A Problem Revealed...

This week we are looking at a story that is recorded for us in the very first letter in the Bible, called the book of Genesis. Yesterday, we saw the Lord make good on that promise by supernaturally taking care of Sarah and enabling Sarah to become pregnant and give birth to a son. As Abraham and Sarah acted with confident trust in God and his promises, God fulfilled those promises by giving them a son, whom they named Isaac.

Today, as we jump back into this story, we will discover that Abraham and Sarah were not bound for a wrinkle free life the rest of their lives. God’s fulfillment of His promise to Abraham and Sarah by the provision of a son did not remove all obstacles.

You see, there was a problem that was lingering in the distance. A problem that was the result of Abraham and Sarah’s earlier attempt to help God out through their impatient plans. A problem that had the potential to complicate Abraham and Sarah’s future and that could potentially threaten God’s promise. A problem that revealed itself only a few years later and that Moses records for us in verse 8:

 The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. Now Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking.

Three years after Isaac was born, Abraham threw a large party with great amounts of food to celebrate the fact that Isaac had been weaned. Now as soon as you read these verses several questions popped into your mind. For example, a question that could arise here is “So Dave you are telling me that Abraham threw a party to celebrate that his son Isaac was no longer breast feeding or on formula? Really? What is up with that?

Another question that could arise here is “Why would it take three years to get to the place where a child would be eating solid food anyways? It sounds like Isaac is a little slow. It sounds like Isaac is a momma’s boy. So why throw a party?”  If those questions are running through your mind, I want to let you know that they are great questions to be asking.

And we discover the answers to these questions by understanding some things about the culture of Abraham’s day. You see, in Abraham’s day, children were not normally weaned until they were around three. So this in itself was not unusual. The reason why Abraham threw such a big party was due to the fact that in Abraham’s day, the infant mortality rate was much higher than today.  In Abraham’s day, many children did not live to reach their third birthday.

And because of that reality, it was not unusual for children to be weaned much later in life. And because of this reality, families celebrated when a child reached that age and stage of life. So Abraham is throwing a party to celebrate that fact that Isaac made it to this important marker in his life alive.

However, while Abraham, Sarah, and most of their family and friends were celebrating Isaac reaching this milestone in life, there was one individual who was not celebrating. In verse nine, Moses tells us that Sarah saw Ishmael, who was the son of Hagar mocking. But what does that mean? What is Ishmael doing when it says he was mocking? And who or what was he mocking?

Now the word mocking here, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means to jest or make sport of someone. However, Ishmael was doing more than making fun of Isaac. You see, when Moses tells us that he was mocking Isaac, he is revealing for us the reality that Ishmael was attempting to abuse and hurt Isaac. While Abraham and Sarah were excited about the birth and growth of Isaac, Ishmael did not share their enthusiasm. 

Ishmael did not share their enthusiasm because Ishmael knew that the birth of Isaac meant that he had just lost out on the inheritance and the privileges had previously been coming to him as an only child. Ishmael was no longer the firstborn who had rights to the inheritance. And Ishmael responded to this situation and to his loss by mocking and attempting to abuse Isaac. And like any mom, Sarah is very upset at this turn of events. We see Sarah and God’s response recorded for us in Genesis 21:10:

 Therefore she said to Abraham, "Drive out this maid and her son, for the son of this maid shall not be an heir with my son Isaac." The matter distressed Abraham greatly because of his son.

Like any momma tiger, Sarah responds to the abuse of her son by Ishmael, by demanding that Abraham drive out this maid and her son. Sarah was so mad at Ishmael, and by extension Ishmael’s mother, that she could not even refer to them by name. Instead, Sarah demands that Hagar and Ishmael be kicked out of the house and removed from their lives.

However, this demand is not as simple as it seems. You see, Hagar, was not simply the maid; Hagar was Abraham’s second wife. As we discovered in Genesis chapter sixteen, as Sarah became impatient with God, she came up with a plan to trump God’s promises. And that plan involved giving her maid Hagar to Abraham as a wife so that Abraham could have sex with her and have a child through her that Sarah could claim as well. The result of that relationship was the birth of Ishmael, when Abraham was eighty five. Another result of that relationship was intense jealousy between Sarah and Hagar.

Now, fast forward eighteen years. Abraham is now 103 and Ishmael is eighteen. And now Abraham has a dilemma. Both Ishmael and Isaac are his children. And while Ishmael was conceived as a result of Abraham and Sarah impatient plans apart from God and His promise, Ishmael was still his son.

Moses then tells us that as Sarah demanded that Abraham drive out his son, Abraham became distressed. This word distressed literally means to be displeased. Abraham’s response to Sarah’s demands was to be displeased with her and her demands. And in his dilemma and in his displeasure Abraham cries out to God for help.

Friday, we will see God’s response to Abraham and discover a timeless truth regarding God and His promises…