Fatherlessness, the Cry of Ishmael — Emanuel Esh

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Greetings to each one this morning. It's a joy to be in the house of God and worship together, especially with those of like precious faith whose hearts, minds are one with us. We were in a cave church in Egypt three weeks ago and we felt so ostracized or so separated because we were not one heart with them.

It was an orthodox Coptic church and we couldn't understand what was being said, but we sensed the spirit of it was very orthodox, Catholic maybe or something like that and we were not of one heart with them.

But it's a joy and a blessing to be together with brothers and sisters whose hearts are in Christ and who are walking in the fear of God and desiring more of God. We have some special friends here this morning.

My wife's oldest brother, Eli, and his wife, Ravella, from New York. It's a treat that they would come today. God bless you. Welcome to all the visitors and to each one here this morning. I plan to share a message on the cry of Ishmael this morning.

I know most of you are probably wanting to hear more about our trip to the Middle East, but we are going to have to let most of that until next Saturday. Next Saturday we have the tent meeting in the afternoon.

We plan to be sharing slides and about the Middle East trip. So that's when that is planned to come forth. But we did have a good trip and it was a blessing to go. Could we just bow our heads for prayer as we begin here?

Father in heaven, it is with joy that we come to you as your children, having been given, having received the gift of life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Thank you, Father, for life. Thank you for help.

Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for your Word. I pray that your Word would be brought forth with anointing. I pray that your Word would go into the hearts today. I pray that you would meet specific needs and you would minister life to each one.

Reading Ishmael Without a Good-Guy, Bad-Guy Mentality

Give us some of that living water and some of that living bread today. In Jesus Christ's name, Amen. Amen. Many times as I have been reading the Bible in times past, being quite familiar with it as a child and so forth, I have realized that often times I read God's Word or I read the Bible, especially the Old Testament stories, I tend to read it with a good guy, bad guy mentality.

I know most of you don't watch much television or movies, at least I'm hoping you're not, but some of you have in your past, but there's always this good guy and bad guy, is that right? And so even as I read the Bible, there seems to be some of that in me, that okay, when I read about Rachel and Leah, in my mind, Rachel is a beautiful young lady and Leah is some bleary eyed one, pale faced back here, and automatically I'm pro-Rachel, you know, I'm for Rachel.

And so I read the story from her perspective and that Leah is over there, I don't even pay attention to the facts of her life. I'll get involved in Rachel's life, but not in Leah's life. And I end up realizing that I read God's Word that way at times as I go through the Old Testament stories.

One of the things that came alive to me on our trip there to the Middle East is that as we ministered to the Arab people, the Muslim people, I knew that their roots were back with Ishmael, one of the sons of Abraham.

And so as I've been studying this, I realized again that I have in times past when I would read the story about Abraham and Isaac, I would read about Isaac and would, you know, Ishmael is the bad guy.

And I would just do almost like Abraham would do, I would just kind of push him aside and cast him out and so that's kind of the nature of the tenets that I've seen in my own heart. And so this morning I would like to speak on the life of Ishmael.

Specifically bringing out the fatherlessness of Ishmael and his situation, the cry of Ishmael. The origin of the Muslim people is back to Ishmael. One of the sons of Ishmael named Kedar is said to be one of Muhammad's, the prophet of Islam's forefathers.

Saying that Muhammad came directly through the line of Kedar which was the son of Ishmael. Muhammad is the one who supposedly received revelations and put them together and they made the Koran which is the Muslim's book while our book is the Bible.

And so these are in conflict one to the other in many ways. But I'd like to turn to the scriptures and look at the birth of Ishmael, the blessing of Ishmael and also the casting out of Ishmael and I want this message to apply to us here today.

In this respect, there is a need for you and I to recognize and to realize that God is our father. Some of us have been rejected by our fathers. Some of us have grown up feeling abandoned by our fathers.

There's hope. There's hope for you today if that's your situation. If you are still in a sense hurting over a father-child issue. There's hope for you. There's hope for Ishmael. And so to go through this message I want you to be able to see the life of Ishmael and perhaps God can speak to our hearts concerning this issue of fatherlessness also.

