GENESIS

ABRAHAM

The Promised Son is in Danger

Genesis 20:1-21:21

INTRODUCTION

From the very beginning God had at least implicitly stated that He would bless Abraham by giving him a son. Through the next several years God more specifically stated not only that Abraham would be the biological father of this son (not adopted) but that Sarah would be the biological mother. No surrogate mother would do, even if contemporary custom allowed for it. Moreover, God claimed that this promise would come to pass a year from the time that He destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The time for the fulfillment of this promise has now come.

Whether or not you want to insert Satan at this point is up to you; however, these 2 episodes demonstrate that forces were at work in the world in order to prevent this promise to Abraham from being fulfilled. The first force comes from within Abraham: fear for his own life. The second force comes from without: his own family, his elder son Ishmael. The enemies of God's people have always been constant: the world, the flesh, and the devil. Satan will try to use these forces to abort this fulfillment first by creating confusion as to the identity of the child's father and second by threatening even the very life of this child. Yet God has promised that Abraham would have this son and God is going to make sure that this promise is fulfilled. Whatever else is true about God's dealings with Abraham, this much is true: (1) God is faithful to keep His word and (2) in response to God's faithfulness to him, Abraham is faithful to God.

THE DANGER FROM ABIMELECH (20:1-18)

Since a similar episode to this current one occurred earlier whenever Abraham ventured down to Egypt, we do not want to dwell at length on this story. Suffice it to say that Abraham gets close to the area of Philistia (the strip of land along the Mediterranean Sea). There the king, Abimelech being his official title like Pharaoh was the official title of the king of Egypt, notices Abraham's wife and takes her for his own. He meets no resistance from Abraham who simply claims that Sarah is his sister (a half-truth since she actually IS his half-sister). God appears to Abimelech in a dream and informs him that he is a dead man unless he returns Abraham's wife to him and even has Abraham to pray on his behalf. Abimelech is naturally peeved at Abraham for his deception; however, he follows God's instructions to the letter by returning Sarah to Abraham, by lavishing gifts upon him, and finally by having Abraham pray for him.

Yet why did Abraham fall prey to this sin? Fear, fear for his own life. When Abimelech confronts him about his deception, Abraham says quite plainly: "I did not think the fear of God was in this place." Probably there wasn't. As believers though, we shouldn't have to worry about the issue whether or not people fear God. The issue remains "Is GOD in this place?" It doesn't matter whether or not people fear God. If God is there (and He is everywhere), then He is quite capable of instilling fear into the hearts of people, just like He instilled fear into Abimelech's heart.

One feature of the story definitely needs to be pointed out. Because God is upset with Abimelech for abducting Sarah, God for a period of time not only makes Abimelech's harem barren, He also strikes Abimelech with impotency. Even if Abimelech had had sexual relations with Sarah, nothing would have come of it since God had stricken him with impotency. (The passage makes it quite clear though that Abimelech in fact had not touched Sarah.) The promise to produce this son was NOT given to Abimelech but to Abraham. Abraham's deception jeopardized the genealogy of the heir; God though sees His promise through by striking Abimelech and his harem with impotency.

THE DANGER FROM ISHMAEL (21:1-21)

The Birth of Isaac (21:1-7)

The time for the birth of Isaac has arrived. Just like God had promised, Isaac arrives approximately one year from the time Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed. Isaac's name which means "laughter" now plays an important role in the ensuing story. Sarah, who had laughed derisively when God prophesied his birth a year earlier, now laughs for joy over the birth of her son:

"God has made laughter for me;
everyone who hears will laugh with me. . . .
Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse childrenn?
Yes, I have borne him a son in his old age" (21:6-7)

In keeping with God's earlier commands Abraham circumcises Isaac when he is 8 days old.

The Danger from Ishmael (21:8-10)

Danger to the child and to the promise now comes from a natural source. A few years have elapsed since Isaac's birth (2-3 years). Sarah has weaned Isaac, and Abraham gives a feast to celebrate the weaning of the baby. Ishmael the older son is now approximately 16-17 years old. During the feast Ishmael laughs at the little boy. Whereas others have laughed with joy over this child, Ishmael now laughs derisively, in fact with hostility against the little boy.

Sarah justifiably panics over this situation. She understands that her child may in fact be in danger. (Some rabbis even concluded that Ishmael's laughter took on a physical nature; some said that he even shot arrows at Isaac. Whether that happened or not, I don't know; what I do know is that the Jewish rabbis picked up on the hostile nature of Ishmael's actions.) Sarah doesn't ask for Ishmael's expulsion from the camp; she demands it:

"Drive out this maid and her son;
for the son of this maid
shall not be an heir with my son" (21:10).

Sarah is probably jealously making sure that HER son alone will be Abraham's heir. Her son alone is the child of a free woman, of Abraham's wife, while Ishmael, no matter how beloved he is, is nevertheless of a slave. We see female jealousy rearing its ugly head.

