The World Will Recognize The Blessings Of God (Genesis 21:22-34)
As I examine our society today there are a lot of things to look at and think are bleak. We think through those things often as God’s people. The horrors of sin run rampant within our society and so we can’t help but notice and become discouraged. But we should not. The world will one day recognize the blessings of God upon our lives.
As I prepared the sermon for tonight, I kept thinking about the different outcomes of the wicked and the righteous, both in eternity and now. The Western World is a culture of death. After having achieved a good bit of prosperity and advanced the cause of life, our society is trying to wreck the structures that upheld life.
The Supreme Court essentially redefined marriage in a rather pompous manner a few years ago in the Obergefell Decision, but it happened long after our society made a mess of things. Divorce is rampant in our society. And there is a general lack of people staying together within our society. The rampant problems that have been brought on in modern days has caused many people to wonder why they should even get married at all.
There is an attempt within our society to change the natural family structure. This idea came from The Communist Manifesto but remains with us in all sorts of leftist organizations. It was famously found in the BLM belief statement. School Districts around the country are attempting to teach things that the parents completely object to in their school districts. And, simply put, Roe V. Wade was an attempt to abort the family as well as children. Praise God it’s been overturned. But for years there was a law on the books that stated that this decision is to be between a woman and her doctor then you must ask, why is the father left out? Even though it was overturned, the sentiment remains with the society at large. Fathers are now portrayed as a worthless appendage to a family. And women are portrayed as only doing worthwhile things outside of the home.
Children are not prioritized in our day. This has already been discussed to some extent, but there is a large portion of the country that will not have children or put off having children until it becomes more difficult to have children. If a couple spends a decade attempting to do everything they want to do in life before children, then they will likely find it harder to have children when the time comes. Since God created us the way that He did, we have an internal longing to have children. And the abortion discussion is just another part of this lack of prioritization.
As our society rejects those things that bring human flourishing and embraces death, everything will fall apart. Individuals will fall apart as well as society. And just about anyone can look around and see it taking place right before our eyes.
If this is correct, then where does it leave Christians? It leaves Christians in a rather well-adjusted place amid the collapse of society. While society, as a whole falls to pieces, we should be there smiling with our well-adjusted families and children who have grown up to be productive members of society. In short, we are those who have been redeemed by Christ and have the promises and blessings of God upon our lives. It leaves us in a place where we can show the world that Christ is better.
Our passage today is one that we skim when reading through our Bible. It seems rather bland and a little on the pointless side. It feels like an event that was written in for little to no reason at all. But that is not at all what is happening here at the end of Genesis 21. God continues to fulfill promises to Abraham and Abimelech takes notice. The world will recognize the blessings of God. And this is how things work in real life.
We have this idea that we must be doing something big and out of the ordinary for people to notice the goodness of God in our lives. The reality is that most of our lives are made up of mundane moment after mundane moment and we are to live faithfully in those mundane moments. We are to live our lives faithfully before the Lord and a lot of that is not exciting. But the truth of the matter is that God keeps His promises and God’s blessings will be recognized by others.
We will look at and think through this text, and rather than going sequentially we will think about the concepts logically. And as we do so we will see that God keeps His promises and God’s blessings will be recognized by others.
God Keeps His Promises (Genesis 21:30-34, Genesis 12:1-3)
Promise after promise has been fulfilled for Abraham. Genesis 12:1-3 is in the background. The biggest thing that happens in this text is that Abimelech recognized the blessings of God on Abraham’s life and wanted to align himself with Abraham. So, what did Abimelech notice?
