Jan 17: Gen 16-18

Jan 17, Gen 16-18

One question I need you to answer honestly: IS ANYTHING TOO HARD FOR THE LORD?

Dear readers, I hope that you are growing in your faith as you are reading the study with me. May God richly bless you as you seek Him and His ways!

Genesis 16. Sarai had given Abram no children up to this point. You have got to first understand the culture that Abram was living in. Ancient times were so much different than times are today. An example would be ‘tax write-offs.’ For a ‘tax write off,’ companies and some individuals spend money on their businesses in order to save money. That might not make sense to anyone, living outside the 21st century American culture. And just like ‘tax write offs’ would most likely not make sense in ancient times, some ancient culturally acceptable practices don’t make sense to us. And here you are going to read about one of them. In the Ancient times, children were considered priceless. And the value of a woman was based on her ability to have children. Another acceptable practice in those times, was that if you couldn’t have children, you could have a child by a slave and it would be considered part of your household. Therefore a barren women could have an heir, as if it was her own. This is where we get back to the story. Sarai had no children. But she did have an Egyptian slave named Hagar, and Sarai knew that she could have an heir through Hagar. Sarai knew the cultures ways of getting a wanted child and she came up with the idea. She told Abram to go be intimate with Hagar the servant, so that Sarai might have a child through her. Like we learned yesterday, Abram doesn't always make the best choices, and this is another example. He listens to his wife, instead of trusting the Lord to give him a child, through his wife. Hagar ended up becoming pregnant and now you have two women challenging for the spot of wife. As Hagar apparently was proud that she carried Abrams child, it showed in Hagar’s attitude. And the war of the woman started. Sarai was already jealous of the fact that she couldn’t have a child and now Hagar was throwing it in her face. Sarai ended up getting frustrated at Abram. So, Abram told Sarai to do whatever she wanted with Hagar. So Sarai was very harsh with Hagar and Hagar couldn't deal with it any longer and ran away. An Angel found Hagar and told her to go back, but also promised that Hagar would get a lot of offspring because the Lord had listened to her affliction and heard her. Needless to say, Hagar was excited, because as we know children were a big deal, and she named the well where she met the angel, ‘Well of the Living One who sees me’ - I think that is pretty cool. Abram did have a son, Ishmael, through Hagar, Abram was 86 years old. 

Chapter 17. Thirteen years after the birth of Ishmael (Hagar’s son), the Lord appears to Abram again with the beginning of the fulfillments of God’s promises. God wants Abram to walk blameless before the Lord so that God can covenant with him. Additionally, God changes Abram’s name to Abraham (now meaning father of many or multitude), and God’s hand is on him and before him. Part of the covenant is circumcision for the young boys and every male throughout the future generations (including the slaves or foreigners) must be circumcised, showing that they are part of the covenant. Remember how blood was a seal of a covenant? This is an ultimate covenant with God and every male. God also changes Sarai’s name to Sarah (means princess because kings will come from her womb) and promises to give her a child and nations will come from them. God is making a covenant with Abraham and his wife and his soon to be son Isaac. What about Ishmael, his 13 year old son that he currently has from the Egyptian slave, Hagar? God will be with him too, and he shall be great too as he will father many and be a nation (the Arabs). Here, we see that God names Abrams son by Sarah, that hasn’t been born yet, Isaac. But when Abraham heard that he was to have a child by Sarah, he laughs and doesn’t believe that that could be. He then asks God to accept Ishmael, as that was a miracle enough for him to be grateful for, and to have his family line through him. But the Lord makes it clear, that the Lord intends to have the mother be Sarah. And that a child born of Sarah, named Isaac is who the covenant will be with. Out of obedience, Abraham took all his male men and Ishmael that very same day and circumcised them. Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised. Think about that for a minute. That is crazy obedience. Isn’t it…?

Chapter 18. The Lord appeared again to Abraham.This time as a man, as well with two other men which were probably angels, and Abraham ran from his tent to meet them. He must of known that they were important men as he ran to them - in the Ancient Middle East, men that were older would not be seen running unless it was critically important. Abraham gets them water and has a feast prepared for them. The Lord told Abraham, “This time next year Sarah will have a son.” Sarah was listening, as the tent walls must have been thin, and she laughed to herself in disbelief. Here, Sarah was past the age of childbearing and physically unable to have a child. She laughs to herself as she has wanted the pleasure of having a child for so long, and now she is told she will without the physical capability of carrying it out. Sometimes the Lord’s ways don’t make human sense.  The Lord, then questioned Abraham on Sarah laughing. But what is ironic thing is that it was Abraham who had the same initial response as Sarah. They both laughed. But despite them both finding it ridiculous that the Lord would give them a child, the Lord was faithful and determined to keep firm on his promise to Abraham, that he would have a child. The Lord then questioned Sarah about her laughing in disbelief but instead of being honest with the Lord, as Abraham was, she denied it. The Bible also gives us a reason why she lied, it was because she was afraid. And even though the Lord knew that she lied and that she lied in response to fear, the Lord still calls it out. And the Lord ends with, “No, but you did laugh.” Teaching us that the Lord doesn’t look over our sin, just because we have a reason for doing the things we do. And in Sarah’s case, her fear caused her to lie to God in the flesh. 

Now the tides change, and we find the 3 men to continue on their journey, to wherever they were choosing to go. As we know, one was God in flesh and then there were 2 angels. As the 3 men were walking with Abraham, the Lord told Abraham that the reason He was there, was because the cry of injustice has reached the ears of God in heaven. And the Lord wanted to see if what He was hearing, was punishable. As the 2 men turned from where Abraham and God were talking, they started on their journey down to the land of Sodom and Gomorrah. Meanwhile, the Lord and Abraham stayed standing, looking towards the city. Here, we see the personal relationship between the Awesome Creator God and his creation, and how God has designed this amazing relationship, that we get to have with Him. Here God, delights in seeing Abraham stick up for the righteous men that just might be in the city of Sodom and Gomorrah. And we get to see that God isn’t a wrathful, instant judgment, angry deity - who takes bolts of lightning and kills thousands with no thought or purpose. But instead we see a steady thinking, weighing the hearts of man, and then acting justly - kind of God. And God agrees with Abraham that He won’t destroy the city, with a mortal’s opinion of how many righteous men have to be in there to spare the city. 

To sum it all up:

• If God gives us a promise, it is not our responsibility to make it happen. Sometimes you need to wait for God to do the amazing. To force the hand or promise of God, can actually just make things worse. 
• “God’s Word does not return void” - even if it is physically impossible. What does this mean? It means that God doesn’t make promises like a human - a human who forgets or ‘tries’ his/her best. A human who promises beyond their means. A human who can’t make certain things come true, even if they wanted to. Like that purple pony you were suppose to get as a child, but never did. Instead, God isn’t like that at all. When the statement says, “God’s word doesn’t return void” it means that the things God says, aren’t empty promises, but instead always get fulfilled promises. It’s a promise, made by God, that never lets you down or disappoints you. If Jesus ever promises a purple pony, it means you would really get one… (Seriously though, that comment is for my wife…long story!)
• We can have a personal relationship with God. Remember that He didn’t get upset with Abraham or Sarah for laughing at His promise for a child. He only called Sarah out, when she lied to God about something she did. Here we see that God is personal and He knows that we are human, have feelings, have weaknesses, and have doubts about things He can do. But He stays faithful through it all. He knows what is best, but we can still discuss anything with God like Abraham did. God listens. And He wants you to trust that He will do what He says He can do.