The Life of Abraham #3: Promise & Hagar
CCEA
School of Discipleship
March
31, 2025
In Class
Take three minutes, get in groups of three or four, and share one thing you
got out of reading Swindoll’s: Chapter 6: Running ahead of God
Let’s recite Hebrews 11:6 together:
(Hebrews
11:6 NKJV) But without faith it is impossible to
please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that
He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Now let’s recite Hebrews 11:8 together:
(Hebrews
11:8 NKJV) By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go
out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not
knowing where he was going.
Promise & Hagar
Genesis 15-16
Introduction
Last week we looked at this battle between the kings of the East versus
those in the land of Canaan. Lot got
taken captive and swept away in the battle.
Abram rallied his servants and rescued everyone.
We also looked last week at Abram’s encounter with Melchizedek, this
mysterious figure that Abram gave a tithe of his spoil to. And Melchizedek blessed Abram.
In class we didn’t have time to look at the exchange between Abram and the
king of Sodom.
The king of Sodom offered to let Abram keep all the “spoils” as long as he would give all the “people” to the king of
Sodom.
Abram refused to take anything belonging to Sodom because he didn’t want it
said that he had become rich because of Sodom.
15:1-6 God’s Reward
:1 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision,
saying, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great
reward."
Do not be afraid – this is the first time in the Bible where we see
the command to not be afraid. It is the most repeated command in the Bible,
found over one hundred times.
Maybe it began to dawn on him what he had just done, being victorious over
these eastern kings. What if they come
back? What if he made a mistake letting
go of all those riches from Sodom?
:1 your exceedingly great reward
Abram has refused the wealth of Sodom, and now God offers him great reward.
This is not the first time Abram has turned down financial gain and God has
promised reward – Like Lot’s choice…
Quiz Alert! (heads up, there are TWO quiz alerts this week…
stay awake)
Lesson
True treasure
You see something similar when God hands out portions of the Promised Land,
and to the tribe of Levi…
(Joshua
13:33 NKJV) But to the tribe of Levi Moses had given no
inheritance; the Lord God of
Israel was their inheritance, as He had said to them.
We get our heads turned by all sorts of things that glitter and shine.
When you watch TV …
It might be a diamond ring or a box of chocolates for your
sweetheart.
It might be the latest video game or movie to find escape
with.
It might be a new pill that will change your life by
helping your body lose weight, grow hair, or just make you feel better.
Illustration
The Treasure, adapted from a
story by Alice Gray as printed in "More
Stories for the Heart"
There’s a story I like about a little girl who fell in love with a string
of plastic pearls. She had saved up all
her money to buy these plastic treasures.
After she bought them, she wore those pearls everywhere. She wore them to Sunday School, to
kindergarten, even to bed. She only took
them off when she took a bath or when she went swimming.
This little girl had a daddy who loved her very much. He tucked her into bed every night and read
her a story. One night when he finished
the story, he asked Jenny, “Do you love me?” “Oh yes, Daddy. You know that I
love you.” “Then give me your pearls.” “Oh, Daddy, not my pearls. But you can
have Princess—the white horse from my collection. The one with the pink tail.
Remember, Daddy? The one you gave me. She’s my
favorite.” “That’s okay, Honey. Daddy loves you. Good night.” And he brushed
her cheek with a kiss.
About once a week her daddy would ask her the same thing, “Do you love me?”
and “Would you give me your pearls”.
Every time she would offer to give him something else. Finally one night
the little girl was sitting on her bed with tears running down her cheeks. With a little quiver, she finally said,
“Here, Daddy. It’s for you.” With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny’s kind
daddy reached out with one hand to take the dime-store necklace, and with the
other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case with a
strand of genuine pearls and gave them to Jenny. He had had them all the time.
He was just waiting for her to give up the dime-store stuff so he could give
her genuine treasure.
We get so attached to the things of the world. We are so reluctant to give them up.
Abram had learned to say “no” to the King of Sodom. He traded in the old pearls.
What he got in return was far greater.
The truth is, what every person ultimately needs and desires is not
something from the Lord, but simply
more of the Lord.
