GENESIS 16: ABRAM & ISHMAEL…THE BIRTH OF THE ARAB NATIONS

EVER HEARD THE EXPRESSION…IT IS AS FUTILE AS TRYING TO FIT A SQUARE PEG INTO A ROUND HOLE?

EVER SEEN A CHILD TAKE A WOODEN TOY HAMMER AND GET THAT STUBBORN, DETERMINED LOOK ON HIS OR HER FACE AND POUND AWAY….IN AN EFFORT TO PROVE THAT THEY WILL BE THE FIRST TO GET THAT SQUARE PEG TO FIT INTO THE ROUND HOLE…?

NOW THIS IS REGARDLESS THE FACT THAT THE PARENT, TEACHER, CAREGIVER…HAS PATIENTLY SHOWN THE CHILD WHICH PIECE ON THE BOARD FITS WHERE. AND IF THEY WAIT AND DO IT ONE BY ONE PROPERLY ALL THE PIECES WILL FIT INTO THE BOARD PERFECTLY…WITHOUT STRESS, STRAIN, HAMMERING AWAY, OR PITCHING A TEMPER TANTRUM…OR WITHOUT DIRE CONSEQUENCES…EITHER.

ALL THEY NEED IS PATIENCE…

IF I HAD A DOLLAR FOR EVERY TIME MY PARENTS, TEACHERS TOLD ME….FAITH…BE PATIENT…OR THE KAZILLION TIMES I TOLD MY CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN…CALM DOWN…BE PATIENT WITH YOURSELF…WITH YOUR SITUATION…. I KNOW WITHOUT A SHADOW OF DOUBT MY BANK ACCOUNT WOULD PROBABLY RIVAL BILL GATES!

I DO NOT KNOW ABOUT YOU, BUT I HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO HAMMER AWAY…REGARDLESS THAT THE RULES OF MAN, AND PHYSICS SAY IT CAN NOT BE DONE, MUCH LESS THAT JESUS SAYS…ASK ME…LIFT THE PROBLEM, WANT, NEED, WORRY INTO MY HANDS…THEN BE PATIENT…JUST GO SIT DOWN, REST IN THE KNOWLEDGE THAT I HAVE GOT IT ALL UNDER CONTROL…I AM YOUR SUDDENLY. BE PATIENT….WAIT ON THE LORD….WAIT I SAY ON THE LORD.

WELL GENESIS 16 IS A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE HAVE A PROMISE FROM JESUS. WHEN WE HAVE PRAYED IT UP, TALKED IT OUT, AND RECEIVED A NOD FROM HEAVEN, AND FOR A TIME, WE WALK IN THAT PROMISE…JESUS SAID IT…JESUS PROMISED IT…I BELIEVE IT…THAT SETTLES IT FOR ME…

UNTILLLLLLLLLLL….TIME PASSES…AND IN THE NATURAL THE ANSWER DOES NOT ARRIVE….WE KEEP LOOKING, WE KEEP EXPECTING, WE KEEP REMINDING OURSELVES WHAT JESUS PROMISES…BUTTTTTTTTTTT….STILL NOTHING HAPPENS. THE ANSWER DOES NOT COME…

WE LIVE IN A PUSH BUTTON WORLD NOW…POP A PILL..HEADACHE IS TOAST, GET HUNGRY? ZIP THROUGH A DRIVE THRU IN 3 MINUTES AND VOILA….NO LONGER HUNGRY. OOPS, NEED SOME CASH, IT IS THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, AND THE BANKS ARE CLOSED….NOOOOOOOO PROBLEM….FIND YOURSELF AN ATM….AND SWOOSH….IT SPITS OUT A 20 DOLLAR BILL. WANT TO GET IN TOUCH WITH A FRIEND…NOOOOOOO PROBLEM….DO NOT HAVE THE TIME FOR A NICE CHAT OR A HAND WRITTEN LETTER OR A DRIVE…..JUST JUMP ONLINE…..POUND OUT AN EPISTLE IN 15 MINUTES…IT SEND AND DONEEEEEEEE.

PUSH BUTTON….SO WHEN THE ‘SPIRITUAL AND HEAVENLY PUSH BUTTON’ DOES NOT WORK AND ALL THOSE AROUND US START IN WITH….

