Story: A treaty with Abimelech
Passage: Genesis 21:22-34
Characters: Abimelech, Phicol, Abraham,
Summary: Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army were worried that Abraham had grown to strong. They made Abraham swear to deal honestly with them and their land. Abraham then rebuked Abimelech because some of his servants had taken a well belonging to Abraham. Abraham set apart seven lambs and gave them to Abimelech as a witness that he had dug the well. After Abimelech and Phicol had left, Abraham called on the name of the Lord and planted a tree.
Notes: Abraham had been so blessed that Abimelech was intimidated by him. When we read what he says to Abraham, it is obvious that he is worried that Abraham will take his land. If he was aware of God’s promise to Abraham, he had good reason to be worried! Abraham made a covenant with Abimelech and then immediately brought up the conflict over his well. When I read this passage I wondered if the wording was significant when the passage says Abraham set apart 7 lambs. To be set apart is what the word holy means. Abraham consecrated these lambs and then gave them to Abimelech as a witness. This proved that Abraham believed what he said. No one is willing to sacrifice for what they know is a lie. We make sacrifices for what we believe to be true. If we aren’t willing to sacrifice for something, we either don’t believe that it is true, or we don’t think it is worth sacrificing for. Look at your own life and at what you make sacrifices for. If you make sacrifices for your own benefit, what does that mean you believe in? Abraham left this meeting and immediately called on the Lord. I would have thought this would have been good to do before making a covenant with the Philistines, but it is obvious that Abraham tried to stay in communication with God. He wanted to make sure he was still following the plan God had laid out for him.
Questions: Why was Abraham so intimidating to Abimelech? Why was the commander of his army present? Why did Abraham plant a tree? What do we make sacrifices for? Do we legitimately make sacrifices for God? If not, why not?
Lessons: We need to be willing to make sacrifices for God if we believe in Him. We know he is worth it and deserves it. If we are not willing to sacrifice for God, we need to really examine our actions and our motivations for our actions. It is also important that we call on the name of the Lord. We want to be in constant communication with God through prayer and live in full submission to His will through the Spirit.
Showing posts with label genesis 21. Show all posts
Showing posts with label genesis 21. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Thursday, February 16, 2012
The Birth of Isaac, God Protects Hagar and Ishmael
Story: The birth of Isaac, God protects Hagar and Ishmael
Passage: Genesis 21:1-21
Characters: Sarah, God, Abraham, Isacc, Ishmael, Hagar
Summary: The Lord kept his promise and Sarah gave birth to a son when God said she would. They named him Isaac. Sarah said that people would laugh over her when they hear her story. Abraham threw a feast to celebrate his son being weaned, but Ishmael mocked Isaac. Sarah wanted Hagar and Ishmael gone. God told Abram to listen to Sarah so he cast them out. They wandered and ran out of water so Hagar left the baby to die under a bush but God spoke to her and promised to make Ishmael into a great nation. She saw a well and they drank. She raised Ishamel in the wilderness and he became good with a bow. He married an Egyptian woman.
Notes: God came through and Abraham followed through on his side of the deal. He named his son Isaac and circumcised him like he was told to. It is obvious that Abraham favored Isaac. We see no mention of a feast celebrating Ishmael, but here he throws a feast for Isaac. I’m not really sure what Ishmael was doing to deserve Sarah’s wrath. The ESV says he was laughing, which is fitting since Isaac’s name means “he laughs”. NIV seems to see it as a mocking laughter. Either way, Ishmael can’t have been very old at this time and I feel like his attitude can’t have been too intentionally harmful. But Sarah seems to have dealt with jealousy. Her first attempt to scare Hagar away had failed, and now she turned to Abraham to take care of it. She referred to Hagar and Ishmael as “this slave woman and her son.” This is very impersonal considering it was Sarah’s idea to let Abraham marry Hagar. She comes right out and says she doesn’t want Ishmael being Abraham’s heir. Abraham didn’t know what to do! From previous chapters we see that he liked Ishmael, but his wife hated Ishmael. God stepped in and said to do what Sarah suggested. Sarah was being selfish and hateful, yet God told Abraham to follow her advice. God can work through bad situations and even bad motives. God told him that his offspring would be named through Isaac, but Ishmael would also become a nation. God made this promise to Abraham a ridiculous number of times! So Abraham cast them out. Hagar loved Ishmael and could not bring herself to watch him die when they ran out of water. She put him under a bush and then went far enough away so that she wouldn’t have to watch. The fact that she was able to just set him down and not have him follow her tells me Ishmael was likely still very young. God heard her weeping and promised her that her son would become a great nation. He opened her eyes to see a well. This tells me that God had somehow made it so that she could not see this well right in front of her! This is a little weird to me, but God did it for a reason. Maybe He wanted her to cry out to Him. This is the first mention of a weapon. And it is in the hands of Ishmael who lived alone in the wilderness, whose descendants were going to be militant. God was already fulfilling his prophecy. Hagar found an Egyptian woman to marry him. This sounds like an arranged marriage to me. Also, Egypt is later used to represent sin. This might be another way that the passage contrasts Ishmael’s life with Isaacs. It is interesting to read the stories of people not in the line of Israel. The fact that they are mentioned means they are important, but the brevity of the stories about them shows that they are not the main characters in the story.