:2 But Abram said, "Lord GOD, what will You give me, seeing I go
childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?"
We think Eliezer may be Abram’s chief servant, perhaps the one he will send
in Genesis 24 to get a bride for Isaac.
:3 Then Abram said, "Look, You have given me
no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!"
Abram is just like us. God says we need more of Him, but Abram wants to
know what else he’s going to get. Will
he ever get that promised son?
:4 And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "This one
shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your
heir."
:5 Then He brought him outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and
count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said to him,
"So shall your descendants be."
:5 Look now toward heaven
It is evening. Looking at the sky in the night time
is a pretty cool thing to do when you live outside in
tents like Abram.
Illustration
THE LONE RANGER
The Lone Ranger and Tonto were camping in the desert, they set up their tent, and fell asleep. Some hours later, The Lone Ranger woke his faithful friend. “Tonto, look up at the sky and
tell me what you see.” Tonto replies, “Me see millions of stars.” “What does
that tell you?” asked The Lone Ranger. Tonto ponders for a minute.
“Astronomically speaking, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and
potentially billions of planets. Timewise, it appears to be approximately a
quarter past three. Theologically, it’s evident the
Lord is all powerful and we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, it
seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What it tell
you Kemosabe?” The Lone Ranger is silent for a moment, then speaks. “Someone
has stolen our tent.”
:5 count the stars
That’s hard to do in the city.
In our modern world, most of us don’t pay much attention to the stars. We
don’t spend a lot of time outside at night in the cold. Most people wouldn’t be
able to point out the Big Dipper or Orion’s Belt. But the ancients were very
familiar with the stars.
(Psalm 19:1 NKJV) The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His
handiwork.
When you take time to look at the sky at night, you are getting a glimpse
of the glory of God.
The word for “handiwork” has to do with something that is fashioned, made
with the hands, it’s used to describe “needlework”, some have considered this
God’s “fingerpainting”.
For Abram, every time he would look up at the stars, he would remember this
promise of God to him.
:6 And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for
righteousness.
:6 he believed
believed – ‘aman – to stand firm, to trust, to be certain, to lean your whole weight on.
Our word “amen” comes from this word. God has made a promise to Abram, and
Abram has said, “Amen”. He believes that God will keep His promise.
:6 He accounted it to him for righteousness
God looked at Abraham’s faith, and God deposited a HUGE check of
“righteousness” into Abraham’s account in heaven.
This is one of the most important verses in the Bible. It is one of the
most important verses for NEW Testament theology.
This verse is quoted in Romans 4, Galatians 3, and James 2.
When Paul was writing to the Romans, he was dealing with the issue of how a
person is saved.
Lesson
Salvation
What does it mean to be “saved”?
It means to be rescued. We are facing a terrible problem that we need to be
saved from.
For us, the problem is our sin, our rebellion, the things we do that do not
meet God’s standards.
Sin has a consequence. Sin comes with a penalty. Sin results in death,
separation from God.
(Romans 6:23 NKJV) For the wages of sin is
death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I think one of the worst things is that we lose sight of just how bad the
consequences are of our sin.
We think that all we should have to do for spitting in
God’s face is to put 50 cents in the church offering and say we’re sorry.
But the consequences of sin is hell. Those are the correct consequences. When a person goes to hell, all the
spectators in heaven, those who really see things for what they are, do not
cringe and think that God was too rough. They stand in awe at how exactly
perfect God’s sense of judgment is. (Rev. 16:7)
Hell is not a fun place where you will party with your
friends.
(Luke 13:28 NKJV) There will be weeping and gnashing
of teeth…
Isaiah wrote,
(Isaiah 66:24 NKJV) …For their worm does not die, And their fire
is not quenched…
Jesus told a story about a poor man named Lazarus and a
rich man. Both died. The poor man went to paradise (called
“Abraham’s bosom”) while the rich man went to hell.
The rich man is described in hell crying out across the
chasm…
(Luke 16:24 NKJV) “Then he cried and said, ‘Father
Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his
finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’
Notice who the man is crying out to. Father Abraham.
