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| Birth: | ca 2123 BC, (ABT. 2056 BC abt. 1948), UR OF THE CHALDEES |
| Death: | ca 2030 BC, ABT. 2123 AF, (ABT. 1881 BC) |
| Sex: | M |
| Father: | Terah (Terih), King of Agade b. in ca 2145 BC, (ABT. 2126 BC), OF THE UR |
| Mother: | Maria |
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| Also Known As: Abraham Israel |
| Burial: CAVE OF MACHPELAH, FIELD OF EPHRON, HEBRON, LAND OF CANAAN |
| Reference: 2714 |
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Individual:
Abraham and Ishmael
Genesis 16,17
Peace be with you, listening friends. We greet you in the name of God, the Lord
of peace, who wants everyone to understand and submit to the way of
righteousness that He has established, and have true peace with Him forever. We
are happy to be able to return today to present your program The Way of
Righteousness.
Two lessons ago, in our study in the Holy Scriptures, we began to explore the
story of the prophet Abraham. At first, Abraham's name was not Abraham, but
Abram. But in our program today, we will discover why God changed Abram's name
to Abraham.
The first part of today's lesson is a sad story which reveals something that
Abram did which was not pleasing to God. Some think that God's prophets never
sinned. But the Word of God declares: "There is no difference, for all have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Rom. 3:22,23) and "If we claim we
have not sinned, we make [God] out to be a liar and his word has no place in our
lives." (1 John 1:10) We have already seen how Adam's sin spread to all
people-young and old, men and women, pagan and prophet. Only one Person was not
stained by the sin of Adam. That One is the holy Redeemer whom God sent to earth
to save sinners. He was not stained by sin, because He came from above-from the
presence of God the Holy One.
In our last two lessons, we saw how God promised to make of Abram the father of
a great nation, from which the Redeemer would arise. Both Abram and his wife
were elderly and had no children, yet that did not cause Abram to doubt the word
of God. However, today we will see that, ten years after God first promised to
give Abram a posterity, Abram tried to "help" God fulfil His promise. However,
what Abram did, in his impatience, produced many problems.
Now then, let us continue in the Torah to see how Abram and Sarai arranged
things in an effort to have the son that God promised. In chapter sixteen of the
book of Genesis, the Scriptures say:
(Gen.16) 1Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. But she had an
Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; 2so she said to Abram, "The Lord has kept me
from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a
family through her." Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3So after Abram had been
living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar
and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4He slept with Hagar, and she
conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.
5Then Sarai said to Abram, "You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I
put my servant in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she
despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me." 6"Your servant is in your
hands," Abram said. "Do with her whatever you think best." Then Sarai
ill-treated Hagar; so she fled from her.
Thus we see how the sin of Abram produced bitterness and conflict in his
household. Sarai was jealous because Hagar was pregnant; Hagar was upset with
Sarai who was mistreating her. Thus, Hagar ran away from Sarai.
Next, the Scriptures say:
(Gen. 16) 7The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desertà 8And
he said, "Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you
going?" "I'm running away from my mistress Sarai," she answered. 9Then the angel
of the Lord told her, "Go back to your mistress and submit to her." 10The angel
added, "I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to
count." 11The angel of the Lord also said to her: "You are now with child and
you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your
misery. 12He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone
and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his
brothers."
So Hagar returned to Sarai, her mistress, as the angel of God had said. "So
Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had
borne. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael." (Gen.
16:15,16) Thus, Ishmael was born, the one who is the father
of all the Arabs. As we will see, God cared for Ishmael and had a plan for him,
but Ishmael was not the son which God had promised Abram. God's wonderful plan
to make a new nation of Abram had not changed. God is not in a hurry as was
Abram. God always does what He promises, even if it seems to us that He is slow.
Thus, the Scripture tells us that for thirteen years after the birth of Ishmael,
God remained silent, saying nothing to Abram. But one day God spoke again to
Abram.
