Genesis 21:9-22:14 - Part A

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That's connectwithskip.com. Now let's get started with today's message from Pastor Skip Heitzig. This last weekend was a lot of fun for me. It was a busy weekend. Not only the four services Saturday and three in the morning, but our Sunday night service down at Metro downtown. And then in between the third service Sunday and the Sunday evening service downtown, I had the privilege of doing a wedding here. So I sandwiched that in between the third service and the evening service on Sunday. And I really enjoy doing weddings.

I especially enjoyed this one because there were two friends. They were mature in the Lord. They shared beautiful vows with each other. So often when I do weddings and I share vows, and the vows themselves are usually set out in polar extremes to one another. That is, the couple agrees to a lifelong covenant that includes for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish till death do us part. This couple definitely understood what that commitment was. However, I have often wondered, especially with younger couples, if they're listening to those vows.

And I'm thinking probably not. They're probably not thinking poorer. They're not probably thinking at that moment they're so happy. They're not thinking worse.

They're not thinking in sickness. They're thinking better, richer, health. So when people get into a relationship and they don't fully understand what the future is, that's why they share vows. After all, every relationship, every marriage commitment is a risk. The couple is taking certain risks, not knowing the future, not knowing what's going to happen, not knowing where they're going to move.

So they're willing to take vows that will say, since I don't know what is going to happen to us in the future, I'll make a vow, a promise, a covenant with you before God and these witnesses that no matter what, we're going to be together. Well, Sarah and Abraham have had some very interesting ups and downs in their marriage, in their lives, some good times and some bad times. Chapter 21 represents the peak of all experiences they've had, the promised son.

After 25 years of waiting and waiting and waiting on God's promises, finally the child comes. Exciting. Now that's better. That's richer. That's health.

Even though they're quite old, they're still in good health. Laughter is brought into the home as little crack up is born. Isaac Laughter, that's what his name means. He's born. Sheer joy is brought into the home. The first part of chapter 21 would, if it were a TV series, it would represent the finale, the finale. The child is born.

It's the best show of the season. But things change around mid-chapter. There's now a twist in the plot, a twist in the story, if you will. They've been enjoying their lives. The child of promise has come, given them a new lease on life, making old Abraham feel quite a bit younger.

He's so excited and Sarah, his wife, is so excited, but now they have two kids in the home. Ishmael, who's quite a bit older, and Isaac, who's only about three years old. He's just weaned.

Two to three years of age. And there seems to be developing within the home a strain, a sibling rivalry that brings a strain, not only among the two boys, but among the whole family. So if you were to look back at verse 8, where it says the child grew, that is Isaac, and was weaned in those days between two to three years of age, and Abraham made a great feast on that same day that Isaac was weaned. Exciting time for Abraham.

And verse 9, Sarah saw the son of Hagar, the Egyptian, whom she had born to Abraham, that's a long way of saying Ishmael, scoffing. So little Isaac has a little party thrown for him. He's finally weaned. He's growing up.

He's on his way to manhood. Exciting times, but not for Ishmael. Ishmael's about 17 years of age. Isaac's about three years of age, and the big brother is scoffing, mocking, jeering his little brother. Now if you're wondering, if you're thinking, what kind of a brother, age 17, would scoff a little three-year-old child? If you're wondering that, you haven't been around many families. It doesn't matter what age brothers or sisters are at all.

The rivalry doesn't care about the age. All he knows is he's not getting the attention like he used to. He used to be the one that got all the attention, the only child. Now there's another child. Moreover, it's the child of Sarah and Abraham, the promised child. So now Ishmael feels alienated.

He's scoffing. For she said to Abraham, this is Sarah now talking to her husband, cast out this bond woman, this Egyptian slave, and her son. For the son of this bond woman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac. Now wait a minute, Sarah. As I recall, it was your idea to have that child.

It was your idea to tell your husband, honey, this isn't going to work. I'm an old woman. I'm unable to have kids. You take the Egyptian slave Hagar and you have a baby with her, have relations with her. And the child that comes out will consider it as if it were our own child. And let that be the promise that God will fulfill his good work with. It was her idea.

And even Abraham, after going along with it, said, oh, Lord, that Ishmael might live before you. That obviously wasn't God's plan. And now that their plan isn't quite what they thought and they have this new child who is now weaned and now there's this sibling rivalry, Sarah says, get rid of her. Give her her freedom.

Cast her out. And the matter was very, verse 11, displeasing in Abraham's sight because of his son. He loved his son. He loved Ishmael. It was his son. He loved him.

He didn't want to see him go like this. But God said to Abraham, do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice for in Isaac your seed will be called. Men, you may want to underline that in your Bibles in as much as is probably underlined in your wife's Bibles. The Lord said, listen to your wife. Now, in times past when he did listen to his wife, it wasn't good, i.e., Hagar. But this time the Lord says, listen to your wife.

