Walk In Obedience As You Wait For The Lord (Genesis 16)
When I was in High School and a young adult I would go fishing with my parents and friends at an undisclosed location. If I ever go back I don’t want to have to fight any of you for the spot. We would go late at night and put a light into the water. The shad would come in and circle the light. We would catch the shad and fish with them. There would be so many of them that they would attract the fish we wanted to catch. That’s when the fun would begin.
I remember looking over the side of the boat and seeing Crappie that had eaten so many shad that they looked like they had golf balls in their stomachs. But that’s not what we were after. We were after the White Bass because they would school up and spend the night eating shad. We would easily catch a cooler full. The limit at that time was 50 per person. And I would catch so many fish that my fingers would be raw from taking them off the hook.
Here’s the thing though. I had been taught how to do all of this. I needed to be in a particular spot to catch the most fish. I also needed to go when the moon was dark or mostly dark. I needed to go in late April or early May when the water temperature was right for the shad to spawn. And when I got there, I needed to be quiet and patient as I waited for the shad to come in. If I jumped around on the boat or checked the net every 5 minutes, it would be likely that I would never bring in shad or catch fish. If I failed, then I would just have a sleepless night with no fish to eat later.
You see in that story that I had to walk in obedience and be patient for the shad to come. But when fishing the payoff is not sure.
With God’s promises the payoff is sure. He will do what He has promised. So, we walk in obedience as we wait for the Lord.
We have been promised the world, but we want it now. We’ve been promised eternal bliss and we try to get the payoff now by buying the right home, the right car, and have all the stuff. We seek after things that don’t matter, or worse are sinful, and find ourselves wondering why our lives are disordered.
We need to be people that order our lives according to God’s Word as we trust in God’s promises. Walk in obedience as you wait for the Lord.
Trust God’s Promises And Wait (Genesis 16:1-4)
Abram had been given glorious promises from the Lord.
“Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”” (Genesis 12:1-3 ESV)
And a few weeks ago we saw the covenant that God made with Abram to give assurance to Abram that this would happen. And it seems to me that Sarai believed this would happen as well. It just didn’t happen as quickly as Sarai wanted it to happen.
They were currently without child. That is the problem that is introduced at the beginning of Genesis 16. But we are also introduced to Hagar. Hagar was a female servant from Egypt. It is very likely that one of the things given to the family when Abram acted like a fool in Egypt was Hagar. So, she was likely a gift from Pharaoh (Genesis 16:1).
Sarai seems to have put a few things together and decided that she had a brilliant idea. God had made these glorious promises, but they all hinged on having a child. She had a servant who was a woman (this is necessary despite what our culture says) and was of child bearing age. So she believed God’s promise, but rather than waiting on the Lord to fulfill the promise she proposed walking in disobedience to make it happen.
This was not an uncommon occurrence in the ancient world. Surrogate pregnancy was commonplace. And it seems that Sarai was not proposing something outlandish. We also know that if Hagar had a child in this manner, then the child would be considered Sarai’s and not Hagar’s. And this also brings up another point that we should consider. The text says that Abram married Hagar, but it is obvious that Hagar never had the rights that Sarai had. So either Hagar was as a concubine to Abram, or some sort of second tier wife. But it seems obvious that she was not of the stature of Sarai in the relationship.
At this point Abram should have said, “Woah Sarai, the Lord promised us a baby. And I believe He will give us a baby. I will not sleep with your servant.” But that is not the path he chose. Rather than trusting the Lord and walking in obedience, he listened to his wife and went along with the sinful plan.
I hope, by this point in the Men’s Bible Study, they can pinpoint the problem with Abram’s conduct. And I also hope they can see another picture in Scripture that is very like this one. Adam also listened to the voice of his wife. Adam also acted passively rather than leading and brought consequences upon the family. Less than the ruin of the whole world, but consequences, nonetheless.