It is helpful to think about the promises given in Genesis 12:1-3 and consider what has already been fulfilled, what is in process, and what is yet to be fulfilled. It gives us some idea of what it is that Abimelech saw God doing in Abraham’s life. That is, after all, what Abimelech said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do.” (Genesis 21:22b)
“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)
We can begin with the first promise, which is the land promise. By the end of our text for today Abimelech will have given Abraham rights to a well. This is the first of the land that is given to him. It is a parcel of land that is surrounded by other land that will one day all be his and Abraham knew it. But this cannot have yet been noticed by Abimelech, for when the first conversation happens, Abraham does not yet have the property. Interestingly, Abraham’s insistence upon the well seems strange. He just wouldn’t give up on the matter and by the end of the text it is recognized as his. But, this had not yet happened when Abimelech noticed Abraham. So, what did Abimelech notice.
God also promised Abraham that he would be a great nation. And for this to take place Abraham and Sarah had to have a child. The beginning of the fulfillment of this promise did come in Genesis 21:1-7 with the birth of Isaac. I am certain that Abimelech had heard of this happening, having a child at her age is noteworthy in any era. It would have made the news in our day, don’t you think it would have been discussed in the ancient world? God had given Abraham a son when he was 100 years old and his wife was 90. That doesn’t happen every day, or any day. God is with Abraham.
God promised to bless Abraham, make his name great, and make him a blessing as well. This is the reason Abimelech is seeking a treaty with Abraham. Abraham’s power in the region is rising. Over and over God had blessed Abraham. His household was large and getting larger. His wealth was growing. And now he is having another child. It seems that Abimelech took notice.
Closely associated with that is the promise to bless those who bless him and curse those who curse him. It is very possible that Abimelech had heard of all that happened with Sodom. If you will remember back to Genesis 14:21, Abraham had rescued the people of Sodom and their goods. But the king of Sodom treated him disrespectfully and was rather rude toward Abraham. And God was obviously with Abraham as he brought curses down upon Pharaoh (Genesis 12:10-20), and himself when Abraham deceived them, and they took Sarah as their wife. (Genesis 20). Abraham was obviously a fool in both of those instances, but the Lord was with him and brought his curse down upon them when the endangered Abraham’s wife.
Lastly, God promised that all the families of the Earth would be blessed in him. This one is still being fulfilled. This promise is fulfilled in Christ. All the families of the Earth will be blessed in Christ.
“Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.” (Galatians 3:16 ESV)
How is this promise fulfilled in Christ?
Through the lineage of Abraham God brought the offspring. Born of a Virgin from the lineage of Abraham, God the Son took on human flesh and dwelt among us. He lived a perfect life and died on the cross. And He lived a perfect life, fulfilling all righteousness. All those who entrust their lives to Christ, all those who believe, are united to Him by faith. His death pays their punishment for sin. His life is credited to Him, so that they are counted righteous in Him. And all the families of the Earth will be blessed in Christ.
Blessing after blessing had been poured out upon Abraham and that is what Abimelech noticed. God made promises to Abraham and as they were being fulfilled Abimelech seems to have taken notice.
This is a common theme in Abraham’s life. It is a theme that we see when we meet him in Genesis 12. God made glorious promises to him, and He kept these promises. And the blessings that came with this were noticeable.
I know that you and I are not Abraham and the blessings that fall upon us will look different, but God has done so much for us. Blessing after blessing has fallen upon us and these are blessings that make an incredible difference in our lives. And that makes a difference in our lives.
We have been redeemed, brought out of death and into life. We were once lost and now are found. Christians are united to Christ by faith and redeemed. What a tremendous blessing this is!
As God’s people we are being formed into the image of Christ (Romans 8:28-30). God is forming us into the image of His Son! Again, what a tremendous blessing!
As God’s people, we have been born again to desire to follow the Lord. And God the Holy Spirit is working in us to form us into the likeness of Christ. Therefore, we will walk in His ways. And as we walk in His ways, we do things differently than we would otherwise. We pattern our lives after His command. This means that we pattern our lives in ways that we humanity flourishes rather than rejecting those things.
God created the world and everything in it. He also ordered the world a certain way. If we live according to God’s ways, then there are blessings that we will have that the world knows little to nothing about.
