ABRAHAM - IS GOD EVER LATE?

ABRAHAM – IS GOD EVER LATE?

Do you ever pray for someone or for a specific situation and then feel like God is taking forever to answer? Do you ever wonder if you are supposed to “do something” about it yourself? The early believers in Christ expected that He would return to them in their lifetime, and as time dragged on they became discouraged. The apostles had to remind them that God is never slow or late in keeping His promises, but is very patient. (II Peter 3:9) Two thousand years later, we are observing specific end time prophecies being fulfilled and the whole world ought to be excited and preparing themselves for the Lord’s coming, but there is apathy, unbelief, and a tremendous increase in worldliness, persecution of righteousness, and even a spirit of war against God Himself. How should we handle ourselves when God seems slow to act? Should we “do something” to help Him along? Let’s look at Abram’s life and glean some lessons.

THE PROBLEM

Genesis 16:1-4 says,

“Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. And 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. So, 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. And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.”

So what is the situation here that they are dealing with? First, God has specifically promised Abram that he would have more offspring than could be counted, but so far, he has none and he is 85 years old. Sarai is about 75 years old and they have been living in the land of Canaan for 10 years. At that time, infertility was always blamed on the woman, and it was considered grounds for divorce. Second, Sarai correctly recognizes that it is God who is in control of conception and infertility. Perhaps she decides that it is not she, after all, who will bear the son of God’s promise to Abram, and she must own up to it and make a huge personal sacrifice. Or, it might be that she just becomes desperate and gives up waiting for God and does what the rest of the world does. At that time surrogacy was often the solution to infertility, so Sarai is not dreaming up a new plan that nobody has thought of before—she is doing what everybody else does. Third, the phrase “Abram listened to the voice of Sarai” carries with it the idea of obedience. Abram is not being a leader in this situation, and he apparently does not consult with God about this decision, but he obeys his wife. This is not a proper husband/wife role and it reminds me of Adam and Eve in the garden. Adam listened to Eve when he should have been the leader. (Genesis 3:17) Hagar, a slave, becomes Abram’s second wife at this point. She is not, however, on the same legal or social par as Sarai because she is still a slave, but her new position apparently goes to her head pretty quickly because when she becomes pregnant, she immediately despises Sarai.

OBSERVATION: Multiple marriages were never intended by God. When God created mankind, he made one female for the one male. He did not remove half a dozen ribs from Adam and produce an entire harem for him. Jesus’ teaching on marriage indicates that marriage is for life and that divorce and remarriage constitutes adultery. In virtually every incidence in the Old Testament where there are multiple wives in the household, there are serious problems. Similarly, divorce and remarriage, especially where children are involved, results in tensions that go on for years with potentially disastrous results for the children.

OBSERVATION: Hagar was basically used as a baby incubator—reducing her to the level of a thing, rather than a person. Abram did not take her as a wife because he loved her, but because he and Sarai wanted something from her. She had no choice in her situation either because she was a slave.

A TYPE TO LEARN FROM

This episode provides some typology (visual portrayals in life of spiritual truths) from which we can learn. The Apostle Paul explains this in Galatians 4 when he says that Sarai represents the people of faith, i.e. the church, while Hagar represents the world. Sarai is destined to become the mother of the son of promise, and thereby the forebear of the Messiah Himself, while Hagar is destined to bear fleshly children.

NOTE: The world will always provide you with an alternative to God’s way and it will seem to work so well! “There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is death.” (Proverbs 14:12)

What can we learn from the type? First we see that faith waits on God, but the flesh wants results now and is not willing to wait. Sarai and Abram gave in to the fleshly desire to obtain children and used the flesh to get what they wanted. Second, we see that the flesh has no problem getting results. Hagar conceived a child immediately. Third, the flesh is rooted in pride. Most likely it was Sarai’s pride that led to her desperate plan, and now that Hagar is pregnant, her pride is exalted and she reacts by despising Sarai’s apparent weakness.

OBSERVATION: Initially, it will almost always appear, especially to the worldly-minded, that the flesh is strong and faith is weak. Communism teaches that religion is the opiate of the people and humanism teaches that faith is only a crutch for the weak to help them get through life. It is not until the end that faith is shown to be the real strength while the flesh is actually decaying and dying from its earliest moments. Jesus said that the pure in heart will see God (Matthew 5:8). I don’t think He meant only after death, but that they would be able to see God at work on earth during their lives, so only faith can perceive that it is stronger than the flesh.

