The Promised Child

Have you ever had to wait a really long time to get something, or at least it seemed like a long time? Maybe when you were a kid, there was this toy you really wanted, and you asked your parents for it over and over again. Then on your birthday or at Christmas, you open one of your presents, and there it is. Or maybe when you were a teenager, you couldn’t wait to have your own car. I think everybody remembers their first car. It’s a pretty big deal because you wanted one, and now it’s yours. Maybe there was this career you wanted to pursue, and you went through years of college and years of hard work until you finally got it. How do you feel when you finally get something you’ve waited a long time for? It’s just a feeling of pure joy.

That’s what we see here in the first part of Genesis 21. Abraham and Sarah had been waiting to have a son for decades. Sometimes it felt like they were never going to have a child of their own. They had tried to take some shortcuts along the way, but they didn’t give them what they really wanted. Now finally, when Abraham is 100 years old and Sarah is 90 years old, that child they so desperately longed for had arrived. It’s no wonder he was named Isaac, which means, “He laughs.” I can only imagine the sheer exhilaration those two parents must have felt.

Of course, even the very best things can often bring about difficulties, as Pastor Hayden preached this morning. Abraham had a couple of messes of his own making he had to clean up over the course of this chapter as well. He experienced great joy here in this chapter, but he also has to deal with some heavy grief here. Abraham gained something, but he also had to let something go, which can be very difficult for us to do at times. I think his experiences here can help us in our own Christian lives as well, so I want to look at three important events in the life of Abraham that we see here in this chapter.

1. The Promised Child (Genesis 21:1-7) – Look at the first two verses. “And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.” The birth of Isaac was the fulfillment of a promise God had made unto Abraham and Sarah. This was not merely a happy coincidence. This was the Lord keeping His word and doing something that only He could do. There was no way for Abraham and Sarah to have this child if God wasn’t in it. This was something supernatural, a miraculous birth. There could be no doubt about that. We talked a few weeks ago about the question God asked Sarah in Genesis 18: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” Sarah had doubted before, but now there could be no doubt. He had proven that there was nothing too hard for Him.

It is good to know that we serve a God who can be trusted to keep His promises. Titus 1:2 says, “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.” The fact that the Lord cannot lie and keeps His promises is why the Bible ought to be so precious to us. Have you ever had someone promise to do something for you, but deep down, you had your doubts as to whether they would actually follow through on their commitment? With God, you don’t have to worry about that. We know that He will keep His Word. That is why we can have hope, because He is the One making and keeping the promise. He promised us eternal life if we would believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and so we know we have it if we have believed. It’s as simple as that.

It is encouraging for us to remember that God keeps His Word, no matter what. We can count on Him to do His part. We’ve got some unconditional promises, and He will keep them. They do not depend on us. It’s a good thing for Abraham and Sarah that the Lord giving them a son did not depend on how good they were, because they’d have never had Isaac. God unconditionally promised to give them a son, and they had a son, even in spite of their faults and failures. It’s great to know that God doesn’t use us as an excuse to break His promises. II Timothy 2:13 says, “If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” We all have periods where we doubt, but the Lord abides faithful because it would be a complete denial of His own character if He did not. We can trust His promises because His very nature and character is wrapped up in those promises.

The faithfulness of God is the bedrock of our assurance. Most of us know John 3:16, which says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” If you’ve believed in the Son of God, you have eternal life, period. Nothing can change that. Jesus says in John 10:28-29, “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” If your assurance is based on anything other than God’s Word, you’re going to struggle with doubt. I am glad that the keeping of my salvation does not depend on me, or I’d be in trouble. I can rest easy knowing that it depends on Him, and He will never fail me.

Back in our text in Genesis 21, we see that Abraham was still mindful of his responsibility to the Lord. Verse 4 tells us that he circumcised Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Circumcision was the sign of the covenant that God gave to Abraham, and it was to be done eight days after a child was born. Isaac was the first one to be circumcised in the pattern of this covenant at eight days old. Abraham and Ishmael had been circumcised, but not at eight days old, of course. This was proof that Isaac was the one who would carry on the covenant after Abraham. Sometimes when God blesses us, we can become complacent. We let things slack a little bit here and there. I am glad to see Abraham did not fall into that trap.

