Last 5 Days
Great Joy and Great Pain
1 The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. 2 And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. 3 Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac. 4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” 7 And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
8 And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. 9 But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing. 10 So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.” 11 And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son. 12 But God said to Abraham, “Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for through Isaac shall your offspring be named. 13 And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring.” 14 So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, “Let me not look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. 17 And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. 18 Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 19 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. 20 And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow. 21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
Genesis 21:1-7 reported the long-awaited birth of Isaac. Given the amount of attention given to the promised heir of Abraham, and having tracked the obstacle of childlessness for ten chapters (Sarah was first reported to be barren in Genesis 11:30), one would have thought that the conceiving of Abraham’s son through Sarah would have been a significant climax. However, the conceiving and birth of Isaac was reported briefly with minimal details. Such a low-key resolution of this barrenness was in itself a paradoxical understatement.
The miracle of a child born from a woman who was barren during her childbearing years and who has passed through menopause is indeed something unthinkable. In fact, Sarah’s womb can be considered twice dead in terms of fertility, and it is only God who can make this startling miracle happen.
How should we view barrenness and fertility? In some societies, the ability of barrenness and fertility is tied with the value and honour of a woman, and it is easy to see barrenness as a judgement. It is true to say that God had blessed the opening of every womb in Genesis 1 so that man may be fruitful and multiply. Nonetheless, in a fallen world, there are reasons that can work against this blessing, Hence, while God is clearly capable of opening or closing the womb, barrenness and fertility should not be made a causation of God’s blessings or judgement.
Should women who are barren continue to pray for God to grant them the ability to bear children? Yes. But we pray because we know that God is able, not because we are trying to force His hand. We need to be able to trust that whether or not God chooses to grant fertility, it is His wisdom and we can only choose to honour Him and to trust that God’s decisions are designed to serve His purposes.
The joy of the birth of Isaac ironically brought about the pain of separation with Ishmael. Sarah had asked for Hagar and Ishmael to be cast out, and this matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. Which son? Was it Isaac because Sarah was concerned about his inheritance? Or was it the welfare of Ishmael? It seemed like it certainly was regarding the welfare of Ishmael in this passage. Abraham loved Ishmael and now Sarah was insisting that Hagar and Ishmael had to go.
At this point of tension, God intervened and told Abraham to do what Sarah had said. It seemed as though God was endorsing Sarah’s behaviour from jealousy, however it was not so. God reminded Abraham that it was through Isaac whom His blessing would flow to all nations. Nonetheless, God promised Abraham that Ishmael was still his offspring and He would make a nation of him. Clearly, Ishmael was still covered by God’s grace. Genesis 21:20 stated that “God was with the boy (Ishmael), and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow.”
In sending Hagar and Ishmael away, we see Abraham’s great pain in his obedience to God. Nonetheless, it is an ongoing process of submitting to God for Abraham and in so doing, allowing God to accomplish His purpose through him. He may not have understood God’s reason for sending Ishmael away at that point, just as he would not understand God’s reason for sacrificing Isaac in the next chapter, but Abraham showed great faith when he obeyed without questioning.
Dear brothers and sisters, in today’s passage, we read about Abraham’s great joy through the fulfilment of the promised heir, and his great pain in the sending away of his beloved son. The birth of Isaac also showed God’s great hand in the barrenness and fertility of Sarah. Similar to the lives of Abraham and Sarah, there are many times in our lives where we may not fully understand God’s doing. We do not know why our prayers sometimes seem unanswered, we do not know why God had directed us to take certain steps. Our lives of faith may sometimes bring great joy, but the acts of faith may also bring great pain. While we may not always understand, or be able to make sense of certain things that are happening in our lives, what we do know is that God is faithful and He fulfils His promises. May we submit obediently to God’s direction, and to learn to trust Him and obey Him. May we, in so doing, experience the great joy of walking with God.