nly respnse fr Sarai was t state the bvius: Hagar was Sarai s slave, d what yu want with her Hw can we imagine the pain Sarai felt in her situatin? She thught she was ding the right thing by her husband in sacrificing her psitin as wife when she gave Hagar She wanted t give her husband a child, and she made a mistake in hw she tried t slve the prblem Nw Sarai culd appreciate her mistake, and she cmes t Abram lking fr supprt and cncern and she gets it thrwn back in her face Left with n ther ptins, Sarai treats Hagar harshly hping t drive her away - and it wrks In v.16 we re tld that Hagar flees frm Sarai This entire episde has been a disaster fr everyne Abram lst a servant in his hme Sarai lst her handmaiden 2011 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

3 Genesis 16B 3 And Hagar has lst a hme and is nw n the run in the middle f a pregnancy Hagar s flight amunts t theft and kidnapping Running away as a slave was stealing frm Abram And taking the unbrn child was kidnapping, since the child belnged t Abram and Sarai Then the Lrd stepped in... Gen. 16:7 Nw the angel f the LORD fund her by a spring f water in the wilderness, by the spring n the way t Shur. Gen. 16:8 He said, Hagar, Sarai s maid, where have yu cme frm and where are yu ging? And she said, I am fleeing frm the presence f my mistress Sarai. Gen. 16:9 Then the angel f the LORD said t her, Return t yur mistress, and submit yurself t her authrity. Fr the first time in Scripture, we re intrduced t the angel f the Lrd The term angel f the Lrd is an imprtant character in the Old Testament It ccurs 58 times in Scripture Despite the use f the wrd angel, this is n rdinary angel The wrd angel itself in Hebrew actually means messenger r ambassadr And when this wrd is cmbined with the name fr Gd, Yahweh, it always refers t the Secnd Persn f the Gdhead The Persn Wh is eventually revealed as in the incarnate Jesus But prir t His incarnatin, the Secnd Persn f Gd appears as a messenger r ambassadr f the Father We can knw that this term is a reference t Gd Himself by lking at the cntext in which is appears In every cntext where He appears, there is als a reference t Gd in the same text 2011 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

4 Genesis 16B 4 Fr example, later in this text we will find Hagar addressing the angel as Gd in v.13 Certainly, Hagar came t recgnize this Messenger as Smene mre than an angel When the Lrd appears befre Hagar, He finds her by a spring f water in the desert, n a rad leading t Shur Shur is a wilderness brdering the Negev, which means Hagar is likely headed t Egypt This makes perfect sense Hagar is ging hme Where else wuld she g at this pint? Since she is mving thrugh a desert, water is a crucial resurce, s she has stpped by a spring As the Lrd appears t her, He asks tw questins: Where have yu cme frm and where are yu ging? Here we find anther example f Gd asking questins when we knw He already has all the answers Why des the Lrd ask a questin f any kind? When He wants t trigger new thinking and understanding He wants Hagar t think twice abut what she s ding Hagar may have been heading suth tward Egypt, but she prbably didn t knw her final destinatin It was simply fleeing, as her name means If yu ntice, the Lrd began by identifying Hagar as Sarai s maid The Hebrew wrd fr maid literally means slave girl Lrd plainly calls Hagar Sarai s slave girl He seems t be reminding Hagar right frm the start where she belngs 2011 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

5 Genesis 16B 5 Hagar answers plainly She says she is fleeing frm the presence f her master Sarai Hagar makes n attempt t deny the truth: she was wrng Hagar is the true victim in this entire episde Hagar was pressed int slavery t supprt Abram s family She was pressed again int marrying Abram and giving him a child Then she was hated by her wn mistress wh made these decisins Mre imprtant, Hagar had n knwledge f the Living Gd She had n prmises frm Gd, unlike Sarai and Abram She was just a Gentile suffering under the sin f her Hebrew masters But as she was cmmitting this sin, the Lrd stepped in and turned her arund In v.9 the Lrd says return t yur wner and submit t her authrity Des the Lrd s cmmand surprise yu? Let me ask yu what else can a hly and perfect Gd say? Hagar s flight was breaking law and depriving Abram f his child Hw culd Gd apprve f that behavir? It mattered nt the reasn fr her sin...sin is sin And tw wrngs dn t make a right The Lrd needs Hagar t stay with Abram because it suits His purpses fr Abram and Sarai As yu may knw, Gd will direct Abram and Sarai t send Hagar away in a future day But fr nw, Gd wants Hagar t remain in the husehld 2011 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

