Sarah bore a son to Abraham at the very time God had promised him.
God called Abraham with three
promises; God will make him a great nation; God will bless him and make him a
source of blessing; the whole earth will be blessed through him.
As we look carefully of this
promises, all of these promises hinges on one thing, having a son of his own. So far God revealed the land that God was
going to give his people, demonstrated his power to protect and to bless
Abraham, and confirmed his blessing through covenant. But yet he did not give a
son to Abraham and Sarah. So over 24 years passed since God’s call and they
became so old past the age of child bearing. Practically, they were as good as
dead as far as bearing a child was concerned. But finally God promised to give
the son that he waited so long at a specific time of a specific year; called
‘this time next year’. When one makes a
promise with specific time, it is almost certain that he, the maker of that
promise, is determined to fulfill that promise.
But this plan of God became in
danger because in fear of death Abraham told a lie, saying that Sarah was his
sister. In this time of crisis, God intervened and took Abraham and Sarah out
of this danger. Eventually as God said, Sarah delivered a child, Isaac when she
was 90 years old, and Abraham was 100 years old.
Here I like to learn two things;
about what it means to have a son of God’s promise, particularly to Abraham.
And what is the significance of fear of death in the life of God’s chosen?
A.
Sarah
was taken by King Abimelek
Abraham lived in the region of Hebron at the
time of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. But soon he moved to the region
of Negev. This place is further away from Sodom and Gomorrah, south and west
ward. This is the last boundary of the land of God’s promise. But at this time
this place was controlled by a king Abimelek. We do not know why he moved there.
One thing is clear; it was the territory of King Abimelek and he ruled the
land. So anyone comes there in his territory he must subject to the king
Abimelek. Abraham was not an exception. He was just a stranger there in the
kingdom of Abimelek. Not long after his arrival there, he was called in to
present to the king and the king asked who Sarah was. In such situation, the king was implicitly suggesting to him
that he like to take her if it is ok to Abraham. Feeling such threat to his
life, he answered that she was his sister. So the king Abimelek hesitated
little to take her to be his wife. This event lead us to think three things: What
would happen to the promise of God? Why did Abraham make such a foolish
thinking? What would God do?
God’s promise is greatly in danger: In ch 18 When God made a visit
to Abraham, He said to Abraham; about this time next year Sarah will bear a
son. If the king Abimelek takes Sarah, then there is no way she can bear a son
for Abraham in a year. God’s promise will turn out to be wrong.
Why did Abraham make such a foolish mistake?
Abraham made the same mistake when he just started his life with God. When he went to Egypt because of famine, he said that Sarah was his sister. So Egyptian King Pharaoh took her. At that time God inflicted a serious disease to Pharaoh and Sarah was rescued from the hands of Pharaoh? Now he is making the same mistake. So we have to raise a few serious questions: a. Did he know or remember what would happen to the promise of God through Abraham? Or Did he know the danger of this action to God’s purpose for Sarah? B. if knew all these, then why did he make such a foolish mistake? C. has he made any progress in dealing with such problem as this since he made a very similar mistake at the beginning of his life with God in gen 12? D. if not why not? What did all the learning he got from his walk with the Lord do any good?
Abraham made the same mistake when he just started his life with God. When he went to Egypt because of famine, he said that Sarah was his sister. So Egyptian King Pharaoh took her. At that time God inflicted a serious disease to Pharaoh and Sarah was rescued from the hands of Pharaoh? Now he is making the same mistake. So we have to raise a few serious questions: a. Did he know or remember what would happen to the promise of God through Abraham? Or Did he know the danger of this action to God’s purpose for Sarah? B. if knew all these, then why did he make such a foolish mistake? C. has he made any progress in dealing with such problem as this since he made a very similar mistake at the beginning of his life with God in gen 12? D. if not why not? What did all the learning he got from his walk with the Lord do any good?
What did God do?
As Sarah was being prepared for a night with the king, God appeared to King Abimelek at night. He said this to the king;
As Sarah was being prepared for a night with the king, God appeared to King Abimelek at night. He said this to the king;
B.
God’s
intervention
You are as good as dead [3]; As soon as God appeared to him, he
said this; In his desire for a woman, he took a woman in marriage. In the eyes
of God, he is as good as dead. Whether he knew what he was doing or not,
whether he did this in clear conscience or not, intention to take someone’s
wife is evil and worthy of God’ judgment. since she is a married woman
But he defended[4-5] : I did it with clear conscience and clean
hands. This means that as far as he knew, he did not do anything wrong; he did
this with clear conscience and clean hands. He did not take a married
woman. All these came about because
Abraham said that she is his sister. Abraham should take all the blame for what
I am doing! Not me!