WELLLLLLLLLLL, FAITH YOU TOLD US YOU HAD PRAYED IT UP, JESUS HAD ANSWERED WITH A PROMISE…BUT HERE YOU ARE…A WEEK, A MONTH, A YEAR LATER….AND YOU ARE STILL WAITING AND WHERE IS YOUR ANSWER.

YOU HAVE NO ANSWER…NO DIRECTION…NO PROVISION.

I REALLY HATE TO TELL YOU THIS…BUT UMMMMMMM FAITH I THINK YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG.
YOU MISSED A STEP.
YOU DID NOT PRAY ENOUGH.
YOU MUST HAVE SOME FAULT, SIN, OR JESUS IS NOT AS HAPPY WITH YOU AS YOU BELIEVED…TRUSTED!

THAT HAS TO BE IT….SINCE NOTHING HAS HAPPENED, YOU SHOULD NOT BE STANDING…SPEAKING OUT THE PROMISE…WAITING…YOU SHOULD BE DOING SOMETHING!

OR THEY START IN WITH…GOD HELPS THOSE WHO HELP THEMSELVES…EVEN THOUGH NO WHERE IN THE BIBLE DOES IT SAY THIS…THEY SPOUT IT…

AND AFTER A TIME, YOU GET WORN DOWN, WITH THE HAMMERING, THE COMPLAINING, THE NO TANGIBLE, NO VISIBLE ANSWERS…EVEN THOUGH YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN A PROMISE…AND EVENTUALLY THE ROSY GLOW AND FAITH BEEN TO FADEEEEEEEEEE……AND SATAN AND THE WORLD’S BEST WEAPON DOUBT & FEAR & IMPATIENCE CREEPS IN…AND YOU DECIDE OKAY….I WILL FIX THIS MYSELF.

MAYBE EVERYONE IS RIGHT….JESUS IS WRONG, OR I JUST MISUNDERSTOOD HIM….MAYBE I AM SUPPOSED TO FIX THIS MYSELF…REGARDLESS JESUS TELLING ME TO WAIT…BE PATIENT…MAYBEEEEEEEE….EVERY ONE IS RIGHT!

I NEED TO DOOOOOOOOOO SOMETHING!

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED TO ABRAM…IN GENESIS 15 ALMIGHTY GOD PATIENTLY AGAIN ANSWERED ABRAMS….UMMMMM JESUS ARE YOU SUREEEEEEE? UMMMMM JESUS YOU DID NOT FORGET ABOUT ME OR YOUR PROMISES TO ME RIGHT?

ALMIGHTY GOD DID NOT SCREAM, DID NOT SHOOT A LIGHTNING BOLT FROM ABOVE INTO ABRAM’S REAR END…..NOOOOOOO HE NOT ONLY GAVE ABRAM A PROMISE, HE MADE A BLOOD COVENANT WITH ABRAM.
I DO NOT KNOW ABOUT YOU, BUT WALKING THROUGH BLOODY ANIMAL GUTS WHICH IS A SACRED UNBREAKABLE OATH IN GOD’S EYES….WOULD HAVE BEEN EVER PRESENT IN MY MIND…RIGHT..?

BUT ALMIGHTY GOD SAID ABRAM….FORGET HOW OLD YOU ARE, FORGET HOW OLD SARAI IS….I AM GOING TO REVIVE YOU BOTH SEXUALLY. I AM GOING TO DO THE IMPOSSIBLE. I AM GOING TO GIVE YOU AND SARAI AN HEIR OUT OF YOUR BODY. YOU WILL HAVE A SON……BUT ALMIGHTY GOD DID NOT TELL ABRAM…OOOOO BY THE WAY….YOU AND SARAI HAVE TO WAIT 10+ YEARS BEFORE SARAI WILL BECOME PREGNANT.

GOD WANTED ABRAM AND SARAI TO TRUST HIM…NOT WHAT THEY SAW, NOT WHAT THEY FELT, NOT WHAT OTHERS SAID…TO IGNORE THE DOUBTING LOOKS, THE SHAKING HEADS….THE WHISPERS, THE GOSSIP, THE LAUGHING BEHIND THEIR HANDS….JUST STAND AND TRUST HIM.

AND WHAT DOES ABRAM & SARAI’S IMPATIENCE EARN THEM… Hagar and the Birth of Ishmael & THE BIRTH OF THE ARAB NATIONS

TURN WITH ME NOW TO GENESIS 16...