2. The Picture of Conflict (Genesis 21:9-21, Galatians 4:21-31) – After a while, Isaac is weaned, and Abraham throws a big party to celebrate. It was customary for children in those days in that culture to be weaned when they’re two or three years old, so that was probably the case here. Everything seemed to be going well, until Sarah spots Ishmael mocking and belittling the whole affair. She had taken Hagar back before, but she decided that this was the last straw. Sarah recognized that this was an untenable situation. She tells Abraham to cast out Hagar and Ishmael both because he would not be a joint heir with Isaac.

First of all, this was not a prank played by a small child who didn’t know any better here. Abraham was 86 years old when Ishmael was born, and he was 100 years old when Isaac was born. Add a couple years to that, and Ishmael is around 16 years old at this point. He knew what he was doing. There must have been some resentment toward Isaac. He may have felt like he had been displaced by his birth. All of his hopes for an inheritance were shattered. That does not excuse his actions, but it might explain them. It is interesting to note that the Hebrew word for “mocking” in verse 9 comes from the same root word as Isaac’s name does. Abraham and Sarah experienced the laughter of joy at Isaac’s birth, but it resulted in the laughter of mockery from Ishmael.

Naturally, this comes as a devastating blow to Abraham. He still had a father’s love toward Ishmael. However, God concurs with Sarah’s decision and tells him to listen to her advice in this instance because Isaac was the promised child, not Ishmael. However, the Lord eases his fears and worries by promising that He will make a great nation from Ishmael as well, so even though he would no longer be with Abraham, God would still be with him. He would not abandon him, because He had already promised this to Hagar and Abraham in Genesis 16 and 17. As we’ve discussed already, God always keeps His promises, so even when Hagar and Ishmael are out there struggling in the wilderness, He is still mindful of them and provides for them. The Lord’s provision doesn’t mean that life will always be easy, but it does mean that He will be there when we need Him.

The conflict between Sarah and Hagar, and Isaac and Ishmael, represents a conflict that we all face as Christians [Read Galatians 4:21-31]. Without denying its historical accuracy, Paul uses this event to make an allegory of the Christian life. Each of the four major people here are symbolic of something deeper. Sarah could not have understood the spiritual implications of the statement she made, but God uses Paul centuries later to make that connection.

A. Hagar = Bondage to Sin and the Law – Hagar was a slave, so it makes sense that she represents slavery here. The Galatians were trying to add the works of the law to their justification, but Paul points out that the law only leads to bondage. No matter how many good works a person may try to perform, they will always come short of the glory of God because they will inevitably sin and fail. James 2:10 tells us, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” How many crimes does a person have to commit to be a criminal? Just one. How many laws do you have to break to be a lawbreaker? Just one.

You may think that just being a good person and trying your best will be enough to get you to heaven, but you’re wrong. We are all sinners by birth and by choice. Romans 6:23 tells us, “The wages of sin is death,” and that’s the bad news. The good news is in the second half of the verse, “But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” That leads us to the next part.

B. Sarah = Liberty in Jesus Christ – She is the wife of the covenant. When God made the covenant with Abraham in Genesis 17, He included Sarah and changed her name from Sarai. In like manner, when we trust Christ, we become part of His bride and a part of the promise. We are freed from the slavery of sin and the law. When Peter was confronting the Jewish Christians who were trying to impose circumcision upon the Gentile Christians, he said in Acts 15:10-11, “Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved, even as they.” We are all equal in Christ, and we are all free in Christ. You don’t have to burden yourself by trying to attain to an impossible standard that you can never hope to meet. God offers grace to us, and He will break the shackles of sin. You don’t have to do anything to earn your way to heaven, and you can’t do anything to earn your way to heaven, but Christ has done it all already. There is freedom in Jesus, and it is being offered to whoever will take it.

C. Ishmael = The Flesh – Ishmael was born as a result of Abraham and Sarah’s scheming and their own effort. He was a work of the flesh. His birth did not lead to lasting satisfaction. In the end, it ultimately brought about conflict with Isaac. The flesh cannot coexist with the things of God. It is unpalatable to the flesh. As Ishmael mocked Isaac, so the flesh despises spiritual things. Paul talks about this at length in Romans 7-8. In Romans 7:18, he says, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing.” In Romans 8:8, he says, “So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” No matter how much you feel like you can accomplish in your own strength, it won’t be enough because we are still frail, sinful creatures. Left to ourselves, sin will eventually win out, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

D. Isaac = The Spirit – Unlike Ishmael, Isaac’s birth was miraculous and could only be explained as a work of God. Nothing Abraham and Sarah could have done would have resulted in Isaac’s birth. Ishmael represents the first birth, the natural birth, but Isaac represents being born again, the spiritual birth. It is a miracle that God performs when we trust in His Son Jesus Christ. We receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, which seals us for heaven.