God accepted his innocence but God intervened to protect her and so
that he may not sin against God. [6-7]
God made clear why God is intervening this; He wanted to protect her
from him; If he violate her it is sinning against God . God will surely destroy
him.
Now he has to return the man’s wife because he is a prophet. For
now he has a chance to make restitution to her; by sending her back. Abraham is
a prophet and Sarah is the wife of this prophet! What did God mean?
He is a prophet:
Here for the first time the word
prophet is used and for the first time God uses this title to Abraham Why? In
what sense Abraham has become or qualified to be a prophet?
Prophet in general is the one who received the words of God for the
purpose of delivery of that word to the people. Though most of these words of
God are about the future, the prophets are not necessarily predicting what is
yet to come. There are two things that a prophet should have to be qualified;
he has to know the will of God. He has to deliver that will or message to the
people according to God’s direction. What
did Abraham know about God?
God’s purpose for Abraham is well revealed in his covenant of circumcision. Also how that will will be carried out is in 18: 17-19 Then the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? 18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.1 19 For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him."
Here we can find two things that God revealed to Abraham. First is God’s blessing for him, his descendants as well as for the people of
the world [v18]. Since the fall of man, human race fell out of God’s blessing
and has been living under God’s judgment. But for the first time God unveiled his
plan to bless the world. He revealed this to Abraham.
But knowing God’s blessing does not reflect the
entire plan of God. God will judge the world in time for those who rejected
God’s blessing. So God was going to reveal what God was about to do i.e. judgment
on Sodom and Gomorrah. Just before he came to this place Abraham saw so vivid
picture of God’s judgment on Sodom
and Gomorrah. These cities were burned down thoroughly. There were no traces of
houses or buildings, all things were leveled to the ground. Parched human
bodies were everywhere. Also he saw the wife of Lot, a pillar of salt. It
pictured a stark reality of God’s judgment.
So no one
had the understanding of God’s will in such a depth than Abraham. So he is God’s
Prophet. So he had a message to deliver;
God’s blessing and God’s judgment. In addition, Abraham demonstrated a
deep compassion for the sinners, like Lot! This one is also important element
of a Prophet.
Like any other human being he had
many weaknesses. But Abraham was the one and only who knew so well of God’s
purpose and will for the world! God has revealed his truth and plan to him. God
made his a prophet! So this is the foundation of God’s protection for Abraham
and his wife Sarah. In him is the entire truth of God that God wanted to send
the message over generations to come. God’s goal cannot be crushed by the
weakness of a man. God endeavored over
24 years to build one man so that he may carry the message of the salvation to
the entire world.
Another facet of being a prophet
is that he is not anymore under the
power or authorities of kings of this world. He is under the auspice of
God. Abraham is God’s direct agent to
deliver God’s will and his blessing. He is above all the authorities of the
world, such as king Abimelek. We will discuss the importance of this later.
As the king received this message
from God, he became so fearful. He put into action right away [8]
Next day he called in all of his
staff and told them all that had happened the night before. They were very much
afraid: To the king and to his staff, Abraham and Sarah were ordinary man and
woman of the time. But now they all must know that Abraham is a prophet of God
and Sarah is his wife. But Abimelek had an unsolved question; if God was with
him in such power and authority, why did Abraham tell a lie? So he charged
Abraham with these questions: v9
Abimelek demanded an answer why
he did this. A. did he do this because the king did something wrong to him? B
Did he have any other reason to do this such as to take money or destroy the
king and his kingdom? Actually none of the above! If then, he made final question v10. "What was your
reason for doing this?" God is using Abimelek to probe into the weakness
of Abraham.
Then why? v11"I
said to myself, 'There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will
kill me because of my wife.'
C. Abraham’s weakness
Here we come to know that fear of death was the
reason for saying such half-truth about his wife. How did this fear come about?
[v12-13] He explains this way.
Abraham’s home country is Ur of Chaldeans, 500
miles away from this land. But God called him to come in this land. So he had
no choice but to live as a stranger in this land of God’s promise. As a
stranger, there was always threat to life. All the places he went, there was
already people and kings who ruled that land. So Abraham roamed about as a
stranger for the whole life. It means that there was a constant threat from
inhabitants of the land throughout his life as a stranger in the land of God’s
promise. So he felt such threat throughout his life. It simply became evident
as the king Abimelek asked him a question who Sarah was.
This fear
of death was unending theme of his life as a stranger in the land of God’s
promise; when he went to Egypt, he told Pharaoh that Sarah was his sister.
Since then 24 years passed by. During this time, he learned many things from
God; his power, his promise, and his love and protection for him. As the last
event, Abraham saw how God destroyed Sodom so thoroughly.
He felt a threat to his life from the king! He
could not overcome the power of death! Still he made the same mistake as he did
24 year before.