I wonder if we really understand just how offensive our sin is to God. This is what we need to be saved from.
How are we “saved” from the just punishment for our sins?
By having our sins paid for.
That’s what Jesus did on the cross when He died as a sacrifice.
(2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV) For He made Him who knew no sin to
be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
How do we get our sins paid for by God?
By believing in Jesus.
(1 John 5:13 NKJV) These things I have written to you
who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you
have eternal life
I want to share three applications from our verse…
Quiz Alert! (our second)
Lesson
Count on God
The first time Paul uses our verse, he is dealing with the issue of whether or not we are saved by believing in Jesus, or
whether we are saved because we keep the Law of Moses or are circumcised.
If you asked the average person on the street about what it takes to go to
heaven, their response would be something like, “Live a good life”. But that’s not true. We can’t live that good of a life by
ourselves.
(Romans 4:1–5 NKJV)
—1 What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according
to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by
works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God,
and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
Paul is going to base his teaching on our verse in Genesis 15:6.
4 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as
debt. 5 But to him who does not work but believes on
Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,
Grace means that you get something you didn’t deserve. If you were able to
earn your salvation by working hard, then God would owe it to you. But you can’t earn it. You need to be saved by grace, by something
you don’t deserve. Abraham was made righteous because he believed, not because
he worked.
If you want to be saved, you need to “count on God” to save you through
Jesus Christ.
(I know I played this video back in February for those in the “David”
class, but it’s just too good to pass up)
Play Video: The Man on the Middle
Cross
Lesson
Filled with the Spirit
This is the second lesson from Abram’s faith.
Counting on God doesn’t stop with our initial faith.
I remember as a young Christian I embraced for awhile
this idea that Jesus will get you in the door to heaven, but if you want to
“stay saved”, you have to take over and do the rest by
yourself. Not true.
We also need to continue to live our lives by this same principle, counting
on God.
One of the most important aspects of living like a Christian is to receive
the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
And this too comes from counting on God, not on ourselves.
Paul dealt with this when he wrote to the Galatians:
(Galatians
3:1–6 NKJV) —1 O foolish Galatians! Who has
bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus
Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? 2 This only I
want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or
by the hearing of faith?—3 Are you so
foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the
flesh? 4 Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in
vain? 5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles
among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of
faith? 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for
righteousness.”
The Galatians had begun to think that now they were
Christians, they needed to live their lives by trying to be good enough for
God. If they wanted the power of the
Holy Spirit, they needed to be good enough to earn it. And in the process, they
had stopped counting on God.
The power of the Holy Spirit doesn’t come because you are
good enough. It comes because you trust
God. That’s another lesson from Abram’s faith.
Lesson
Faith that works
This is the third lesson from Abram’s faith.
James will use our verse in a different way, to show that a person who has
saving faith doesn’t just sit on a sofa, but they produce a life of good works.
Paul has shown us that we can’t be saved by our good works, but here James
will clarify whether or not our faith is genuine, that
if our faith is real then we will prove it by our good works.
(James 2:18–24
NKJV) —18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me
your faith without your works, and I will show you my
faith by my works. 19 You believe
that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is
dead?
A person who claims to have saving faith, but whose life has no evidence of
good works, is fooling themselves. Their faith isn’t real. It’s dead faith.
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he
offered Isaac his son on the altar?
James is jumping ahead of our verse in Genesis 15 to Genesis 22 where
Abraham will offer Isaac on an altar out of obedience to God.
God will stop Abraham from sacrificing his son and say,
(Genesis 22:12 NKJV) 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.”
In other words, Abraham’s act of obedience in chapter 22 proved
his initial faith, or even “fear” of God in chapter 15.
22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by
works faith was made perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled
which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for
righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God.
How was the Scripture that we are looking at fulfilled?
It was demonstrated that Abraham really did believe in God
(in Gen. 15).
He believed that one from his own body would be his heir,
and that if God needed to, He would resurrect Isaac (Heb. 11:19)
24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith
only.
Faith in Jesus Christ will make us right before God in heaven.
