Genesis Ch16v1-16 - A God Solution

Welcome to the

Apple Stocks

So Genesis chapter 16.

Genesis 16 · chapter mention

If you miss any of the talks,

they're on the website.

You can find them there.

And I do commend to you again

the opportunity to study further,

to engage with God's Word.

Consider MBC.

It's a bank holiday.

What else would you be doing?

Come along.

It'll be great for you.

Genesis 16, we're going to read

verses 1 through to 16.

Let's hear God's Word together.

Now Sarai, Abram's wife,

had borne him no children.

But she had an Egyptian slave,

named Hagar.

So she said to Abram,

The Lord has kept me from having children.

Go sleep with my slave.

Perhaps I can build a family through her.

Abram agreed to what Sarai said.

So after Abram had been living in Canaan 10 years,

Sarai, his wife,

took her Egyptian slave, Hagar,

and gave her to her husband to be his wife.

He slept with Hagar,

and she conceived.

When she knew she was pregnant,

she began to despise her mistress.

Then Sarai said to Abram,

You are responsible for the wrong I'm suffering.

I put my slave into your arms,

and now that she knows she is pregnant,

she despises me.

May the Lord judge between you and me.

Your slave is in your hands,

Abram said.

Do with her whatever you think best.

Then Sarai ill-treated Hagar,

so she fled from her.

The angel of the Lord found Hagar

near a spring in the desert.

It was a spring that is beside the road to shore.

And he said,

Hagar, slave of Sarai,

where have you come from?

Where are you going?

I'm running away from my mistress Sarai,

she answered.

Then the angel of the Lord told her,

Go back to your mistress and submit to her.

The angel added,

I will increase your descendants so much

that they will be too numerous to count.

The angel of the Lord also said to her,

You are now pregnant,

and you will give birth to a son.

You shall name him Ishmael,

for the Lord has heard of your misery.

He will be a wild donkey of a man.

His hand will be against everyone,

and everyone's hand against him.

And he will live in hostility towards all his brothers.

She gave this name to the Lord,

who spoke to her.

You are the God who sees me.

For she said,

I have now seen the one who sees me.

That is why the well was called

Beer-lehai-Roi.

It is still there between Kadesh and Beret.

So Hagar bore Abram a son,

and Abram gave the name Ishmael

to the son she had born.

Abram was 86 years old

when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

Well, we get all the nitty-gritty of life,

don't we, in Scripture.

Let's hear what God has to say to us,

and we're going to ask for his help as we pray.

Father, you are the God who sees us.

You see each one of us individually.

You see us together as your body.

You know our hearts.

You know what we're feeling,

what we're thinking.

You know where our minds are tempted to go.

And you know what is right and best for us.

And so we pray that your word

would penetrate deep into our life

and would give to us

what we most need.

That we would hear from you today

that would cause us to be at peace

and at rest with you.

So help us, we ask.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

One of my first jobs on leaving school

was working on a barge

with a friend called Bart.

Now what you must understand is

there was the harbour wall,

the harbour area,

and next to that was the pontoon

which was in the water.

And if you know anything about pontoons,

they rise with the tide

and they'll go down with the tide.

Now connecting the land side,

the harbour, to the pontoon

was a series of electric cables.

And designed in such a way

with a certain amount of length

that when the tide went down,

the cables would stretch

and when the tide came up,

they would be all okay.

Well, Bart couldn't help himself, could he?

He had to make things better.

He looked one evening

and saw that the cables

going from the harbour to the pontoon

were slack.

And he thought to himself,

I could tighten these

and it would make it better.

And it all looked really well

until the tide began to fall.

You could imagine what happened.

You see, sometimes things

are better left alone.

Our interference is exactly that,

an interference.

And it seems that in our text this morning,

Sarai and Abram

just couldn't help themselves.

They had to interfere.

They had to try and make things better.

Well, before we get to that particular incident,

let's first see the difficult situations

that lead to testing times.

Difficult situations that lead to testing times.

God's promise has been clear.

Childless Abram and Sarah

would become a great nation

and in turn,

they would be a blessing

to the nations of the world.

But the great expectation

soon becomes a difficult situation.

Look at verse 1.

Now Sarai, Abram's wife,

had borne him no children.

