He visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised.
And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him.
Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac.
And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.
Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
And Sarah said, God has made laughter for me.
Everyone who hears will laugh over me.
And she said, who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children?
Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.
And the child grew and was weaned.
And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.
But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing.
So she said to Abraham, cast out this slave woman with her son.
For the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.
And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son.
But God said to Abraham, be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman.
Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you.
For through Isaac shall your offspring be named.
And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also.
Because he is your offspring.
So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar.
Putting it on her shoulder along with the child and sent her away.
And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes.
And then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bow shot.
For she said, let not me look on the death of the child.
And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept.
And God heard the voice of the boy.
And the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her,
What troubles you, Hagar?
Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.
Up.
Lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand.
For I will make him into a great nation.
And then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.
And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
And God was with the boy and he grew up.
He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow.
He lived in the wilderness of Paran.
And his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
At that time, Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham,
God is with you in all that you do.
Now, therefore, swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my descendants or with my posterity.
But as I have dealt kindly with you, so you will deal with me and with the land where you have sojourned.
And Abraham said, I will swear.
When Abraham reproved Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech's servants had seized,
Abimelech said, I do not know who has done this thing.
He did not tell me and I have not heard of it until today.
So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech.
And the two men made a covenant.
Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock apart.
And Abimelech said to Abraham,
What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?
And he said, These seven ewe lambs you will take from my hand that this may be a witness for me that I dug this well.
Therefore, that place was called Beersheba because there both of them swore an oath.
So they made a covenant at Beersheba.
Then Abimelech and Thichol, the commander of his army, rose up and returned to the land of the Philistines.
Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God.
And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines.
Abraham!
Well, good morning, everyone.
Good to see you, Chelsea.
Yeah, there you are.
Good to see you, Chelsea.
Well, will you pray with me as we come to God's Word?
Come to God's Word.
Heavenly Father, as we sang in our first song, that this is God's only plan.
I pray that as we read Genesis and sit under Genesis 21,
fill us with the conviction that this is your only plan to bring life and blessing and salvation to us and the whole world.
So give us understanding and faith, in Jesus' name. Amen.
Well, Genesis is the first book in the Bible.
Profound, isn't it?
You're starting to think, what are we paying this guy for?
We ask him to go study so that he could share what he's found with us.
Genesis is the first book.
Now, it is profound, okay?
It sets the foundation, the framework for understanding the rest of the Bible.
This is God's only plan.
As we come to the birth of Isaac, the heir of all God's promises, of God's plan,
we've got to remember the larger story going on here.
Sin entered the world and brought God's curse, God's judgment, instead of blessing.
We've seen in Noah's flood, we've seen the fire at Sodom,
that the judge of all the earth must do what is right.
He is just.
How will God redeem and save his world?
Enter Abraham.
Not because Abraham is any better than the rest of the world,
but God graciously calls him.
He makes a covenant with him.
God is creating his own family,
calling them out of the world,
a people for himself of all nations.
He says all the nations will be blessed through him,
through this family.
Now how will God's saving purposes for the world be achieved?
The tension in Abraham's story has been,
there's no son, there's no heir.
How can God's purposes be achieved if there's no heir to carry out God's purposes?
And here in Genesis 21,
we're going to see three crucial things to understand about God keeping his promise
in providing an heir to save the whole world.
Here's what we're going to see.
In verses 1 to 7,
the Lord keeps his promise by doing himself what's humanly impossible.
In verses 8 to 21,
the one who is going to inherit everything is the son of promise,
not the son of human ability.
And then in verses 22 to 34,
the inheritance is just a matter of time.
It's coming because God's everlasting.
So that's where we're headed.
So with the birth of Isaac,
we're coming to the climax,
one of the climaxes in the story.
And there's something obvious.
If we know the story well,
you've heard it lots of times,
we can take it for granted.
We're told in verse 5,
Abraham was 100 years old
when his son Isaac was born to him.
