Genesis Lessons 21: 1-8 - The Miraculous Child of Promise
INTRODUCTION: Last week, in Gen. 18:20-25; 19:12-16, we covered the well known biblical account surrounding the destruction of the city of Sodom. It's origins really go back to the time when the flocks of livestock kept by Abram and his nephew, Lot, had grown to the extent that they needed to be separated, with Abram re-settling in the region of Hebron and Lot moving to the fertile plain near the city of Sodom, a place that God had already characterized as "exceedingly wicked" (Gen. 13:12). In the lesson verses of Chapter 18, it was apparent that Lot by this time had not only moved his wife and two daughters inside that place but seemingly acquiesced to all the morally depraved things that went on there. I mean, you can get used to practically anything if you live around it long enough, yes? When God "went down" to investigate the sin of Sodom, He invited Abraham along in order to give Him a firsthand understanding of His standards of justice. Abraham, for his part, knew that God would find that the city was, in fact, a moral cesspool, and judge it accordingly. Because of this, Abraham greatly feared that Lot and his family would be annihilated in wake of the coming judgment. As God's angels went down into the city, Abraham, acting as a defense counsel, asked God a pointed question, "Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?" (v. 23), and God ultimately agreed that, "for the sake of ten [righteous] I will not destroy it" (v. 32). As it turned out, however, there were less than ten, yet, out of God's mercy, the angels rescued Lot's family before the city was completely incinerated. From this, we learned the principal that God will not punish the righteous along with the wicked. We also learned from Abraham's example: (1) how, as modern Christians, we should intercede for those facing judgment and (2) how Lot and his family represented obvious examples of Christian believers who allow themselves to live in conformity with a corrupt world.
This week, in Genesis 21:1-8, I will warn you that the lesson is very repetitive, making the same points over and over again. It is a deliberate ancient Hebrew literary device that is used to place great emphasis on making a particular point. I will go ahead and reveal the two particular points of this lesson: (1) That God has the sovereign power to keep promises that are impossible by any human standard; and (2) that Isaac, the biological child born from the union of Abraham and Sarah was a miracle baby, not a freak of nature.
Read Gen. 21:1 - THE LORD VISITED SARAH
1 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.
v. 1: "The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as he had promised." - Let's review this issue. I imagine that Abram and Sarai had tried very hard to have children while they still lived in Haran. However, early on, even before God called Abram, Gen. 11:30 states that his wife, Sarai, was "barren," technically meaning that she was clinically infertile, unable to conceive, and apparently had been that way all her life. Yet, when God called Abram, He specifically promised that He would make him "a great nation" (Gen. 12:2), and when Abram asked God how He planned to accomplish this, God further specified that his Covenant heir would be "very own son," in other words, a biological child (Gen. 15:4). When Abram was in his mid-80s and Sarai in her mid 70s-way, way past normal child-bearing age for a woman-both of them got tired of waiting on God to make good his promise, and concocted a scheme whereby Abram would use Sarai's Egyptian slave, Hagar, as a birth mother, which ultimately resulted in the birth of Ishmael (Gen. 16:15-16). Even though Ishmael was technically Abram's biological heir, this action was not included in God's plan to establish His chosen nation Israel from the hereditary line of Abram and Sarai, and because of this, God didn't speak to Abram for 13 years. The point we learned from this is that God's plans cannot be changed by human intervention. When God finally did speak to Abram again in Genesis Chapter 17, he renewed His promises and changed his name to Abraham (lit. 'father of a multitude') and Sarai's to Sarah (lit. 'princess'), then announced that Abraham, at age 100, and Sarah, at age 90, would have a son, who would be named Isaac (lit. "he laughs"). When Abraham informed Sarah of this news, she laughed, and when Abraham reported her reaction to God, God very pointedly replied, "Is anything too hard for the LORD?" (Gen. 18:12-14).
v. 2: "And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him." - When Sarah and Abraham came together again as man and wife, WHAMMO! As the length of Sarah's pregnancy implies (Gen. 18:10), God, using His infinite power, caused her to "conceive" so that the human seed planted within her began growing into a normal baby boy.
Read Gen. 21:3-5 - HIS SON, WHOM SARAH BORE HIM, ISAAC.
3 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.
v. 3: "Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac." - Notice that the progression of this verse repeats and incorporates all the promises that God made to Abraham in Gen. 17:16-19: (1) His own biological son, (2) born from Sarah; and (3) named Isaac. The two points: (1) God did exactly as He promised, and (2) how He did it was humanly impossible. In Abraham's culture, it was the father's duty to name the child, and out of obedience to God's command, Abraham named the boy Isaac (lit. 'he laughs'). Irony: God always has the last laugh.
v. 4: "And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him." - This verse restates the emphasis on the importance of 'signs.' Earlier, in Gen. 17:9-14, 22-27, God had commanded Abraham that he and every male of his household and every child of their group born thereafter, when eight days old, would be circumcised as a sign of the Covenant God had made with Him, and Abraham completely obeyed. While not outwardly visible, It would nevertheless be a sign that they were the chosen people of God. Here, we simply see Abraham obey God's command and circumcise Isaac when he was eight days old. The point: God's people are set apart.
v. 5: "Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him." - This verse gives a resounding "yes" answer to the question Abraham expressed earlier in Gen. 17:17: "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?" You may recall that Bible scholars are still divided on whether this was an expression of unbelief or one of joy. No matter whose position you take, you will still have to agree that God, once again, had the last laugh.
Read Gen. 21:6-8 - AND THE CHILD GREW
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." 8 And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.
v. 6: "And Sarah said, 'God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.'" - This verse demonstrates God's sovereign power over worst-case scenarios-that nothing is "too hard" for Him (Gen. 18:14): In this instance, turning a 90-year-old woman who has been clinically infertile all her life into a brand new mother! Her previous unbelief and impatience has been miraculously converted into joyful obedience. And her laughter was contagious: everyone around her was moved to laugh and rejoice with her.
v. 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." - The chief premise of this verse is that Isaac was born at the perfect time: He was in truth born at a time when not a single living person on the entire earth would have believed that it was still possible for Sarah to bear Abraham a son and thereafter be able to nurse him like a normal mother. The point: In order to glorify Himself, God delayed the birth of Isaac until the likelihood of Abraham and Sarah ever having biological children between themselves was past impossible.
v. 8: "And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned." - The term "weaned" in human usage is generally defined as the time when a child is taken from its diet of breast-feeding by its mother and introduced to other forms of nourishment from various liquid and solid foods; and in Abraham's culture, the weaning process could extend to two or three years. Because of the very high rates of infant and child mortality in ancient times, the survival of a child past its weaning was cause for great celebration, as signified here when Abraham put on "a great feast." What a day it must have been.
APPLICATION: The birth of Isaac was unforgettable. The text of today's lesson conclusively established that (1) God has the sovereign power to keep promises that are impossible by any human standard; and (2) Isaac, the biological child born from the union of Abraham and Sarah, was a miracle baby, not a freak of nature. We also saw that God's timing of this event was perfect: That God ultimately glorified Himself by delaying the birth of Isaac until all likelihood of Abraham and Sarah ever having a biological child between themselves was humanly past impossible.