Things were getting increasingly difficult

for this ageing couple.

In fact, verse 3 tells us

that 10 years have passed

since God had made the promise.

Now I don't mind how strong

you think your theology is.

That's just painful.

Husbands and wives want to graduate

to being dad and mum.

Not having children

is always going to be hard.

And many couples

have sleepless,

tearful nights.

And what makes this particular situation worse?

Look at verse 2.

She said to Abram,

the Lord has kept me

from having children.

God who had promised us children

is keeping us from having children.

Now in our medical orientated world,

we tend to put these disappointments

and heartaches down to

biology and our DNA.

But behind it all,

Sarai knows that the pitcher-patter

of tiny feet

ultimately lies

in the hands of God.

So what's going on here?

Well, not only is it painful,

the pressure is beginning to build.

Sarai is getting desperate.

What are they going to do?

Now we're not immune

to these painful testing times,

are we?

Life has the habit

of throwing us curveballs

and they hurt.

They knock us down.

The pressure gets to us.

Maybe you're a single person

and you've come on your own

and you would love the idea

of getting married.

But nothing's happening.

God's not providing.

Perhaps you've witnessed

and prayed for a friend

or a family member

over many years

and, well,

nothing seems to change.

And you think,

God's not working.

You see,

we can write our own

disappointments into this.

Maybe you're thinking

of them right now.

Perhaps it's a struggling marriage

that you would just love

to be different.

Maybe it's an ongoing illness.

Or maybe an unfulfilled dream.

And yes,

you know that behind it

there's reasons

for the reason

why things are like it.

There are explanations.

But behind it all

is our sovereign God

who is in control

of all things

but yet nothing

seems to happen.

And the years roll by.

Five years.

Ten years.

Twenty years.

And nothing's changing.

What's going on?

Well, we don't always know

what is going on.

But as Christians,

we know how we should respond.

Patient obedience.

We don't always understand

God's ways

but we know

we can trust him.

It's not that God

is making things

as difficult

as they possibly can be

just to see

how we're going to respond.

No, God's ways

are just simply

not always clear to us

and that means

it tests our faith.

Difficult situations

lead to testing times.

And the danger is

as we'll see in a moment

we can begin

to take things

into our own hands

can't we?

Well, we don't have a husband

so we'll marry

an unbeliever

in the hope

that they will become

a believer.

Maybe we just

adjust the gospel message

slightly

so that it becomes

more accessible

in the hope

that our friend

or family member

will believe.

We begin to turn

to other things

and people

to somehow

fulfil what we

all desperately want

and God

doesn't seem

to deliver.

But maybe

these hard

and difficult

situations

can also be used

to pull us

deeper into God

and realise that

well,

he is sufficient.

he is

enough.

The writer

of Psalm 16

understood this.

Listen to his words.

Keep me safe,

my God,

for in you

I take refuge.

I say to the Lord,

you are my Lord.

Apart from you

I have no good thing.

I could have

everything else

but not have

what I most

desperately need.

Those who run

after other gods

will only suffer

more

and more.

So difficult

situations

can lead

to testing

times

in our life.

well,

second,

sinful

solutions

can lead

to

disastrous

consequences.

Sarai

and Abraham's

situation

is difficult.

God

had promised

them a family

through whom

the nations

of the world

will be blessed

but they

don't have

a child.

well,

simples.

Let's give

God a hand.

Let's help

things along

a bit.

God seems

to be in a bit

of a mess

and he just

needs some

of our help.

Isn't that

true?

God helps

those who

help themselves?

Who says

that?

Is it Jesus

or Paul?

No,

it's not

in your Bible.

Don't go

looking.

It's not

there.

playing

God is

always

rebellious.

It's sin

and sinful

solutions

always lead

to disastrous

consequences.

Let's look

at the three

characters

involved

in this

account.

First,

there's

Sarai

and the

sin of

taking

what you

want.

Sarai

wants a

child

so she

takes matters

into her

own hands.

I know

maybe

Hagar

could help.

Verse 2,

so she

said to

Abram,

the Lord

has kept

me from

having

children.

Go sleep

with my

slave.

Perhaps I

can build

a family

through her.

Now,

given the

reality of

the situation,

we might

have some

kind of

sympathy

for

Sarai.