For years our society has had an understanding of the world that cohered a lot with Scripture. For instance, the importance of the family was taken as a given. The importance of having both a father and a mother in the home was taken as a given. There was also a baseline understanding of characteristics that were supposed to be imparted to children, such as hard work and a common morality. These things, though incomplete, tended toward human flourishing. But today, our society has rejected those things that tend toward human flourishing and the results are beginning to be devastating.
In the middle of that devastation are God’s people who have been redeemed and are being transformed into the image of God’s Son. They are being formed by God in the power of the Holy Spirit to walk in His ways.
We work hard to have godly families. Husbands work to lead their homes well, in accordance with the Word of God. Wives seek to help their husbands in this task. And the two of them seek to take dominion over the realm in which God has given them. They seek to bring their whole lives into submission to God’s Word, even while society rejects such a thing as stupid. And they raise their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord.
And blessing after blessing is poured out upon God’s people as they follow God’s ways. The order and peace that surrounds them is amazing as we look around at the chaos that surrounds us. And that is something that people notice.
God’s Blessing Is Recognized By Others (Genesis 21:22-24)
Abimelech recognized the blessing of God upon Abraham’s life. Abraham had recently had a child under miraculous circumstances. The curse had fallen upon his family when he accidentally took Sarah as his wife. Abraham’s growing household and prosperity was a rather large cause for concern, and he likely saw this as a threat. The point that I am attempting to drive home with this is that God was fulfilling His promises and blessing Abraham and Abimelech took notice.
People are not blind. They can see the prosperity of the righteous. This prosperity is oftentimes monetary, as God’s people work hard and accomplish things in the world. But it is oftentimes not. It is oftentimes abundance that comes from being in a community of believers, having a family that loves the Lord and loves one another, and things just working like they are supposed to work.
Listen, society is falling apart as has already been discussed. We see the chaos all around us. And the Christian, because of the blessings of God is not. This is something that people will notice.
So, what do we do?
We quietly live according to God’s Word to the best of our ability.
“Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.” (1 Thessalonians 4:9-12 ESV)
Come to church, hear God’s Word and sing together. Partake of the Lord’s Supper together and witness baptisms together. And love one another. It doesn’t seem extraordinary, but the Lord does marvelous things through it.
Husbands and fathers, lead your families in faithfulness to the Lord. Set the agenda for your home and set it in pursuit of holiness and righteous. Teach God’s Word to your children and pray with them.
Wives and mothers, fill your homes with the love and grace of God. Work hard to adorn your home with the message of God’s love for His people and let that message be always on your lips.
Children, obey your mother and your father. Learn from them. God gave them to you to train you up in Him. You learn how to relate to one another within your family. You learn how to relate to the world within your family. God gave parents to you so that they could teach you and train you in Him.
Older men in the church are to be dignified and self-controlled, an example for the older men. And older women in the church are to teach the younger how to be faithful husbands, fathers, wives, and mothers.
“Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.” (Titus 2:2-5 ESV)
None of this seems outlandish. It all seems a little bit quiet. But that’s the point. The world is filled with chaos. We are to be faithful amid this chaotic world.
And when we do, the world will notice. When we are quietly faithful amid the chaos in the world around us. And it is our hope and prayer that as our church stands as a beacon of light to the community that many people come to see the glory of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Conclusion
In the coming years the people who decide to get married, have children, and raise them in the fear and admonition of the Lord are going to be considered the radicals of our society. And it may be the case that they already are. Our society is moving further and further away from what we would consider sane. And as they do corruption and chaos are going to continue to fester and grow. But we will be there trusting in the Lord with what seems like rather quiet lives. And as we do so, we will see that God keeps His promises and God’s blessings will be recognized by others.
Christian, you are the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Matthew 5:13-14). Your quiet faithfulness to Christ and His ways will salt the Earth with righteousness as God keeps His promises to you and His blessings are recognized by others.
R. Dwain Minor