QUESTION: How does this lesson from typology apply to us? I think it has direct application to the church, because the church has always, and especially in the last 120 years, been susceptible to the temptation to use the flesh to fill the pews. We are always looking for some way to draw a crowd. We call it evangelism, but it is really rooted in pride and unbelief, in my opinion. We look at the dwindling crowd and conclude that God is not sufficient to fill His church, so we come up with some flashy thing to get people’s attention and interest. Flashy things are really fleshy things and they work for a short time. It looks like a success, but it is really Hagar, mocking the mother of the promised one. The more we depend on the flesh, the more the Spirit will be quenched in His work.

A FLESHY SOLUTION TO A FLESHY MESS

In verses 5-6, we read how Sarai deals with the “Hagar Problem.”

“And 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!’ But 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.”

At this point, we can see that even the best of people who walked with the Lord and received His promises and lived by faith also had their bad moments. Sarai’s pride and wrath are aroused when this upstart slave girl looks down on her because of her barrenness. She takes her anger out first on Abram. According to the commentators, her words to Abram at this point are as close to cursing as a saintly woman allows herself, and she is speaking to her own husband! Her situation is intensely bitter, as Hagar’s “success” is being rubbed like vinegar on an open sore. I know that I myself tend to react to pain with anger and Sarai is turned the same way. In giving Hagar to Abram for such an intimate purpose, Sarai was displaying trust both in Abram and in Hagar. That trust has now been violated, so Sarai is doubly hurt and angry.

With Abram’s reaction, we see that he is still not in the leadership over this issue. First, he obeyed Sarai and slept with her maid. Now that it has caused a problem, he basically washes his hands of the whole mess by saying, “She’s your maid! Do whatever you want with her! I’m just along for the ride!” Abram never loved Hagar anyway, so what happens to her is not a real concern to him. Knowing that Sarai is in a state of wrath, he does nothing to alleviate the situation, but steps out of the way and lets Sarai do her worst. The result is that Hagar runs away, taking Abram’s baby with her.

OBSERVATION: Jesus said in Matthew 5, “Blessed are the peacemakers.” This is a low point for Abram because he fails to do anything meaningful to make peace between the women in his own house.

GOD CLEANS UP THE FLESHY MESS

The story picks up with Hagar in verses 7-9:

“The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. And 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.’ The angel of the LORD said to her, ‘Return to your mistress and submit to her.’”

COMMENTARY: In the Old Testament, the angel of the LORD is a rather mysterious figure and there is considerable debate on the subject. Some believe that he represents a pre-incarnate Christ while others believe that it is an angelic being who is given the word of God to speak. Either way, the LORD is talking to Hagar.

The location of this spring indicates that Hagar is probably on her way back to Egypt. That was her home, and she was probably given to Sarai by Pharaoh during their sojourn in Egypt when Sarai was taken into Pharaoh’s harem. She is in a wilderness, which could easily demonstrate symbolically her literal situation. She is at a wilderness in life with no future and no hope, yet within her is a life, as symbolized by the spring.

The Lord asks, “Where have you come from and where are you going?” When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden and hid themselves from God, God asked the same sort of question, “Adam, where are you?” This is not a question asking for a physical location, but rather a life question. Adam was running away, trying to hide from God and likewise, Hagar is running away, trying to hide from the wrath of Sarai. Both Adam and Hagar had done wrong and were running from the consequences, rather than facing up to the consequences and making required changes.

To Hagar’s credit, she answers a little more forthrightly than Adam did. Adam blamed everything on Eve, but Hagar tells the truth—she is running away from her mistress. With this statement, she acknowledges that Sarai is her mistress and has every right to expect obedience and respect from Hagar. Hagar’s attitude, at least for the moment, appears to be repentant. But later verses will show us that it is not a godly repentance. She is not sorry for what she did, but for the situation in which she now finds herself, which most likely is life-threatening, not only for herself, but also for her child.

QUESTION: Most anyone will be sorry when he hears he is headed for hell, but is he sorry for the pride and rebellion against God that has put him on that road to begin with?

