Epic Faithfulness
Epic - The Story of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 44:12
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God is faithful. A couple of months ago, Bro. Mark Potter sand a song called My Redeemer Is Faithful and True. Part of that song, the chorus, says these words:
My Redeemer is faithful and true.
Everything He has said He will do,
And every morning His mercies are new.
My Redeemer is faithful and true.
What a wonderful description of who God is: faithful and true. We have seen so many times just in Abraham's life how God could very well have just given up on Abraham, but He didn't. Last week we studied how Abraham prayed for Lot. Lot, a man that had a relationship with God but followed his own path, was saved from the destruction of the cities he lived among, but lost everything, even the majority of his family. This is the consequence of trusting things, positions, and power instead of fully relying on God.
But God was faithful even though Lot was not.
Today as we continue in the story of Abraham, we see God's faithfulness on full display. We will not read chapter 20, where we left off, but I'll give you a very brief overview. Abraham travels to the southern-most region of Canaan, to a place called Gerar. Gerar was ruled by a kind named Abimelech. Gerar was a city of the early Philistines. It is possible that the name "Abimelech" was a title for all Philistine kings, kind of like Egypt and their Pharaohs.
But anyway, when they get to this city, Abraham goes back to his ways of not trusting God. He instructs Sarah to tell others that she is simply his sister. Now remember, it has been 25 years since the whole debacle in Egypt that started out the same way. Abraham did not trust God to keep him safe then, and he is not trusting God now. Sarah is 90 years old and still looking fine, so Abimelech sends for Sarah and takes her to his house, thinking she is just Abraham's sister.
But before Abimelech can do anything to Sarah, God comes to him in a dream and look at what he says in verse 3 - 6.
But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man's wife. 4 But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation? 5 Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this. 6 And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.
Notice how God refers to Abimelech. "You are a dead man." Abimelech didn't know about Sarah's marital status, so why is God so harsh on him and not so harsh on Abraham?
It is not that Abimelech's sin is greater than Abraham's; it is because Abimelech and Abraham had two different standings before God. Abraham was saved; Abimelech was lost.
This is not to say that Abimelech was not a good guy. Notice that even God acknowledges that Abimelech's heart had integrity. Because he had integrity, he believed he was righteous. But the thing is, integrity does not save anyone. Good works cannot and do not save people. Abraham believed God, had faith in God, and it was imputed or accounted to him for righteousness. So Abimelech was dead in his sins spiritually, and had he continued with this sin, God is warning him that he will surely die physically.
But God is good, and He shows mercy toward Abimelech: God is the one that prevents Abimelech from sinning. Genesis 20:6-7 for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her. 7 Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.
So Abimelech tells his servants about all this and everyone is scared, so early in the morning, Abimelech goes to have a chat with Abraham. V.9-12 Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done. 10 And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing? 11 And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife's sake. 12 And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.
Abraham has let his fear get the better of him once again. Fear that is not placed in God's hands is bound to defeat us. Couldn't Abraham see how often God had been there for him and protected him and provided for him?
Just like Abraham had once been a curse to Egypt because of his lack of faith, he has also been a curse now to the house of Abimelech because of his sin. All of the women in Abimelech's family have now been stricken with barrenness. Abimelech restores Sarah to Abraham, and just like God said, Abraham prays for Abimelech. God is gracious to Abraham now as well, and allows Abraham to be a blessing to Abimelech. Abraham prays for Abimelech and he is healed and his whole household.
But this is not the story I want to get to today. This is a setup for the next part of Abraham's life where we really see God's faithfulness. Despite the fact that Abraham's faith is fickle, God remains steadfast. Abraham's Redeemer is faithful and true. The Bible opens up chapter 21 with these words:
V. 1-2 And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken. 2 For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.
Isn't it amazing? Despite the our failures, God keeps His promises! Those promises kept bring great joy and amazement.
Genesis 21:3-8 And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac. 4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5 And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him.
6 And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me. 7 And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have born him a son in his old age. 8 And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned.
Everyone is celebrating the fact that Abraham and Sarah, aged 100 and 90, have a son that is bringing laughter and joy into their home. They are celebrating this miracle of life. Everyone except for one person: Ishmael.
Genesis 21:9-10 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking. 10 Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.