There are problems with both Sarai and Abram’s responses, and it will be helpful to look at both of these.
Sarai wanted to rush things. She wasn’t content to just trust the Lord and live obediently to His command. She wanted what she was promised right now and was not willing to wait for it.
And we honestly do this constantly. We have been given the promise to inherit the Earth, but rather than living obediently and faithfully to the Lord we rack up credit card debt and end up living from paycheck to paycheck. Rather than living faithfully and trusting God’s promises, we wanted everything now and lived disobediently.
Now, we have also seen that these promises are for all those who are in Christ. For all those who are in Christ are also in this covenant made with Abraham (Galatians 3:29). God the Son took on human flesh and dwelt among us in order to bring us to God. He lived a perfect life on our behalf and died on the cross as the substitute for sins. And three days later God raised Him from the dead for our justification. And all those who turn from ruling their own life and trust in Him are part of these glorious promises. By faith, we will inherit the world with Abraham (Romans 4:13).
Notice however, that this is not something that we have in completeness now. Yes, Christ is already ruling and reigning over all things. But we understand that there is coming a day when this rule and reign will be realized all over the globe. And we will inherit the Earth.
You are God’s people and will inherit the Earth. Work hard, live obediently to the Lord. Don’t live a life of leisure in front of a television as if the world owes you something. Whatever it means to work hard in your physical condition, do that. Your eternal rest has not yet come. And by the way, you won’t be sitting on your behind watching TV in Eternity either. There will never be a moment that wasting away is acceptable. Age and illness may make us have to sit longer and rest more, but there never comes a time when we live idly. Work hard. Make a good wage. Use your money well. Be generous with what you have and spend it wisely.
I believe that God blesses our obedience. The world is made in such a way that hard work pays off. And hard work produces goods. Evil people can take away your wealth, or keep you from getting it. But the world was created in such a way that hard work should create wealth. So, I believe it is good and godly to work hard and attain wealth. But it is not good and godly to think that you should be storing up all the treasures of this world and ignoring Christ and His commands to get it.
And Abram was passive in his interaction with Sarai. He had just been given this wonderful promise from the Lord. And when Sarai suggested they walk in disobedience, Abram didn’t say “no to his wife”. Rather than lead in faithfulness, he passively followed his wife into disobedience. Abram went along with the sinful plan.
I believe that Abram knew better based upon what we have already seen in the text. I just don’t think he had the courage to look at his wife and tell her “no”. And we have to admit that is not an easy thing to do. Adam failed at this point and so did Abram. And the order of events leads us to understand this as another fall, but with lesser consequences.
This entire account depicts the passivity of Abram. His wife makes this sinful suggestion and rather than telling her “no”. He goes along with it. And later, when his wife is angry with Hagar, rather than telling her to “calm down” he lets her treat Hagar meanly. He actually tells her to treat Hagar however she sees fit (V. 6).
Men, lead your family in faithfulness to the Lord. You’re a fool if you don’t listen to your wife. And you’re a fool if you constantly demean your wife and treat her as if she is unequal with you. You married her because you trust her enough to build a life and a family with her. But you are the head of the household. And the responsibility of your family to walk in faithfulness before the Lord falls upon your shoulders. You should be leading your family in faithfulness to the Lord. Your wife shouldn’t have to drag you into leading family Bible Studies, you should be leading your family there. And you should occasionally tell your wife “no”. Hopefully it is not often, but you should never end up passively going along with whatever she wants to do. You should be setting a direction for your family of faithfulness before the Lord.
Walk in obedience and trust in the Lord. Don’t try to get everything now, wait on the Lord. And men, you need to lead your families in faithfulness.
Disobedience Can Have Devastating Consequences (Genesis 16:5-16)
This event is depicted as a Fall similar to that of the Fall of Adam, but there are lesser consequences. But when we think about what happened because of Abram and Sarai’s decision, we understand that they were still devastating.