Genuine faith will produce good works that justifies
us to the world, and shows that our faith is genuine.
But good works are a natural thing. I don’t strive to produce them. I let Jesus work in me.
Are you struggling today with wondering whether or not
you are really saved? If you were to
suddenly die tonight, do you know where you would be spending eternity?
Don’t gamble with your eternity. Be
certain. Put your faith in Jesus
today. Lean on Him. Count on that man on the middle cross. Count on the fact that Jesus died to pay for
your sins. Ask Him to do that today.
15:7-21 How shall I know?
:7 Then He said to him, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of
the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it."
:8 And he said, "Lord GOD, how shall I know that I will inherit
it?"
Abram has what the Jews call chutzpah.
He doesn’t just nod when God speaks, he wants to know more.
Abram has the “nerve” to ask God, “How do I know this?”
It’s a little like the Gentile woman who asked Jesus to heal her daughter.
(Matthew
15:26–28 NKJV) —26 But He answered and said, “It is not
good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” 27 And she
said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their
masters’ table.”
28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your
faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that
very hour.
:9 So He said to him, "Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a
three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young
pigeon."
:10 Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle,
and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two.
:10 cut them in two
We are going to see God making a “covenant” with Abram.
A covenant is an agreement, a relationship between two parties, a greater
party and a lesser party.
The greater party will spell out the conditions of the agreement (“if you
do this, then I will do that”) for both parties.
The “lesser” party can choose to agree or not agree with the covenant.
In English, our Bibles always translate the phrase as “making a covenant”
(you’ll see in vs. 18), but the Hebrew is literally “cutting a covenant”. You are seeing how they “cut” the covenant.
You will see this phrase “make a covenant” (or,
“cut a covenant”) throughout the Old Testament.
I found about eighty passages that use this phrase.
These covenants might be between people, or like here, between God and a
man or nation.
That phrase comes from the sacrificing, the “cutting” of animals involved
in the agreement.
(the word in verse 18, “made”, is
really the word for “cutting”).
We might also call this a “blood covenant”
This is a cultural practice used even today.
The animals are cut in two, half of the carcasses are laid opposite of each
other, and the blood drains off the animal pieces into a pool or path in the
middle where it begins to coagulate.
Then the greater party will take off their sandals first and step into the
blood, splashing it all over.
Then the lesser party will step into the blood and also
splash blood all over.
Each party is saying, “If I do not keep my part of the agreement, then you
may do this to me” (stomp on my blood)
In some countries today (like Egypt), if a marriage is being arranged in
this way, and if the son of the father doesn’t hold up to the father’s promise,
you will one day find the father’s body in a Wadi somewhere, his throat cut,
and footprints on his body.
:11 And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them
away.
:12 Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and
behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him.
:12 horror and great darkness fell upon him
Or, he was “terrified out of his mind”
:13 Then He said to Abram: "Know certainly that your descendants will
be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will
afflict them four hundred years.
:14 "And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they
shall come out with great possessions.
:13 four hundred years
This is a prophecy fulfilled when the nation of Israel would go down to
live in Egypt in the time of Abraham’s great grandson Joseph. They would be in
Egypt for four hundred years, serving the Egyptians.
When Moses brought Israel out of Egypt:
(Exodus
12:41 NKJV) And it came to pass at the end of the four
hundred and thirty years—on that very same day—it came to pass that all the
armies of the Lord went out from
the land of Egypt.
:14 with great possessions
When they left Egypt
(Exodus 12:35–36
NKJV) —35 Now the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses,
and they had asked from the Egyptians articles of silver, articles of gold, and
clothing. 36 And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the
Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.
For the Jews reading these verses after the days of Joshua, these are the
things that answer Abram’s question “How shall I know I will inherit this
land?”
They can see that these things did indeed happen.
:15 "Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall
be buried at a good old age.
Abram would live to be 175 years old (Gen. 25:7).
:16 "But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the
iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete."
:16 in the fourth generation they shall return here
Bible students note: four
generations = four hundred years.