How can we understand this? We raised a question on Abraham’s weakness. It
is understandable that Abraham makes one mistake as he did in Egypt. But after
learning so much from God, he could he make such mistake again? Did he not know
that God won victory over the four kings of Mesopotamia? Did he not know that
God has destroyed the Sodom and Gomorrah? Didn’t he pray to God on behalf of Lot
and God heard his prayer? Why could he not trust God at this time as well!
It is obvious that all these learning from and walking with God made little difference when it comes to the threat to his life!
It is obvious that all these learning from and walking with God made little difference when it comes to the threat to his life!
To the King Abimelek, it was so strange for Abraham to tell lie in fear; if
he had backing of so powerful God, then why did he lie? So he bombarded with
questions why, why, why!
Clearly it was a rebuke to Abraham through the mouth of this king. At the
same time he had to rethink about God on whom he could not entrust his life.
It is serious as a servant or prophet of God if one cannot stand with the
truth. Fear of death made him unable to stand the truth and defend the promise
of God. If he does so, this will render a great danger to the promise of
God. Any faith that cannot handle the
power of death cannot handle the promise of God; all those who served God
defended the truth of God for their lives.
Is it unique to Abraham? Or is it a particular problem of Abraham
because of his faulty character?
Jesus said in John 13: 8 Unless I wash you, you have no part
with me. Jesus said this to his disciples who followed Jesus for three years.
If anyone knew Jesus best they were the ones; his deity as the Son of God; yet
he said that they have no part with Jesus unless Jesus washes their feet; this
means that Jesus had to wash their sin by his own suffering and death.
Otherwise, human learning and experience
that they had with Jesus for three years does not do too much in making them or
purify them to be part of God’s people, particularly overcoming the power of
death!
Abraham became a prophet; knowing well of God’s plan and had
the promise of God; knowing clearly God will and his purpose; but this was not
good enough; Abraham has to know God as
the mighty protector, the Savior for him. God has to rescues him from the
fear of death. How can this be possible? How did God help Abraham in this?
God closed all the wombs of King Abimelek’s family. This
means that no one in his family can have a child. If this punishment was not
taken away, the family will be decimated. In a single generation, the family will
disappear! How serious it was! God did this because the king was about to violate
the wife of Abraham. It was a warning of impending judgment. This is what will
happen when one violate the prophet. God will lay on his judgment on those who
reject Abraham and do not honor him as the agent of God’s blessing, the
prophet. This can be taken away only if
Abraham prays for him.
Now the survival of
Abimelek’s family depends on Abraham’s prayer. Until now, Abraham’s faith
was on the matter of personal well being. It was between God and Abraham. Now God made him to be a prophet and God put
him in between God and the king of the world!
God takes away life
and God gives life. God will use Abraham as the mediator of that life.
D.
Abraham’s
prayer made restitution complete.
Abimelek made full and sincere restitution; he returned
Sarah. He gave sheep, cattle and slaves; He even paid 1000 shekels of sliver to
Abraham.
So Abraham was happy and prayed to God on behalf of him and
his family so that God may take away that judgment; God may bless them with
lives!
Like this God used Abraham as the agent of life even for the
powerful king of the land! When he prayed God blessed them with lives again!
What does this experience tell to Abraham?
1.
God is the source of life; God is the giver of
life and God is the one who can take away life!
2.
God wants to use him as the agent to deliver
that life! The prophet, the source of blessing! He is standing between God and
the kings of the world.
There are few differences between the event in Egypt and
here in Gerar. The most striking
difference is that God let Abraham bless the king so that the king’s family
might have children again.
The ultimate purpose
of this is to let him know and experience that God is the giver of life!
Abraham was so fearful of the king. So he said that Sarah is
his sister. Now he came to know where he stands; He is a prophet of God; God is
behind him and the kings of the world are under him. He is the source of
blessing for the world!
What does this experience add to the understanding of God’s
promise?
In Ch 12 God promises three things; I will make you a great
nation. You will be a blessing and all people on the earth will be blessed
through you. Out of these three, what Abraham concerned most was to have a son.
So he repeatedly asked this question. In impatience he took Hagar a maid of
Sarah and had a son Ishmael. But God rejected him to be the source of God’s
blessing.
So having a son was a lifelong theme for him. Simply
speaking having a son of his own was all of his expectation.
But now Abraham sensed totally different expectation from
God. This is new and a thing that he never thought of. He became a prophet, an
agent of God’s blessing. By his prayer live can be given even to the kings of
the world.
In this new periscope, he has to know and understand what it
means to have a son of God’s promise.
E.
Sarah
bore a son to Abraham at the very time God had promised him.
V1-2: in his grace God visited her and exerted his mighty
power on her as God promised; As the
result, she became pregnant and bore a
son to Abraham in his old age .