6 Genesis 16B 6 There are tw reasns fr this delayed departure First, Gd wants Hagar s departure t teach a lessn fr the future Israel Hagar and her sn will frm an imprtant picture fr Gd in telling the stry f Israel There will be a seed t rule the wrld and save men frm their sins But that seed will find it s surce in Gd s prmises nt in the wrks f men In rder t tell that stry fully, Gd needed nt nly a sn by His prmise, but He als needed a sn by human effrt Then Gd culd cntrast the utcmes f each, thereby teaching hw nly Gd s prmises lead t glry We ll study mre abut this cntrast in the next chapter Secndly, Abram s sin must bear cnsequences fr himself and his natin Remember I mentined that Abram s unique psitin in Gd s plan fr the wrld means that bth his faithfulness and his sin carry great cnsequences When Abram is strng, the wrld benefits And when Abram is weak, the wrld suffers All this accrding t Gd s plan The child that will cme frm Abram s sin must dwell near the sns f prmise, because Gd will use ne t chastise the ther The ffspring f Hagar will eventually becme enemies f Israel And Gd will use these enemies t discipline His children in Israel 2011 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

7 Genesis 16B 7 Fr Gd wrks all things t gd fr thse wh lve Him and are called accrding t His purpse S the Lrd tells Hagar t return, submit t authrity, d the right thing And then Gd prceeds t shw her hw her bedience will lead t blessing Gen. 16:10 Mrever, the angel f the LORD said t her, I will greatly multiply yur descendants s that they will be t many t cunt. Gen. 16:11 The angel f the LORD said t her further, ı Behld, yu are with child, And yu will bear a sn; And yu shall call his name Ishmael, Because the LORD has given heed t yur afflictin. Gen. 16:12 He will be a wild dnkey f a man, His hand will be against everyne, ı And everyne s hand will be against him; ı And he will live t the east f all his brthers. The Lrd assures Hagar that her child will yield an uncuntable number f descendants Ntice the text says I will... The angel is speaking as Gd HImself, as He truly is This prmise is exactly the same ne that Gd made t Abram Why wuld Gd give the same prmise t Hagar s child? Because this child is als Abram s child And the gifts can the calling f Gd are irrevcable Because Gd prmised that Abram s seed wuld fill the wrld, s it must be with his child f Hagar This child will eventually becme the father f all Arab natins What an amazing testimny t Gd s faithfulness Gd is s faithful, His prmises s sure that nt even Gd Himself can ignre them r change them 2011 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

8 Genesis 16B 8 Gd prmised Abram that his seed wuld be uncuntable, and s it must be And thugh Gd s prmise was directed tward a certain sn yet t cme, nevertheless it was spken t Abram Therefre Gd s wrd will reign true regardless f hw many sns Abram cnceives Nw we are starting t understand the pwer f that earlier cvenant mment in chapter 15 It means smething when Gd makes a prmise It will stand and nthing can change it Gd made prmises t yu when He called yu int faith And thse prmises were spken thrugh His Wrd He said He wuld never leave us nr frsake us He will prepare a place fr us He will cnfess us befre His Father We will reign with Him in His kingdm We will receive an inheritance in that kingdm Thse prmises can t be changed, nt by the wrld, nt by yu, nt by Gd Himself We will sin, thugh Gd desires we live hly and pleasing lives But ur sin will nt change these prmises We will fail, but Gd will nt This is why Paul can say: Rm. 8:38 Fr I am cnvinced that neither death, nr life, nr angels, nr principalities, nr things present, nr things t cme, nr pwers, Rm. 8:39 nr height, nr depth, nr any ther created thing, will be able t separate us frm the lve f Gd, which is in Christ Jesus ur Lrd Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

9 Genesis 16B 9 This sn, hwever, is nt the ne f Gd s design when He gave His prmises t Abram S, even thugh Hagar will have the benefit f many descendants, she is nt the direct recipient f all the ther prmises Remember, the prmises were spken t Abram, nt t Hagar S she is benefiting frm her assciatin with Abram She is nt herself receiving thse same prmises Therefre her family has a different fate than des Abram s And Gd shares thse details with her Hagar learns what is in stre fr her pregnancy First, she will have a sn Gd gives the first sngram And Gd gives her the name, Ishmael The name Ishmael means Gd hears Because Gd heard her afflictin and visiter her There is great irny here, because Gd rescues an Egyptian after he hears her afflictin at the hands f Hebrews Later, Gd will rescue the Hebrews when he hears their afflictin at the hands f the Egyptians Bth times, Gd hears because He is bund by his wn wrd t hear By annuncing the name f the child, Gd is making a prphetic statement As a slave mther, Hagar will have nthing t d with naming the child Abram will name the child S the nly way the child s name will be Ishmael is if Abram selects this name n his wn 2011 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