What she's saying to you is good. Now, this is a great verse of scripture because a lot of men not only don't have this underlined, they do have underlined and they do have memorized a very key text of scripture to many men. That's Ephesians 5, verse 22. They know it in English. They know it in several translations.

Some even know it in the Greek language. Wives, submit unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. And some men love to use that as a club to beat their wives, if they could, into submission.

They disagree with them. Hey, the Bible says submit into your own husbands. That is not only unfair relationally, it is uncalled for theologically, contextually. Because Ephesians chapter 5, verse 22 has a verse before it. Ephesians 5, 21. That reads, submitting to one another in the fear of the Lord. So, whatever that submission of the wife to the husband comes from, it comes from the idea that there's a partnership built in and there is a mutual humility and submissiveness of the husband to the wife.

Moreover, it begins before 521. The thought actually in Ephesians 5 begins in verse 18. Now, it says, if I can get it right, thus. Do not be drunk with wine in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart unto the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submitting to one another in the fear of God. Wives, submit to your own husbands as unto the Lord.

Now that's the context. So we have mutual submission based upon the fear of God that is the result of being filled with the Holy Spirit. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we get back to Skip's teaching, in his book, Is God Real?, Lee Strobel, author of the New York Times bestselling book, The Case for Christ, provides a rational exploration, the proof of God's existence and the basis of our eternal hope. Writing to skeptics and believers alike, Strobel turns his critical mind and expert interviewing skills to perennial questions like, how do we know which God is real? And if God is real, why does he seem so hidden?

Is God real? Along with two messages preached by Lee Strobel at Calvary Church, our thanks for your gift of at least $50 today to help share biblical teaching with more people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig. Go to connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your resources when you give at least $50 today to reach people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig.

Let's continue with today's teaching with Pastor Skip. Now the way that chapter goes is that not only are wives to submit, but husbands are to submit, children are to submit, fathers are to submit, and employees or in those days slaves are to submit. There's a fivefold application in that section based on the word submit. Now it's interesting, back or not back, up in Ephesians 5 22 where it says, wives submit unto your own husbands.

In the original, the word submit is not there. It's implied so the translators put it in. It's all based upon the word in chapter 5 verse 21, submitting to one another in the fear of God. Wives to your own husbands, that's number one. And then in verse 25 of that same chapter, husbands love your wives. And then in chapter 6 verse 1, children obey your parents. And then in verse 4, fathers do not exasperate your children. And then in verse 6, slaves be submissive to your own masters according to the flesh.

All of those different people groups are to submit in a certain context. Now I can just hear a few husbands saying, are you saying, wait a minute, are you saying that I am to submit to my wife? Exactly. You say, well now this throws a whole wrench in my theological platform.

How do I do that? Well Paul tells you how to do it. Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church. You say, well that's not submission.

Oh yes it is. What could be more submissive than loving someone like Christ loved the church and be willing to die for her? That has to be an act of submission. The willingness to give up one's own life as Christ did for the church. So a fivefold submission, all hinging upon being filled or controlled by the Holy Spirit that leads to the fear of God, that leads to a mutual decision. And yes, in every household decisions need to be made and husbands are the head of the home and he must make the decision. But I'm going to recommend on the biblical basis of what I just said that you do it mutually and prayerfully considering one another and do so in the fear of the Lord.

Things will be much happier. Well God said, whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice for in Isaac your seed will be called. Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bond woman.

I'm going to do something great with your son Ishmael because he is your seed. So Abraham rose early in the morning, now watch this, and took bread and a skin of water, well that's not much, and put it on her shoulder and gave it and the boy to Hagar and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba and the water and the skin was used up and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs and she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bow shot as far as you could shoot an arrow from a bow. For she said to herself, let me not see the death of the boy. So she sat opposite him and lifted up her voice and wept. Very, very desperate scene.

Heat, dehydration, she knows she's at the end, he's at the end, doesn't want to see his death, puts him in a place where she can't see him and just breaks down. Now here's the question. We have trouble understanding how a father who loved his son could put a piece of bread in his hand and a little water and pat him on the back and send him and his mom out in the wilderness. It's especially difficult to understand that since Abraham was very wealthy, we've already established that fact and seen some of the wealth. Not only what he brought with him from Ur of the Chaldees and his travels, what he got from Pharaoh, what he got from Abimelech, the king of the Philistines, a guy has some bucks and resources. Why not send a caravan with him? Why not some foot soldiers to protect her and him as they're out in the wilderness? Why not several animals laden with food and water and other victuals for the trip?