Sarah made mistakes
in unbelief and became too old to have a son. By asking Abraham to take Hagar as his wife.
But despite of such weakness in faith, God did not reject her as the rightful
mother for the promised son. Rather God
rejected Ishmael and Hagar as the rightful heir of blessing. This was followed
by God’s will to bring a son through Sarah.
God said this 17:19 Then God said,
"Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear
you a son, and you will call him Isaac.1 I will establish my
covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
(Gen 17:19 NIV);
in rejection of Ishmael as his rightful heir. [Ishmael was about teenage]
It was God’s mercy for her. In this way God chose Sarah. When Abe was 99
and Sarah was 89, God made a special visit to tell his word of promise. He
asked where Sarah was and told this word.
Genesis 18:14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? I
will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a
son." (Gen 18:14 NIV)
But there came a great huddle to make this happen. Between ch 18 and
today’s passage, one big event; Sarah was taken by the king Abimelek. Abraham
her husband, the protector, failed to protect her.
Her husband failed to protect her. As the result, it was almost sure that
God’s promise should fail. But In God’s might power, God did exactly what he
promised. So she delivered a son Isaac at the appointed time!
In this way God demonstrated that even if human fails he will surely
fulfill his promise to Sarah. Man fails but God keep his promise. You know many
husbands fail to protect their wives but God keep his promise. As far as her faith was concern, she was
unworthy to receive a child of blessing. As far as her strength was concern,
she was incapable of bearing a child. Yet
in his mercy in the promise of God, God forgave all her weaknesses and unbelief.
God made the impossible possible in a body of 90 years old.
Like this by God’s help Sarah delivered a child of God’s blessing. Isaac was truly a son by God’s grace and God’s
power. There was nothing that she could claim as her own work in the birth
of Isaac. Truly Isaac was by God’s power and by God’s grace and by God’s mercy!
What did Abraham
do?
As we just went over, Abraham made very critical mistake, telling a lie,
making his wife vulnerable to Pharaoh and then to King Abimelek. This also endangered God’s promise. But God
uphold him as a prophet and gave him as son through Sarah. It is God’s will to
forgive his sins and weaknesses. His
belief and acceptance of this is seen in his actions:
Abraham gave the son a
name Isaac. It was the name God told him to name the coming son in 17:19. Isaac means
‘he laughs.’ In this laugh Abraham is getting the message that God embedded in
the birth of his son Isaac. It is capturing the will and purpose of God in the
life of Abraham and his descendants. The knowledge and the truth is so amazing
and so overwhelming and so magnificent that no one word cannot express all
these; except one word: ‘laugh’
In this way the name Isaac is the permanent reminder of God’s transcendent
will for him and for the world.
What was he amazed about? As we discussed in the previous event, Abraham
came to know God as the agent of life; He came to know this as he prayed for
King Abimelek and his family. God takes away life and God gives life. Simply
God is the source of life. The birth of Isaac is the evidence of this. What he
came to sense as he blessed Abimelek became a true reality in his own life through
Isaac. He was 100 years old. His wife Sarah was 90. How can this be possible?
If God did not stop king Abimelek, how can this be possible? So, in this way, Isaac
is a perfect reminder of what God did to Abraham and Sarah. Perfect reminder of
joy God gives; the power of God, the blessing of God, and the will of God to
use him as the source of blessing for generations to come.
How did Abraham recognize and accept God’s perfect will and blessing in the
life of Isaac?
He circumcised Isaac
when he became 8 days old. He did this according to the covenant that God made
with him;
Enjoy and see God’s promise; find his place in God’s salvation history-
kind of victory.
In this covenant, two things are in; God will be his as well as his
descendants’ God. Also Abe and his descendants will honor God as their one and
only Lord. Abe sensed keenly aware of
God’s eternal will in the life of just born Isaac.
Through Isaac’s birth Abe became keenly aware of the transcendent will of
God for his and his descendants. –this is the click that came on in his
understanding; his brain; laugh
The birth of Isaac is
the ultimate experience of the fact that God is life for sinners. On top of his
experience with King Abimelek. The
birth of Isaac makes the ultimate statement of God’s will to bless him despite
of his sins and weaknesses as the source of blessing for the world.
Sarah expressed true impact of the birth of Isaac to Abraham and to Sarah; V6-7.
For Sarah it was a great sign of vindication on her life. She was barren so
long. She did not do her duty as a wife. Finally she fulfilled her duty, not by
her strength or power but by God’s grace and mercy.
Isaac
was born at the exact time that God promised to Sarah. Abraham was 100 years
old. Sarah was 90. Impossible became possible. An unthinkable became a reality.
In the birth of Isaac, God revealed his transcendent truth about himself, the
Mighty, the giver of life, the owner of life, who wants to bless the whole
world through faith in him.
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