Lessons from the Past

Hear the word of God in Genesis the 16th chapter and beginning at verse 1 Now Sarah Abram's wife had borne him no children And she had an Egyptian maid servant whose name was Hagar So Sarah I said to Abram see now the Lord has restrained me from burying children Please go into my maid perhaps Perhaps I shall obtain children by her And Abram heated the voice of Sarah I then Sarah I Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan So he went into Hagar and she conceived and When she saw that she had conceived her mistress became despised in her eyes Then Sarah I said to Abram my wrong be upon you I gave my maid into your embrace and when she saw that she had conceived I Became despised in her eyes the Lord judge between you and me So Abram said to Sarah I indeed your maid is in your hand due to her as you please When Sarah I dealt harshly with her she fled from her presence Now the angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness by the spring on the way to shore and He said hey, Gar Sarah is made where have you come from and where are you going? She said I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarah The angel of the Lord said to her return to your mistress and submit yourself under her hand then the angel the Lord said to her I Will multiply your descendants exceedingly So that they shall not be counted for multitude and The angel of the Lord said to her behold you are with child and you shall bear a son You shall call his name ischmail Because the Lord has heard your affliction He shall be a wild man His hands shall be against every man and every man's hand against him and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren Then she called the name of the Lord Who spoke to her? You are the God who sees Where she said if I also hear seeing him who sees me Therefore the well was called the air la hairoi Observe it is between Katesh and Barren So hey garbore Abram a son and Abram named his son whom hey garbore ischmail Abram was 86 years old when hey garbore ischmail Abram The word of the Lord Thanks be to God. Let's pray together