Abraham's Promise and the Birth of Ishmael

Turn with me to Genesis chapter 16 to begin reading. We have the story here of Abraham. Abraham had left his father's house. In chapter 12 he had left his father's land and had gone out and God had made him a promise that he would bless him and that he would make his name great and make a great nation out of him and that all the families of the earth would be blessed because of Abraham.

And so somehow in that blessing of Abraham God was saying that your seed is going to be a blessing to all the families of the earth. And so somehow in that blessing Abraham would have been able to pick up the fact that he's going to have children.

Although he was 75 years old and his wife was a little bit younger but she was barren and they had no children. And then in chapter, that was chapter 12. In chapter 13 the Lord again blessed him and promised the land there in Israel to him.

Chapter 15 the Lord appeared to Abraham in a vision and spoke to him there and told him to look at the stars and so forth and that if he could number them so should his seed be. And Abraham believed the Lord there and it was counted to him for righteousness.

Then in chapter 16 right after that and that is where the Lord had promised to give him a son. One that would come forth from his own bowels would be his heir. One that he would father. And so that was chapter 15.

Chapter 16 is then where we enter into the story here with remember the promise was given to Abraham that he would have a son. Chapter 16 verse 1. Now Saddai, Abraham's wife, bare him no children. And she had a handmaid, an Egyptian whose name was Hagar.

And Saddai said unto Abraham, Abraham, behold now the Lord hath restrained me from bearing. I pray thee going unto my maid it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abraham hearkened to the voice of Saddai.

Abraham must have told his wife that he is going to have a son. He is going to have children. And time would continue on and Sarah would not conceive. And so Sarah got this brilliant idea that maybe it may be that God is saying that you are going to have a son by my maid.

And so we can have children this way. And so she went and she gave her maid to Abraham. And Saddai, Abraham's wife, took Hagar, her maid, the Egyptian, after Abraham had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan and gave her husband Abraham to be his wife.

I am so glad that Jesus made this very clear in the New Testament that there is to be one husband and one wife. Jesus takes us back to the original to the Garden of Eden and says in the beginning it was male and female, one husband and one wife, and that is the standard today.

But in this place Abram took that maid to himself and that is when the trouble began. Abraham's troubles began at this point. Sarah, she wanted children so bad and he went in unto Hagar and she conceived and when she saw that she had conceived her mistress was despised in her eyes.

Jealousy immediately began to set in here as Hagar went in and Abraham went in unto her, he married her, took her to be his wife and he went in unto her and she conceived and she began to be pregnant.

And Sarah, of course, is jealous at this point. And then it says Hagar, when she saw that she had conceived she despised Sarah. And there is this thing going between these two. She was despising Sarah and Sarah that upset her and so Sarah said unto Abram, verse 5, My wrong be upon thee.

I have given my maiden to thy bosom and when she saw that she had conceived I was despised in her eyes. The Lord judged between me and thee. But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold thy maid is in thy hand. Do to her as it pleases thee.

And when Sarai dealt hardly with her she fled from her face. And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness by the fountain in the way to shore. This is the first time that we can read of that an angel appeared to a person.

First things are important. And his angel said to Hagar, Sarai's maid. He said, Hagar, Sarai's maid, whence comest thou and whither wilt thou go? Notice here that the angel identified her as Sarai's maid and not as Abram's wife.

She said, I flee from the face of my mistress, said I. And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Return to thy mistress and submit thyself under her hands. And the angel of the Lord said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly that it shall not be numbered for multitude.

God's Blessing on Ishmael and the Meaning of His Name

God's blessing is upon Ishmael and his seed. I've come to realize that I have in my heart and I'm seeking the Lord and praying about this but it seems like there is some anti -Islam sentiment in my heart.

I'm just beginning to realize more and more as I study this. Most of us think when we think of Muslims we think of 9 -11. We think of the towers burning and airplanes crashing and all those things and it's all blamed on the Muslim terrorists.

And so whenever Islam has become a threat to the U .S. then Islam is rising in power and it seems like Islam is a threat to the church. My response to that is like this. That's not the right response.

