The Birth of Isaac (Gen 21:1-7)
Genesis: The Book of Beginnings • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction
Introduction
If you have your Bible, please turn it to Genesis 21:1-7.
We’re working our way through the book of Genesis and we’ve recently panned away from the issues of Sodom, Gomorrah, Lot, and his very dysfunctional family back to Abraham and Sarah, who are also very dysfunctional in the way that they live and the way that they do things—so much so that last week’s passage, as we panned from Lot and Sodom and Gomorrah brought us to Abraham and Sarah as they’re in the middle of a lie to deceive someone because they were afraid of what these people might do to them.
Abraham and Sarah’s misplaced fear in man caused them to forget that they ought to obey God and it resulted in a sinful situation for both Abraham and Sarah in which they lie about who they are to a king named Abimelech for the purpose of tricking Abimelech and saving their own lives. Last week’s passage stood in opposition to Lot, his daughters, his wife, and all of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Whereas Lot and his family hear of God and know the call to repent of sin and follow Him—they didn’t really. So much so that Lot lived within Sodom and Gomorrah, his wife refused to obey and turned back towards Sodom and Gomorrah, and his daughters committed an atrocious act with their father in fear that they wouldn’t have children otherwise.
Abraham and Sarah during last week’s passage know the call to repent of sin and follow Him—and they actually do. So much so that the passage that we see today reiterates the covenant that God made with Abraham.
Today’s passage picks up right after that situation between Abraham, Abimelech, and Sarah. And there’s almost a night and day difference between what we read last week and what we read this week—and that night and day difference between last week and this week isn’t based on Abraham and Sarah, but rather on God and His promise to Abraham and Sarah; and let me be abundantly clear, there wasn’t a change in God and who He was or is, but rather, He simply acts within His own character in this situation with Abraham and Sarah.
But I’m starting to get ahead of myself.
This week’s passage reminds us of the promise that God made to Abraham because in it, we see part of the fulfillment of the original promise.
Let’s read the passage, after which I’ll explain how we’ll study the passage.
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.”
As we study this passage, we’re going to look at it in two parts: (1) The Promise Remembered (1-4) and (2) The Promise Received (5-7). The first four verses remind us of a promise originally given to Abraham, which had yet to be fulfilled. The last three verses then tell us of how Abraham and Sarah respond to the fulfillment of that promise. The goal for today’s sermon is to simply remind us that when God promises something, He always follows through—even when it seems unlikely, even when it takes a long time, even when everything surrounding us is an absolute mess around us. This truth alone gives every single believer the greatest hope that ever could be had—and the reasoning for it is quite simple, but I’ll get back to that a little later.
Prayer for Illumination
The Promise Remembered (1-4)
The Promise Remembered (1-4)
Our text starts without much in way of introduction—the Bible says that the LORD visited Sarah.
How exactly this worked—for Sarah to see God, We’re not particularly sure.
This falls in line with the many instances throughout the Old Testament when though the Old Testament doesn’t outrightly say this, we believe that this is a Christophany, which is an appearance of Jesus before His actual physical birth on earth.
There are several reasons as to why we think that’s the case—the first is that the Bible as a whole seems fairly clear that God the Father isn’t a corporeal being—the Father doesn’t have a physical body.
Second, whereas God the Father doesn’t have a physical body—Jesus does, we see His physical body in the New Testament and since God never changes, it stands to reason that Jesus would be the physical manifestation of God even in the Old Testament despite the Bible not outrightly saying it.
We don’t really know for sure if this is a physical manifestation of Jesus or if this is God visiting Sarah within a dream or a vision; and yet, the Bible says that Sarah had been visited by the Lord
And the purpose of the visit is revealed to us at the end of v. 1 into v. 2, “and the LORD did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him.”
This conception of a child was a promise given by God to Abraham and Sarah all the way back in Gen 17:15-27.
Remember with me the situation that occured in Genesis 17:15-27, Abram and Sarai had just had their names changed by God to Abraham and Sarah because of their willingness to follow Him when God drops a bombshell on them.
Abraham is told that Sarah will conceive and have a child and they will name Him Isaac and it is through Isaac that the Abrahamic Covenant between Abraham and God would continue.
