April 16, 2024
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in Genesis? Here’s today’s reading:
Genesis 21 (NIV)
The Birth of Isaac
1 Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. 3 Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him.……Continue Reading
Genesis 21 and Samuel (1) 12-13.
Genesis 21
As God promised, Sarah had a son by Abraham called Issac. Now Sarah wants Abraham to to get rid of Hagar and her son Ishmael so he did. God told Abraham He would take care of them. Just like He had said before. God sent an angel to Hagar because He heard the boy crying and told Hagar to pick up the boy and drink the water God had provided. God was with him all the way growing up. He became an archer and Hagar provided him with a wife from Egypt. The well was shared that God had placed there for Hagar and son.
After all the doubt, ill decisions, regrets, hatred, strife, we see the Lord God prove His promise to Abraham and Sarah. In the wake of all the destruction they brought upon themselves, yet to come in future generations (Israel pays the price this very second), God remained faithful to the covenant. Abraham will be the father of many nations through Isaac, the seed of promise. Ishmael, gendered through the contrivance of his parents, would be blessed, but at eternal strife with his brother. Ishmael, the seed of the flesh, no inheritance. Tons of additional Scripture in Romans & Galatians to explain the spiritual context of what we’ve read so far.
We will see Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, and people who follow and reject God. Jesus was clear in John 8. God wants Jews to be Abraham’s children by spirit, not flesh only. He wants us to be His sons through Jesus, not just because we say so, but because our Spirit cries, Abba, Father from the heart.
Some one once said,
“Thou believest in one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.”
Peace tonight, what a splendid Spring day! 77° Glory to the Eternal Lord! -reb
So quickly we go after Sarah. Hardest part of kingdom of God sometimes is to wait for his timetable. How often do we step in and help God with his plan? Doesn’t seem that bad at first look. Abraham. Have a child with maidservent then we will raise the child. Brilliant!! Then it unravels Sarah constantly regretting stepping in 90 years waiting for a baby. Don’t blame her for laughing at 90 There’s no way this old body can give birth even with Gods help.!! What parts of our life seem to be on hold right now. It’s Gods plan. Not ours. Rest in that
Genesis 21
Abraham is now 100 years old and Sarah is 90 years old when she has Isaac. This is so impossible that it could only be of God. Ishmael is now 14 years old. After Isaac was weaned, Abraham made a great feast. Ishmael then mocks because it would seem that he is jealous of Isaac because Abraham didn`t give him a feast at anytime as far as we know. He probably felt slighted. Never mind how Hagar and he were treated by Sarah. His mother is a maid to Sarah but they are still human beings and should be treated with dignity and fairness. So Sarah insists that Hagar and her son should be kicked out on their own. Abraham agrees and sends them away with very little. He took bread and a bottle of water and sent them away with that. If it wasn`t for God they wouldn`t have survived. Abraham could had done far better here. He could have given them more supplies such as more food and water. Even providing a donkey and a tent, etc. But he was anxious to get her and her son out to please his wife. A happy wife is a happy life as the saying goes. But he should have talked to God first. God does tell Hagar that He will make Ishmael a great nation. Despite the bad behavior of all those involved it is God that shows the love and compassion and mercy. Thank God for that and how He shows His love, compassion, and mercy to all of us even when we fail to make right decisions. He keeps drawing us closer to Him and continues to teach us. God bless.
Genesis 21
Genesis 21
You gotta love Genesis 21:1 (in the NIV). God is gracious and faithful, how essential it is for us to know and believe that. Abraham is also faithful to circumcise Isaac and Sarah rejoices in God doing something that she has desired all her life and now God does it miraculously. And we can understand Ishmael’s behavior and Sarah is reactionary and puts Abraham in an uncomfortable position, but the bottom line is that God has it all under control. At least this time God gives Abraham permission and assurances when he sends Hagar and Ishmael away. God, once again drawing a firm line between who the most blessed child of Abraham would be. And yet God is faithful to take care of Hagar and the boy just as He had said and meets them right where they are at to do so. And I just love Abimelech’s response near the end of the chapter. How can I address the situation when you haven’t even told me about it? What an important principle of communication here, to clearly communicate our needs and expectations before we get upset about something. It is much like Jesus instruction to take the initiative when there is an offense in a relationship…whether you are the offended or the offending party. Human relationships are messy enough without adding poor communication on top of it! And Abraham also makes a step to clarify his understanding of what he believes about the well and seals it. Clarifying commitments and understandings: another good communication tip…
Genesis 21
This is a complicated chapter about fear, faith and communication.
Sarah has a son, as God promised.
Her maidservant scoffs at said son. This shows disrespect in many aspects. I can see why Sarah wanted her gone. Then again Sarah had it coming. She was placing her own faith in the son of the servant being hers and the child of the promise at one point! Hagar forgets how God provided for her the first time she was cast out (chapter 16), but an angel hears Ishmael’s cries and provides again.
”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?”“
Genesis 16:13 NKJV
Sarah’s joy of finally giving birth to her son is so evident. The opportunity to hold him, nurse him, and see God’s promise fulfilled is quickly overshadowed by the reminder of her own past mistakes. The son born of the maidservant, that only happened at Sarah’s request, we now see a definite divide occur. Ishmael the son of the flesh scoffing at Isaac the son of the promise.
It seems cruel to throw them out at first but God does still protect and provide for Hagar and Ishmael as He promised He would. God is not against those who do not follow Him, we see people everyday that live good prosperous lives apart from a relationship with God, however, it is their eternal life that suffers in the end being forever apart from God.
Genesis 21
The Lord was gracious and he gave to Sarah what he promised. He made a way for her to be released from the circumstances resulting from her lack of faith, and he also cared for Hagar and Ishmael in their distress when their lives were in danger. God is faithful and he works all things out in a loving, caring way despite our sin and shortcomings. “The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made.” Psalm 145:9