Why not? Now some commentators, and some taters are more common than others, but I've noticed that some of the commentators like to say that based on the ancient codes of the day, like the code of Hammurabi, what Abraham did here was in perfect context and provision of the code of Hammurabi in releasing a slave, giving her the freedom with her son to go out and do what they wanted. It was the releasing of a slave, setting him free.

Go on your way. It was perfectly legitimate. I don't really see that as the reason. I think the reason he let his son go off into the wilderness and you're wondering, how could he do this? How could a father do this? Don't misunderstand me and listen carefully, is because of his faith. He was a man of faith. If you think this is hard for him, what do you get to the next chapter? It's going to get a whole lot worse of a test. But he has reached a place in his life where he believes that God is going to do what God said he's going to do.

Right? God said he was going to have a son, didn't he? Sarah said, ain't going to happen. Abraham kept saying, is going to happen, is going to happen, is going to happen. Twenty-five years, is going to happen.

Twenty-five years, she said, ain't going to happen. It happened. So do you think by now he's learned the lesson?

Oh, you betcha. Well, God has also promised, not only here, but in other places, that he would make a great nation out of Ishmael. So he knows Ishmael can't die.

Impossible. God has promised that he's going to take care of them. I don't need to send a caravan.

I just need to release them. God is going to do something great in his life. Now, to me, this is a good word for parents, parents who sometimes spend an ordinate amount of time worrying about their children, especially the children they have dedicated to the Lord. They have entrusted to the Lord. They have committed to the Lord.

They've trained up in the Lord. And I've heard parents quote so often in great hope and belief, train up a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it. And yet, some parents, it would seem, want to surround their child with a caravan their whole life, a caravan of protection.

Don't let anything bad happen. In such an overprotective manner that it becomes unhealthy for the child and reveals the parent's own lack of faith. I've heard or seen over the years parents, well, once they become parents, you know, theoretically it's one thing, but once you become a parent, you have your own child, I've watched people change. Suddenly it's like, I can't send my child to Sunday school. You know, a child could get a cold. Don't want to expose my kid to those germs. Got to protect the child.

I suggest to you that's not a smart tactic. Don't try to protect what God is trying to direct. You pray for the child, you raise the child in a normal environment, let the kids be around other kids, play, get sick, they'll get better, and then release them to the Lord and trust the Lord. But instead of placing the caravan of protection around them to release them and say, Lord, I believe your word, I believe your promises, I'm entrusting them to you now, reveals the kind of faith that Abraham displayed in releasing the child that God promised he would bless. And he does. Look at verse 17, God heard the voice of the lad and the angel of God called out to Hagar from heaven.

It must have been a wonderful time. She's at the wits end and suddenly she hears a voice talking to her from the sky from heaven and said to her, what ails you Hagar? Fear not for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand for I will make him a great nation. Now, I don't think that means pick up the child in your arms.

The kid was 17 years of age. But you help him up, pick him up, get on your way. I'm going to do something great. To me, it's a picture of a single mother dedicating her child and walking out in faith.

It's a beautiful picture. My heart goes out to single parents, especially single mothers. They have the responsibility of two people and the income of one person. 12 million in our country, 12 million adults are single parents. 28% of the children in our country are being raised by single parents. And it says in Psalm 68, God will set the solitary in families. And maybe it's your family. Maybe you know a single mom or a single dad and you could reach out a little more often and have them over frequently for dinner or mentor one of the children or get them involved in sports and help out a little bit.

Maybe offer to mow the lawn or fix an electrical problem. Just to show support. God sets the solitary in families.

And certainly our church family, we love the idea that many single parents are here and we can provide a network of support to them. So God opened her eyes, verse 19, and she saw a well of water and she went and filled the skin with water and gave the lad a drink. So God was with the lad and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness and became an archer. So you ever wonder what happened to that 70s band, the Archers? He was one of them.

A lot of you don't even know what I'm talking about. Forget it. Forget it. He dwelt in the wilderness of Paran. And his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt. Now why the land of Egypt? She was an Egyptian. Now it was a mistake rather than selecting a wife who was a believing wife from the covenant and the clan of Abraham. He got an Egyptian wife and later on he will become the father of 12 nations.

He'll have 12 sons and several nations will develop from the 12 sons like Jacob later on out of the loins of Abraham. Thanks for listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. We hope you've been encouraged in your walk with Christ by today's program. Before we let you go, we want to remind you about this month's resources that will help you confidently respond to questions and challenges to God's existence.

It's Lee Strobel's book, Is God Real? and two messages he preached on the topic at Calvary Church. Request your resources when you give $50 or more to support Connect with Skip Heitzig. Call 800-922-1888. That's 800-922-1888 or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. And did you know that you can get a weekly devotional and other resources from Pastor Skip sent right to your email inbox? Simply visit connectwithskip.com and sign up for emails from Skip. Come back next time for more verse by verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.