Abraham is completely doubtful that this could ever occur; Sarah is also doubtful to the extent that she laughs from within their tent.
From a completely human perspective—it makes sense that Abraham and Sarah would be doubtful—remember, they had lived their whole lives unable to have their own children and they were much older in years (as in, people their age simply can’t have children anymore).
And yet, despite their doubt and despite the improbability of the promise being fulfilled—God doesn’t retract His promise, but rather, He reassures them that what He said would indeed happen.
By the time Gen 21 comes around, it’s been a year.
And thus, you can imagine that their doubt and concern of the improbability of the promise probably hadn’t been abated—they still probably thought that the promise wasn’t going to come through, which is why the text reminds us of this promise, “the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son.
Vv. 3-4 then tells us that Abraham called his son Isaac, which is the name that was given to Abraham for his son in Genesis 17.
You might be interested to know that Isaac in Hebrew means he laughs.
If someone says that God doesn’t have a sense of humor, the fact that he told Abraham and Sarah to name their son he laughs is sufficient to prove that God does have a sense of humor.
When the original promise was given in Genesis 17, God confronts Sarah for laughing at what she thinks is an absurd promise—for her to bare a child.
Genesis 21 reminds us that it is God who is sovereign and it is God who is providential in the lives of His people. It is God who decides who will conceive and who will be born. God makes these decisions despite our modern medicine and scientific achievements—God is in control.
And thus, Sarah conceives and has a child in their old age.
And Abraham names him Isaac, as he was commanded to before obeying another aspect of the covenant made between Abraham and God—to circumcise his son.
Now in the modern world, circumcision is something that occurs due to medical reasons, but in the time period of Abraham and Sarah, circumcision just wasn’t a thing—it wasn’t considered a medical necessity, it wasn’t part of their culture or anything like that.
But remember again to the promise originally given in Genesis 17—that circumcision would be a sign or symbol of the covenant between Abraham and God.
And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, 13 both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
Of course, we understand the demand for circumcision to be a foreshadowing or a precursor of the need for blood to shed for sin—i.e., as Paul says in Romans, without the shedding of blood, there is no remission or forgiveness of sin.
Abraham remembers the covenant between him and God and obeys his part of the covenant to circumcise his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.
It’s so interesting to me that despite how many times Abraham and Sarah mess up, they still confidently believe in the Lord to the extent that they obey even in surprising situations like this (and really, a surprising situation that we’ll see soon).
And truthfully while witnessing the struggles that people like Abraham and Sarah had in the Old Testament—with always obeying, with doubt, with uncertainty, or whatever else—the fact that God still keeps His promises and that He still loves them and cares for them gives me a tremendous bit of hope.
Knowing that despite our failures in obedience, our doubt, our uncertainty, or whatever else—that God still keeps His promises anyways, is a breath of fresh air that satiates the soul. It is a salve or balm to our weary hearts and souls. It gives us hope.
The final three verses tie in with the previous verses by giving us almost a recap of all that had happened. Let’s look at the last three verses:
The Promise Received (5-7)
The Promise Received (5-7)
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.”
v. 5 starts by again reminding us of the significance of Abraham and Sarah having children—he was 100 years old.
He was well passed child-bearing years; Sarah was well-passed child-bearing years
And yet, God allows them to conceive and have a child named Isaac.
Note Sarah’s comment that “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me . . . who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
More than anything else—I think these verses remind us of the improbability of Abraham and Sarah having children.
Not only were they well passed child-bearing years, but it was well-known that they were passed child-bearing years and that Sarah was barren.
It wasn’t a secret that they couldn’t have children—it also wasn’t a secret that Abraham had a child with Hagar because he assumed that Sarah, his wife couldn’t have children (along with Sarah assuming she couldn’t have children.
And yet, God in His sovereignty and in His providence allows for Abraham and Sarah to have a child at an exceedingly great age despite all the odds going against them.
God allowed them to have a child—and that’s a significant truth.
Now I do want to say, while many have misused passages like this to apply God’s ability to meet the desires of Abraham and Sarah to their own lives, let me encourage you to not view the passage like that.
First off, this passage is not prescriptive—meaning, it isn’t telling you that if you just do these things like Abraham and Sarah did these things that you will get the things that you want.