When Moses brought Israel out of Egypt, Israel could see God was keeping
His word given here to Abram:
(Deuteronomy 7:7–8
NKJV) —7 The Lord did not set
His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other
people, for you were the least of all peoples; 8 but because
the Lord loves you, and because
He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty
hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king
of Egypt.
:16 the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete
Amorites were one of the tribes of the Canaanites.
Some folks have trouble when Joshua is commanded to conquer the Promised
Land and wipe out the inhabitants of the land.
Yet one of the reasons for this destruction was because of God’s judgment
on their sin.
God saw into the future and knew that in four hundred years He would no
longer be able to put up with the kinds of things these people did.
In 1902, Archaeologist Stewart Macalister began excavating at Gezer.
He dug up “standing stones” and an altar and realized he had found a
Canaanite high place, where the city worshipped their gods.
All around the site he dug up bones of children, some cut in two, some
decapitated, some were infants burned and buried in jars.
This was a sample of what the Canaanites were capable of.
Video: Excavated Canaanite High Place
When they would come back to the Promised Land, God warned Israel not to do
the things that these Amorites were doing…
(Leviticus 18:24–25
NKJV) —24 ‘Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all
these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you. 25 For the land is defiled; therefore I visit
the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its
inhabitants.
(Note from 1/8/16 – perhaps the “fullness of the Gentiles” (Rom. 11:25)
might be the sins of the Gentiles reaching a climax such as the iniquity of the
Amorites – Gen. 15:16.
The LXX in Gen. 15:16 uses anapleroo, while here it is pleroma)
:17 And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that
behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between
those pieces.
:17 smoking oven … burning torch
We see the practice being done in Jeremiah’s day (Jer. 34:18-20) where the
people had made a new promise with God not to engage in slavery. But just like
the promises we often make, they broke their promises too.
Both of these are pictures of God’s presence.
On Mount Sinai we see both smoke and fire when God shows up.
When we get back to the practice of cutting a covenant, it was the
“greater” party that would walk between the animal pieces first, followed by
the “lesser” party.
But here, God is taking the role of both parties of the covenant.
Abram is merely a spectator.
God alone promises to make sure these promises will be met.
God wants to be sure this contract is going to hold up. And it will only
hold up if He’s the one responsible.
It’s like our salvation. Our salvation isn’t dependent upon whether we are
able to be good enough. It’s dependent on whether or not
God is good enough.
:18 On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: "To
your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great
river, the River Euphrates;
:18 made a covenant
The Hebrew here is “cut a covenant” (karath
berith)
Abram’s descendants are promised all the land from Egypt to the Euphrates.
(See maps)
Here’s the current nation of Israel.
Here’s what Abram was promised.
The entire land of Canaan belongs to the Jews. If you want to take this
literally, so does the land of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, parts of Egypt (up to
the Nile), and parts of Iraq (up to the Euphrates River).
:19 "the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the
Kadmonites,
:20 "the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,
:21 "the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites,
and the Jebusites."
These are all the peoples living in the land at
that time.
These are the people that Joshua will conquer when he leads Israel into the
Promised Land.
16:1-16 Hagar and Ishmael
:1 Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. And she had an
Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar.
:1 Egyptian maidservant …Hagar
If Abram and Sarai were from Ur (modern Iraq), then where did Sarai get an
Egyptian maidservant?
She got her on their trip to Egypt.
This was the trip that brought so much trouble when Abram insisted on
telling everyone that Sarai was his sister.
:2 So Sarai said to Abram, "See now, the LORD has restrained me from
bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by
her." And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai.
:2 go in to my maid
This is the first instance of a “righteous” man breaking God’s pattern for
marriage.
Jesus taught on marriage in Matthew 19 and used Adam and Eve as a pattern
God originally intended all marriages to be like.
Jesus’ point was to prove that God intended marriage to be permanent –
“What God has joined together, don’t let any man tear apart”.
The pattern of the first marriage was also one of monogamy – one man and
one woman.
There have been other instances of men having multiple wives, but they
weren’t the “good” guys.
Abram’s son Isaac will stay monogamous, but his grandson Jacob will have
four wives.