Although Sarah's motives were probably not noble, her words were still words that God agreed with and her plan of action was one God agreed with.

Abraham's Heartbreak (21:11-13)

Abraham is distressed. We are talking about the expulsion of a beloved son who has lived with Abraham for the past 17+ years. No matter who the mother was, Ishmael was still Abraham's firstborn son and still much loved by Abraham. God addresses Abraham:

"Do not be distressed [Abraham is so distressed over this that even God acknowledges his distress] because of the lad and the maid
whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her;
for through Isaac your seed shall be named" (21:12).

Many times whenever we study the life of Abraham, we focus on the great stress and grief Abraham experienced whenever God told him to sacrifice Isaac. The result is that we tend to overlook this story because Ishmael was not the father of the Jewish race. The fact is that God asked Abraham to give up not just ONE son but TWO sons, Isaac AND Ishmael. Abraham is constantly being thrust upon the anvil with the blows of God's word hammering out his faith and trust in God. To his undying credit, he trusts God.

ISAAC AND ISHMAEL: AN ALLEGORY (Gal. 4:24-31)

According to Paul more is meeting the eye in the episode of Isaac and Ishmael than just a bad case of sibling rivalry. The conflict between the 2 brothers is a lot more than just sibling rivalry. According to Paul, Isaac represents the spiritual person, while Ishmael represents the natural person, the fleshy person, that is, the person without God in their lives.

Why do these 2 sons of Abraham represent those persons? Isaac represents the spiritual person because his life was a result of a miracle of God, just like the life of the Christian is a result of God working a miracle in the life of that Christian. A person is not saved, is not born again by means of his own strength and might, by natural means. The Christian is saved solely by the miraculous power of Jesus. On the other hand, Ishmael was not the product of a miracle. He was born naturally like every other person.

Well, how do the natural person and the spiritual person get along? This passage tells you how. They don’t get along. There is conflict between these 2 types of people:

This contains an allegory for these women [Sarah and Hagar] are 2 covenants,
One proceeding from Mt. Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves; this is Hagar.
Now this Hagar is Mt. Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to the present Jerusalem,
For she is in slavery with her children.
But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother. . .
And you, brethren, like Isaac are children of promise.
But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh [Ishmael]
Persecuted him who was born according to the spirit [Isaac},
So it is now also.
But what does the Scripture say?
‘Cast out the bondwoman and her son,
For the son of the bondwoman shall not be her with the son of the free woman.’” (Gal. 4:25-30)

When it is all said and done, the person who lives a natural life, not necessarily a bad life, but a life NOT lived under the lordship of Jesus Christ and in the power of His Spirit, will be in conflict with the person who IS living under the lordship of Jesus Christ and in the power of His Spirit. These 2 people will be diametrically opposed to each other.

One of the major ways you can know whether or not you are living under the lordship of Jesus and in the power of His Spirit is by the person who is persecuting you. Are people who are Christ-like irritating you, or are people who are NOT Christ-like irritating you? If I am not irritating people, then one thing is true, we are all in the same boat. When we are all getting along, then either we are all following Christ or else we are all NOT following Christ. Second, if I am in conflict with others, then I need to ask myself: “Are the people I’m in conflict with like Jesus or are they NOT like Jesus?” If they are like Jesus, then I am the one with the problem. If they are NOT like Jesus, then I may be OK.

Why would such people go after us if we are living for Jesus? Primarily because we represent everything they stand against. The fact that you breathe reminds them of how wrong they are. You make them feel guilty for their lifestyle or their sins. People don’t want to be informed that they are wrong, even by good people. Most people will not put up with that. They will either ask you to change, persecute you until you change, or else even kill you because you refused to change. They will not let the conflict continue, just like Ishmael refused to let the conflict continue between him and Isaac. When it is all said and done, Ishmael would have one day killed Isaac if Abraham had not expelled Ishmael from the camp. As painful as this episode was for Abraham, it was necessary for Isaac's safety.

THE REST OF THE STORY (21:14-21)

Abraham sends off Hagar and Ishmael. As the mother and son wander in the desert, they run out of water. In order not to experience the grief of seeing her son die, Hagar leaves him under the shelter of a tree and moves off to let him die. God though appears to Hagar and promises to bless her son. Why? Because when it is all said and done, Ishmael was also Abraham's son. A water springs up from the desert floor, saving both the mother and son.

It is interesting that Moses portrays this story with pathos. Moses belongs to the Jewish race which has suffered much at the hands of Ishmael's descendants. Yet no animosity is found in these verses. Ishmael had to leave Abraham's camp because of the potential threat to Isaac which he posed. Yet this does not mean that he had to hate Ishmael and his descendants. God's will can still be accomplished with firmness AND pathos and love.