And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken. 2 For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. 3 And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him—whom Sarah bore to him—Isaac. 4 Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5 Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 And Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me.” 7 She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.”
Promise that was given to Abraham 25 years ago came to fruition. Most of the time we want instant results but as you will notice , more often than not, there is period of time between the promise and fulfillment of the promise . A period which always seems too long and passage of time where we feel God is not doing anything but it is during this time our faith needs to be strong . It is essential that we remain faithful. Here we see Abraham, the father of faith was put in situation where his faith was tested. Abraham named the child as God had instructed him to. Sarah was in unbelief and her words expresses the Joy and witness to miracle which could have only happened by hands of God.
The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast.
Issac turned about 3-4 years where he was going to start eating solid food and no longer needed mother’s milk. As in case of Issac, all of us need to grow spiritually and be able to sink our teeth into scripture . Strong meat is given to those who practice the faith and as you continue to grow more & more scripture is revealed to you by holy spirit. Read what Hebrew 5:13- 14 says 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Oh how important it is for us to be weaned in word of God.
9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing. 10 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.” 11 And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham’s sight because of his son.12 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. 13 Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed.”
Sarah suddenly realizes the problem she has created when she sees Ismael mocking Issac. As you may remember , she tried to help out God by coming up with an idea of Abraham having son with Haggar and now that Issac is born, she does not want that son to be anywhere near Issac and share in inheritance. Abraham is in dilemma as Ismael is his son and he loves him. Here God tells Abraham to submit to Sarah’s wishes . Lot of time we as man are quick to point to Ephesians 5:21 where Paul tells wives to submit to husband but here God is telling Abe to listen to his wife and do according to her wishes. Those who are married, please keep this portion of scripture in mind next time your wife advises you. God also understands the concerns Abraham has as a father and promises a great blessing for Ismael. Actually he reminds Abraham the promise he had given earlier. God fulfilled this promise.Ismael became a great nation -the Arab people of today. Ishmael is blessed but he was not part of God’s plan and as we know he proved to be thorn in side of Israel up to today.
14 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.
You have to love the obedience of Abraham. For all the time he stumbled , he always obeyed God’s word. As soon as God told him to send his son away , he did not wait couple of days but next morning ( early) he sent both of them away. Now here is great msg for all of us, do you notice he only gave them “some food & skin of water”? Why do you think Abraham who is one of the richest man at the time did not provide for his son ? Why did he not send few servants and enough provisions to last them few days until they reached their destination? As a father , I would have loaded up some mules , donkeys and Camels with food and enough water , tents and whatever I can give him to make the journey as safe as possible. Abraham did total opposite but when you take a close look, it teaches us parents a great lesson. God made promises to Abraham regarding Ismael that he will become a great nation. Abraham believed God would do what he promised. He wisely decided not to help out God to fulfill the promise as he did when Ismael was born.By his his action, he is saying, I have full faith in God not because of stuff I can give but because of HIS promise. No matter how much Abraham had given at some point it was going to run out . He just left it to God. Those of you who are parents like me , let this be a great comfort to you. Proverb 22: 6 says ” Train your child in the way he should go and he shall not depart from it.” No matter what situation ( desert or Wilderness) you child is in , no matter how far he/she walks away , he/she will not depart from the way . I like to speak to you parents out there, You might be heartbroken, discouraged . It may seem like your child has lost his ways but God is not through with them. As Paul says in Philippians 1:6 For he who has began a good work in them will be faithful to complete it. 2 Timothy 1:12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day. Have you trusted your kids to GOD? Are you praying for them? Praying with them? Sharing your faith and teaching them the way to go? if so as Paul says God is able to guard what you have trusted to him. We as parents and I am as guilty of it as anyone , we panic, worry run around like a lunatics to make things happen but that is lack of faith . We need to learn from Abraham . He heard the voice of God . Ismael, here is some water and bread . God be with you. Oh what an illustration of faith. Oh how Abraham is maturing in his faith. Another thing we learn is, Ishmael is type of flesh and Issac is type of spirit ( Galatians 4 :22-29). How do we have victory over flesh ? By doing what Abraham did : by sending it away and giving no provision. If there is temptation you are struggling with get rid of it completely. Maybe it is alcohol or smoking, maybe it is eating candy , what ever it maybe , just get rid of it. If you trying to stop smoking, don’t keep pack hidden in garage or glove compartment nor should you keep friendship with those who smoke. Just send it away , make no provision for flesh. Only way to get stronger in spirit ( faith ) is keep feeding spirit. we will see later in chapter 25 how flesh & spirit work within you.