That's not the right response because God has blessed Ishmael. God has a plan for Ishmael. God has a promise for Ishmael. I'll read it again. The angel of the Lord said to her I will multiply thy seed exceedingly that it should not be numbered from multitude.

And the angel of the Lord said unto her Behold thou art with child and shall bear a son and shall call his name Ishmael because the Lord hath heard thy affliction. There's four places in the Bible that the name of a child was given before birth.

And Ishmael was the first one. Isaac was the second. John the Baptist and then Jesus. The angel came and named this son while she was out there by the fountain in the wilderness. Now she'll call his name Ishmael.

Why? Because the Lord hath heard thy affliction and the name Ishmael means God hears. God hears. Remember that. Verse 12. And he will be a wild man. If you look that wording up it actually says he will be a wild donkey of a man.

Ishmael is going to be a wild donkey of a man. His hand will be against every man. Every man's hand against him and he shall dwell in the presence of his brethren. And she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her Thou God seest me.

For she said Here I also have looked after him that seeth me. Wherefore the well was called Bir-le-hai-rai. Behold it is between Kadesh and Bered. And Hagar bare Abram a son and Abram called his son's name which Hagar bare Ishmael and Abram was fourscorn six years old when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.

Hagar goes back she obeys the voice of the angel she goes back and submits herself as a servant to Hagar. And it seems like she would go back there and submit herself that way not as a wife but as a servant to Sadai.

Let's look at chapter 17 again at the blessing of for the blessing of Ishmael chapter 17 we have verse 18 a little bit on chapter 17 is when Abraham the Lord God met with him again there appeared to Abraham in chapter 1 the covenant within there and then he specifically gave another blessing there in verse 15 God said to Abraham as for Sarai thy wife thou shalt not call her name Sarai but Sarai shall her name be and I will bless her and give thee a son also of her yea I will bless her she shall be a mother of nations kings of people she shall be in her.

God changed Abram's name to Abraham and he changed Sarai's name to Sarai and he spoke of this son that Sarah is going to bear up to this point. Abraham thought that this would be the son that the blessing of God would flow through.

Abraham laughed about this and he said shall a child be born to him that is 100 years old. Shall Sarah that is 90 years old bear. And Abraham said to God verse 18 oh that Ishmael might live before thee.

I don't know what Abraham saw in that but he begged God for a blessing for Ishmael and God said Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed and thou shalt call his name Isaac and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant and with his seed after him as for Ishmael I have heard thee behold I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly 12 princes shall he beget and I will make him a great nation.

This is a blessing that Ishmael received. Ishmael was a son of Abraham and Abraham blessed him and God blessed him specifically saying he would beget 12 sons and have 12 princes and they would be exceedingly great and it would be a great nation.

Today the nation of Islam is 1 .6 billion. It's a great nation but God made it very clear to Abraham. But my covenant will I establish with Isaac which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time next year.

And God left off talking with Abraham and Abraham went and he took Ishmael there and he circumcised him and God instituted the right of circumcision at that point. Now let's go to chapter then we see in chapter 18 we have the story of Lot and Solomon and Gomorrah.

Isaac's Birth and the Casting Out of Hagar and Ishmael

Chapter 21 is where Isaac is born. Sarah bore a son and they named him Isaac. It means laughing. Let's go down to verse 8. The child has been born. It's been a couple of years old verse 8 and the child grew, Isaac did, and was weaned and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned and Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian which she had borne unto Abraham mocking and she said to Abraham cast out this bondwoman and her son for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son even with Isaac and the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his sons.

This was a very, very difficult situation. God had very clearly told Abraham that in Isaac would thy seed be called the blessing. Ishmael, however, was the firstborn and the firstborn has the right to the promises has the right to be the leader of the tribe and has the right to inherit all that his father has for him.

That is the firstborn's right. But the promise of God said that it would be the secondborn. Isaac was where the blessing would be. And now you have this difficulty. Abraham had approximately 13 or 14 years with Ishmael.