Verses 1-2 tells us Sarai gives her servant girl Hagar to Abram & proposes a child for ABRAM THROUGH HAGAR.

“Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. 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.

Hagar, the Egyptian maidservant was undoubtedly part of what Abram received during his time in Egypt (Genesis 12:16).

Here is more hammering….Sarai encouraged Abram to take part in what was essentially a “surrogate mother” arrangement in that day.

According to custom, the child would be considered to be the child of Abram and Sarai, not Abram and Hagar.

Sarai did something that goes against the nature of wives - to give another woman to her husband. She probably did this because she knew the promise of God (that Abram would be the father of many nations), yet she thought SHE WAS THE PROBLEM with God’s promise being fulfilled. So in an effort to “help God out,” she allowed her husband make her servant pregnant.

Jewish tradition says that childlessness WAS/IS a punishment from God. It has been 2 years, since ALMIGHTY GOD made the blood covenant with Abram, and STILL they still had no children. Since SARAI suggests it, no doubt Satan and all those women around her told Sarai it was SOMETHING WRONG WITH HER, IT WAS HER BODY THAT WAS NOT ONLY OLD BUT DEFECTIVE…NOT ABRAM…SO SHE WANTED TO GIVE HER HUSBAND WHAT HE WANTED ABOVE ALL ELSE.

AND EVEN THOUGH this early form of “surrogate motherhood” was common and accepted in that day, it doesn’t mean it was right. God is clearly NOT leading Abram and Sarai.

Verses 3-4 tells us Abram agrees with Sarai’s suggestion.

“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. So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes.”

The long waiting for the promise discouraged them and made them vulnerable to acting in the flesh. Yet, even after this, it would still be more than 13 years until the child of promise came.

When we impatiently try to “help God out” in the flesh, it accomplishes nothing and may even prolong the time until the promise is fulfilled.

Want EXAMPLES OF TRYING TO HELP ALMIGHTY GOD OUT?

Jacob had to live as an exile for 25 years because he thought he had to “help God out” to get his father’s blessing.
Moses had to tend sheep for 40 years in the desert after he tried to “help God out” by murdering an Egyptian.

Abram was certainly in the flesh when he agreed to inseminate Hagar and not trusting in God’s ability to provide an heir through Sarai.

But this WAS NOT A ROMANTIC TRYST. AND IT WAS FAR FAR AWAY FROM ANY SENSATIONALIZED sensual romance.

According to the custom of the day, Hagar would actually sit on the lap of Sarai as Abram inseminated her, to show that the child would legally belong to Sarai, as Hagar was merely a substitute for Sarai.

THERE ARE OTHER OCASSIONS OF A SURROGATE MOTHER IN THE BIBLE. Remember Rachel’s giving of Bilhah her servant to Jacob when Rachel was barren. In that context, Genesis 30:3 reads: So she said, “Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, and she will bear a child on my knees, that I also may have children by her.”

The phrase “bear a child on my knees” refers to the ancient practice of surrogate-adoption. Some believe that the phrase refers only to a symbolic placement of the child on the knees of one who adopts it. Others believe that it refers to the surrogate sitting on the lap of the adoptive mother during both insemination and birth.

Then the worst thing from Sarai’s perspective happened - Abram succeeded in inseminating Hagar. This proved beyond all doubt TO EVERYONE, INCLUDING SARAI, that the problem was in Sarai, not in Abram, and it also could make people think Hagar was “more of a woman” and more blessed than Sarai.

Verses 5-6 tells us of Sarai’s anger towards Hagar.
“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.” So Abram said to Sarai, “Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to her as you please.”

“I became despised in her eyes”…tells us Hagar’s contempt for Sarai started the problem. She couldn’t resist displaying an inappropriate haughtiness, thinking her pregnancy somehow showed her to be better to be ABOVE her mistress Sarai now.

My wrong be upon you! Sarai blamed the whole situation on Abram, and for good cause. He should have acted as the spiritual leader and told his wife God was able to perform what He promised, and they didn’t need to try to “help God out” in the works of the flesh.

Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to her as you please: Abram seemed to make a bad situation worse by turning the situation over to Sarai and not taking care of the child he is father to. Yet, in this, he also puts his relationship with Sarai first, and that is good.