There are cults that will look at these patriarchs and say that they are
the pattern for marriage. Joseph Smith
leaned heavily on the example of Abraham and Jacob when he brought polygamy
into Mormonism.
:2 I shall obtain children by her
The custom of the day allowed for a childless woman to do exactly what
Sarai is doing. According to custom, if
the child is accepted by Abram, this son could be considered Sarai’s child. The problem is, God doesn’t always follow
man’s customs.
God had promised that Abram would have an heir “from his own body” (Gen.
15:4). Technically, having a child through Hagar would qualify, right???
I don’t want to be crude and give you the impression that all men think
about is sex, but here is Abram being told by his seventy-five
year old wife to have sex with this younger woman. I think that for some guys, this doesn’t
sound like a difficult decision. It
doesn’t seem that Abram took too long to think about his answer.
:2 Abram heeded the voice of Sarai
Some fellows look at the trouble that’s going to result from this decision,
and they will say that this is why a man shouldn’t pay any attention to what
his wife says. That’s not the point.
Years later, God will tell Abram to pay attention to what his wife says
(Gen. 21:12).
This is a lesson of not letting your wife be an excuse for not following
God.
Lesson
Who runs your life?
There is a place for listening to the advice that people give us.
But nothing gets us off the hook of paying attention to what God tells us
to do.
No one should be our excuse for doing the right thing.
Illustration
There was a prophet who didn’t do what God told him …
A young man from Judah was given a message from God to deliver to the king
in the north. With this message, God
gave specific instructions about how to travel, who to talk to, and where to
stop. God’s instructions were very
clear. Give your message and go home.
But after giving the king the message, another “prophet” wanted to spend
some time with the young man…
(1
Kings 13:15–19 NKJV) —15 Then he said to him, “Come home with
me and eat bread.” 16 And he said, “I cannot return with
you nor go in with you; neither can I eat bread nor drink water with you in
this place. 17 For I have been told by the word of
the Lord, ‘You shall not eat
bread nor drink water there, nor return by going the way you came.’ ” 18 He said to
him, “I too am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by
the word of the Lord, saying,
‘Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink
water.’ ” (He was lying to him.) 19 So he went back with him, and ate
bread in his house, and drank water.
The story ends with the young man leaving after dinner, meeting a lion on
the way, and being killed.
The lesson of the story is very clear – when God gives you a clear command,
do it. Don’t let anyone stop you from
doing what God wants to be done.
Abram can’t point to his wife and say it’s her fault. He knew better. Don’t make someone else your excuse. Do what’s right.
Lesson
God’s pattern for marriage.
Abram has a clear pattern of marriage to follow. Whether it was Adam and Eve, or Noah and his
wife, the pattern of marriage from God was one man and one woman.
But Abram has seen the way the world does it. In Abram’s world it was acceptable to have
multiple wives. And now his own wife is
PUSHING this woman on Abram. Why
not? What harm could come from it?
The custom of our day is that a couple approaches marriage like this: Guy and girl
date. Guy and girl have sex. Guy and girl live together. Guy and girl have
kids. Guy and girl decide to marry.
Beloved, this is NOT God’s way of doing things.
God’s plan for sex and kids is to wait until you’re married.
God’s idea is that sex needs to have a relationship built on trust and
commitment, not just “love”. Many people
think that they have high moral standards because they don’t have sex with
someone unless they are in “love”.
You’re cheating yourself. The
right standard is to wait to have sex until you have the trust and commitment
that comes with marriage.
The same goes for kids – God’s desire is for kids to grow up in a loving,
committed family with a mom and a dad.
That’s the conditions that allow a child to thrive.
If you are living together or having sex and you’re not married, you are in
sin. You are not only grieving God, you are hurting yourself. Something needs to change. You either need to end the relationship, move
out and learn self control, or you need to get
married. That may seem like a hard
thing, but it’s the right thing. If you’re ready to get married, let’s do it!
Don’t cheat yourself. Don’t do it
the world’s way, do things God’s way.
:3 Then Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave
her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the
land of Canaan.