Father again, we ask for the help that you alone can give you know the hearts of your people you know Where we are cold where we are resistant where we are unwilling? You know where we need encouragement and comfort and strength and help and we ask that you draw near and we pray That the truth of this particular portion of your word by your spirit would get into our hearts So that we receive what we need Father may we come to your word and sit beneath it Not stand above it not judge it But may we come and sit beneath it and be molded and shaped by it and may we go from this place having been before your word a Bit a bit more changed and transformed So father come by your spirit and cause this your word to live and to dwell in our hearts We ask in Jesus name. Amen You may be seated several months ago a member of our congregation Asked if I'd be willing to meet with a friend of his Who was dating a young woman and they were very serious and they were contemplating marriage Not yet engaged but contemplating marriage and so the three of us met the member from our congregation and the friend and I Now as it turns out There was a problem a pretty significant problem in This dating relationship this young man's dating interest Was not a Christian and I learned this as I just probed with this man with this young man a person I'd never met before but as I probed with him his understanding of the gospel and His understanding of his own relationship to Christ It became clear that he was feeling attention a real And poignant tension because of this relationship It's a tension that a lot of people feel a lot of young people feel and even older people feel folks who are not marriage It's the tension between longing for fulfillment in marriage and then the temptation To consider a serious relationship with someone who someone who is not a Christian It's a tension that a lot of people have experienced So as I talked with this fellow I Rehearsed some things that he was well aware of I rehearsed with him what the scriptures teach about how we're to marry and the kind of person we're to marry and the kind of person that we should Pursue and be interested in and I offered the scriptural warnings which in effect over and over and over again say do not be unequally Yoke Don't be married to someone who is not a Christian It's not a wise thing To be married to someone who does not share the same basic commitment that you as a Christian Have and are seeking to live consistently with That's a hard thing for people to wrestle through this and I could tell it was hard for this person for this young man to come to terms with what the scriptures taught and With what was in his heart and it's interesting as I had this conversation with him He said I know in my head what is right, but my heart is taking me in a different direction I know in my head what is right, but my heart is taking me in a different direction Now that's exactly the kind of thing that's going on in this passage Genesis 16 the conversation that I had with this young man had to do with marriage and with Being in a serious relationship with somebody who's not a Christian and there was a tension there and there was a great Temptation there and it's this tension and temptation that emerged when there's a gap Between what is promised or what we expect or what we desire and what God in our immediate experience is doing There's a tension In this particular young man's case the tension was overmarried in our lives It can be over any number of things knowing what God wants for us to do Yet being Tempted or inclined or drawn to do something that is in conflict with what God wants us to do. It's a daily kind of a thing It's a daily kind of a thing And it's a tension that touches virtually. I suspect every area of our lives and the and the question then becomes Are we going to be directed will we be directed by the truth and promises of God? That's the question. Will we be directed by the truth and promises of God or will we devise our own schemes and plans? Will we devise our own schemes and plans? That's the issue here The issue for Abram and Sarah and there's a lot of Tremendously important spiritual truth to be gleaned from this story of Abram and Sarah and Sarah's Made-servant haigar Look first at the story just consider a few things about the story the tension is there and The tension is heightened in the first verse of the 16th chapter. What's the last thing that you read in chapter 15? It's been several months hasn't it since we've been in Genesis and and you're probably forgotten what the last thing is that you read in Chapter 15, but listen to this This is a part of the promise that God has spoken to Abram to your descendants Abram I have given This land from the river of Egypt the great river the river you freight is the Kenites the Kenisites the Cadmenites the Hittites the Parasites the Refi and the Amirites the Kenanites the Gyrgishites and the Gyrgishites and the Gemisites and in effect Abram look in every direction The land that you see before you I have given to you and I've given it to your descendants. Well, he had no descendants He had no children So here's a promise And after having made this promise verse the last verse 18 of chapter 15 the very first thing that is said in chapter 16 Is that Sarah has borne him no children. Here's a promise to descendance and she is without children and she's barren You have to remember you know I mean we're doing our Berean readings I trust and and you know, there are these chapters that are always There for us every day it greets me the chapters that I want to read today And you have to remember that the chapter and verse divisions are not inspired and you can sort of get to the end of chapter 15 of Genesis and go about your day's business and come to chapter 16 the next day and Miss the fact that God by his spirit is intending to create in our minds Attention in this passage a promise is made and she is barren. She is without children. There's a gap A gap between what is promised and what Abram is experiencing The tension is there and it's forceful and it's powerful Then there's the second thing to observe about the story and that is from Sarah. There is initially a hopeful response a hopeful response verse two Sarah says to Abram see now the Lord has restrained me from bearing children so far so good She not only gets the tension. She not only feels the weight of the tension, but she understands That the Lord stands behind that tension the Lord has restrained me kept me From having children. I've suggested to you as we've looked at the life of Abram Over these many months. I've suggested to you that you not lose sight of the fact that the whole of Abram's life from the time he's 75 years old until the time of his death is compressed into a very few chapters That you can read in 20 to 25 minutes But it covers a long long period of time and over that period of time both Abram and Sarah are learning things They're learning things about the God who has called them out of darkness out of Ur of the Calvese and who has brought them into relationship with himself They're learning things about this God and they're seeing his faithfulness Displayed in their lives over and over and over again, and Sarah has learned some things about Yahweh about this God who has brought them into relationship with himself She understands that he is the creator and Lord of life and things don't happen just by happen stance that life is not Crap shoot. It's not a role of the dice, but her life and Abram's life their lives are In the hands of God. She understands that her current circumstance Is in the Lord's hands so far so good so far so good, but then after Looking at this tension and recognizing that there is this tension here and after Observing that there is a hopeful response But Sarah I understand Why she is where she is

After confessing that Yahweh is the creator of life there follows a disastrous series of choices a disastrous series of choices Rather than living in a way that is consistent with what Sarah and Abram have come to understand They take matters into their own hands and