These terribly complicated and difficult situations often arise out of OUR IMPATIENCE…GIVING IN TO THE FLESH…TRYING TO HELP ALMIGHTY GOD. All in all, it is much easier to live life trusting in the Lord. God wants to spare us from these difficulties.

Verses 6-9 tells us Hagar flees from Abram and Sarai & The Angel of the Lord appears to Hagar and instructs her.

“And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from her presence. Now the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. 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.” The Angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand.”

As Hagar escaped this difficult situation that she had made for herself with her behavior and arrogance….it is stopped in its tracks when THE ANGEL OF THE LORD (here, the pre-incarnate presence of Jesus) met her by a spring of water in the wilderness.

THE ANGEL OF THE LORD….CAN ONLY BE JESUS CHRIST making another CAMEO appearance in THE OLD TESTAMENT. THIS IS JUST ANOTHER REASON WHY I STICK WITH THE KJV HOLY BIBLE…THE VERY IMPORTANT A, AN, THE are NOT CHANGED OR OMITTED IN THE KJV…AND IT HELPS US TO KNOW…EVERY TIME…IF IT IS AN ANGEL OF GOD…WHICH COULD BE ANY OF THE LEGIONS OF ANGELS OF HEAVEN….OR THE ANGEL OF THE LORD…WHO CAN ONLY BE OUR PRECIOUS JESUS CHRIST.

We believe this because of God the Father it says, No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him (John 1:18), and no man has ever seen God in the Person of the Father (1 Timothy 6:16).

Therefore, WE KNOW if God appeared to someone in human appearance in the Old Testament it CAN ONLY BE the appearance is of the eternal Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, before His incarnation in Bethlehem.

HOW COOL IS THAT?

“Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand”… JESUS CHRIST tells Hagar to do something very difficult: go back to her terrible situation and to submit herself to Sarai. We can suppose that Hagar might get very different counseling from many counselors today, BUT the difference is JESUS CHRIST KNOWS ALL, NOTHING IS HIDDEN…SO HE KNOWS HAGAR CREATED THE STRIFE...AND SO SHE MUST FACE UP TO IT!
BUT NOT TO WORRY…JESUS IS WITH HER…


Verses 10-12 tells us The promise of THE ANGEL OF THE LORD to Hagar.

“Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, “I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.” 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. 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.”

God has great plans for Hagar’s child. He will become a great nation. Indeed, Ishmael will become the father of all the Arabic peoples.

Today’s battle between Jew and Arab is nothing new. Both Jews and Arabs are descended from Abram by two half-brothers: Ishmael and the son to come later from Abram and Sarai, to be named Isaac.

ABRAM did what we CAN BE GUILTY OF…WE REMEMBER PIECEMEAL…INSTEAD OF THE FULL WORDS AND PROMISE. ABRAM FORGOT THAT ALMIGHTY GOD HAD ALREADY TOLD HIM THAT AN HEIR….A SON WOULD COME FROM SARAI’S WOMB…HIS BODY.

IT CAN NOT BE ANY PLAINER THAN THAT.
BUT ABRAM FORGOT THAT…AND SO DID SARAI.

The entire conflict can be traced back to Abram’s decision to “help God out” in the flesh, both when he agreed to inseminate Hagar, and when he went to Egypt to begin with. The effects of our sin may reach far beyond what we ever imagined. ALMIGHTY GOD SAID IT AND IT HAPPENED EXACTLY AS HE SAID. THE ARAB NATIONS HAVE BEEN IN CONSTANT CONFLICT AND WAR WITH NOT ONLY THEIR HALF-BROTHERS THE NATION OF ISRAEL, BUT WITH ALL THOSE AROUND THEM SINCE THE OLD TESTAMENT DAYS.

JESUS CHRIST EVEN WARNS AND TELLS HAGAR WHAT HER SON WILL BE LIKE…AND HE WAS!

“He shall be a wild man; his hand shall be against every man, and every man’s hand against him: Her child’s life will not be easy, but God will still bless and sustain him.
God’s dealing with Hagar gives us hope. God sees our suffering and desires to touch our life when we suffer…EVEN THOUGH WE MAY DESERVE TO SUFFER AND/OR BRING THE SUFFERING UPON OURSELVES.

ALMIGHTY GOD IS A PATIENT, LOVING, AND FORGIVING FATHER…THEN AND NOW, AMEN?

Verses 13-16 tells us God’s blessing and protection of Hagar and Ishmael.