After

all,

God's

blessing

on the

world

depends on

them having

a child.

I mean,

what could

possibly be

wrong with

her plan?

Well,

nothing's wrong

with the

plan except

Genesis 2

tells us

that a man

leaves his

father and

mother and

is united to

his wife and

they become

one flesh.

Marriage is

permanent,

exclusive,

and isn't

open to

other partners.

others.

You see,

when we

desperately

want

something,

we begin

to disengage

with what

God says

and respond

with what

I want.

So,

there's

Sarai and

the sin of

taking what

you want.

Then there's

Abram and

the sin of

ignoring what

is right.

How's

Abram going

to respond to

such a

suggestion?

Well,

look at the

rest of

verse 2.

Abram

agreed to

what Sarai

said.

So,

after Abram

had been

living in

Canaan

ten years,

Sarai,

his wife,

took her

Egyptian

slave,

Hagar,

gave her

to her

husband to

be his

wife.

He slept

with Hagar

and she

conceived.

Well,

it's

understandable,

isn't it?

I mean,

they've been

waiting so

long.

It's been

ten

long

years.

Surely

God doesn't

want it to

take that

long.

I mean,

what else am

I supposed

to do?

And it

will keep

the missus

happy.

Sarai

wants,

Sarai

gets.

Well,

it might

reflect many

a sad

marriage,

but this

isn't going

to do.

The author

wants us

to see

this.

It's

underlined

for us.

If you

look at

the middle

of verse

three,

Sarai,

his wife,

took her

Egyptian

slave,

Hagar,

and gave

her to

her husband

to be

his wife.

Sarai

has a

husband.

His name's

Abram,

and Abram

has a

wife.

Her name

is Sarai.

No,

none of

them.

Abram

can't

plead

ignorance

to God's

good design.

He knows

what's

right.

And then

there's

Hagar,

and the

sin of

running

from her

guilt.

we

don't

need to

be

marriage

counsellors

to guess

what's

going to

happen

next,

do we?

Look at

the end

of verse

four.

When

Hagar

knew she

was

pregnant,

she

began

to

despise

her

mistress.

What's

the matter,

Sarai?

Can't

give what

your husband

wants?

Well,

Sarai

repaid the

compliment,

didn't

she?

Look at

the end

of verse

six.

Sarai

ill-treated

Hagar,

so she

fled from

her.

No,

Hagar

isn't an

innocent

bystander

in all

of this.

She

knows

the deal,

and she's

quite happy

to go

along with

it.

Maybe

it will

kind of

get her

up the

pecking

order a

bit.

But when

it all

gets a

little bit

messy and

too close

to the

bone,

she

ups and

leaves.

Rather

than face

the sin

and the

trouble,

she runs

away from

it.

You see,

all three,

Sarai,

Abram,

Hagar,

they're all

responsible for

playing God.

They all

take matters

into their

own hands.

And what

seemed to

be a

clever

solution

turned out

to have

disastrous

consequences.

They all

begin to

start

fighting.

Verse

five,

Sarai

said to

Abram,

Hugh,

you're

responsible

for the

wrong

I'm

suffering.

Verse

six,

no,

your

slave is

in your

hands,

Abram

said.

Do

with her

whatever

you think

best.

And

Sarai

ill-treated

Hagar,

and

Hagar

fled from

her.

Playing

God is

all so

familiar,

isn't it?

It's how

the first

marriage in

the Bible

that we

come across

started out.

remember

Adam and

Eve?

All

this is

yours.

You can

enjoy all

this fruit,

but not

this.

Well,

Eve wanted

and Eve

got.

And she

gave some

to her

husband and

he took.

Just as

Sarai gave

Hagar to

Abram and

he took.

And when

it all

just got

so messy,

Adam and

Eve hid

and ran

from their

sin.

And then

the blame

game started.

Her,

him,

no,

Satan.

Of course,

the actions

of that

first marriage

in the

Garden of

Eden had

disastrous

consequences,

and it

seems our

sinful

solutions to

it all are

not much

better.

think about

our own

lives for

a minute.

I want

to be

happy.

I'll make

myself happy.

I want

to live as

I like.

I'll do

as I like.

I want

to...

You fill

in the

blank.

What are

you desperately

wanting right

now?

