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Sermons at Trinity Church |
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Genesis 16 ‘YOUR VERY GREAT MISTAKE’29th February 2004Jonny Elvin |
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All Bible references in this sermon transcript are taken from the English Standard Version. This can be found at www.biblegateway.com
In the last three chapters we’ve seen Abram at his very best – the man of faith as prophet, priest and king. But now it’s down the roller-coaster again from the heights to the depths. We’ll see him tempted and failing – a sober reminder for us that if he could fail, so can, even if we are people of faith. As Paul puts it, ‘therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fail’ (1 Cor 10.12)
The ongoing problem of Sarai’s childlessness
Well the opening verse reminds us of the ongoing fertility problem Abram and Sarai are facing.
1Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children.
In spite of God’s promise of offspring, the nursery was painfully empty. And God doesn’t seem to be doing anything about it.
So Sarai steps in with her solution…
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[1] by her."
It’s a classic attempt to solve a problem with human wisdom rather than wait for God.
Back in Genesis 3 Adam found temptation coming from his nearest and dearest. That’s so often where it comes from, isn’t it? We expect Satan to attack us like a roaring lion. But so often he tempts us through those closest to us. He comes even as an angel of light – he seems so reasonable and charming, yet his ambition is to get us to move away from God.
Jesus faced the same thing in the wilderness. Remember what Satan offered him? ‘Why not make these stones bread? You’ll only die of hunger and then where will God’s plans be? / Throw yourself from the temple top – show that you’re the one who can command angels. Otherwise people may look at the humble way you came to earth and miss who you are – how would that achieve God’s purposes? You’ll show your glory when you return, why not show it now too? / Take possession of the world’s throne now, otherwise you may end up with nothing but a cross. And the crown is yours by right anyway, isn’t it?’
Do you see how Jesus was tempted to short-cut God’s plan to rescue humanity through the cross. But he was also tempted to abandon his path to Calvary through Peter, one of his closest friends (Mark 8.32-33)
V2 tells us that like Adam Abram listened to the voice of Sarai his wife (Gen 3.17, 16.2). Of course listening to your wife is not always a problem! In fact in 21.12 God tells Abram to do whatever she tells him, because in that instance she’s right. But here there is an inversion of the proper spiritual leadership structure of the home. The husband, as head of his wife, is called to lead his wife in godliness. And he will be held to account.
But here the very person intended to be a blessing to Abram is the very one who leads him astray. What’s the protection that God has given us in circumstances like these? We must be so attuned to the Word of God that we recognise the voice of temptation and are able to resist it. And in Matt 10.37 Jesus says our obedience to God’s Word must be more precious to us than even the closest of human relationships.
Did you notice how subtle the temptation was? Abram isn’t tempted by lust – we don’t know if their Egyptian maid was Hagar the Horrible or Hagar the Horny! Abram is motivated by a desire to see God’s promise fulfilled. He knows he’s been promised offspring. But Sarai hasn’t yet been designated as the mother. And taking a concubine was socially acceptable in Abram’s day. Indeed it was expected in his culture. And why not? All parties were consenting adults, so what’s wrong with it? So often Stan’s shortcuts seem reasonable. But like many shortcuts the path doesn’t always lead you where you want to go. You think you’re saving time, but all you’re doing is getting more and more lost.
There is a danger too for every Christian. The temptation to take shortcuts with ethics and with God’s promises. We want to see someone come to faith, but we think they’ll be put off by any talk of judgement, so we don’t mention it. And when it comes up later they say ‘why didn’t you tell me anything about that?’ and they think that we’ve been spinning the gospel and being ‘economical with the truth’. It doesn’t commend the gospel.
The wrong solution
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.
They’ve been in the land for 10 years and they’re still waiting! Growing weary of waiting leads Sarai and Abram to adopt the practice of surrogate motherhood. Often a concubine would bear the child of her master if her master’s wife was unable to conceive. Of course it’s a risky and costly path. There’s the danger of jealousy, reproaches and broken relationships leading to the wife and concubine falling out – which is exactly what happens here: it’s ‘out of the frying pan and into the fire’.
Did you notice the words used for what Sarai does? V3 She ‘took…and gave’ – just like Eve in the Garden of Eden. Like Adam, Abram goes along with it.
And when she [Hagar] saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.[2] 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.
Hagar becomes proud and despises Sarai. Sarai blames Abram, even though it was her idea in the first place! Abram wants Sarai to take responsibility for what happened to Hagar and so washes his hands of the situation. And Sarai makes Hagar’s life miserable so that she ends up running away.
It’s a case of not taking responsibilty for their own actions. That’s often the problem isn’t it? We’re quick to blame others for the mess we get ourselves into. We’re unique in that regard. You never see a dog who’s just eaten your dinner while your back was turned pointing at the cat and saying ‘it was him!’ or ‘he made me do it!’ do you?! It’s a very human temptation to excuse ourselves and blame someone else.
Well whose fault was it? Abram’s, Sarai’s Hagar’s? There’s no easy answer to this – they’re all at fault. Abram should have exercised godly leadership and said ‘no, you’re my wife. We’ll wait for the Lord’s timing as we wait for a son.’ Yes it was Sarai’s idea, but Abram went along with it.