It is repeated a few more times,
so we get the point.
Verse 2,
in his old age.
Verse 7,
in his old age.
When we're first introduced to Abraham and Sarah,
back in chapter 11,
we're told she has no children,
and she is now 90 years old.
She's past menopause.
The way of women has ceased,
we heard earlier.
And yet it's repeated here
as if it's kind of
offending our intelligence.
It's just repeated so much.
Verse 3,
Sarah,
Sarah conceived
and bore Abraham a son.
Verse 3,
who was born to him,
to Abraham,
whom Sarah bore him.
We get the point, right?
At the end,
verse 7,
it finishes with Sarah's astonishment.
Who would have said to Abraham
that Sarah would nurse children?
Yet I have borne him a son
in his old age.
We get it.
It's Sarah and Abraham's child.
Abraham was 75
when God first called him,
back in chapter 12.
What if God had given Abraham and Sarah
the heir straight away
when they were 75?
They would have rejoiced,
wouldn't they?
They were no newlyweds.
They'd had a lot of heartache already.
They would have been rejoicing.
Wow.
Instead,
God keeps showing up
and just
reaffirms his promise.
You will have a son.
Look toward heaven.
Number the stars.
If you're able to,
so shall your offspring be.
And Abraham believed the Lord
and it was counted to him
as righteousness.
Still no child.
At 86,
they get sick of waiting.
They want to help God
keep his promise
by their own ability,
using Hagar as a surrogate.
And they make an absolute mess
of things.
Then at 99 years old,
the Lord makes the covenant
in chapter 17,
and Abraham,
the man of faith,
hears Yahweh's promise again,
I will give you a son
by Sarah,
and he laughed.
He laughs
in disbelief.
Chapter 18,
the Lord promises Sarah,
she laughs.
They can't believe it.
They're very much like us,
aren't they?
They can only imagine
that God can do
what they think is possible.
How much are we anxious today?
Because we just can't see
how it could possibly,
how he could possibly
look after us.
They're just like us.
They're too afraid to hope.
It just hurts.
It actually hurts too much
when you just cling
to God's promises
and they don't come true
for 25 years.
They can't believe it anymore.
So what are we meant
to be seeing here?
What would they have known
now that they're holding
Isaac in their hands?
What would they have known
that day?
I think they would have known this.
They had nothing,
we had nothing to do
with the birth of this child
whatsoever.
We had nothing to do with it.
And nothing is too wonderful
for the Lord.
He can do anything.
This is impossible.
When things seem hopeless,
Yahweh visited.
He did it.
He did it himself.
Mercifully.
Impossibly.
The Lord has done this
and it is wonderful
in our eyes.
every time they
or someone else
use Isaac's name.
Remember,
it means laughter.
Hey, laughter,
come wash your hands
before dinner.
Laughter,
tidy up your tent.
It would have reminded them
every day
about two things.
When they heard
God's promise,
they both laughed.
They didn't believe God.
It would have reminded them
of Hagar incident.
It would have reminded
of putting Sarah
in danger
with Abimelech,
what we saw last week.
If God had left it up
to them
and their faith,
Abraham would have
stuffed it up.
Every day
they would have had
that reminder.
They laughed.
But the second thing
and the more important thing,
every time they heard
laughter,
his name is a daily
reminder of the Lord's
gracious faithfulness
to keep his word,
his promise.
Let's emphasize here,
verse 1,
as he had said,
as he had promised
at the time
of which
God had spoken
to him.
And here we see
Sarah laughing again.
She's laughing.
This is the laugh
that God's grace
gives you.
God has made
laughter for me.
What's the right response
to God keeping his promise?
I think we see here
in Sarah and Abraham.
If you see how wonderful
God keeping his word is,
you praise.
You just,
wow,
that you are a God
who keeps your word
so graciously
despite my lack of faith
and lack of obedience.
You praise.
You make me laugh
and the right response
is obedience.
Abraham obeys.