I want

and I'll

have.

And we

just ignore

God's

word.

We twist

the truth.

We reject

what's

right.

And like

it always

does,

well,

it just

goes from

bad to

worse.

Instead

of confronting

our sin,

we begin

to run

and hide

from it.

We blame

others.

It's not

me,

it's them.

We blame

our past.

It's my

parents.

It was

my education.

We blame

our childhood.

We blame

the church.

The only

thing we're

absolutely

certain of

is it's

not my

fault.

Hagar

did have

a child

but life

was not

going to

be easy.

Look at

the end

of,

look at

verse 12.

God

said that

her son

would be

a wild

donkey

of a

man.

His

hand

will be

against

everyone

and

everyone's

hand

against

him

and

he

will

live

in

hostility

towards

all

his

brothers.

others.

The

children of

Hagar

and the

children of

Sarai

would be

in conflict

all their

years.

In fact,

if we know

anything of

our history,

it's still

going on

today,

isn't it?

It's being

played out in

the Middle

East every

single day.

You see,

sin has

this

disastrous

consequence.

It's like

the first

flick of

a domino.

One push

and there's

no end

to its

destruction.

So we

have sinful

solutions

that lead

to

disastrous

consequences.

But then

there's a

God

intervention

that leads

to

redeemed

lives.

God

interventions

lead to

redeemed

lives.

I mean,

the account

is such a

terrible mess,

isn't it?

How do you

begin to

untangle

it all?

Well,

the point

is you

can't.

Sin has

deep

consequences

that you

and I

can't

undo.

However,

there is

one who

can deal

with our

past and

give us

a future,

one who

redeems

and restores

broken lives.

Now,

before we

look at

how God

redeems,

we've got

to ask

this question,

who is

the angel

of the

Lord?

He appears

in verse

seven,

the angel

of the

Lord.

In verse

nine,

the angel

of the

Lord told

her.

Verse

eleven,

the angel

of the

Lord also

said to

her,

well,

it's

not just

any

angel.

It seems

to be

that the

angel of

the Lord,

and if we

find this

out more

as we go

through the

Old Testament,

seems to be

a manifestation

of God

himself.

That's what

Hagar points

to if you

look at

verse

thirteen.

so she

gave this

name to

the

Lord

who

spoke

to her.

You

are the

God

who

sees

me.

The

angel

of the

Lord

is a

manifestation

of God

himself

who

comes

in

person

to deal

with

Hagar.

So let's

look at

God's

personal

and gracious

intervention

into the

life of

Hagar.

We're going

to see

three things

that relate

to our

lives as

well.

First,

God seeks

the lost.

Look at

verse

seven.

The

angel of

the Lord

found

Hagar

near a

spring in

the desert.

It's a

beautiful

picture,

isn't it?

We can

picture

Hagar

wandering

around in

the desert

trying to

find some

respite by

a spring

lost

and alone

and God

calls her

by name.

Verse

eight.

Hagar

slave of

Sarai

where have

you come

from?

Where are

you going?

You see

this is the

kind of

God we

have.

He never

waits for

us to

come to

him.

God takes

the initiative

and moves

out towards

us.

God loves

to redeem

sinners.

Isn't that

what we see

in the

person of

Jesus?

The God

man who

comes into

the mess

and brokenness

of our

lives,

reaching out

to us,

searching us

until he

finds us,

looking for

the prodigal,

as Jesus

himself reminds

us,

for the

son of

man came

to seek

and to

save

the lost.

Maybe you

feel you're

wandering in

the desert.

Maybe you're

running from

certain things

in the past

that have

never ever

been addressed.

Well,

God is

seeking you

because he

loves you.

God

seeks the

lost

and God

hears

the

repentant.

Look at

verse 8

again.

God said,

Hagar,

slave of

Sarai,

where have

you come

from?

Where are

you going?

Well,

it's not

that God

doesn't know

where she's

come from

or where

she's going.

He knows.

So why

would God

ask a

question?

Well,

he asks the

question because

it's an

invitation to

Hagar to

come and

speak and

engage with

the living

God.

God is a

listener.

He hears

us.

He's

concerned for

you and

for me.

Hagar

responds,

end of

verse 8,

I'm

running

away.

I'm

running

away.