Abram was eighty-five years old when he takes his
second wife, Hagar.
:4 So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And
when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes.
:4 her mistress became despised in her eyes
Now that Hagar is pregnant, she stops acting like the “employee” and starts
feeling like the “boss”.
In ancient cultures, it was a mark of self-worth for a woman to bear
children. The more kids, the more
special you were. If a woman couldn’t
have kids, she often felt worthless.
Women with children could be quite cruel to the gals who couldn’t get
pregnant.
Jacob married two sisters. Leah was
a fertile girl and started having kids right away. Rachel didn’t get pregnant right away, and
she felt worthless without children (Gen. 29, 30). To make things worse, they
brought their handmaids into the marriage just like Sarai brought in
Hagar. What a mess!
The prophet Samuel’s father, Elkanah, had two wives, Hannah and
Peninnah. Peninnah was able to have
kids, Hannah was not. Peninnah was tough
on Hannah, even though Elkanah actually preferred
Hannah (1Sam. 1)
:5 Then Sarai said to Abram, "My wrong be upon you! I gave my maid
into your embrace; and when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised
in her eyes. The LORD judge between you and me."
:5 My wrong be upon you!
Sarai is blaming Abraham for everything that has just happened. But whose
idea was this anyway?
It’s not uncommon for wives to be mad at their husbands…
Video: Play Seinfield
Husbands Don’t Listen
:6 So Abram said to Sarai, "Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to
her as you please." And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from
her presence.
Abram doesn’t seem to want to get involved.
:7 Now the Angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the
wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur.
:7 on the way to Shur
Shur is the land between Egypt and Canaan, on the northern part of the Sinai peninsula.
Hagar is on her way back to Egypt.
The spring she stops at is over 50 miles away.
:7 the Angel of the LORD
This is the first mention of this title in the Bible.
The Hebrew word for angel is mal’ak,
and simply means messenger or representative. It does not refer specifically or exclusively
to the race of spirit beings created by God to serve Him.
This person pops up about a dozen times in the Old Testament and is used to
identify a specific individual. Some of his
appearances include…
He will appear to Abraham when Abraham goes to sacrifice his son Isaac on
the mountain (Gen. 22).
He will appear to Moses from the burning bush (Ex. 3)
He’s the one who sends Gideon into battle (Judges 6)
He will appear to Samson’s parents (Judges 13)
He will minister to Elijah (1Ki. 19).
He will deliver Hezekiah from the Assyrian invaders (2Ki. 19).
(Psalm 34:7 NKJV) The angel of the Lord
encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them.
I believe this is an appearance of Jesus Christ.
We believe this person is “God” because when He appears to Moses in the
burning bush, Moses records that it was “God” who was in the burning bush and
it was God who spoke to him (Ex. 3:2,4,6)
As the “angel” of the LORD, Jesus was NOT a created “angelic” being like
Gabriel, He was simply a messenger, the Son sent from the Father with a
message.
It is interesting that the first time this person appears in the Old
Testament in human form, he appears to a woman.
The first time Jesus appeared after His resurrection, He honored a woman,
Mary Magdalene, by appearing to her first.
It might have been a woman, Sarai, who started all this trouble, but it’s a
woman who also gets the first glimpse of this person.
And like the Good Shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to search for the
lost sheep, Jesus hunts down this gal who is running away from the family of
faith.
:8 And He said, "Hagar, Sarai's maid, where have you come from, and
where are you going?" She said, "I am fleeing from the presence of my
mistress Sarai."
Note that the Angel doesn’t call Hagar “Abram’s wife”, but “Sarai’s maid”.
And he knows her.
:9 The Angel of the LORD said to her, "Return to your mistress, and
submit yourself under her hand."
Hagar wasn’t allowed to “quit” her job, even when her boss was a total
jerk. She was asked to go back and
submit.
:10 Then the Angel of the LORD said to her, "I will multiply your
descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude."
:11 And the Angel of the LORD said to her: "Behold, you are with
child, And you shall bear a son. You shall call his
name Ishmael, Because the LORD has heard your affliction.