No where does the passage makes that claim nor does it intend to say that.
Second, to assume that every passage in the Bible is meant for you to apply things like that to yourself in that very same manner is foolish at best and narcissistic at worst.
It’s foolish because it takes the very ideas of how we ought to interpret the Bible and throws them all out—you guys have heard me say multiple times that the whole point of biblical interpretation is to first understand what the original author intended to say to the original audience before applying it to our modern context. Looking at Abraham and Sarah’s situation and saying “God gave them a baby because they wanted a baby” actually completely misses the point of the text, which is God’s willingness to keep His covenant with Abraham despite their own sinfulness.
It could be narcissistic if it reveals a heart in which the person believes everything in God’s Word is about themselves rather than about God. To read God’s Word and assume that all of it is about the person it’s written to rather than the person it’s written about shows a complete fundamental misunderstanding of God, the Bible, and who we are as mankind. The Bible is about God and His plan of redemption for all creation—it just happens to be written for and to us as mankind. And you can see that the more that you read it over and over—it’s focused on God, it has theocentric themes throughout all its books, Christ is the fulfillment of all the books, and it shows our position as mankind in light of who God is and what He has done.
The Bible isn’t about you—it’s about God and His Kingdom and how you fit within His Kingdom, if you are one of His or outside of His Kingdom, if you refuse to repent and believe.
This passage in Genesis 21 isn’t about you getting everything that you desire whether that’s about having children or whatever else it might be—this passage is about God and how He keeps His covenants despite the failings and sinfulness of His people.
And that’s really where our application comes into play this morning—it’s all about God’s covenants and how He keeps His Word because of His covenant keeping loyalty to His people. Let me explain how that works.
Application
Application
The beauty of a passage like this is best seen when you contrast this passage to everything around it.
Remember the details of everything that is recorded around this passage:
We spent multiple weeks discussing Sodom and Gomorrah (about a whole month was spent learning about different aspects of Sodom and Gomorrah)—we witnessed devastation, destruction, and really judgment and punishment for people who despite warnings, never actually repented of their sinfulness.
We witnessed Lot and his family waiver between right and wrong—to the extent that his wife ends up dying, he has to essentially be dragged out of the city, and his daughters do atrocious things to satiate their fear.
Last week’s passage brings us back to Abraham and Sarah only to find out that they also decide to act sinfully by lying to Abimelech to trick him because of their own fear of man.
And the reality is that as we continue in Genesis, we learn that God’s people still
Remember everything that is to come as the result of Isaac—part of the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant
Now consider the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham in light of all that He promises His people today and into eternity. If you are one of His:
God promises salvation to anyone who believes in His Son—consider what Paul says:
First off, that salvation is only through the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Romans 1:16–17 “16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.””
But also that salvation is given to anyone who confesses belief in Jesus Christ in Romans 10:9–13 “9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.””
The promise here is that if you repent, if you cry out to Jesus, if you believe in Him—you will be saved. It isn’t a question of whether God will save someone who repents, it’s a question of whether you will repent and believe.
As part of salvation, God promises new life in Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:17 “17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
Once someone does believe, their entire life is completely changed—it isn’t a matter of whether they do change or not. Everyone who does believe changes and if they don’t change, they don’t believe because Jesus makes all things new.
The promise here is that Jesus gives new life.
In addition, to those that genuinely believe, there’s a promise that Jesus makes to keep you until the Day of Redemption.
Consider Ephesians 1:13–14 “13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”
He has promised to seal you until the Day of Redemption by the Holy Spirit
He has promised to never leave you nor forsake you—Hebrews 13:5–6 “5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?””
He has promised to always be with you
He has promised that all things in your life work for your good—to conform you into the image of Jesus Christ
Romans 8:28–29 “28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”
Note that this includes all things—whether good or bad in your life.
It doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll understand all the good and bad in your life—only that somehow God will work all these things for your good.
It also doesn’t promise that you get to choose what the good in your life is—it’s good because God says it will conform you into the image of His Son.
The promise being that everything in life whether good or bad will be used by God to sanctify you.
Concerning sanctification—He has promised to complete the work of sanctification in you.