It is obvious that the relationships in this account became sour due to the plan of Sarai and Abram’s willingness to go along with it. In a rather obvious turn of events, Sarai became angry, and hardship entered into their relationship. Sarai is seen throughout Scripture as being a model of submissive feminine behavior (1 Peter 3:6). But not here. Here she is fuming. And Abram remained passive throughout this entire affair. Rather than ruffle any feathers, he decided it was best to just tell Sarai that she could treat Hagar however she saw fit (Genesis 16:6). He did not want to do what was necessary in the beginning. And when matters were getting worse and worse he did not want to deal with the consequences.
The relationship between Sarai and Hagar also became sour (Genesis 16:5-6). From the moment that Hagar conceived, and Sarai perceived a look from her the relationship went south. And when Abram decided to keep the peace between he and Sarai rather than get involved it got worse. We don’t know a lot of the details, but we do know that “Sarai dealt harshly with her”. And Hagar had enough and ran away.
We are going to look more closely at the interaction between the angel and Hagar next week, Lord willing. So, you will notice a few details missing from this message. But the Lord saw Hagar and heard her sorrow. She was headed back to Egypt when the angel of the Lord appeared to her. And much of this interaction will be central to next week’s message. But we need to know that Hagar was told to return to Sarai by the Lord. And that will be discussed more next week as well.
But right now I’d like for us to look at verses 10-12.
What we see here is that the consequences of this act would last for a very long time (Genesis 16:10-12). Now, why do I say this?
Well, not only did the decision of Abram and Sarai have immediate consequences. But it also had long lasting consequences. The angel of the Lord gave a promise to Hagar that a great multitude would come from her child (Genesis 16:10). Ishmael would be his name and he would 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.” (Genesis 16:12 ESV)
This is the creation of the Arab peoples. Ishmael’s offspring would be a multitude, but they would also be wild and at war. Even though intermarriage has made this distinction less clear in our day, it still explains a lot. It explains a lot of the turmoil that happens in Arab countries. It explains a lot of the wars. It explains a lot of the terrorist activity. It explains why Israel is always having to spend so much money to defend itself.
And why did it happen? Because of Abram and Sarai’s decision.
The consequences of their sin were both immediate and long lasting. There was immediate and obvious consequences due to Sarai’s seeing that Hagar had conceived. It was all her idea, but that doesn’t help shield her from these obvious results.
Our own disobedience will often have immediate results. And those results are often obvious as well. When an alcoholic decides to get drunk and does something stupid, we understand that obvious and immediate results took place.
When you try to get and own everything all at once and rack up credit card debt to do so, the consequences are immediate and obvious as well. You will inherit the world. But you won’t inherit it immediately. We are to live trusting God’s promise and living faithfully in this world.
But our disobedience can also have long lasting consequences. It has statistically been proven that the children of an alcoholic are more likely to be alcoholics. The children of drug addicts are more likely to grow up drug addicts. And if you rack up a lot of debt right now, you won’t have anything to give your children later in life.
We must consider what it means to be unfaithful right now. Not only will we feel the consequences of what we do, but our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren will feel those consequences.
Do you neglect God’s Word in the home? How will that affect your kids, their kids?
Fathers, do you neglect to lead your family in faithfulness to the Lord? How will that affect your home now? How will it affect the faithfulness of your children’s children?
I believe that shortsightedness has been a plague upon Christian thinking for the last 150 years. Preachers have declared that the end is near, and Christians didn’t give the slightest thought to their Great Grandchildren. We’ve acted like we won’t ever have them. And we’ve acted like we will soon be transported out of this world and won’t have to face any consequences.
We don’t think about the multigenerational consequences of faithfulness or unfaithfulness to the Lord. We don’t think about what it means that we raise our children up in the fear and admonition of the Lord and train them well to be men or women of faith that raise their children up in the fear and admonition of the Lord. We don’t think about what it would mean for our children’s livelihoods to build a business or wealth and hand it off to them someday. And we definitely don’t think about how that could affect our Great Grandchildren. We don’t think about growing up leaders from within a local church so that it stands strong for generation after generation.