He names and circumcises
Isaac in covenant obedience.
Praise and obedience.
So what are we seeing
here in Genesis,
the first book
of the Bible?
How will God save
all the nations
of the earth?
He will graciously
keep his covenant promises
by doing what's
humanly impossible,
visiting himself.
There's a trend
at the moment
of evangelical,
I don't know
if you know or not,
we're an evangelical church.
We're all about
the message,
the promise
fulfilled in Jesus.
That's at the heart
of evangelical Christianity.
There's a trend
of evangelicals
going to Catholicism
and Eastern Orthodox,
just that tradition
way of doing church.
Are we just
one different branch
of all the different
types of Christianity
out there
in the marketplace?
Is this just
one way
of doing Christianity?
I'm going to say no
because Genesis
is the first book
of the Bible.
John Woodhouse,
he's the former principal
of Moore College.
He came and spoke
at our church camp
a number of years ago.
He wrote a tiny book
but it was profound
in my understanding.
It's called
God of Word
and he says this,
it is not that we
evangelicals
emphasize the Word
of God
while Catholics
emphasize sacraments
and charismatics
emphasize the Holy Spirit
and liberals
emphasize good works.
God of God
Woodhouse says this,
this is really simple
but it's profound.
Where you have
the Word of God
creating faith
in God,
there is all
of biblical Christianity.
That's what we're
seeing here.
It's God
keeping His Word.
That is Christianity.
That is how
He's going to
fulfill His promise.
Well,
verse 8,
the second thing,
the second foundation
we learn here.
How many,
how common is it
at weddings
or special family events,
Christmas Day
or something,
at some point
there's some family
bust up,
isn't there?
Like,
there's something
about those
special days
that,
I don't know,
emotion,
maybe it is because
it's the special day.
Emotions are high
and just those
old jealousies
and grudges,
they can't,
they just wait
for that day.
Here we've got
that day,
verse 8,
this is Abraham
and Sarah's
greatest celebration
in their life.
They're throwing
a party
with the birth
of Isaac
when he's weaned.
In our culture,
it might be the first
birthday party
but Isaac here
is probably two,
maybe three,
little infant.
Ishmael would be
13 or 14
and just as
Hagar
taunted
Sarah
back in
chapter 16,
here we've got
Ishmael
laughing,
maybe mocking.
It's not quite,
it's hard to know
what to imagine
here.
The word laughing
is different
to previous verses.
It's the same
word that
when Lot
was warning
his sons-in-law
get out of Sodom,
they thought
he was jesting.
And then Potiphar's
wife,
which we see
later in Genesis,
she uses this
word as
Joseph was
making sport
of her.
So jesting,
making sport,
something's going
on here.
It's Isaac's
big celebration,
he's the heir
and Sarah
sees Ishmael
doing something
that's,
it's just not
befitting the
moment and she
flips out.
Drive out.
This is
forceful language,
drive that
slave woman
out.
Like she can't
even use her
name,
like even
though she
used Hagar
as a surrogate,
she can't
even use her
name.
This is
deep anger.
With her
son.
It's also
Abraham's
son.
Now verse
11,
Abraham is
deeply
distressed.
He has
deep affection
for Ishmael.
But the
shock,
isn't the
shock,
verse 12,
what God's
response is?
Be not
displeased
because of
the boy
and because
of your
slave woman.
Whatever Sarah
says to you,
do as she
tells you,
for through
Isaac
shall your
offspring be
named.
God's
love.
The Lord
agrees with
the wisdom
of these
boys parting
ways but
he's not
agreeing with
Sarah's
jealousy or
pettiness.
We shouldn't
equate those
two things.
Now this
feels so
wrong,
doesn't it,
to send
off a child
in the care
of his
mother like
this.
It must
have hurt
Abraham
incredibly,
likely never
to see
them again.
But he
did have
this
reassurance
that the
Lord would
look after
him.
He would
become a
great nation.