Abraham had never had a son before and here in his old age he had a son and I believe that Ishmael was very precious to Abraham. He loved him he trained him he taught him about God. I believe he taught all he knew about God to his son, Ishmael.

Many times we overlook what Abraham would have taught Ishmael because our focus goes right to Isaac and Abraham. Abraham loved him but there was a problem with these two women in his house. And there was also a problem when Isaac was born.

It immediately brought more conflict because now the promised one was going to be Isaac and I believe that Ishmael would have known that when they weaned Isaac. I don't know how old he would have been maybe 2 or 3 years old in those days.

That's about how old they would be. Maybe I don't know in this house but I suppose that when Abraham when Sarah gave birth to Isaac that Abraham's affections were turned from Ishmael to Isaac even as young parents here we sometimes recognize that after our first born child has been there we've given lots of attention to that child.

And about 2 years later the second one comes along and immediately there's conflict with these two children our 2 year old or 3 year old and begins to throw fits and all kinds of things because the attention is given to the newborn one.

I suppose this is what happened in this home and Hagar sees her son losing favor with Abraham because there's another son here to take his place and Sarah on the day of the weaning of this great feast and there's lots of people around there.

She sees Ishmael mocking Isaac and so she goes to Abraham. She complains. She said cast out this bond woman and her son he shall not be an heir with my son. This is a very grievous thing for Abraham. I think Abraham was in a hard place he did not know what to do.

Verse 12. God came in the picture and said unto Abraham let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad in all that Sarah has said unto thee hearken unto her voice for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.

And also of the son of the bond woman will I make a nation because he is thy seed. Verse 14. And here's the hard part. And Abraham rose up early in the morning. He took bread and a bottle of water gave it unto Hagar putting it on her shoulder and the child and sent her away and she departed and wandered and never came back.

This must have been very difficult for Abraham. Most of us don't have a very good picture of the wilderness. When we think of the wilderness we think of a maybe an area of trees and brush that's not farmed or something like that.

But if you ever drive through the Middle East almost all you see is desert brush barren sand rocks and hills. That's the wilderness. Green grass makes you so appreciative when you come back here and you have green grass again.

Abraham he sent Hagar away. It was hot. It's warm over there the sun bakes. There was hardly any clouds. And she began to wander in the wilderness of Beersheba. I don't know how long her bread lasted.

I don't know how long her water lasted but she had been in this place where she had been taken as a wife had borne a son and now she is rejected and abandoned and is driven out of the home with her son who is about 15 years old or 17 years old maybe.

And it speaks about him as a lad and we think of a 16 or 17 year old. We think of a young man who is pretty strapping and tall. But when you go to these third world countries or when there is not very much abundant food to eat and there is not much money yet.

And that's about what I would see to happen here. This lab was pretty small and here she is driven out of her home driven out of her place of safety driven out of a place where she had a place of rest.

She was guaranteed her food her clothing and all she needed was in that home in that house. And now she leaves all of that and she walks away from that. She is driven out and her son with her and she goes.

It's not some nice tree that we think of traveling through the desert. Over there you see a little shrub just a scrubby little shrub out there in the desert just a few here and a few there hardly any nice big trees.

And so she takes this child. They are wandering in the wilderness and they are running out of water. They are running out of food and they are thirsty. And this child is crying and she lays him under that shrub and Hagar turns her back on that boy and walks away because she can't bear to see him die.

And she went and sat down over against him a good way off as it were a bow shot for she said let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him lifted up her voice and wept. Such rejection such abandonment.

God Hears Ishmael's Cry and Opens Hagar's Eyes

Verse 17. And God heard the voice of the lad. God hears. Ishmael means God hears and notice that it was the lad's cry that God heard she was sitting over there about a bow shot away weeping and crying.

The lad was laying under the brush under the shrub weeping and crying. God heard the voice of the lad and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven and said to her here he is arise lift up the lad and hold him in thy hand for I will make him a great nation.

In a time of desperate situation. Here comes the angel of the Lord again and he speaks to her when hope is gone and she's desperate. They're thirsty, they're hungry. They're dying in the desert sand. And here this angel appears again and he says Hagar I will make him a great nation.