Now as far as we know, things have not been great between Hagar and Sarah, and now Sarah sees Hagar's son Ishmael, mocking Isaac. In her anger, she tells Abraham to kick them out. This hurts Abraham, because Ishmael is also his son. But God gives him wisdom and consolation.
Genesis 21:11-14 And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son.
12 And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. 13 And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed. 14 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
It always amazes me that God doesn't respond like me. Seriously, if I were God and saw Abraham grieving because Sarah wants to cast Hagar and Ishmael away, I would go down to Abraham and say something like, "Well, maybe if you would have just waited for my timing instead of taking matters into your own hands, this wouldn't be an issue now. So dry up those tears and man up. You made your bed, now sleep in it!"
Instead, what God does puts His character on full display. He says don't worry about your son Ishmael. God tells Abraham that Isaac is indeed the son of the promise, but Ishmael will also grow to be a great nation because he is also Abraham's son.
So Abraham packs some essentials for Hagar and Ishmael and sends them on their way. They wander around the wilderness until they run out of water. So look at what Hagar does.
Genesis 21:15-18 And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. 16 And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept. 17 And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. 18 Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.
Hagar and Ishmael (who is about 14 years old) are in such bad shape that they are about to die, so Hagar puts her son under a shrub and goes off a ways and sits with her back toward Ishmael so that she does not witness the moment when he dies.
But who shows up at that moment? Ya'll remember when Hagar first ran away from Sarah? She was running away having been deeply grieved by the way that Sarah had been treating her because of Sarah's jealousy. In that day she is visited by God and when she is done talking to her, she praises God and worships Him by saying, "You are the God that sees me." She was by a well that day, and she named the well "Beerlaharoi" which means the well of the God that sees me.
Well, that same God that saw her then sees her now, and shows up again. He tells her not to fear, that He is going to make a great nation out of Ishmael. Which means that Ishmael is going to have to live. Then He opens her eyes and she is able to see that they are near a well of water. She is able to provide water for her son, who does not die at this time, and he grows to become a man and a great nation springs from him.
before we get to look at these two stories of God's faithfulness in more detail, there is one more story mentioned in this chapter. Remember, at this time Abraham is living in the lands that border the Philistine lands. He has had dealings with Abimelech, but now is proving to be a good neighbor. Abraham has dug a series of wells in this land and he and Abimelech agree to share them. But there is an instance where the Philistines seize full control over one of the wells. Abraham talks to Abimelech about it, Abimelech says that this was done without his knowledge or consent so Abraham and Abimelech make a covenant that day between their families.
Abraham, who has been a sojourner in this land, he's never owned any of it, is about to see another one of God's promises begin to be fulfilled. Abraham gives Abimelech 7 lambs after the covenant is made, and this is how Abimelech responds and the explanation of the lambs.
Genesis 21:28-34 And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. 29 And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves? 30 And he said, For these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well. 31 Wherefore he called that place Beersheba; because there they sware both of them. 32 Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba: then Abimelech rose up, and Phichol the chief captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines.
33 And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God. 34 And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines' land many days.
This is a big deal for Abraham. For 25 years he has been a pilgrim in the land of Canaan. This is the land that God has promised his future generations as their country's land. But at no point has Abraham owned any of this land. When Abimelech and Abraham meet here by this well that Abraham has dug, they make a covenant and Abraham gives Abimelech 7 lamb. When Abimelech says, "What are these for?" Abraham responds, "These are a witness that I dug well, and it is mine." For the first time, Abraham is laying claim to land. Not a big chunk of land, just a well, but this is a giant landmark in Abraham's life. Abraham names the place Beersheba and it marks the southern border between the Promised Land and the Philistine's land.
Then Abraham does something very important. He plants a grove. This would be trees that would grow and give shade and shelter to the area. As he plants this grove, he calls upon the name of the Lord. He begins to praise God and worship Him. This phrase "called upon the name of the Lord" also could be translated "proclaimed the name of the Lord." Abraham sought God there, but he also proclaimed God there. He recognized that this deal and this land was all because of God.
We have seen 3 distinct stories, each representing Gods epic faithfulness in the lives of Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Ishmael, and the future nation of Israel.