If we
look at the
end of this
section,
I suspect
a lot of
people would
be happy
with the
blessings
Ishmael
receives.
If you
got this
from God
in life,
I think a
lot of
people would
be content.
He gets
a family,
his name,
he's got a
legacy,
he's going
to have a
nation after
his name,
he's protected
from disaster,
that's pretty
good,
he gets
provided for,
we're told
God is with
him in
all he
does,
so somehow
God gives
him a
measure of
success in
his life,
he becomes
even an
expert with
the bow,
like he's
powerful,
don't mess
with Ishmael,
he becomes
powerful.
I think a lot
of people would
be happy with
those blessings.
things.
So what are
we meant to
see here?
How are we
meant to make
sense of
Ishmael being
sent off?
It's hard
for us to
understand today,
but the
firstborn back
then in a
patriarchal,
agrarian time,
the firstborn
became the
heir of
the land
and as
the heir,
as the
head of
the family,
it was the
heir's job to
look after the
family.
The problem
we've got
here,
we've got
two
heirs.
firstborns.
It's a
problem of
their sinful
making,
by trying to
take matters
into their
own hands.
We've got
two firstborns.
One is
chosen ahead
of time by
God, the
one provided
by God
himself,
impossibly
provided,
simply because
God promised.
The other is
the son of
Abraham and
Sarah, what
they could
humanly do.
Ishmael is
the son of
human effort,
Isaac is
the son of
God's
promise.
We've got
two heirs.
Now, Ishmael
is blessed
a lot with
earthly things,
but he
doesn't have
the covenant
promises.
Now, if
we've got a
problem with
this not
being equally
distributed,
I think we
don't get how
free.
God choosing
Abraham in
the first
place is,
it's totally
free, he
didn't have
to do
that.
His covenant
with Abraham,
it's free,
he didn't
have to do
that.
Choosing
Isaac, it's
God's free
choice to
choose Isaac.
The promise
is God's
free choice,
it's his
choice.
But here
in Genesis,
Ishmael
and Isaac
represent two
polar opposites
and the
Apostle Paul
picks this up
in Galatians
4.
He says,
the sending
off of Ishmael
is a picture
illustration,
salvation by
human ability
and salvation
by faith in
God's promise.
They are
incompatible,
they can't
dwell together.
this isn't
some later
theology of
the Bible.
This isn't
evangelicals
imposing the
whole, it's
just faith.
It's right
here in
Genesis.
Only by
promise, only
by faith in
the promise,
is there
blessing and
inheritance.
It is not
the son of
human ability
that will
inherit.
Well, at the
start of the
Great Awakening,
mass, mass
revivals in
America and
the UK,
there was a
group who
met together
one night,
John and
Charles Wesley,
we sing some
of Charles
Wesley hymns
still today
and they're
reading the
preface of
Martin Luther's
commentary on
Galatians and
they're reading
aloud this
sentence.
When it
comes to
salvation,
what have
we then
nothing to
do?
know nothing.
Only to
accept of
him who
of God
is made
unto us
our
wisdom
and
righteousness,
sanctification
and redemption.
And William
Holland, who
was there that
night, he
said,
at those
words there
came over
me such
a power
that I
cannot
well
describe.
My
great
burden
fell off
in an
instant.
My
heart
was so
filled
with
peace
and
love
I
burst
into
tears.
I
almost
thought
I
saw
my
saviour.
My
companions
perceiving
me so
affected
fell on
their
knees
and
prayed
and
when
I
afterwards
went
into
the
street
I
could
scarcely
feel
the
ground
I
trot
upon.
No one
will
ever
inherit
salvation
by human
abilities.
salvation
we're
seeing
here
salvation
is by
the
son
of
promise.
It's
always
been
faith
in
the
promise
of
those
who
inherit
everything.
Have
we
got
nothing
to
do?
Nothing.
Just
accept
of
him.
Here
it is
right in
the first
book of
the
Bible.