God then gives Hagar a specific command—return to Sarai and submit yourself to her. Sarai, the spiritual mother, is to rule over Hagar, the fleshly mother. Likewise, in our lives as believers, the spiritual is to rule over the flesh in every situation. This is not an easy road because the flesh by nature wants to dominate, its chief characteristic being pride. As long as we are alive, the fleshly nature will be with us; however, the new nature of the Spirit of Christ must be nurtured and allowed to grow strong enough to dominate the fleshly nature and hold it under control. (Galatians 5:16-18)

THE PROMISE

In verses 10-12, God makes a special promise to Hagar.

“The angel of the LORD also said to her, ‘I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.’ And 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. He 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.’”

First we see that God promises to multiply her offspring just as he has promised to multiply Abram’s offspring. God doesn’t give any particular reason why Hagar’s offspring are to be multiplied. Before, He had promised to multiply Abram’s offspring because Abram believed God and obeyed Him. Perhaps He is multiplying Hagar’s offspring because they are the physical children of Abram. Perhaps He is multiplying them for reasons of His own. We are not told about this, and we must be humble enough to let God keep His own counsel.

NOTE: Beware of people who have to be able to explain everything. God doesn’t tell us everything, and it is pride that feels it must be able to answer every question.

Secondly, Hagar is told that the child will be a son and that his name is to be Ishmael. The name Ishmael actually means, “God hears,” and this name is significant for Hagar, and it will later be very significant for Ishmael himself. God is reassuring her that He has seen and heard all about her situation. She has been used and mistreated, but she has also been prideful and rebellious against a woman who trusted her. Isn’t that a picture of all of us? Haven’t we all in many ways felt used as things and then possibly later thrown out or mistreated? Haven’t we reacted pridefully towards others, perhaps those who trusted us and loved us, such as family members? Haven’t we experienced the desire to rebel against authority when that authority is misused? Haven’t we all from time to time tried to run away from the consequences of our own wrong attitudes? God has seen and heard it all. He knows all about it, and He says to return, both to Him and to whatever situation needs to be faced up to.

Finally, Hagar is told what her son’s character and future will be. He will be like a “wild donkey” unsettled and on the move—nomadic. Also, he will often be at war against everyone else. However, his people will endure. This is interesting because at that time there were many Canaanite peoples, but the only ones that have survived the millennia are the Jews, descended from Abram through Sarai, and the Arabs, descended from Abram through Hagar.

ALL IS WELL THAT ENDS WELL….NOT NECESSARILY

The story concludes as follows:

“So 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.’ Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered. And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.”

This is the first time in the Scriptures that God has appeared to someone as El Roi, the God Who Sees. Hagar was not lost in the wilderness because God saw her, came to her, and healed her situation. It wasn’t all sunshine and roses with everybody living happily ever after, but there was a time of peace. Wherever we are, wherever our loved ones are, God sees them. He is perfectly capable of moving in our situations to bring about His will for us. It won’t be all sunshine and roses, but we can have peace if we will acknowledge our sin and follow His commands and trust Him as the God Who sees us always.

Hagar repented and was comforted and returned to Abram, the father of her child, and to Sarai, her mistress. In due time, the child was born, and Abram called him Ishmael, acknowledging that he was his son. However, nothing can change the fact that he is a son according to the flesh, not the son of promise, and the stage is set for future conflict, because the Spirit will always war against the flesh, and the flesh will mock the Spirit. We see this principle played out in our daily lives and also in the contention that continues between Israel and her Arab neighbors.

KEY IDEAS FROM THIS EPISODE

• The flesh is impatient and wants to be always doing; faith waits patiently for God to show the way.

• It is possible to be always busy doing things, but accomplish nothing. Jesus said in John 15:5, “Apart from Me, you can do nothing.”

• God sees what is done to you, as well as what you do to others. His eye is always on you and He wants to create peace in your life.

• When God finds you running away and hiding, be honest and repent and then do whatever He commands.

• Submit to authority. This is a tough one for us freedom-loving, independence-minded Americans. As we navigate the next three years under our current President, let us be mindful that God has placed him there for a reason. Pray for him and respect his office while exercising your right to vote and communicate respectfully with all your elected representatives. And ponder what God may be trying to tell us through this situation.

I hope as you meditate on this episode in Abram’s life you will find more key points to remember and practice. Thanks for joining us!