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So we named her Jill instead youthful one in the sense of strong and
vigorous
Susan Boatright: At church one morning, my friend Gwen was about to start her
4-year-olds' Sunday school class when a little boy showed up without any
identification. Gwen managed to get his first name, but couldn't find out his last
name.
"Brian, what's your daddy's name?" she asked. "Daddy," he replied.
She tried again, "Brian, what's your mommy's name?" "Mommy," he answered.
Suddenly she realized exactly how she could get the answer she needed.
"Brian, what does your daddy call your mommy?" His face lit up. With a grin and
a deep voice, he replied, "Hey, Babe."
In biblical times even more than today names were bound up with the
very essence of personality and even destiny
Todays passage in Genesis includes the only instance in the OT of a
human naming God as well as the renaming of Abram and Sarai, as well
as the naming of Ishmael and Isaac
I.
Abram had been given a promise of an heir and many descendants that
had not yet been fulfilled
God had made it clear that the heir of promise would be a son coming from
his own body
But still no mention of Sarah being the mother and still no child
Growing understandable impatient and perhaps bitter Sarai took
matters into her own hands:
Genesis 16:1-2 Now Sarai, Abrams wife, had borne him no children. She had a
female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said to Abram,
Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my
servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her. And Abram listened to the
voice of Sarai.
Note: the LORD has prevented me therefore, Sarai took matters into her
own hands
But this plan was born of human will and not of faith in Gods miraculous
power
And Abram should have known better for He had heard the voice of God
But instead he listened to the voice of his wife not in the sense of a wise
husband respecting his wifes input but rather in the sense that Adam
listened to the voice of Eve in the Garden
Well, human nature is human nature
And as in the case of Leah and Rachel, and as in the case of Hannah and
Peninnah, envy and rivalry and contempt erupted between the woman
bearing children and the infertile wife
Hagar the Egyptian slave-girl began to assume an air of superiority over
her mistress Sarai because she was now pregnant an attitude that
naturally hurt and infuriated Sarah
We can just imagine the slave-girl flaunting her pregnant condition in front
of her barren mistress in order to needle her and maybe enjoy a little
retaliation for any prior inconsiderate or harsh treatment
Sarah quickly grew tired of that game and complained to her husband
No sane man would envy Abram his predicament here
The reason there is divided opinion on this issue is that sometimes the
angel of the LORD speaks as if he is God and sometimes the angel of
the LORD speaks as if he is representing God
One thing that is clear when the angel of the LORD speaks it is as
though God Himself were speaking to that person
The angel of the LORD spoke to Hagar with a command and a promise
Genesis 16:8-12 And he said, Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come
from and where are you going? She said, I am fleeing from my mistress
Sarai. The angel of the Lord said to her, Return to your mistress and submit to
her. The angel of the Lord also said to her, I will surely multiply your offspring
so that they cannot be numbered for multitude. And the angel of the Lord said
to her,
Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael,
because the Lord has listened to your affliction.
The Hagars and Ishmaels and vulnerable women and children of our world
need El-Roi The God Who Sees the vulnerable and abused and invisible
the God Who Is Present with us even in the darkest places
El-Roi sees all the evil that is done in the darkness
El-Roi sees your pain and all the wounded places of your heart and His
grace and love are sufficient to bring healing of any trauma and freedom
from any bondage
When He sees, sometimes He delivers and sometimes He strengthens
and heals
Some of you have already figured out that this name of God brings up a
significant problem: Why does El-Roi the God Who Sees Me why does
He see me and yet do nothing to rescue me from my misery? Why does
He hear my cry and yet not answer my prayer?
He sees the entire healing process all the way to end when we see Jesus
and become whole and become just like Him
II.
longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I
have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly
fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you.