Scheme and develop what they think is a solution to the problem of this tension Sarah I adopts a practice which is common in the culture. It's known verified in ancient Near Eastern documents Sarah I adopts a practice that was acceptable in this culture she gives a servant an Egyptian servant quite likely a servant who was picked up while they were in Egypt a Servant which they brought back from Egypt with them She gives this servant to her husband to be a wife And encourages that the promise made to Abram be fulfilled through the offspring of this slave wife That was Sarah I solution To the problem of her tension. Here's the promise lack of fulfillment Recognition that God is the one who has authored this particular tension. He's the one who stands behind the tension But Sarah I solution is to take matters into her own hands rather than submitting to the providence of God at that particular moment Informs her own solution to the problem The result is a disastrous choice Hey gar this slave this made servant of Sarah I does conceive Does give birth to a son the son's name is Ishmael the characteristics of Ishmael or describe in verses 11 and 12 You will call his name Ishmael because the Lord has heard your affliction what kind of man will Ishmael be he will be a wild man And his hand will be against every man and Every man's hand will be against him and he will dwell in the presence of all of his brethren the Consequence of this decision that Abram and Sarah I made is that Ishmael and Ishmael's descendants will live in proximity To Isaac and Isaac's descendants and these tribes will grow up and they will become more numerous God makes this promise to Hey gar that her descendants will become numerous and these people will live side-by-side and the Descendants of Ishmael will be a thorn in the flesh a constant perennial annoyance to Isaac and his descendants Throughout the course of the lot is his descendants. They will be a constant source of difficulty To Isaac's descendants a disastrous choice That has far reaching effects effects that roll down the generations for centuries to come

verse two God strongly rebukes Abram God rebukes Abram with the same kind of language that God employed when he rebuked Adam in the third chapter of Genesis the 17th verse And God came to the man and the woman and the serpent and Pronounced his judgments upon them when he spoke to Adam He said because you have heated the voice of your wife because you have listened to the voice of your wife It's the same language that's used here in chapter 16 It's the first time that language is used since Genesis chapter 3 and it's very striking language It's striking for a couple of reasons it's striking because it resurrects in the minds of the Israelites who would have heard this story of Abram and Sarah at resurrects in their minds The picture of God coming to Adam and confronting Adam with his sin It resurrects the picture of God rebuking Adam because Adam you see along with his wife Eve committed the same crime that Abram and Sarah I have committed here and They're rebuked for it and the word voice is a is a powerful powerful word in this context Rather than listening to the voice of God rather than heating the promise of God rather than obeying the word of God you Abram have listened to the voice of your wife It's not so significant frankly that it is the wife that Abram listen to what's significant is that Abram failed to listen to the voice of God What's significant is that Abram heated any voice heard any voice other than the voice of the God who had Redeemed him and brought him into relationship with himself and made this promise to him and it demonstrated his faithfulness across the years of his life So that Abram most certainly knew that while there was a tension the voice of God could be trusted the voice of God could be trusted So Abram and Sarah received this stinging stinging rebuk Because you have listened to the voice of Sarah your wife All of these consequences flow out of this failure to heed the voice of the Lord So what are the lessons to be learned? That's the story and broad brushstrokes. There's a tension and The Lord is behind that tension, but there's a disastrous choice that is made that has far-reaching implications In the midst of that tension. What are the things that are to be learned? Cash. This is a lesson That God's people need to be reminded of again and again and again and and people of all generations need to be Reminded of this lesson again and again and again Israel needed to learn this lesson the first place Israel was in the midst of the wilderness and In the midst of the wilderness she was receiving the word of the Lord. That's the historical context for this Israel is making her way From Egypt and bondage toward the promised land and in the midst of that Exodus experience God speaks to his people and Israel by this particular passage Remembering where she is in the midst of the wilderness Receiving the word of the Lord receiving his commands and his promises Israel is being admonished Don't depart from the word of the Lord Don't depart From the promises of God

