May the Lord give us a Spirit of wisdom and understanding today as we study his Word.
Read Psalm 15
Quote from Luther: "The 15th psalm is a psalm of instruction that teaches the true understanding of the Law, the truly good life, and true good works. These are all fruits of the Spirit and of faith: to live blameless before God through true faith, to do right to the neighbor, and to turn away from the evil ways and from the hypocrisy of the ungodly, by which they serve God with fraudulent works and omit the true works." Reading the Psalms with Luther, CPH.
Read Genesis 16
It seems as if Abram and Sarai are having a hard time believing that he is going to keep his promise in the most literal way. Yesterday we read that Abram tells God that Eliezer was set to be his heir. God says that this man would not be the heir, but Abram's own son. I wonder if Sarai heard that and then thought, "God said that the heir would come from Abram's own body, but will the heir come from my own body too?" She wants the covenant and promise to be true, but she doubts that God could use her to do it.
So Hagar enters the scene. This causes so much grief for everyone, and so many problems! If only they had trusted and waited! But now Hagar is cruel to Sarai, and Sarai worse to Hagar, Hagar flees, is told to return by the Lord, she obeys, but the problems continue, as we'll see.
God promises to Hagar that she will bear a son, and his descendants will be a "multitude." A similar promise was given to Abram, but in this promise to Hagar we see no promise of the Messiah. Ishmael is not the chosen offspring.
Still, those who are not the chosen offspring can still dwell in peace, trusting in the promise of the coming Messiah. But not Ishmael. He would be a "donkey" of a man, a source of contention. A poor decision by Abram (probably aided by the weakness of his flesh) causes a multitude of difficulties.
Poor Sarai must wait in her barrenness for another 13 years. There's not too much that's positive and uplifting about this chapter. But we must remember that God will keep his promise. The covenant has not been voided. God does not change his mind like a mere mortal. The Savior indeed will come, and he will be a descendant of Abram and Sarai.
Ask Yourself:
We all take matters into our own hands. What have you "taken away" from God's hands?
What happens when you try to do it all on your own?
How will you give it back to God?
Pray:
O Lord, our gracious and merciful Father, grant us steadfastly to believe in Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior; to fearlessly confess Him before men to the reproving of the unbelieving and the wicked. Strengthen us by Your Spirit to walk honestly as in the light of day, both privately and in public. Amen.
Study with me Monday.
Pastor Jon
Soli Deo Gloria!
Correction. Sarai would have to wait 13 years for the next recorded renewal of the promise by God. She would have to wait another year after that until Isaac would be born. So, I should have said that poor Sarai has to wait 14 years in her barrenness.
ReplyDeleteDo you know why Islam claims Ishmael?
ReplyDeleteAlso, can't you see if this happened today, rather than a servant their might be a surragate mother via invitro fertilization?
re: invitro
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, how different the story would be!
re: Ishmael
Yes, the Arabic muslims claim to be descendants of Abraham through his son Ishmael. And they probably are. Ishmael (according to the Bible) fathered 12 princes and his line became a "multitude" as well. But what does that count for?
Nothing.
But neither does being a descendant of Isaac count for anything, apart from Christ. You see there are two sides that are fighting for the "holy" land. One side because they are descended from Isaac. One side because they are of Ishmael. But neither one realizes that the promise was about Christ, and if they are apart from Jesus Christ, they are apart from the promise. The land now is no more important than any other land now (except that people are dying to get it). It is regular land. We should maybe stop calling it the holy land. The promise was fulfilled in Christ. Now the Holy Land is where Jesus is. We should start calling the Church (that is the total number of believers) the Holy Land, and Heaven the Promised Land. - But that's slightly off topic.
St. Paul makes it clear that the heirs of the promise made to Abraham are heirs not because of works, nor bloodline, but by faith. (See Romans 4; Galatians 3:29).
Jesus makes the same point. See John 8:39-59. Right now Abraham is rejoicing in the promised inheritance that he received. We (Christians) will too.