Hagar

admits to

what she's

doing.

She's on

the run.

She knows

the mess

she's left

behind and

she's turned

her back and

she's getting

out of there.

So God

in his grace

calls her

back again.

Verse 9,

then the

angel of the

Lord told

her,

go back

to your

mistress

and submit

to her.

Of course,

Hagar has

no idea

how she's

going to

be treated

but,

it's what

she must

do.

She must

obey what

God says

and she

turns back.

You see,

maybe there's

stuff in

your past

today and

you don't

want to go

back there.

You're not

wanting to

face up to

it.

But maybe

there's

relationships

we need

to deal

with.

We must

obey

and trust

all things

to him.

You see,

God hears

your cry.

He hears

your longings

to change

and be

different.

He hears

about your

regrets.

He sees

your failing.

He knows

your sin

and in

response,

God is

calling us

back.

Go back.

Come back

to me.

The Bible

calls it

repentance.

We never

ever stop

repenting.

And so

that we

know he

hears us,

look at

verse 11,

the angel

of the Lord

also said

to her,

you are

now pregnant

and you

will give

birth to a

son.

You'll

call him

Ishmael.

Ishmael

means

the Lord

has heard

of your

misery.

You see,

we can

come to

God with

all our

misery

and all

our mess

and he

hears you

and he

will answer

you.

So God

seeks,

God

hears

and then

we know

this next

one,

God

sees

the needy.

Verse 13,

Hagar

gave this

name to

the Lord

who spoke

to her,

you are

the God

who sees

me.

For she

said,

I have

now seen

the one

who sees

me.

So who's

seeing who?

Well,

there's a

double truth

here that

both encourages

us and

blesses us.

At one

level,

Hagar

can say,

God

sees me.

God

sees me.

Rather

than her

sin

putting her

out of

sight of

God,

it's her

sin that

puts her

in the

direct

vision

and

sight of

God.

You see,

no one

is so

messed up

that God

cannot

see them.

Isn't that

encouraging?

with

his piercing

eyes,

he

penetrates

beneath

the

facade

and the

masks

that we

carry

with us

and he

sees

our

heart.

But at

another

level,

Hagar

can say,

I have

now seen

God,

the one

who sees

me.

Hagar

can now

see God

in the

sense that

she can

know God

personally

and

intimately.

Through her

repentance,

through her

engagement,

her encounter

with God,

she can

now see

the God

who is

holy

and pure.

That's

the God

we have.

The one

who not

only sees

us,

but invites

people like

us to

see him,

to know

him and

to enjoy

him.

You see,

God doesn't

need our

interventions.

We need

a God

intervention

in our

life.

God

doesn't

need

Sarai

and Abram

to do

his job.

God

had promised

that he

would bless

the nations

and he

will continue

to bless

the nations.

Even a

woman from

Egypt,

an outsider

called

Hagar.

And if

he can

bless her

too,

he can

bless you

and me.

You see,

sin and

its

consequences

may be

deeply

engraved

in our

lives.

And we

can't

undo

what's

broken.

But we

have one

who

redeems

and

intervenes.

so even

in our

mess,

even in

the depth

of our

despair,

when we

give up

on ourselves,

when everybody

else gives

up on us,

there is

one who

delights in

saving

wanderers like

us.

The God

who seeks

the lost,

hears the

repentant,

and sees

the needy.

Let's

just take

a moment

to reflect

together.

Let's

just

take

a moment

to reflect

together.

Lord God,

we're

sorry for

the times

we have

rushed

things

along,

taken

things

that

aren't

ours,

trying

to do

your

job.

Father,

please

forgive us.

Help us

to know

a fresh

the God

who comes

to rescue

us and

redeem us,

dealing

with our

past,

and giving

us a

glorious

future.

Thank you

that through

faith in

Christ we

can say

we can

see you

and know

you.

And thank

you that

one day

we will

see you

face to

face.

We will

be with

you.

and you

will know

us and

we will

know you

in all

its

fullness.

Thank you

God.

Amen.

Amen.

song we're

going to

sing.

I once

was lost

in darkest

night.

I thought

I knew

the way.

There's

only one

way and

that's

always

returning

to

Christ.

He is

enough.

He is

sufficient

for all

things.

So I

invite you

if you're

able to