15 And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs. 16 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.17 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. 18 Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation.”19 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. 20 So God was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. 21 He dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran; and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
Here in this verses which i will cover in short is God’s plan for nation of Israel.
Water was Gone : the water Haggar was given dried up quickly. In scripture water represents 2 things 1: spirit 2: Word. When Jesus was crucified, Jews rejected him as nation.Today Jews have no answers as Paul said in 2 Corthians 3:14, Jews are blinded and spirit has departed . Basically water has dried up.
Weeping: Temple was destroyed in Ad 70. Today you will not hear any music in Jewish service. Temple was filled with sounds and all kind of instruments were played but today only thing that remains is “ Wailing wall ” . Today Jews wail over the loss of temple . They can no longer offer sacrifice and without shedding of the blood there is no forgiveness of sin ( Heb 9:22) . Those of us who are born again are cleansed by blood of Jesus . Our sins are not covered as the blood of animal in old testament but our sins are washed away and God says I will not remember them anymore. Oh what glorious promise . what amazing grace.
Arise : God heard Haggar’s cry and told her to rise. The day is coming when God will give same command to his chosen people. When will this happen? No one knows the time or the day not even the son according to scripture.
Opened Eyes :She did not see the water until God showed it to her. It was right in front of her .Same is true of Jewish nation. Time is coming when their eyes will be opened and they will see the Messiah and recognize Jesus as savior.
Archer : In times of Genesis leaders were archers. When Jesus comes at time of rapture , Jews will be his archers ( leader) Church will reign on earth.
Wilderness of Paran: Paran means beauty or glory . Ismael lived in beauty and Glory. We see this prophesy come true today as Israel has become leading agriculture nation importing fruits all over the world. for reference read Isaiah 35: 1 and Ezekiel 36.
Wife from Egypt: Ismael married an Egyptians woman , in same manner Israel& Egypt will will become allies along with Assyrians ( syria, Iraq, Iran) . Yes it is hard to believe but it is written in Isaiah 19 23-25 .
22 At that time Abimelek and Phicol the commander of his forces said to Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do. 23 Now swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or my descendants. Show to me and the country where you now reside as a foreigner the same kindness I have shown to you.”
This is the same Abimelek that we read about in chapter 20. If you recall, he rebukes Abraham for his action . What did Abraham do? He did not make excuses . He knew he had done wrong but after that his conduct was such that Amimelek says GOD IS WITH YOU. what a great testimony of God based life. Does your life reflect such faith? Our behavior should be such that those around us can know Our God through our lives. Unfortunately many of us have become followers when we are called to lead. Instead of setting an example, we acts worst than those who are not believers. Let us examine how we conduct ourselves.
25 Then Abraham complained to Abimelek about a well of water that Abimelek’s servants had seized.
Abraham does not hold back just because Abimelek is king and just complimented him. He want to take care of dispute. It is always best to deal with conflict rather continue to grow. Too many relationships fail because we do not deal with root of the problem.
26 But Abimelek said, “I don’t know who has done this. You did not tell me, and I heard about it only today.”27 So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelek, and the two men made a treaty. 28 Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs from the flock, 29 and Abimelek asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs you have set apart by themselves?”
Abimelek plays dump or maybe he genuinely does not know about the servants behavior. In any case Abraham does not dwell on the past or try to prove his point but rather he just decided to move on and come to resolution so it would not happen again. Many times there is no healing because we continue to dwell on past. Just say what needs to be said and then move on . As Abraham illustrates here, take steps to make sure the same conflict does not arise again.
30 He replied, “Accept these seven lambs from my hand as a witness that I dug this well.”31 So that place was called Beersheba,[d] because the two men swore an oath there.32 After the treaty had been made at Beersheba, Abimelek and Phicol the commander of his forces returned to the land of the Philistines. 33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord, the Eternal God. 34 And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for a long time.
Treaty was made between the 2 . Seven lambs would be living reminder to Abimelek of the agreement that was made. As we see so many times, Abraham worships God.
What a wonderful lesson God teaches us through his scripture. The solutions which were true for Abraham are true today. We worship a living God who provides the answers to all our questions and way to deal with challenges we face. Someone reading this today is finding the answer for something they have been praying for. Read the word, continue to grow in faith. Do not follow a religion but make sure you have a relationship with Jesus. There is no church that can save you. There is no pastor ,preacher or pope or religion can save you . Only the blood of Christ. No where in Bible does is stay you need to belong to so & so church to have everlasting life but it does say no one can enter the kingdom without Jesus.May God add blessing to his word. Amen
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
only savior jesus 