Genesis 16:1-17:27 (English Standard Version)(If time is short, focus on Genesis 17:15-27)
Genesis 16
Sarai and Hagar
1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. 2And Sarai said to Abram, "Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her." And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. 4And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. 5And Sarai said to Abram, "May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me!" 6But Abram said to Sarai, "Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please." Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.
7The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur.8And he said, "Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?" She said, "I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai." 9The angel of the LORD said to her, "Return to your mistress and submit to her." 10The angel of the LORD also said to her, "I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude." 11And the angel of the LORD said to her,
"Behold, you are pregnant
and shall bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael,
because the LORD has listened to your affliction.
12He shall be a wild donkey of a man,
his hand against everyone
and everyone’s hand against him,
and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen."
13So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, "You are a God of seeing," for she said, "Truly here I have seen him who looks after me." 14Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered.
15And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
Genesis 17
Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision
1When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, 2that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly." 3Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4"Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 7And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God."
9And God said to Abraham, "As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, 13both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. 14Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant."
Isaac’s Birth Promised
15And God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her." 17Then 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?" 18And Abraham said to God, "Oh that Ishmael might live before you!" 19God 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. 20As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. 21But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year."
22When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. 23Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all those born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him. 24Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 25And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.26That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. 27And all the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.
Pastor's Commentary:
Genesis 16 details a natural human reaction when given a promise from God. We'd like to think we can make God's promises happen. We'd like to think that our help is necessary for God's promise to come into being. Sarai told Abram, "Take my servant to be your wife. Maybe she will bear children for you." The idea was, "God promised it, but maybe God helps those who help themselves." By the way, that phrase is not biblical. God helps those who are unable to help themselves.
What happened when Hagar, Sarai's servant, became Abram's wife? Hagar would no longer fulfill her vocation as servant. Hagar looked with contempt on her mistress. Sarai blamed Abram. Abram told Sarai to dismiss Hagar, if that was what she wanted to do. Sarai sent Hagar away into the desert. All of this was a result of the sin of not believing God's promise in the first place.
Even so, God was merciful. Man's sin will not frustrate God from completing His plan. God spoke with Hagar in the desert and told her to return to her mistress. For Abram's sake, Abram's offspring though Hagar would be made into a great nation. Hagar returns to Sarai in faith, saying, "God watches out for me." Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram named him Ishmael, which means "God listens." At this time, Abram was 86 years old.
Years later, we come to Genesis 17. Abram is now 99 years old. But God still remembers the promise He gave to Abram, that he would have a son. God reminds him of the promise again in the first few verses. To drive the promise home, God changes Abram's name to Abraham. Abram means "father of a people." Abraham means "father of many people."
God details a sign of the covenant, the circumcision of the foreskins. This was a sign that Abraham and his people were in a covenant relationship with God. The sign was in the place where it was for the purpose of remembering the promise that one of Abraham and Sarai's offspring would bless the entire world. And Sarai, her name changed to Sarah. Sarah means "princess" or "lady." She is now a woman of high rank.
But when God came to Abraham and told him that he would have a son through Sarah, his wife, Abraham laughed. Therefore, Abraham's son would be named Isaac, which means "laughter." God always has a way of making his point. He had chosen Abraham and Sarah. Through them, He would bring forth a people. Through that people, He would bring forth a Messiah, His own Son, our Lord. Nothing would stop God's plan!
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