A PROMISE OF TWO
NATIONS, JEWS AND GENTILES
Genesis 21:12-14,
17-21, 26:2-5, 12,13
ABRAHAM'S PROBLEM
V:12. " But God said to Abraham, "Do not be
distressed because of the lad and your maid; whatever Sarah tells you, listen
to her, for through Isaac your descendants shall be named."
A. A healthy marriage
does not need outside distractions.
1. Abraham and
Sarah brought this distraction into their marriage when they failed
to be patient with God's plan for a son.
2. God promised a
son to Abraham and Sarah.
a. Perhaps at
God's delay, they chose Hagar as a substitute for Sarah's barrenness.
3. Communication
in the marriage is important.
a. The husband
and the wife should discuss issues before making decisions.
b. The couple
should consider each others thoughts.
c. Decisions
should be made for what is best for the marriage.
B. Children will be
children.
1. When Ishmael was at the age of 16 or 17, Sarah became
irritated because
he was mocking
something.
a. God does
not tell us what the issue was.
b. After Isaac
was born, perhaps Sarah realized her own foolishness in not trusting
God's Word
that she and Abraham would have a child together.
2. It was the
custom that at the death of the father, the inheritance would go to the
first born
son.
3. The first
born son of Abraham was Ishmael born to him by Hagar.
a. It would
be normal for Sarah to put some distance between Isaac and Ishmael.
b. Moving
Ishmael out of the way would eliminate the problem she caused.
C. Sometimes God has
to step in to help us come to the right decision.
1. Certainly
Abraham did not want to send his son away whom he loved.
2. God agreed with
Sarah's decision because the promised son was Isaac.
ISHMAEL'S BLESSING
V:13. "And of the son of the maid I will make a nation
also, because he is your descendant."
A. God's plan for us
will not be changed by our foolishness or the foolishness of our
parents.
1. Ishmael was
not the promised son, but he would be blessed by God.
2. God had a plan
for Ishmael.
a. He would be
blessed with children whose descendants would form nations.
b. Ishmael and
His family would be prosperous.
B. Because God is
Father, He knows the right decisions we should make.
V:14. " So Abraham rose early in the morning and took
bread and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder,
and gave her the boy, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered about in
the wilderness of Beersheba
A. I am sure it was a difficult decision for
Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael away.
1. Being obedient
to God, he gave them provisions for a short period of time.
2. Abraham had to trust God to take care of
them.
B. God did not tell
Hagar or Ishmael His plan for them.
1. They wandered
in the desert until their provisions ran out.
2.
Life is a wilderness for us, but with God as our guide we can get through it.
V:17. " God heard the lad crying; and the angel of God
called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, "What is the matter with you,
Hagar? Do not fear, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is."
A. God is aware of
our situation and our location.
1. We can never
get out of His sight.
2. God hears our
cry.
B. It is in the
wilderness when we can hear the Lord's voice clearly.
1. Our distress is
an opportune time for God to get our attention.
C. Notice God heard
Ishmael's cry, but He sent an angel to talk to Hagar.
1. God knows who
is listening and who will respond to His voice.
2. Ishmael was
crying, but He may not have responded to the voice of the Lord.
3. Hagar responded
because she needed help for her child.
D. God's call to us
from heaven can be heard without the use of any electronic devices.
1. Because God is
with us, we have no need to fear.
2. God has angels
that He can send to rescue us from any situation.
V:18. "Arise,
lift up the lad, and hold him by the hand, for I will make a great nation of
him."
A. God gives us comfort in our time of trouble.
1. Hagar had been
pushed out of her home with no where to go and no support.
2. God stepped in
with His plan of redemption and His purpose for Ishmael's
life.
3. When all seems
lost, God is not lost.
4. Sometimes a bad
situation is the door to the blessings of our life.
5. Hagar and Ishmael was in the middle of
nowhere, but God gave them a view of
his plan for
them.
B. Hagar and Ishmael
had been cast out as being in the way, but God had a way to a
great nation
awaiting them.
1. Ishmael would
become one of the fathers of the Arab nation.
2. Ishmael would
become a great father in the Gentile world.
C. Notice the Lord
used three verbs in this verse; arise, lift up
and hold.
1. If you want to
help someone in need you have to "arise"
a. You have to
make a move toward that person.
b. You have to
move out of your comfort zone to do something different.
2. The
characteristic of a good Christian is the desire to lift up another person to a
higher level.
a. This could
be a good word from the Lord.
b. This could
be a word of encouragement.
c. This could
be good advice and directions.
3. Some times you
need to give someone something to hold on to.
a. You can
become that leaning post for a person in need.
b. Sometimes a
listening ear is all they need.
c. Sometimes it
is financial help that they need.
V:19. " Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of
water; and she went and filled the skin with water and gave the lad a drink."
A. When they were
just out of provisions, God stepped in with new provisions.
1. We should not worry about what we can't
see, but trust the Lord to see what
we need.
2. We do not have
eyes to see all the blessings God has for us.
B. God will reveal
what we need to know when it's time for us to know.
1. We should
always look to God for out help.
2. God can see
what we can't see.
V:20. " God was with the lad, and he grew; and he lived
in the wilderness and became an archer."
A. Hagar and Ishmael
was pushed out of their home with Abraham into their new
home in the wilderness.