In the Genesis 20, Abraham once again messes up royally, by not having faith that God will protect him and Sarah and telling others that Sarah is nothing more than his sister.
Despite the sin and faithlessness here, God allows Abraham to end up being a blessing to Abimelech and the Philistines. Abimelech and Abraham end up becoming friends and Abraham digs a series of wells that are a beneficial for him and Abimelech's people. But it is not long after that that God shows His faithfulness in Abraham's life as Sarah gets pregnant and Isaac is born. Despite all of Abraham's failures, God is faithful. He is true. He never lets any of His promises fall.
Next we have the events that befall Hagar and Ishmael. Ismael mocks Isaac and Sarah sees him. We don't know what was behind Ishmael mocking of his half-brother. Perhaps it was jealousy, fear, or dislike possibly passed on to him from his mother Hagar. But he is acting in a way that is not right, and it gets him and his mom tossed out. As Hagar and Ishmael wander and begin to succumb to dehydration, The God That Sees comes to intervene. He has made a promise to Hagar and to Abraham about Ishmael, so he saves Hagar and the boy. God is faithful; God is true.
After these events, Abraham finally gets a piece of land he can call his. Marking the southern border of the land promised to him by God and establishing a covenant with the nation that is adjacent to it, what Abraham has been promised and waiting for more than 25 years is now in the making. He proclaims God's name in that place, Beersheba, proclaiming that this is all God's doing. He praises God because God is faithful; God is true.
Invitation: We have a God that is faithful and true. It can be so easy to lose focus on Him and to believe other things. God had promised to be Abraham's shield, his protection, yet Abraham gave into fear and lied about being married to Sarah.
God revealed Himself to Hagar as the God that Sees. The God that sees everything about her. He saw her physical state, her emotional state, her anxiety and stress. He came to her and comforted her and guided her. God made her a promise about her son Ishmael, but Hagar gave into desperation and fear as she wandered in the wilderness. She gave up hope and lost faith. She was so convinced that God would not be there to keep His promise that she placed her dying sun under a bush and walked away so as to not see him die.
But God is faithful and God is true.
So in your life, if you think that God has abandoned you, remember that God is faithful and true.
Make it a regular practice to go through Ephesians chapters 1 and 2 be familiar with all that God says you are and all that God says you have through Jesus.
Some of those things we have focused on before. If you are saved, if you have placed your faith and trust in Jesus and only in Him as your Savior, then there are things that inherently belong to you:
you are accepted, you are a child of God, you have access to God, you are blessed with every spiritual blessing (meaning you don't have to work for those blessings or try to earn them), God delights in you (that means He has pleasure in having you as his child), you have an inheritance with Christ (and it isn't something you can lose), your existence can be to the praise and glory of God's will (the Holy Spirit empowers us to live according to God's will; there is not "I can't live right" for the Christian), there is hope in Jesus, we have God's power in us, we can lead effective lives in Christ, we are forgiven, deep down inside we are changed and renewed (a ne creature), we are loved beyond measure, we are God's workmanship (and God doesn't make junk), we are close to God, we have peace with God and access to that peace in our souls, we are reconciled (things have been made right between God and us), we are in God's family, and God has a plan an purpose for each of us.
Satan will tell you that you can't do enough to earn God's love and favor, and he is absolutely right. We can never earn it, but it was never up to us to earn it. It was totally God's choice to give it freely. The Bible says that He made us sons and daughters of His by the "good pleasure of His will." That means because it made Him happy to do so!
Satan will lie to you that because of past failures, you have gone beyond a point of repentance or fellowship, this is a lie. Satan will tell you that in your current circumstances, there is nothing that can help you feel better or get you out of your problem so might as well look for something temporary in a bottle, a syringe, an illicit relationship, or just give up on life completely and take yourself out.
Those are lies straight from the pits of hell itself because my God says in His word that He is a sun and a shield, that He withholds nothing good from me, that He is a fortress and a strong tower, a very present help in time of trouble!
Don't believe the lie that God is far away, that he doesn't care or doesn't hear your cries. He hears, He sees, He knows, and He cares!
Maybe you are here and you do not have Jesus as your savior. Perhaps you have never put your faith completely in Him. Maybe you have been trusting in Jesus AND your works. Jesus and baptism, Jesus and reading the Bible.