“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?” Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; observe, it is between Kadesh and Bered. So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.”

“You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees”…tells us Hagar KNEW this was no mere angel who appeared to her. The Angel of the Lord was also the-God-Who-Sees, the same One watching over Hagar and Ishmael.

And it is interesting to note…that Ishmael is the FIRST MAN in the Bible to receive his name BEFORE he was born.

Apparently, Hagar did return with a submitted heart. She told the whole story to Abram and Sarai, and Abram named the child Ishmael, just as instructed in the meeting with the Angel of the Lord Hagar described.

After meeting with El Roi, (You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees), Hagar knew that if God could be with her in the wilderness, He would be with her in having to submit to Sarai also.

GENESIS 16 GIVES US MANY VISUALS…GIVES US MANY TANGIBLE EXAMPLES SO THAT WE CAN SEE….WE CAN UNDERSTAND….AND WE CAN FOLLOW.

TIME WAS CREATED FOR MANKIND, THE EARTH, AND NATURE.
TIME, IN AND OF ITSELF, HAS LITTLE BEARING ON JESUS CHRIST’S PLANS. JESUS CHRIST SAYS A 1000 YEARS IS AS A DAY….AND A DAY IS AS A 1OOO YEARS IN THE ETERNAL.

SO WHAT DO WE LEARN FROM GENESIS 16?

DO NOT BE IMPATIENT….WAIT ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
IF WE WAIT…IF WE STAND…WE SPARE OURSELF PRESENT AND FUTURE STRIFE.

WE LEARN WHAT JESUS HAS PROMISED US THROUGHOUT THE BIBLE…HE DID THEN, HE CAN DO TODAY, AND WILL DO IN OUR TOMORROWS.
HIS TIMING IS ALWAYS PERFECT.
HIS ANSWERS ARE ALWAYS PERFECT.
HIS PATIENCE IS UNENDING.

JESUS CHRIST WANTS US TO PRAY IT UP, BELIEVE HIS PROMISES, TRUST HIM, AND REMEMBER THAT HE KNOWS ALL THINGS, NOTHING IS HIDDEN FROM HIM.
SATAN CAN NOT SNEAK ATTACK JESUS.
SATAN CAN NOT PLOT SECRETLY.
MANKIND CAN NOT SNEAK UP ON OUR JESUS.
MANKIND CAN NOT PLOT SECRETLY.
JESUS KNOWS THE THOUGHTS AND THE PLANS AND HE HAS PROMISED US THAT HE HAS ALREADY GONE INTO OUR TOMORROWS…OUR FUTURE…TO MAKE A PROVISION, A PROTECTION, A BLESSING, FAVOR, A DIRECTION, AND/OR A WAY OF ESCAPE FOR US…LONG BEFORE WE EVER EVEN KNEW WE might HAVE A PROBLEM OR A NEED.

SO STRIVE NOT TO HELP JESUS OUT.
STRIVE NOT TO SECOND GUESS JESUS.
STAND ON HIS WORD…HIS PROMISES.
STAND…WAIT PATIENTLY…WHETHER YOU HAVE TO STAND A MINUTE, A DAY, A WEEK, OR 15 YEARS….THE ANSWERS, THE PROVISIONS, THE HEALINGS, THE BLESSINGS WHATEVER WE HAVE LIFTED INTO OUR JESUS HANDS AND ARE BELIEVING OUR JESUS CHRIST FOR….WILL HAPPEN…SUDDENLY…PERFECTLY….POWERFULLY…AND WHEN IT DOES….SATAN, THE LOST WORLD, AND MANKIND WILL KNOW WITHOUT A SHADOW OF DOUBT THAT IT WAS OUR JESUS….ALL JESUS…AND HE WILL RECEIVE THE GLORY AND THE HONOR FOR IT!

JESUS SAYS STAND…WAIT…I AM FAITHFUL…EVER FAITHFUL…TRUST ME…NOT YOUR OWN MIND, NOT YOUR OWN THOUGHTS, NOT WHAT THE WORLD THREATENS, NOT THE GLOOM AND DOOM SAYERS, NOT THE WORDS OR YAMMERING AND OPINIONS OF OTHERS…TRUST JESUS CHRIST…..TRUST HIM ALONE.

BE BLESSED AND STAY BLESSED IN OUR JESUS CHRIST!