Verse 19. And God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water and she went and filled the bottle with water and gave the lad drink and God was with the lad. And he grew and dwelt in the wilderness and became an archer.

And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran. And his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt which was her native land. Abraham's difficulties. Let's think a little bit. In his father's house born of a patriarch.

Abraham was his father. But here he was cast out in one day, in a moment he was taken from being a son to being a nobody. He was taken from the home the only home he knew and was cast out. He was taken from being a son to a servant.

After being cast out of his father's house he found himself dying in the wilderness. Hagar, his mother after seeing him die she began to walk away all the while. This young boy lay under that shrub dying and crying.

He was not only physically in need. He was hurting, emotionally. He was rejected of his father. He was abandoned by his mother. He was left to die in the desert fatherlessness. He was without a father.

He grew up in a home where there was a father. He was abandoned and he rejected him and sent him out there. His heart was broken with rejection. His soul was pierced with sorrow. Questions like, who am I?

I'm no longer the servant. I'm no longer the son of Abraham. I'm only the son of a servant. His image of a father was destroyed. His image of a father was destroyed shattered. His condition was so bad that she didn't want to watch him die.

He'd been brought up learning about God. He'd been brought up seeing a father. But now where was this God that his father had taught him about. Even God it seemed had forsaken him. But the Bible says God heard his cry.

God hears. And then it says that God heard his cry. And he spoke to Hagar. And he showed Hagar a well of water. The well of water was there all the time. She just didn't see it. She just couldn't see it.

Jesus Christ as the Well of Living Water

God opened her eyes and she saw the well of water. 4 ,000 years later today, the Muslims they are still people in the spiritual wilderness in the world. They are still hurting over the lack of a father.

The cry is deeper and deeper than it's been before. They are unable to see the well of their salvation. Jesus is the well of living water. But their eyes are blinded to it. They cannot see it. They can't see that well of water.

But God called to Hagar when he heard the cry of Ishmael. He spoke to Hagar and go and give it to your son. It took natural water to save his life. It will take living water to bring these Muslims to Christ.

God used the woman to give water to Ishmael to drink God. He will also use another woman to give water to drink to the Muslims. And that's the church. And the church will just open her eyes to see the well of water.

They will have water to give to the children of Ishmael. Amen. Ishmael is thirsting for living water today. He is hungering after righteousness. He is seeking for a father. Very interesting. I was in on the banks of the Nile River there in Egypt one evening visiting with about 5 young men who had come by.

One of them had made a connection with one of our brothers before a year or so ago. Is this young man an NGO or a New Testament. And so he called and told him he is in Egypt again and he said well come by to see you.

So we went to the Nile there to meet them and 5 young men came out. We spent about an hour and a half or 2 hours talking with them sharing the gospel with them sharing about Christ the New Testament and so forth.

And we had a very good conversation. And so before we departed as I was lifting my eyes up into the starry night and I just said Father in Heaven and I addressed God as my Father. And when I after I said Amen I prayed for these young men that God would manifest himself to them and show them His glory.

When I said Amen one young man popped the question immediately. And this is the question. He said why did you call God your Father. You see the Muslims do not see. They are fatherless. They have been rejected by a father.

The figure of a father is not understood in their spiritual perception of God. They do not believe that God is a father. If they would they could believe that he would have a son. If there is a son there has to be a father.

And so this whole thing is wrapped up together in the fact that they do not believe that God is a father. And the question was such an opportunity just to go right through that open door and explain to him about my Father in Heaven and the love of the Father.

But this is what is missing in the life of Islam today. They have put it on. They have taken this fatherlessness this cry of rejection this cry of abandonment. They have taken that and have tried to put something else to it to understand the nature of the Muslim cry the origin of this and this is where it is.

Ishmael was rejected and abandoned by his father. And if you are here today and you have a poor father image maybe your father has rejected you. Maybe you feel that your father has cursed you. Maybe you are resting and struggling all of your life with your father issue.