Let us read in chapter seventeen, and hear what God said to Abram after thirteen
long years of silence. What we are going to read is very wonderful. The
Scriptures say:
(Gen. 17) 1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and
said, "I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. 2I will confirm my
covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers."
3Abram fell face down and God said to him, 4"As for me, this is my covenant with
you: You will be the father of many nations. 5No longer will you be called
Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.
6I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come
from you. 7I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me
and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your
God and the God of your descendants after you. 8The whole land of Canaan, where
you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your
descendants after you; and I will be their God."
9Then God said to Abraham, "As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your
descendants after you for the generations to come. 10This is my covenant with
you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male
among you shall be circumcised. 11You are to undergo circumcision, and it will
be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 12For the generations to come
every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcisedà"
15God also said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call
her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16I will bless her and will surely give you a
son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of
peoples will come from her." 17Abraham fell face down; he laughed and said to
himself, "Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a
child at the age of ninety?" 18And Abraham said to God,"If only Ishmael might
live under your blessing!" 19Then God said, "Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear
you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as
an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20And as for Ishmael, I
have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will
greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will
make him into a great nation. 21But my covenant I will establish with Isaac,
whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year."
This is where we must stop today in reading the Scriptures. We have seen how
Abram listened to the counsel of his wife and went to bed with Hagar her
servant. What Abram did was wrong. Ishmael, the son born to Abram and Hagar, was
not part of God's plan to create a new nation which would bring blessing to all
the nations of the world. However, the unfaithfulness of men cannot thwart the
faithfulness of God. Thus, as we just read, when Abram was ninety-nine years
old, God reappeared to him to confirm the promise He had made to him so long
ago. He said, "I am God AlmightyàYou will be the father of many nations. No
longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you
a father of many nations." In keeping with His perfect plan, God changed Abram's
name to Abraham, which means the father of many. God also changed Sarai's name
to Sarah, which means princess.
Here is something very wonderful. We are looking at an elderly couple who have
never had a child of their own; Abram and Sarai. Now God is giving them new
names in order to announce what is to take place. Abram is renamed Abraham, the
father of many, and Sarai is called Sarah, meaning princess. God was going to
give Abraham and Sarah a son, and from that son, a nation. Through that nation
many kings and prophets would arise, and, finally, the Savior of the world!
Truly, the Lord is great and worthy of praise forever! He did not forget what He
had promised to Abraham long before.
So what did Abraham do after God confirmed His promise to give him a child in
his old age? The Scriptures say: "Abraham fell face down; he laughed and said to
himself, 'Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a
child at the age of ninety?'" Abraham laughed! But he did not laugh because of
unbelief, but because of happiness.
Thus, the Scriptures say:
"Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many
nations, just as it had been said to him, 'So shall your offspring be.' Without
weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as
dead-since he was about a hundred years old-and that Sarah's womb was also dead.
Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was
strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God
had power to do what he had promised." (Rom. 4:18-21)
Nevertheless, Abraham wanted to know what would happen to Ishmael, the child of
his servant, Hagar. God replied,
"As for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless himàI will make him into
a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will
bear to youàI will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for
his descendants after him." (Gen. 17:20,21,19)
Thus, God confirmed His purpose to bring forth the prophets and, at last, the
Redeemer Himself through the descendants of Isaac. In the next lesson, God
willing, we will see how the Lord gave Abraham and Sarah the son of the
promise--Isaac .
Truly, God is faithful. God does what He promises. Nothing is too difficult for
Him! Listen to these beautiful verses from the holy Gospel :
"Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How
unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the
mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor? Who has ever given to God, that
God should repay Him? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To
Him be the glory forever! Amen." (Rom. 11:33-36)
Thank you for listeningà.May God bless you as you consider the meaning of this
verse found in the Holy Scriptures:
"If we are [unfaithful to God], He will remain faithful, for he cannot disown
Himself." (2 Tim. 2:13)
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