No longer Abram exalted father but now his name shall be Abraham
= father of a multitude - Not just the head of one nation but the father of a multitude of nations
and kings shall come forth from his offspring ultimately fulfilled by David
and then by Jesus the Messiah Himself
And through Jesus the Messiah spiritual descendants by faith from all
nations and tribes and people groups of the earth
Annelle Maurer: One evening, my 5-year-old daughter and I read a Bible story
together. When we finished, I quizzed her about it. "What was Abraham's name
before God changed it?" I asked.
--She looked puzzled, then offered, "Lincoln?"
Whereas the covenant of chapter 15 was unilateral this covenant
contains not only divine promises but also stipulations that Abraham and
his descendants and all others entering this covenant relationship with
God must keep forever
In general terms (vs. 1): Walk before me and be blameless
And then the specific sign of the covenant:
Genesis 17:9-11 And God said to Abraham, As for you, you shall keep my
covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is
my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring
after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be
circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant
between me and you.
Circumcision was a known practice among other peoples at this time but
now it becomes the sign of the covenant with Abraham and his offspring
Circumcision is a permanent and irrevocable sign that cannot be removed
or eradicated more permanent than a wedding ring, for example
Circumcision involves the male as the spiritual head of his family and it
involves the organ of his procreative powers fitting for a covenant
promising innumerable descendants
Yes, God would bless Ishmael and make him into a great nation also but
the covenant with Abraham would be established and fulfilled through
Isaac and his descendants not thru Ishmael
door behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The
way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. So Sarah laughed to herself,
saying, After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?
Abraham had heard this promise before from El Shaddai -- now specified
with a timetable
But Sarah had not heard the voice of the Lord before this
Sarah responded much as Abraham had she laughed to herself but
with unbelief, not mere incredulity
Was this the first Sarah had heard that she would bear a son in her old
age?
Had Abraham not told her of the promise that God Almighty had given
him?
Or had she heard the promise from Abraham but persisted in unbelief?
Her silent laugh her unbelieving laugh was heard by the Lord who is
a God who sees inside the heart and hears our every thought
Genesis 18:13-15 The Lord said to Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh and say,
Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old? Is anything too hard for the
Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and
Sarah shall have a son. But Sarah denied it, saying, I did not laugh, for she
was afraid. He said, No, but you did laugh.
This kind of triangulation goes against our church Communication
Guidelines but I guess we can allow for God to deal with Sarah as He
sees fit
Confronted with her unbelieving laugh and afraid of being reprimanded
by the Lord like any good politician Sarah denies it
Lying to the God who sees and hears and knows everything is rather futile
I didnt laugh Oh, but you did
Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?
Is anything too hard for the Lord?
(Conclusion):
God built up the faith of Abraham and then Sarah over a 25-yearperiod
First the promise of making Abraham into a great nation with innumerable
descendants
Then the clarification that the promised heir would be his own biological
son
Then the promise of land confirmed by a covenant ceremony
Then the name change and covenant of circumcision
Then after Hagar and the birth of Ishmael the clarification that the
promised heir would be Sarahs biological son
And finally, the Lords promise heard by Sarah next year Sarah shall
have a son
And the Lords statement: Is anything too hard for the Lord?
How about you? Where are you on your faith journey?
Are you facing a situation where you need to hear: Is anything too hard for
the Lord El Shaddai God Almighty?
Andrew Murray: Beware in your prayer, above everything, of limiting God,
not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what he can do.
This is not make a wish genie in the bottle wish for anything you want
and God will do it
The context in this story is that God is the one taking the initiative with
the promises with the covenants with the conditions with the
assignments
This is not even like Hannah crying out to God for a baby
Isaac was Gods idea not Abrahams or Sarahs prayer
They are simply being asked to believe Gods promise however humanly
impossible on the basis of: Is anything too hard for the Lord?
What is God asking you to believe or do that can be done only by His
power that requires you to believe and act on the truth that Nothing
is too hard for the Lord?
What is God asking our church body to believe or do that can be done
only by His power that requires us to believe and act on the truth that
Nothing is too hard for the Lord?
Prayer // Step by Step * Great I Am