The
third
thing
verses
22
to
34
we've
got
this
abrupt
scene
change
where
Bimelech
turns up
again
who we
saw last
week.
What's
he doing
here?
Twice
we're
told
verse
24
and
then
at
the
end
in
verse
34
Abraham
he has
no rights
he's
not a
citizen
he's a
sojourner
he's
got a
temporary
work
visa
to put
it in
today's
language.
We've
just seen
one
exile
so
Abimelech
turning up
with his
commander
by his
side
you might
start to
think this
could be
intimidation
he's
another
exile
but
he's
got his
muscle
next to
him
but
no
this
king
wants
to make
a
treaty
with
this
foreigner
Abraham
owns
no
land
and
yet
Abimelech
seems
concerned
for his
people's
future
his
posterity
he
even
mentions
the
land
so
Abimelech
as we
saw
last
week
he's
experienced
God's
blessing
of
Abraham
first
hand
even
when
Abraham
didn't
deserve
it
he'd
been
taught
to
submit
to
Abraham
as a
prophet
to
intercede
for him
to be
blessed
perhaps
he saw
Abraham
still
prospering
perhaps
he heard
the news
of this
child
that
is
impossible
if
God
is
with
him
in
giving
this
air
I
better
do
something
for
my
people
Abimelech
a king
of the
nations
is
seeing
this
foreigner
with
the
eyes
of
faith
God
is
with
Abraham
I
think
he's
like
Psalm
2
urges
kings
be
wise
kiss
in
peace
God's
chosen
one
I
think
we're
starting
to see
God's
promises
to
Abraham
come
true
he is
a
nation
coming
for
peace
and
blessing
then
we've
got
this
grievance
Abraham
raises
a
grievance
about
a
well
that
he
dug
and
so
he's
got
the
right
to
use
it
but
Abimelech
servants
have
taken
it
Abraham
is
not
content
with
peace
faking
he's
not
going
to
make
a
peace
treaty
and
just
ignore
this
grievance
he's
not
breaking
he's
not
refusing
to
enter
this
peace
agreement
they
reconcile
and
they
make
this
peace
treaty
I
think
the
emphasis
is
on
the
land
here
they
made
a
covenant
at
Bathsheba
verse
32
Bathsheba
is at
the
southern
end
of
the
promised
land
now
maybe
I'm
not
quite
sure
but
maybe
that's
the
significance
of
planting
a
tree
it
takes
decades
generations
for a
tree
to
fully
grow
and
here
Abraham
is
calling
on
the
name
of
God
calling
him
the
everlasting
God
he's
worshipping
he's
saying
Yahweh
history
is in
your
hands
the
nations
are
in
your
hands
the
earth
belongs
to
you
my
offspring
my
future
it's
you
you're
the
everlasting
God
I
think
calling
God
the
everlasting
God
makes
us
recall
the
covenant
in
chapter
17
verse
8
I
will
give
to
you
and
to
your
offspring
after
you
the
land
of
your
sojournings
all
the
land
of
Canaan
for
an
everlasting
possession
and I
will
be
their
God
I
think
what
we're
meant
to
be
seeing
here
he's
got
the
air
he's
got
the
nations
coming
for
peace
and
blessing
and
here
he's
planting
a tree
and he's
worshipping
the
everlasting
!
God
he doesn't
own
land
yet
but he's
basically
going
it's
as good
as mine
already
the
inheritance
is
just a
matter
of
time
if
the
everlasting
God
has
made
a
covenant
with
me
it's
just
a
matter
of
time
the
full
inheritance
!