This is a reality. Because my father did this to me. My father rejected me. My father abandoned me. I know there are people here who are wrestling with that. But let me say there is hope for you. There is hope for you.

Is there hope for Ishmael? Is it? It is. He was cast out of his father's house and left with no inheritance. Remember he was 15 years or so in his father's house grew up there having been taught of God being the favorite in the home for years only.

He was the son of a bond woman. Ishmael must have looked to his mother for an explanation of what was happening only to find her reminding him that he was the son of a servant and had no father. Ishmael waited in the wilderness hoping his father would come looking for him bringing him some bread and water.

But his father never came. And the next time that you read about Ishmael and his father Abraham is when Abraham died where Isaac and Ishmael go. And they bury their father Abraham. And with that burial it signified the death of Ishmael's hope for Ishmael to be accepted or loved by a father again.

My father will never love me. My father will never accept me. And that lives on and on and on today. Muslims do not understand a father's love. Muslims do not understand how God could be a father at the core of the cry.

This cry of Ishmael is the desire.

To be loved by his father. Maybe you're here today.

And at the core of your heart there's a deep cry a desire to be loved by your father. Maybe you're here today and you're hurting and there's problems in your life. Is there a root issue of rejection and abandonment in your life.

You don't know who you are. There's a need for an identity without a father. A son has no identity. Identity is not just about who you are but whose you are. If you don't know whose you are you will never know who you are.

And if you don't know your identity you will define yourself by what you do. Now listen carefully. There are some who do not know the love of the father here this morning and people are trying to prove who they are by what they do.

Listen. Are you trying to prove who you are by what you do. If that's the case then you don't understand what the father in heaven is all about. Yet. Are you trying to prove who you are by what you do.

If you would have went down to the slave market in those days. If you go to buy a slave you don't care who his father is. You don't care where he's from. What's important is that this man would know how to work.

You'd check his muscles out. You want someone who's going to be able to work hard. And you would also want to know whether he is a submissive slave or not. These are the two important things. When you go to buy a slave is he strong and is he submissive.

But that's not the case if you're a son we're not sold in the slave market. I have an inheritance. My father's name is Stephen and I'm proud to be his son. I identify myself as his son. That's my identity.

A son can be traced by his DNA but a servant is traced by his works. If you don't know whose you are you try to prove who you are by what you do. Listen to that. And so what is very important in life is that I prove who I am by how well I do my work meticulously trying to prove trying to get people's acceptance by doing.

Islam, Servanthood, and the Search for Acceptance

Ishmael was cast out without a father abandoned, rejected fatherless. His right as a son was an inheritance from his father. That right was taken away leaving him with a seal of fatherlessness. And that cry lives on in the hearts of Muslims today.

They have built a memorial around the cry of Ishmael and have called it Islam which means submit to God much like a servant rather than to have a relationship with God as a son. And this is one thing that keeps coming up over and over again.

We visit with many Muslims. Muslims love to talk about their religion. If you don't talk about religion in the first 10 -15 minutes when you're talking with a Muslim out there you're probably missing the boat.

They love to try to talk to you about your religion. They want to know about your religion. They have lots of things and lots of questions in their minds. But when you come down to the real facts of what they believe they simply say we believe that we need to serve God.

Islam means serving God and you just kind of you just kind of see him bowing down like a servant. That's what Islam means. It means to serve God. And that's what they're doing. They're trying to prove.

They're trying to prove that they are someone by doing and brothers and sisters. That's not the way we come to Christ. That's not the way it is for us. If you have been abandoned by your father then there may be a deep cry in your heart like Ishmael trying to prove who you are by doing something.

Well you know there's this sense in the heart that if my father would just do something I try to do these things to prove that I'm his son. But sad to say many fathers have left their children down. They never give them a blessing.

But I thank God for godly fathers. I hope every father in here knows how to give a blessing to his sons today and his daughters Islam they build a memorial rather than have a relationship with God as son.

God is not a father to them and God has no son. Muslims still see themselves as servants and slaves submitting to God hoping that through their works they can obtain acceptance and approval from God and avoid inevitable judgment.