1. God had a new
occupation for Ishmael to support himself and His mother.
a. He became an
archer.
b. He was
skilled at using the bow and arrow to track down and kill animals for
food.
c. He was skilled
at using the bow and arrow for protection.
2. Sometimes God has
to kick us out of one place to put us in position
to start
something new.
B. God is always with us in this journey.
1. God protects and
provides for us as we grow into new areas.
V:21. " He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his
mother took a wife for him from the land
of Egypt
A. God was with
Ishmael in the wilderness.
1. He was away
from his father, but with God the eternal Father.
2. Friends and
family may forsake us but God is always with us.
B. Friends and family
may kick us to the curve.
1. The God we
serve will never leave us or forsake us.
C. We should thank
God for parents who stand by us.
1. Abraham put
his son out, but his mother never left his side.
2. Ishmael's
mother was doing what the father failed to do.
a. Abraham
found a wife for Isaac. Ishmael's mother found a wife for
him.
D. Let this be a
lesson to our daughters.
1. If you are
not first with the man you pick as your husband, your children want
be first
either.
2. If a man is
married, don't think you can take the place of his wife.
3. Before you
have a relationship with a man, seek the Lord's guidance first.
ISAAC'S BLESSING
Genesis 26:2-5
V:2. " The Lord appeared to him and said, "Do not
go down to Egypt
A. There are some
places that God does not want us to go.
1. There are
times when it is best to stay put until we get a word from the Lord.
2. There are
many avenues we can travel and some are not good for us.
3. There are
many places we can go, but some are not good for us.
B. We should seek
God's advice before we make plans.
1.There is a
time to move and there is a time to stay where you are.
2. When God open
doors, the path to success is already set.
C. If you seek God in
prayer, He will tell you when to go and where to go.
1. If you seek
God, He will prepare you and equip you to go where He has planned.
D. Notice, for Isaac
to hear the Lord, he had to be listening for the Lord voice.
1. For Isaac to
be in the frame of mind to seek the Lord, he had to be trained to fear
the Lord.
a. Parents must train up their children
to know the Lord.
b. The fear of
the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
V:3. "Sojourn in
this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your
descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I
swore to your father Abraham."
A. It is the job of
the parents to teach their children the promises that God has made to
them.
1. In Abraham's
time, the Bible was not in print. The Word of the Lord had to be
passed on
from one generation to the next generation.
2. When a child
knows the Lord, he will learn to seek His voice.
3. When a child
knows the Lord, he will be obedient to His commands.
B. God confirms His
Word to His people from generation to generation.
V:4. "I will multiply your descendants as the stars of
heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants
all the nations of the earth shall be blessed."
A. God confirmed the
covenant He made with Abraham to Isaac.
1. Isaac was the
beginning of Abraham's descendants under the covenant.
2. When we summit
ourselves to God's guidance, He will in time reveal His
will for our
lives.
3. The best thing
we can do for our children is to train them to be obedient.
a. Obedience
to their parents is the key to learning obedience to God.
b. Parents
must first be obedient to God before they can teach obedience
to their
children.
c. You cannot
wait until a child is grown to teach them obedience.
B. The sooner a child
learns obedience, the quicker his life will be on the right track.
1. If we don't
teach our children to listen to God, they will listen to the world.
C. Notice the
blessing of the Lord exceeds our thoughts and conceptions.
1. God blesses us
so that we can be a blessing to others.
2. It is not all
about us, it is all about the will of the Lord.
3. God not only
promised that Isaac life would be a success, but his children's lives
would be a
success.
a. Our lives
affect the lives of others.
b. We are role
models to those around us.
V:5." Because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My
commandments, My statutes and My laws."
A. Notice it was
Abraham's obedience that caused his sons to be blessed.
1. If we want a
successful life for our children, we start with our own obedience
to the Lord.
B. Abraham practiced
complete obedience to the Lord.
1. He did all
that God commanded Him to do.
2. Abraham's life
was a life of obedience.
C. Notice the complete
dedication of Abraham's Life to the Lord.
1. He obeyed the
voice of the Lord.
a. Whatever
God told him to do, he did it without question.
b. Abraham was
in tuned with the Lord.
2. He kept the
Lord's charge.
a. His charge was
father, head of the household.
b. Abraham was
the husband and father.
c. He exercised
his position according to the will of the Father.
3. He keep God's
commands.
a. Abraham was careful to kept and observe
God's commands, laws and statues.
b. Abraham did
not follow his own mind, but practice following the will of God.
Genesis 26:12-14
V:12. " Now Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the
same year a hundredfold. And the Lord blessed him."
A. Success in life
comes through obedience to God's commands.
1. God can bless
the work of your hands and multiply what you do many fold.
2. Where God
places you can be your place of success.
3. God is the
reason for our success.
B. All blessing flow
from the Lord.
V:13 ."And the man became rich, and continued to grow
richer until he became very wealthy."
A. A life of
obedience is a life of wealth.
1. We have a
wealth of joy.
2. We have a
wealth of peace.
3. We have a
wealth of wisdom.
4. We have a wealth of fellowship with the Lord.
5. We have a
wealth of friendship.
6. We have wealth
of health.
7. We have a
wealth strength.
8. We have a
wealth of protection.
9. We have a
wealth of provisions.
NASU
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