FBC Morning Light (1/11/2025)

Good Saturday morning, people of faith. This weekend we're reading Genesis chapters 21 through 24, dealing mainly with Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac. And before I get into what I'm gonna emphasize here, because I certainly can't talk about all four chapters in a reasonable amount of time, the other day I was playing pickleball, and another individual and myself were talking about getting our families together for Christmas, and we both were lamenting that there was one individual in our families that wasn't going to be there, and we were sad for that.

And it caused me to step back and think of all the families I know, how common is it that there's siblings that aren't getting along, or one sibling isn't getting along with the parent, or a parent's not getting along with the sibling, or even parents that don't get along.

And it's so common, and it caused me to think back through Scripture, even back to the very first family of Adam and Eve, guess what? They had a son kill another one of their sons. This is not a new situation.

This has been going on since the beginning of creation, that families have strife within them, and here is no different, and it's going to continue on. And you think of Jacob's sons, and the various troubles that they caused, and even the sons of Jacob that caused trouble.

And then you go further, and David within his family, having one son rise up in rebellion against him, and then that one son killed another son, and then another son had had raped one of his daughters, and oh, so much trouble.

This is a common theme throughout Scripture. So let me pick this up in chapter 21 and verse 8, and here Isaac has already been born, and Abraham's a hundred years old. So it says in verse 8, so the child, that is Isaac, grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned.

Seems like a time of celebration. Verse 9, and Sarah saw the son of Hagar, the Egyptian, whom she had born to Abraham, scoffing. Therefore she said to Abraham, cast out this bondwoman and her son, for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.

And what does verse 11 say? And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham's sight because of his son. This is not something that is easy for Abraham to deal with. This is troubling to him, very displeasing.

He is being asked by his wife to cast out his own son, and so in verse 12 says, but God said to Abraham, do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice, for in Isaac your seed shall be called.

Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman because he is your seed. So the progression of this is Abraham is going to send out Hagar and Ishmael, the son of Hagar, and sends them out with some bread and a skin of water, and so they are sent out.

And then in verse 16 it says, or verse 15 it says, and the water and the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs. Now that boy was about 13 years old, so it's not like she was carrying him, you know, like a little baby and just set him under the shrub, right?

And we'll see more about that in just a second. Says, then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bow shot, for she said to herself, let me not see the death of the boy. So she sat opposite him and lifted her voice and wept.

Now in verse 17, something struck me that reminded me of how important it is to continue to read Scripture. In my mind, I had always thought that this was Hagar calling out to God and God responding to Hagar, but that's not what happened.

Notice it said in verse 16 that she said to herself, let me not see the death of the boy, all right? Verse 17 says, and God heard the voice of the lad. That's a male, that's a young boy, that's Ishmael.

Then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven and said to her, what ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation.

God's promise to make a nation of Ishmael has certainly been true, and his descendants fill much of the Middle East even to this day, right? And so we see here that it was actually Ishmael that called out to God while Hagar was saying to herself, and God answered Ishmael by showing Hagar what to do and how to do it, and providing sustenance through the well that that he allowed her to see there.

So hopefully this morning these words are an encouragement to you, particularly if you come from or are in a situation where you have loved ones amongst whom there's strife, right? God can still use these things for his glory and his purposes as he clearly is doing and has done here in Scripture, right?

So if you have a wayward son or daughter, if you have children who aren't getting along, that does not mean that God can't work in their life anymore. God certainly can and God certainly will. Let us continue to pray for our families and for our loved ones.

Let's pray. Lord, thank you so much for the encouragement of your Word. We look at at Abraham and how troubled he was that he had to cast out his own son. That is a difficult thing. Many people that hear this may have had to do that, and many people here may have families in which there is strife.

You, Lord, are the healer. You are the one and only one who can solve any of these issues. It is not us. It is not within our power. It is within your power to move and act in these things. We look forward to all the things that you're going to do as we continue to come before you in prayer.

It's in your Son's name, Jesus, we pray. Amen. Have an excellent day, people of faith.