Our faithfulness our unfaithfulness will have consequences for us. But it will also have consequences for our children and our children’s children.
At this point I would like to read to you a small bit concerning the offspring of Jonathan Edwards. Jonathan Edwards was the preacher whose preaching is usually credited with sparking the First Great Awakening. He is still thought of the greatest intellectuals and religious leaders that America ever produced. And his wife Sarah worked hard to care for and educate their children.
150 years after Jonathan Edwards died, a man named A.E. Winship decided to study the lineage of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards to see what had become of his family. He wanted to see the legacy of the Edwards family. He found that in 150 years the Edwards lineage included:
1 US Vice-President
1 Dean of a law school
1 Dean of a medical school
3 US Senators
3 Governors
3 Mayors
13 College Presidents
30 Judges
60 Doctors
65 Professors
75 Military Officers
80 public office holders
100 lawyers
100 clergymen (this includes missionaries, pastors, and theologians)
285 college graduates
At what point did we as believers lose sight of the long term? At what point did we decide that these things didn’t matter? At what point did we decide that we would do whatever we wanted in the short term and not think about the generations that would come after?
As believers, we need to trust God’s promise and live faithfully before the Lord. We conform ourselves to His Word and wait for Him to fulfill His promises to us. We work hard to do what He has commanded. And we walk in obedience as we trust He will fulfill those promises.
God Uses Evil For Good (Genesis 16:13-16)
The birth of a child is a good thing. I don’t know what things were like when Hagar returned. Even though a surrogate motherhood situation would mean that this was Sarai’s child it is certainly not discussed in that way. We are not sure what has taken place, but there is no mention of Sarai at the end of the text. And regardless of any of that, we have the birth of this baby. His name was Ishmael and he was born when Abram was 86 years old.
But Ishmael was not the promises seed. He was not the hoped for and longed for seed of Abram. He was not the Messianic Figure that would conquer Satan that was promised in the Garden (Genesis 3:15). And for that matter neither is Abram. But because of one that would come from the seed of Abram, through Isaac and Jacob not Ishmael, salvation would come to the world. And the people who come from Abram and Hagar will one day be seated around the throne of the Lord.
“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”” (Revelation 7:9-12 ESV)
We strive for holiness throughout our lives. And we should set our eyes upon faithfulness to the Lord and His promises.
But there is something comforting about seeing the Lord use the failures of Abram and Sarai for God’s glory. It’s a theme that comes up again and again in Scripture. And it’s something that we need to hear.
Even the most heroic of saints is a sinner in need of a Savior. And we see this repeatedly in Abram’s life. His faith is incredible, but he is a sinner in need of a Savior.
And your screw up is not going to mess up the world or God’s plan. Somehow, someway, God is going to be glorified even by the messes that we make of things.
The children of Ishmael have caused many hardships and loss of innocent life. But the world will one day be filled with the glory of the Lord and even those nations will bow before Christ. And we will one day be seated with many of them at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
If God can do that, and it is something that He is doing even now, then can’t He cause the sins in your own life to be used for His glory. Repent of your sin. Turn from ruling your own life. But understand that you cannot and have not thwarted the Lord. Your sin is not bigger than His power or His grace. You’re not that special.
Conclusion
Stop wasting your life on things that don’t matter. Stop seeking after infinite blessings now. We need to be people that order our lives according to God’s Word as we trust in God’s promises. Walk in obedience as you wait for the Lord.
But also understand that there is forgiveness in the Lord. We will not always walk obediently. But that is not cause for devastation. We understand that He forgives. And we understand, as they redneck phrase goes, that God hits straight licks with crooked sticks. He can take the devastation that you caused or were a part of and cause it to work for your good and His glory.
R. Dwain Minor