However, that results in a problem. As I said before, the flesh cannot coexist with the Spirit. That leads to an internal conflict, which Paul follows up on in Galatians 5:16-17. “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” If you’re saved, there’s a fight raging within you on a daily basis between your flesh, your old nature, and the Spirit, your new nature.

There’s an old Cherokee story that goes something like this. There was an old Cherokee telling his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He says, “My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all. One is evil – It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is good – It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.” The grandson thought about it for a minute, and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf wins?” The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

It’s the same idea in the battle between the flesh and the Spirit. If you’re struggling with sin and failing to live for God, it’s because you’re feeding your flesh too much. It’s up to you to decide which one wins. That’s why we need to follow Sarah’s advice and cast out the things that are bringing us into that bondage. If we are saved, we don’t have to lose to sin. However, sometimes it is difficult to get rid of things that are hindering our Christian lives. We can get attached to them. It was difficult for Abraham to send Ishmael away. He was his son. However, to his credit, as soon as God told him what to do and he knew what he should do, he obeyed immediately. It says he rose up early in the morning, and he sent Hagar and Ishmael away. Even in the next chapter, when the Lord tells him to offer up Isaac, Abraham does the same thing. He rises up early in the morning and obeys immediately.

That’s the mentality we need to have about this. As soon as we recognize something is hindering our Christian lives, we need to get rid of it immediately. It may not be a bad thing in and of itself, but it can be a bad thing if it’s getting in the way of the Spirit ruling your life. It could be sports, music, the internet, video games, or some other form of entertainment where we prioritize feeding our flesh over feeding the Spirit. You may think you can handle it, but you’re failing. You may try to put it off because you’ve grown accustomed to it, and you’re comfortable with it. But if God puts His finger on it and says cast it out, then that’s what you need to do. Don’t put it off either. I’m sure if you ask the Lord what it is that’s hindering the Spirit’s work in your life, He’d tell you. However, some of us are afraid to ask because we’re afraid of what He’ll tell us. Don’t be afraid. God won’t ask you to do anything that isn’t ultimately for your good. You can trust Him.

3. The Proposed Compromise (21:22-34) – We’ll just touch on this part briefly, and we’ll be done. At this point, Abimelech makes a return to the story. We met him in the last chapter when Abraham lied to him about Sarah being his wife. After a few years of apparently observing Abraham and his actions, Abimelech decides to approach him with a compromise. Their relationship obviously did not get off on the right foot, but now he sees that there’s clearly something different about Abraham. He tells him, “God is with thee in all that thou doest.” It was obvious to him, even as a non-believer.

The good news is that you can rebuild your testimony even if it does get broken. It takes time, but it can be done. It’s amazing to see this king, who was militarily and politically superior and was in charge of an entire nation, coming to this 100-year-old man seeking an agreement of cordial relations. He had no reason to do this other than seeing the reality of God in Abraham’s life.

When lost people look at your life, do they see something different? Do they see something in your life that they don’t have? They should be able to. They may not so openly admit that it’s the power of God in your life, and they may not be as cordial about it as Abimelech was, but there should be something about us that catches their attention. It should be noticeable to them.

I think part of the problem is that we as Christians don’t want to stand out, and we don’t want to draw attention with the way we live. We’re afraid of the consequences, especially with the direction the world is headed. What is going to turn things around in the lives of those around us? It’s not which officials get in office this November, and I’d be saying that even if we did have more palatable options. If real change for the good is going to occur in this nation, it’s going to come from God’s house, not the White House. Let’s not be afraid to stand up for what’s right and let others take notice of it.

I hope something that was said tonight helped and encouraged you in some way. Maybe you recognized that you need to have more faith in God and His promises. Maybe the Lord pointed out something that’s coming between you and Him that you need to deal with. Maybe you’ve realized that you haven’t been taking a stand for God the way that you should be. Whatever it is, let’s determine to be like Abraham and put it into action and obedience right away.