Sarai shouldn’t have have turned against Hagar, since the surrogacy was her idea. And she should have waited too. And Hagar shouldn’t have treated her mistress with contempt. She should have given Sarai proper respect. The word ‘contempt in v4 is the same word that’s used in 12.3 where a curse is promised to those who dishonour Abram.
The consequence of her contempt is her ending up in the desert on the border with Egypt as she returns home there. 7The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur.
Shur is on the borders of Egypt. This touches on a repeated theme in these chapters – that of the attractions of Egypt vs the barrenness of the Promised Land.
This first appeared in ch12 with a famine. Abram thought that the solution was to go down to Egypt for food. After all, it appeared to be fruitful, whereas the Promised Land was barren.
In ch13 Lot chose the area around Sodom to live because it looked fertile and the way to make his money. Sodom was said to be ‘well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt.’
And now Abram and Sarai rely on Egypt’s fertility, in the person of Hagar, rather than the promise of God. Hagar the Egyptian is fruitful, whereas Sarai was barren. And when life with Abram’s family becomes intolerable where does Hagar head for? Egypt.
In each case choosing the fertility of Egypt over faithfulness to the promise leads to disaster. Abram’s journey to Egypt nearly resulted in him loosing his wife. Lot’s choice leads to him being taken captive along with the people of Sodom and by ch19 he’s back in Sodom and nearly ends in his destruction along with theirs. The episode with Hagar leads to Ishmael her son being a continual thorn in the flesh of Abram’s descendants. Hagar herself, in running away from Abram and Sarai, finds herself out in the wilderness. The Egyptian option seems attractive, but it always leads to disaster in the long run.
Remember that this book of Genesis was written by Moses in the time of the Exodus. It was written for the Israelites who were tempted to go back to Egypt. They didn’t like the Manna God sent them, they wanted the foods of Egypt (Num 11.5, 18, 20). After the spies returned in Number 14 they say ‘wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?’ When there’s no water to drink they say ‘why did you bring us out of Egypt to this terrible place?’ (Num 20.5)
The prosperity of Egypt is a constant magnet to them, just as worldliness is a constant magnet to us today. But going there means to risk forfeiting the blessings of the Lord. Do you sometimes think that what the world offers is more attractive than what God offers? It can seem that way. The world offers immediate gratification – buy now pay later. God offers deferred gratification – wait for the blessings.
Hagar goes, however, not so much because of the lure of what Egypt offers, but because of her harsh treatment by Sarai. This raises an issue for us as God’s people. What kind of people are we? Do we draw people to Jesus or repel them? Are our lives like an open door to the gospel or are we so sharp with others that we end up being more like a barbed wire blockade? Sadly it’s true that the church is sometimes a huge obstacle to people coming to Christ. Every harsh word matters. Every selfish act is a bad advert for the gospel which saves and changes us.
Fortunately Hagar meets a better friend in the desert.
7The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness… 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."
Remember that the wilderness is a place of curse in the Bible. But although she’s here because of her sin in cursing Abram and Sarai it’s not the end of the story.
The angel, God’s messenger, in a few brief words convicts her of her sin, shows her the helplessness of her condition apart from Abram and assures her of her safe passage back to Canaan and her future blessing.
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,[3] 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."
Hagar is promised a son who would be the first of many descendants. But it’s not an altogether flattering portrait of Ishmael is it?!
In fact Hagar’s son will be a pain for Israel from here on in. 25.18 echoes 16.12 when tells us that Ishmael and his descendants settle ‘over against all his kinsmen.’ He’s going to be in his half-brother’s face.
Isn’t God gracious in sending this angel? He could have just wiped her out for cursing Abram and Sarai. But like the woman who Jesus met at the well in Samaria the angel deals gently with her in order to return her to the place of blessing.
Return to your mistress and submit to her." In the Exodus the Israelites had to find freedom by leaving the house of bondage, Hagar found freedom by returning to the house of bondage. There is no blessing to be found apart from Abram and his seed.
13So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, "You are a God of seeing,"[4] for she said, "Truly here I have seen him who looks after me."[5] Truly God cares for all.
Well God’s grace and kindness will be needed many more times in the life of his people. Looking at this chapter we see that sin complicates things and has long-lasting consequences. There’s no neat and tidy way of getting rid of the mess that they’ve made. If there were then there would be no need for the cross. But sin cannot be buried or swept under the carpet. It has to be atoned for. And it’s there at Calvary that we see the God who really sees, who is looking out for the wanderer, pursuing us in the desert or our rebellion. It’s there that Jesus meets us and convicts us of our sin and rebellion, for which he hung there. And at the cross he points us home, to the way of obedience and blessing. There is no way of blessing that bypasses the cross. Jesus took no shortcut and neither can we.
So the baby Ishmael is born, but we’ll have to wait a number of years yet for the child of the promise to be born. Meanwhile Abram is still the man of faith because his righteousness is from a faithful God, rather than his own behaviour. Just as our righteousness comes through faith in Christ, rather than our own goodness. Even his failure won’t frustrate God’s covenant plan. In Christ God has made a new covenant and has taken upon himself the curse brought by our disobedience.
At the cross our failures are laid upon Jesus, so that his righteousness might be credited to us. That’s good news for Abram the failure and Hagar the wanderer. And it’s good news for you and me too. |