is
coming
if
you
could
imagine
going
up
to
Abraham
in
this
moment
he's
worshipping
beside
this
tree
he's
planted
and
just
asking
what
are
you
doing
I
think
this
foreigner
might
say
I'm
going
to
possess
all
this
land
one
day
further
than
your
eyes
can
see
like
he's
got
a
well
that's
great
that's
all
he's
got
would
you
think
he's
crazy
Abimelech
took him
seriously
he saw
God
was
with
him
now
that
promise
becomes
even
clearer
later
on
in
Psalm
2
verse
8
the
Lord
says
to
his
son
ask
of
me
I
will
make
the
nations
your
heritage
the
ends
of
the
earth
your
possession
in
Israel's
history
they
were
a
small
player
on
the
world
stage
like
you
take
even
the
highest
points
of
their
history
it would
still be
crazy
to believe
that
promise
but
especially
when their
land got
conquered
they had
no
king
no
heir
on
the
throne
is it
crazy
to believe
that God's
heir
is coming
he will
possess
the whole
earth
it's not
crazy
if it's
by the
Lord's
impossible
doing
because he
keeps his
promise
and he's
the everlasting
God
he visits
again
at the
exact
appointed
time
saying
to
Mary
a young
virgin
more
impossible
than
Sarah
behold
you will
conceive
in your
womb
and bear
a son
and you
shall
call
his
name
Jesus
he
will
be
great
and will
be
called
the
son
of
the
most
high
of
his
kingdom
there
will
be
no
end
everlasting
we
find
another
man
calling
on the
name
of
the
Lord
in
Luke
chapter
23
beside
another
tree
Jesus
is being
crucified
on a
tree
and God
the
father
is not
with
him
he's
cursing
him
he's
casting
him
out
and this
criminal
dying
beside
him
looks
at
that
guy
and
says
remember
me
when
you
come
into
your
kingdom
is
he
crazy
is he
right
to think
this
cursed
man
is the
promised
son
who
will
inherit
the
earth
and
does
he
really
think
after
all
the
sins
he
is
guilty
of
he
admits
that
he
has
any
share
in
that
inheritance
is he
crazy
are we
crazy
this
morning
worshipping
the name
of
Jesus
as
Yahweh
that he
is the
heir of
all the
earth
that we
are
co-heirs
of the
world
to
come
not
we're
not
crazy
if we
see
who
God
is
in
Genesis
the
son
of
human
ability
will
not
share
in
the
inheritance
!
It's
always
and
forever
been
by
faith
in
God's
promise
when
he
visits
and
he
does
it
it's
all
his
doing
and
it's
impossible
and
he's
the
everlasting
God
whose
plan
to
rescue
the
whole
world
is
doing
what
is
impossible
for
you
and
I
can
do
and
we
are
caught
up
in
God's
story
simply
by
faith
in
the
promised
son
that
all
the
covenant
promises
are
yes
and
amen
they're
yours
they're
mine
whether
our
story
is
dull
or
full
of
darkness
we
can
laugh
with
joy
and
wonder
our
life
and
future
is
bound
up
with
this
son
of
promise
because
God
does
the
impossible
he
always
keeps
his
word
where
we
have
God's
promise
and
faith
in
God's
promise
that's
all
that's
all
biblical
Christianity
the
inheritance
!
It's
just a
matter
of
time
it's
coming
plant a
tree
if that
helps
I don't
know
but
it's
coming
it's
a
matter
of
time
we
pray
!
Let's
pray!
Father
some
of us
this
morning
are
doubting
whether
we are
worthy
enough
to
be
saved
by
you
we
know
our
faith
is
regularly
failing
our
worship
is
often
half
hearted
we're
ashamed
of
things
we've
done
this
week
there's
others
of us
who
are
pretty
proud
we
think
we're
better
than
other
Christians
we
think
we
have
some
rights
on
you
Lord
I
pray
for
wherever
we're
at
that
you
would
help
us
to
see
it's
all
you're
doing
it's
all
your
promise
you
doing
the
impossible
by
your
son
please
press
that
truth
deep
into
our
hearts
so
that
you
would
at
the
same
time
humble
us
and
lift
us
up
with
confidence
do
this
so
that
we
will
respond
in
praise
and
obedience
to
you
in
Jesus
name
Amen