Philippians 1:6 “6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
God never does anything halfway—that includes the process of you becoming more like His Son.
It will happen—there’s no ifs, ands, or buts.
He has promised comfort for you in the midst of trials (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)
2 Corinthians 1:3–4 “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”
God has promised to meet all your needs (Phil 4:19)
Philippians 4:19 “19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” — note that these are your needs not your wants.
Jesus has promised rest for those who believe in Him (Matt 11:28-30)
Matthew 11:28–30 “28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.””
This promised rest is the Sabbath rest that we will see its full fulfillment of in eternity, but ultimately we get pieces of it on this side of eternity.
Jesus promises abundant life to those who follow Him (John 10:10)
John 10:10 “10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
Which, by the way, doesn’t mean a life filled with prosperity on this side of eternity—it means a life fulfilled by Jesus Christ in eternity.
Speaking of eternity, Jesus Jesus promises eternal life to those who trust Him (John 4:14)
Jesus promises to hold His people securely in His hand
John 10:28 “28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”
It’s this beautiful idea of Jesus never letting HIs people go—in a few minutes we’re singing In Christ Alone. It sums up this idea in the last verse:
No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand:
Till he returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand.
Reformed Baptists and really Reformed folks in general have always called this the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints—that if you genuinely do believe in Jesus Christ, there’s nothing you can do to lose that salvation because it’s Jesus who saves and Jesus cannot fail.
Jesus promised to return for His people (John 14:2-3)
He makes this promise multiple times, but probably the most familiar instance is in John 14:2–3 “2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
Now you might hear all these promises and wonder why I would do this to you, why would I throw out all these different verses in different texts throughout the Bible?
It’s quite simple—I’m simply reminding you of all the promises that God has already made you if you are his.
What that ought to do is it ought to give you a significant amount of hope.
Because He has promised and our God is faithful.
We see that plainly and clearly in passages like Genesis 21:1-7 after witnessing Abraham and Sarah sin against Abimelech.
What does God do? Does He give up on Abraham and Sarah? Does He wipe the slate clean?
No, God keeps His promises anyways.
And through God keeping HIs promise to Abraham and Sarah anyways,
They have a son named Isaac.
Isaac gives birth to Jacob and Esau.
Jacob gives birth to the twelve tribes of Israel.
Judah’s lineage eventually brings forth King David.
And through King David’s lineage comes a little baby born in a manger who is God incarnate—Emmanuel (God with us), who comes to seek and save the lost as Messiah (the Anointed One).
God promises that all His promises are fulfilled in the God-man Jesus Christ in 2 Corinthians 1:20 “20 For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.”
We often tend to be pragmatic in our understanding of life and God—much like Abraham and Sarah were to the extent that they sinned over and over in view of trying to make things work from a human perspective.
But Jesus is the fulfillment of all God’s promises.
You simply need to believe His promises and trust Him to fulfill those promises.
It’s only when you believe Him and trust Him do you find peace, hope, and fulfillment.
That’s what we learn from Abraham and Sarah receiving part of their promise in Isaac.
Charles Spurgeon once preached a sermon on October 5, 1879 dealing with the idea of taking hold of God’s covenants—actually believing those covenants and basing our lives on those covenants. He states something that I think is wise for us to consider in light of God’s fulfillment of promises.
The right thing for every sinner to say is this, “The covenant of grace exactly suits my case. Jesus Christ has come to save the guilty and the needy; that is the sort of person I am, so I will lay hold of his covenant. I have got a grip of it, and there I hang . . . for I have nothing else to which I can trust. On Christ, and on Christ alone, do I hang for ever and ever. Sink or sail, I commit myself to this one barque [which is a three sail ship] which God has built, and furnished, to cross the seas of sin and temptation; and I believe that ,if it be but on a single plank or a broken piece of that ship, I shall surely come safely to land, for Christ has said, ‘He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.’ Oh, that we might all take hold of the covenant in that blessed way!”
https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/sermons/taking-hold-of-gods-covenant/#flipbook/
Life is filled with trial, tribulation, great difficulty, and hardship; yet, God keeps His promises to His people—trust Him, hope in Him, and live in light of His Gospel.
Pastoral Prayer
