Generally
speaking, God’s promises have a waiting period. In Abraham’s case he had to wait 25 years to
see his promise fulfilled. Not only the waiting period was long, but the
circumstances for the fulfillment of the promise were adverse. However, when
God promises, He fulfills. For Him nothing is impossible (Genesis 18:14;
Jeremiah 32:17, 27; Luke 1:37).
(Genesis
21:1-2) The LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to
Sarah as he had promised. (2) And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in
his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him.
However
long the waiting period is, God fulfills his promises. And he does when the
time is right, at the appointed time.
(Habakkuk
2:3) For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens
to the end--it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely
come; it will not delay.
Abraham
was 100 years old when Isaac was born.
(Genesis
21:3-7) Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him,
whom Sarah bore him, Isaac. (4) And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he
was eight days old, as God had commanded him.
(5) Abraham was a hundred years
old when his son Isaac was born to him.
(6) And Sarah said, "God has
made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me." (7)
And she said, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would
nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age."
LAUGHTER
OR MOCKERY?
Isaac
(Hebrew Yitzchak) means “laughter”.
His
name is related to Abraham’s laughter at the thought of having a son with his
wife Sarah.
(Genesis
17:17-19) Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to
himself, "Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall
Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?" (18)
And Abraham said to God, "Oh that Ishmael might live before
you!" (19) God said, "No, but Sarah your wife shall
bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant
with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.
Sarah
also laughed (Genesis 18:12-15; Genesis 21:6-7).
It
was laughter in the face of something seemingly impossible.
Yitzchak’s
name means “laughter”, but it could be from two kinds of laughter:
* out of joy, (heb. Tzachak, צחק)
* out
of mockery (heb. Mitzachek, מְצַחֵק)
For
Sarah her son Isaac was a cause for joy… but for Ishmael, the boy was a cause
for mockery.
(Genesis
21:8-9) And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great
feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.
(9) But Sarah saw the son of
Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing.
CONFLICT
AMONG BROTHERS
After
Isaac’s birth, the conflict between Sarah and Hagar resurfaced and was
transmitted to their children Ishmael and Isaac.
When
facing this situation, Sarah requested Abraham’s intervention…
(Genesis
21:10) So she said to Abraham, "Cast out this slave woman
with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son
Isaac."
The
main conflict had to do with “inheritance”. It was not merely the material
inheritance, but the spiritual inheritance, the Covenant with God.
Undoubtedly,
Abraham had to make a difficult decision, one of great significance.
(Genesis
21:11) (11) And the thing
was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son.
In
the Hebrew text it literally says that this matter was “evil in his eyes”. It
seemed humanly unfair to cast out Ishmael, since he was also his son. For many
years Abraham considered Ishmael to be the son God had promised him.
When
we are not able to find a human solution we must seek a divine answer. This is
what God said about this matter:
(Genesis
21:12-13) But God said to Abraham, "Be not displeased because of
the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she
tells you, for through Isaac shall your offspring be named. (13)
And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he
is your offspring."
In
the old days, the firstborn was the one to carry the father’s name. By saying: “through Isaac shall your offspring be named”
the Lord was telling Abraham that
Isaac would have his name, not Ishmael. Isaac was the firstborn of the promise,
the son of the divine covenant.
This
did not mean that Ishmael would be left destitute. He would also receive his
portion of the material inheritance, and God would take care of him and his
descendants to form a great nation. However, they would not take part in the
divine covenant. This was not Abraham’s or even Sarah’s decision, but a divine
decision.
Despite
how difficult it was for Abraham, he obeyed God’s request.
(Genesis
21:14-16) So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a
skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the
child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba
This
seems very
“cruel”. But we will soon see that God’s
heart is not one to despise or be cruel. God was keeping an eye on Ishmael and
he heard his cry.
(Genesis
21:17-21) And
God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from
heaven and said to her, "What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has
heard the voice of the boy where he is.
(18) Up! Lift up the boy, and
hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great
nation." (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 boy a
drink. (20) And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He
lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow. (21)
He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him
from the land of Egypt
The
Lord had intended blessings for Ishmael; however, at that moment he was not
supposed to be a part of the promise made to Abraham.
The
Apostle Paul explains in the book of Romans who are the sons of the promise:
(Romans
9:7-16) and not all are children of Abraham because they are his
offspring, but "Through Isaac shall your offspring be named." (8)
This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children
of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. (9)
For this is what the promise said: "About this time next year I
will return, and Sarah shall have a son."
(10) And not only so, but also
when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, (11)
though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or
bad--in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of
works but because of him who calls--
(12) she was told, "The
older will serve the younger." (13) As it is written, "Jacob I loved, but
Esau I hated." (14) What shall we say then? Is there injustice on
God's part? By no means! (15) For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy
on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." (16)
So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has
mercy.
The
choice and the decision are God’s.
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