10 Genesis 16B 10 And what d yu think Hagar will think when she hears Abram annunce the name f the child? D yu think she will be encuraged t witness Gd s wrd cming t reality befre her eyes? Gd is gd t shw Himself faithful in these ways Next, Gd tells Hagar her sn will be a wild dnkey (r ass) f a man His hand will be against everyne and everyne against him These are prverbial statements that carry much meaning Being a dnkey reflects bth his persnality and his lifestyle Ishmael will be ramers in the same way that wild herds f dnkeys ram the desert in Abram s day Wild dnkeys are particularly unruly, independent and nmadic Such are the Arab peples Histrically nmadic, ht blded, and rarely given t submit t the authrity f nn Arabs Secndly, Gd says they will be a warring peple Mre imprtantly, they will be aggressrs by nature, prvking cnflict with their neighbrs These prphecy has prven truly ver the centuries And his aggressin will result in thers retaliating Why des the Lrd determine this kind f future fr the descendants f Ishmael? The answer cmes in the last line f v.12 Ishmael will settle east f all his brthers We all knw the significance f east by nw He will represent the sin and rebellin f the wrld 2011 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

11 Genesis 16B 11 And gegraphically, Ishmael will settle directly next t his brthers, the natin f Israel This explains why Gd has chsen t make Ishmael the man he becmes He will be a thrn in Israel s side, by design He will be a cause fr Israel s chastisement in the days when Gd determines t send Israel a message Here we see the full implicatins f Abram s sin By chsing t act utside Gd s will Abram has set in mtin a wrld f enmity between the seed f flesh and the seed f prmise But this is always the pattern When Adam sinned, he set in mtin a battle between the sns f the enemy and the sns f Gd The struggle between spirit and flesh will cntinue until Gd puts an end t all flesh And here we see it again, Abram s child f flesh set t war with the child f prmise We might ask urselves at this pint why Gd intervened t stp Hagar s sin f running away, yet Gd didn t stp Abram and Sarai frm sinning in the first place The answer is that Abram and Sarai knew better They had Gd s prmises and knew Him thrugh faith They were already in a psitin t bey prperly And yet they didn t When Gd s peple sin despite having the wrd f Truth, then we face cnsequences But Hagar knew nne f these things S nly nw Gd appears and reveals Himself 2011 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

12 Genesis 16B 12 And by that revelatin, Gd brings understanding leading t bedience Lk at Hagar s respnse and what fllws Gen. 16:13 Then she called the name f the LORD wh spke t her, Yu are a Gd wh sees ; fr she said, Have I even remained alive here after seeing Him? Gen. 16:14 Therefre the well was called Beer-lahai-ri; behld, it is between Kadesh and Bered. Hagar s first respnse is t declare that this angel is Gd Himself This is a statement f faith similar t the ne Paul makes n the rad t Damascus In bth cases, a traveler is arrested n a desert rad by the Lrd, wh appears t crrect the persn s sinful directin And in bth cases, the appearance results in a changed life, ne that fllws the Lrd s leading and receives the Lrd s blessing Here we have evidence that Hagar has received salvatin as a result f this experience She may remain a slave and she mat have a sn destined t trment Israel But she has been called t becme a child f Gd And what led Gd t bring Hagar int the family f Gd? Nthing mre than her assciatin with Abram, a man wh has received Gd s prmises A prmise t bless all the natins f the Earth And in respnse t that call, she will return t Abram and submit t Sarai s authrity, as her Lrd has asked her t d She may be a slave t Sarai, but her true Master is nw the Lrd, and Hagar is beying Him nw This is a beautiful picture f hw we t share in the blessing t Abram Like Hagar, we are Gentiles wh have been arrested in ur nrmal curse f sinful life 2011 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

13 Genesis 16B 13 We encuntered the Lrd, Jesus And by that encunter, ur life f bedience And we are receiving the blessings f prmises made t Abram and Israel We are grafted int the prmises, and s we share in the blessings 2011 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.