:11 You shall call his name Ishmael
Ishmael – Yishma‘e’l – “God will hear”
For Hagar, she will be reminded that God has heard her in her difficult
times.
Abram and Sarai would also be reminded that God hears. They might get to
thinking they should have asked God for help instead of taking things into
their own hands.
:12 He shall be a wild man; His hand shall be against every man, And every
man's hand against him. And he shall dwell in the presence of all his
brethren."
:12 He shall be a wild man
The Angel prophesies that Ishmael and his descendants would be trouble makers.
Ishmael was the father of the Arabs.
The Muslims regard themselves as the descendants of Ishmael.
The Arab-Israeli conflict that continues to rage
in the Middle East comes from this very chapter.
Without Jesus, the Arab and Muslim people have brought much heartache to
the world. Yet when an Arab or Muslim person
gives their heart to Jesus Christ, they too find God’s love and peace, just
like you and I have found.
Instead of getting angry with the Arab folks, perhaps we ought to be
spending more time praying for them and asking God for ways to reach them for
Jesus.
:13 Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her,
You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, "Have I also here seen Him who
sees me?"
:13 You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees
The Hebrew is El-Roi
He doesn’t just “hear” her, He sees her.
Lesson
God sees you too
It doesn’t matter what got you into the trouble you might be in today, God
sees you. God cares for you.
God didn’t look at Hagar as the “bad guy”.
He looked at her with compassion.
He even chased her down to bring her back.
It makes me think of the Prodigal son –
(Luke 15:20 NKJV) …But when he was still a great way
off, his father saw him and had compassion, and
ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.
I can’t tell you how often I’ve seen people make mistakes that have led to
unwanted pregnancies.
At the moment it all seems so tragic, as if a
person’s life and hopes are gone.
But God has a way of working with people who make mistakes.
He sees. He cares.
:14 Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; observe, it is between
Kadesh and Bered.
:14 Beer Lahai Roi
This place name means “Well (Beer) of the Living (Lahai) and
Seeing (Roi)”
:15 So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore,
Ishmael.
Abram gives the child the name that Hagar was told to give the boy.
:16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
:16 Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram
Lesson
Forcing it to happen.
The big lesson in this chapter is about how I get things done.
For Paul wrote:
(Galatians
3:3 NKJV) Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit,
are you now being made perfect by the flesh?
Sarai and Abram, the promise of a kid didn’t look anything like the
reality.
They just couldn’t see how this spiritual promise of God was going to
happen. They’d been trying to make
babies for years, and still no kids.
Sometimes a little human effort is required to fulfill God’s promises, as long as God is the one directing it.
When Moses was leading the Israelites out of Egypt, they found themselves
pinned between the Red Sea and the Egyptian army.
(Exodus 14:15 NKJV) And the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children
of Israel to go forward.
There is a time to pray and cry to God. But there is also a time
to get up and move. But it was clearly
directed by God.
How do I know I’m led by the Spirit or by my flesh?
Sometimes all you can do is look at what’s being produced by your choices.
(Galatians 5:19–23
NKJV) —19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery,
fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry,
sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish
ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness,
revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you
in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom
of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control.
Am I doing “fleshy” things or “Spirit” things? Can you tell which category Abram and Sarai
operated under in this chapter?
I’m learning that if something doesn’t happen right away, it might not be a
bad thing. Abram and Sarai are going to
have to wait another thirteen years. But
it is going to be worth the wait.
Patience (longsuffering) is a fruit of the Spirit.
Quiz
From the lecture (8pts):
1. _____ Treasure
2. _____ on God
From Memorization (fill in the blank, 2pts)
3. By faith Abraham _______
Homework
Read Swindoll: Chapter 9: What Happens When We Pray?
(Optional Reading: Swindoll chapters 7-9)
Memorize Hebrews 11:6,8-9
(Hebrews
11:6 NKJV) But without faith it is impossible to
please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that
He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
(Hebrews 11:8–9
NKJV) —8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place
which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he
was going. 9 By faith he dwelt in the land of
promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob,
the heirs with him of the same promise;
Blessing