Maybe you have been depending on the fact that you are a good person and do good things and treat people the right way.
Let me tell you, there is nothing besides Jesus and nothing in addition to Jesus that can wash away your sins and save you from the condemnation that those sins deserve.
Jesus is faithful and true, and today He is giving you another opportunity for you to know Him as your savior. Is there anyone that would say today, "Bro. Mike, I am not sure that I am saved right now. If I were to die, I do not know if I would go to heaven or not, but I sure would like to." If that is you would you raise your hand this morning?
Maybe your here and you are saved, but today you would say, "Bro. Mike, the sermon spoke to me today. I have not been trusting God as I should. I have doubted God's faithfulness, I forgotten His promises, or I have just been living and reacting without consideration to the person He has created me to be." If there is anyone like that, would you raise your hand? I would just like to pray for you.
At this time, we will sing a song of invitation, if you raised your hand about anything, this is the time you can come to this altar and deal with God about it. If you would like to talk to me about it, I will be right up front and would be glad to pray with you.
If yo raised you would like to talk to someone about salvation, I would be happy to talk to you or point you to someone that will take you in private and show you how you can know how to be saved.
Will you come thins morning?
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Life Group
Genesis 20-21 (mainly 21)
Epic Faithfulness
How would you describe the characteristics or behaviors of someone that is faithful?
How, up until now this part in the life of Abraham, has God shown His faithfulness to him and Sarah?
- He brought them to Canaan
- He blessed them despite Abraham's sin in leaving to Egypt
- He renewed His fellowship and His promise with Abraham after they came back from Egypt
- He allowed Abraham to fight 4 kings and rescue his nephew Lot
- He didn't forsake Abraham and Sarah after they devised a plan about Abraham having a child with Hagar
- He blessed Ishmael, even though Ishmael was not the legitimate son of Abraham
- He saved Lot because of Abraham's intercession
- He allowed a good relationship to be established between Abraham and Abimelech (Philistines) even after Abraham had lost faith again. This friendship allowed Abraham to set a boundary marker that was recognized, not just by his family and future generations, but by Abimelech and the Philistines as well.
- He allowed Isaac to be born of Abraham and Sarah even late in their lives.
How did God show his faithfulness to Hagar and Ishmael?
- He watched over Hagar even when she had run away from her problems.
- He cared about every aspect of her (physically, emotionally, mentally)
- He gave her a promise about Ishmael
- He rescued her and Ishmael from death in the wilderness
How has God shown His faithfulness to you?
Do you ever feel you are undeserving of His faithfulness? We all are, but that is God's grace in action.
Are there times when you have struggled to believe God cared for you or was with you or even knew what you were going through?
Though God is still faithful even when we sin, we need to understand, as we saw last week, that sin causes vexation of the soul in the same way it did for Lot. Lot is in heaven because he had a personal faith in God, but he has little to nothing to show for it. During his life on earth, Lot lived for Lot, and ended up losing everything. Even when he had it all, he was miserable day in and day out.
This is contrary to the life Jesus wants us to have. John 10:10 tells us that He came so that we might have life more abundantly.
Not necessarily things or money, but abundance of purpose, of joy, of peace, and fulfilment.
Trusting God will be faithful when everyone or everything seem to be against you is difficult. We can defeat feelings of inadequacy and desperation, we can defeat lies that invade our thoughts about God's faithfulness with Truth from His Word.
The Bible tells us that when we know the truth, the truth will make us free.
The following verses tell us important things to remember about God and His faithfulness. Read the verse then write down the truth that it gives.
- Psalm 46:1 God is our strength and shelter. He is present with us
- Psalm 34:8-10 God IS good. Those that trust him are blessed. Those that follow His will will lack no go thing.
- Psalm 27:1, 13-14 God is our guide (light) and salvation. We don't need to fear because He is our strength. He strengthens our hearts. (David made a good point in verse 13, "I would have fainted if I had not believed." Trusting God is key to victory and key to not losing hope and strength.)
- Psalm 23 God guides, protects, provides for, and blesses us.
- Psalm 18:1-3 God is our deliverer and one that we can call upon.
- Hebrews 13:5 God will never leave us
- Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus gives rest.
- Romans 8:15 God is a Father that we (those that are saved) can have access to at any time.