Even when you find yourself in this wilderness experience even when you find yourself caught between what is promised and What you are experiencing? Don't depart from the word of the Lord You remember what happened to Adam and Eve when they departed from the word of the Lord You see what happens When Abram and Sarah depart from the word of the Lord. Don't depart from the word of the Lord Even when the tension is acute and There is this gap between what is promised and what you're experiencing That's the lesson. That's the first lesson. It was the lesson for Israel and it's the lesson for us. It's the lesson for you I don't know what the tensions are in your life. I Don't know what the points of temptation are for you for you folks who are younger folks You know in your heads just as that guy who sat in my office knew in his head what the right thing was to do You know the Scriptures you know the Bible you know the word of God well enough to know what the right thing is to do and Yet there is this temptation to be drawn away from what the right thing is

Don't depart from the word and the promise of God You saw what the consequence what Quence West for Adam and Eve you see what the consequence is here for Abram and Sarah Don't depart From the word of God from the promise of God and there's a second thing Just as Israel was being reminded not to depart from the word of God. So through God's ministry to Hegar Israel is being reminded that God is a God who sees and hears God is a God who sees and who hears Look at verse 13 here is Hegar out of the wilderness being chased away by Sarah and God comes to her and the angel of the Lord speaks to her and God provides for her and After having had this experience of God's provision and God's faithfulness in her life Hegar calls God you are the God who sees Verse 13 you are the God who sees It's striking isn't it that Hegar is an Egyptian? I mean here Israel Has just been oppressed by Egyptians and is being delivered by Egyptians Here is an Egyptian who's been oppressed by an Israelite and God shows her favor shows mercy upon her Provides for her sees her here's her Care for her What's God saying to Israel God is saying to Israel look if God is going to care for an Egyptian a Descendant of those who oppressed you isn't Yahweh the God of the Covenant the one who is brought him into Relationship with yourself isn't he going to see You hear you and provide for you if you'll care for an Egyptian He'll care for you So what are the lessons don't depart Don't depart from the word of God What are the lessons remember who God is remember that God is a God who sees and that God who hears I Don't know where the tensions are in your lives I don't know where those points of temptation are I don't know where the sound of the promise is ringing loudly in your ears and you're longing for its fulfillment I don't know what the nature of the gap is between what has been promised And what's your experiencing but the lesson here the teaching here the instruction here the spiritual wisdom here Is that you're not depart But you're not depart the word of God and the promise of God And you understand that the God who has spoken to you his word and who has spoken to you his promise Is the God who sees you the God who knows you The God who hears you look back over the course of your lives recount in your lives the instances of God's faithfulness and in the midst of whatever it is that you're struggling with wherever the tension is Don't lose heart. Don't lose heart Don't give up Don't cave into the temptation that springs all of our hearts the temptation to scheme and manipulate and manufacture And produce means by which we would accomplish What in the end is only contrary to what God would have us accomplish. So what are the lessons? Lessons from the past Don't depart Don't depart and remember The God who sees the God who hears the God who has provided The God who will provide Let's pray together Father, you know your people. You know your folk. You know where they are You know the tensions and temptations of their lives I pray that you'd help them to live in the sixteenth chapter of Genesis for a while I pray that you would help us As we contemplate what you Did in Abram's life and continued to do in Abram's life after this particular difficulty in his life To pray that you would help us to remember That it just is not wise to depart from what we know to be true and Help us to remember that you do see and you do know and you do hear and Lord as we come to this sacrament as we come to this table As we have set before us This wonderful demonstration of the greatness of your love for your people May we be greatly encouraged May we be encouraged to persevere

Thank you Lord Jesus that you have loved us from before the foundation of the world and that in your great love You have given yourself that our sins might be forgiven That we might have the assurance of your presence with us that we might have the hope of Glory and the prospect of eternity in your presence As we look upon this your faithfulness O Lord May we be encouraged not to depart The remember that you see and hear into persevere assist us in this we pray in Jesus name And we ask that you would hear us now as together we confess our sins