Questions: Why did God use Sarah’s attitude and motives to accomplish his purpose? Did Abraham regret sending Hagar and Ishmael away? Was Hagar glad to finally get away from Sarah? Why did God hide the well from Hagar? Ishmael was not a main part of God’s redemptive plan for the world, but he is included and God showed Himself to Hagar and Ishmael after they had separated from the main plot line. Why? And did God do anything else miraculous in Ishamel’s life? In other words, did God continue to directly provide for Ishmael?
Lessons: God can use wrong motives and bad situations. Just because something goes wrong or seems broken and sinful does not mean that God is unable to work through it. In this story, God separated Ishmael through Sarah’s sinful jealousy. There is no situation to dark or messed up for God to be found in.
Passage: Genesis 21:1-21
Characters: Sarah, God, Abraham, Isacc, Ishmael, Hagar
Summary: The Lord kept his promise and Sarah gave birth to a son when God said she would. They named him Isaac. Sarah said that people would laugh over her when they hear her story. Abraham threw a feast to celebrate his son being weaned, but Ishmael mocked Isaac. Sarah wanted Hagar and Ishmael gone. God told Abram to listen to Sarah so he cast them out. They wandered and ran out of water so Hagar left the baby to die under a bush but God spoke to her and promised to make Ishmael into a great nation. She saw a well and they drank. She raised Ishamel in the wilderness and he became good with a bow. He married an Egyptian woman.
Notes: God came through and Abraham followed through on his side of the deal. He named his son Isaac and circumcised him like he was told to. It is obvious that Abraham favored Isaac. We see no mention of a feast celebrating Ishmael, but here he throws a feast for Isaac. I’m not really sure what Ishmael was doing to deserve Sarah’s wrath. The ESV says he was laughing, which is fitting since Isaac’s name means “he laughs”. NIV seems to see it as a mocking laughter. Either way, Ishmael can’t have been very old at this time and I feel like his attitude can’t have been too intentionally harmful. But Sarah seems to have dealt with jealousy. Her first attempt to scare Hagar away had failed, and now she turned to Abraham to take care of it. She referred to Hagar and Ishmael as “this slave woman and her son.” This is very impersonal considering it was Sarah’s idea to let Abraham marry Hagar. She comes right out and says she doesn’t want Ishmael being Abraham’s heir. Abraham didn’t know what to do! From previous chapters we see that he liked Ishmael, but his wife hated Ishmael. God stepped in and said to do what Sarah suggested. Sarah was being selfish and hateful, yet God told Abraham to follow her advice. God can work through bad situations and even bad motives. God told him that his offspring would be named through Isaac, but Ishmael would also become a nation. God made this promise to Abraham a ridiculous number of times! So Abraham cast them out. Hagar loved Ishmael and could not bring herself to watch him die when they ran out of water. She put him under a bush and then went far enough away so that she wouldn’t have to watch. The fact that she was able to just set him down and not have him follow her tells me Ishmael was likely still very young. God heard her weeping and promised her that her son would become a great nation. He opened her eyes to see a well. This tells me that God had somehow made it so that she could not see this well right in front of her! This is a little weird to me, but God did it for a reason. Maybe He wanted her to cry out to Him. This is the first mention of a weapon. And it is in the hands of Ishmael who lived alone in the wilderness, whose descendants were going to be militant. God was already fulfilling his prophecy. Hagar found an Egyptian woman to marry him. This sounds like an arranged marriage to me. Also, Egypt is later used to represent sin. This might be another way that the passage contrasts Ishmael’s life with Isaacs. It is interesting to read the stories of people not in the line of Israel. The fact that they are mentioned means they are important, but the brevity of the stories about them shows that they are not the main characters in the story.
Questions: Why did God use Sarah’s attitude and motives to accomplish his purpose? Did Abraham regret sending Hagar and Ishmael away? Was Hagar glad to finally get away from Sarah? Why did God hide the well from Hagar? Ishmael was not a main part of God’s redemptive plan for the world, but he is included and God showed Himself to Hagar and Ishmael after they had separated from the main plot line. Why? And did God do anything else miraculous in Ishamel’s life? In other words, did God continue to directly provide for Ishmael?
Lessons: God can use wrong motives and bad situations. Just because something goes wrong or seems broken and sinful does not mean that God is unable to work through it. In this story, God separated Ishmael through Sarah’s sinful jealousy. There is no situation to dark or messed up for God to be found in.
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