FRAMEWORKS:
Genesis 21: Upset, Reassurances & Covenant
v.1-7
The Birth of Isaac
v.8-11
Sarah Complains to Abraham about Ismael's mocking
v.12,13
The Lord reassures Abraham
v.14-16
Hagar & Ishmael sent off
v.17-21
The Lord Reassures Hagar
v.22-24
Abimelek seeks Security
v.25-34
Abraham & Abimelek make a covenant
v.1-7
The Birth of Isaac
v.1
Now
the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did
for Sarah what he had promised.
v.2
Sarah
became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the
very time God had promised him.
v.3
Abraham
gave the name Isaac [Isaac
means he laughs.] to the son
Sarah bore him.
v.4
When
his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as
God commanded him.
v.5
Abraham
was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was
born to him.
v.6
Sarah
said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about
this will laugh with me.”
v.7
And
she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse
children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
[Notes:
At
the age of a hundred, Abraham becomes a father for the second
time but now through Sarah as Isaac is born as God promised.]
v.8-11
Sarah Complains to Abraham about Ismael's mocking
v.8
The
child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham
held a great feast.
v.9,10
But
Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham
was mocking, and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman
and her son, for that woman's son will never share in the inheritance
with my son Isaac.”
v.11
The
matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son.
[Notes:
While
they are having a celebration for Isaac, teenage Ishmael was somehow
mocking the proceedings, which upsets Sarah and demands Abraham
gets rid of both Hagar and Ishmael. This, in turn, upsets Abraham.]
v.12,13
The Lord reassures Abraham
v.12
But
God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your
slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is
through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.
v.13
I
will make the son of the slave into a nation also, because he
is your offspring.”
[Notes:
The Lord reassures Abraham and says not to worry because the family
line will be known through Isaac, and yet He will still bless
Ishmael for Abraham's sake.]
v.14-16
Hagar & Ishmael sent off
v.14
Early
the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and
gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent
her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the
Desert of Beersheba.
v.15
When
the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the
bushes.
v.16
Then
she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought,
“I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there, she began
to sob.
[Notes:
So
Abraham makes provisions for them and sends the mother and boy
out into the desert where it seems, for a while, they might die.]
v.17-21
The Lord Reassures Hagar
v.17
God
heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from
heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be
afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there.
v.18
Lift
the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into
a great nation.”
v.19
Then
God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and
filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
v.20
God
was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became
an archer.
v.21
While
he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for
him from Egypt.
[Notes:
The
Lord comes to Hagar and comforts her with reassuring words about
making Ishmael great and shows her an oasis. He grows up in the
desert and has a wife from Egypt.]
v.22-24
Abimelek seeks Security
v.22
At
that time Abimelek and Phicol the commander of his forces said
to Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do.
v.23
Now
swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with
me or my children or my descendants. Show to me and the country
where you now reside as a foreigner the same kindness I have shown
to you.”
v.24
Abraham
said, “I swear it.”
[Notes:
King
Abimelek, who has had previous dealings with Abraham [see Gen
20], feels insecure with this rich alien in his neighborhood and
gets Abraham's assurance that he will always be peaceable.]
v.25-34
Abraham & Abimelek make a covenant
v.25
Then
Abraham complained to Abimelek about a well of water that Abimelek's
servants had seized.
v.26
But
Abimelek said, “I don't know who has done this. You did not tell
me, and I heard about it only today.”
v.27
So
Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelek, and
the two men made a treaty.
v.28,29
Abraham
set apart seven ewe lambs from the flock, and Abimelek asked Abraham,
“What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs you have set apart
by themselves?”
v.30
He
replied, “Accept these seven lambs from my hand as a witness that
I dug this well.”
v.31
So
that place was called Beersheba, [Beersheba
can mean well of seven and well of the oath]
because the two men swore an oath
there.
v.32
After
the treaty had been made at Beersheba, Abimelek and Phicol the
commander of his forces returned to the land of the Philistines.
v.33
Abraham
planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the
name of the Lord , the Eternal God.
v.34
And
Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for a long time.
[Notes:
But
then Abimelek's servants seized a well Abraham had dug and Abraham
complains to the king, so the two make a treaty at Beersheba after
which the king returns to Philistia.]
Lessons
or Challenges to Ponder from Genesis Chapter 21
1.
In old age Sarai eventually has Isaac. They have waited a long
time since God's original promise to them. When God speaks prophetic
words to us, can we wait patiently, trusting that He will do it
– eventually?
2.
Sending Hagar and Ishmael away is, again, not one of the glorious
moments of this couple's life. The wonder is that God goes to
Hagar and saves her in the desert. Despite this the locals see
that God is with Abraham (v.22). Yet again (and it keeps on going
on) we see the Lord not giving up on Abraham, surely comfort and
reassurance for us when we keep tripping over our feet spiritually.
Again and again, He holds out His hand to us, to get us back on
the right track.
Continue to Chapter 22