Genesis 21

This sin must be dealt with, confessed, and put out of the way before Isaac could be born. Now, here in chapter 21, we have the birth of Isaac.

We begin today at Genesis 21:1-2,  And the LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had spoken. 

For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.

You can’t help but notice here a striking similarity between the birth of Isaac and the birth of Christ. It’s as if the birth of Isaac was given to us to set before mankind this great truth before Christ came. Isaac was born at the set time God had promised, and Paul says, “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law”, that’s Galatians 4:4.

Now we’re going to read Genesis 21:3-7,  And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him—whom Sarah bore to him—Isaac. 

Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. 

Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 

And Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me.” 

She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.”

There are some great truths here that we need to grasp.

First, the birth of Isaac was a miraculous birth. It was contrary to nature. Nature simply could not produce this child.

In the fourth chapter of Romans 4 verse 19, Paul writes that Abraham “… considered not his own body now dead … neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb”. Out of death, God brings forth life. It’s miraculous and something only God could make happen. God didn’t snap the supernatural birth of Christ on the world as something new. He began to prepare men for it with this miracle birth of Isaac.

We also find here that God had to deal with both Sarah and Abraham. They had to recognize that they couldn’t do a thing to help like they’d tried to do before Ishmael was born. They had to recognise that it would be impossible for them to have a child. Abraham is 100 years old; Sarah is 90 years old and has never been able to give birth her whole life. The birth of Isaac must be a birth that they really have nothing to do with.

To Genesis 21:8, So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned. 

Little Issac first lived by feeding on his mother’s milk, but there came a day when he had to be weaned. Even this has a lesson for us.

When a mum’s getting the bottle ready for the baby in the crib, everything in his entire body is working. He’s got his feet up in the air, he’s got his hands up in the air, and he’s yelling at the top of his voice—he wants his bottle!

1 Peter 2:2 says, “as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,”. It’s wonderful to be a new Christian with an appetite like that for the milk of the Word. But the day comes when you are ready to start growing up as a believer. Instead of just reading Psalm 23 and John 14 as wonderful as they are, try reading through the entire Bible. We need to grow up and not be babies.

Notice how God puts it in Hebrews 5 verses 13 and 14. “For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

We all need to grow up, my friends.

Now we read verses 9 and 10  And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne 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.” 

The coming of this little boy Isaac into the home produced a great deal of difficulty. And Abraham’s going to start to reap what he’s sown as we spoke of before.

We find that the boy who was the son of Hagar, Ishmael, was mocking.

We start to see the nature and the character of Ishmael. Up to this point, he seems to be a nice enough kid, but now, with the appearance of this other son in the family, Ishmael really shows his true colours.

This is yet another illustration. The fact is that a believer has two natures. Until we’re converted, we have an old nature, and that old nature controls us. We do what we want to do. We’re “doing what comes naturally.”

What we do that comes naturally isn’t always nice. But when we’re born again, we receive a new nature. And when we receive a new nature, that’s where the trouble begins. The Conflict starts.

Paul writes in the seventh chapter of Romans verse 19 of the battle going on between the old nature and the new nature, and I read, “For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.” That is, the new nature doesn’t want to do evil, but the old nature wants to, and the old nature’s in control. The time comes when we must make a decision as to which nature we’re going to live by.

It takes a decision to yield to the Lord. We either have to permit the Holy Spirit to move in our life, or else we must go through life controlled by the flesh. There’s no third option for the child of God. The son of the bondwoman must be put out and that’s exactly what we have here, the son of the bondwoman Hagar had to be put out.

Gen 21:11,  And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham’s sight because of his son. 

You see, as far as the flesh is concerned, Ishmael is Abraham’s son just as much as Isaac is.

Isaac has just been born, and Ishmael has been in the home for a good many years. In fact, he’s a teenager now, and Abraham’s very attached to him.

It’s going to grieve Abraham greatly to have to send him away.

Again, we go back to that which we’ve said before: God did not approve of the thing which Sarah and Abraham did, and God can’t accept Ishmael. It was sin and God just didn’t approve of ii. He can forgive it but He can’t take the consequences away and He in no way approves of it.

It was a heartbreak to Abraham, but in order to relieve the embarrassment, he had to send that boy away. Poor Sarah just couldn’t take it with this older boy around mocking her.

As a believer, we can’t live in harmony with both our old and our new natures. We’re going to have to make a decision.

James says in James 1:8, “A double–minded man is unstable in all his ways”.

This explains the instability and insecurity among many Christians today. They want to run with both the world and with the Lord. There are many spiritual schizophrenics, trying to do both and friends it just doesn’t work.

I remember an incident many years ago with one of my brothers. We were out on a boat in the harbour and I was driving. We were coming into the jetty and Max, my brother, stood on the deck and leaned out and grabbed a pylon on the Jetty. I had turned the engine off and there he was hanging onto the pile with his feet on the boat. Of course, the angle caused the boat to move away from the jetty with his feet still on the deck and still gripping the pylon with his hands. Despite my yelling to him to jump onto the jetty, he clung to both trying to drag the boat to the jetty with his feet. Everyone could see the outcome before it happened. There was Max yelling for help mixed with many colourful curses as the boat got to the point where he was stretched horizontally to the sea. All that remained was to see which would let go first, the hands from the pylon or the feet from the boat. Actually, they both let go at the same time and Max’s curses were snuffed out as he belly-flopped, fully clothed into the freezing sea. It wasn’t a pretty sight as he bobbed to the surface.

This is like the conflict between the new and the old natures. We’re trying to cling to both but eventually, before it’s too late, we either abandon clinging to one and fully commit to the other or we lose both in a disaster. This is why we’re told to yield ourselves: Romans 6:13 in the King James Version reads, “yield yourselves unto God … and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God”.

Paul goes on to say that what the law could not do through the weakness of the flesh, the Spirit of God can now accomplish that’s Romans 8 verses 3-4.

You see the law tried to control man’s old nature and failed. Now the Spirit of God, empowering the new nature, can accomplish what the law could never do.

So, the character of Ishmael, the son of Hagar, begins to be revealed. This is the nature that we find displayed later on in that nation, a nation that’s antagonistic and whose hand is against his own brother. This’s been the picture of him down through the centuries.

In the birth of Isaac, as we’ve have already suggested, we have a foreshadowing of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. God didn’t suddenly spring the virgin birth on mankind. He had prepared us by several miraculous births before this, including the birth of John the Baptist, the birth of Samson, and here the birth of Isaac. Let’s look at the remarkable comparison between the births of Isaac and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

(1) The birth of Isaac and the birth of Christ had both been promised.

When God called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees twenty–five years earlier, God had said to him, “I’m going to give a son to you and Sarah.” Now twenty–five years have gone by, and God ‘s made good His promise. God also said to the nation Israel, “A virgin shall conceive and bring forth a son.” When the day came that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, it was a fulfillment of prophecy. Both births had been promised.

(2) With both births there was a long interval between the promise and the fulfillment.

There were about twenty–five years from God’s promise till the birth of Isaac. With the birth of Christ, you could go back many generations. For example, God had promised that there would come One in David’s line—and that was a thousand years before Christ was born. There’s a remarkable parallel here.

(3) The announcements of the births seemed impossible to both Sarah and to Mary.

Remember that the servants of the Lord visited Abraham as they were on the way to Sodom, and they announced the birth of Isaac. It just seemed impossible. Sarah laughed and said, “This thing just can’t be. It’s beyond belief.” Now, who was the first one to raise a question about the virgin birth of Jesus? It was Mary herself. When the angel made the announcement, she said, “… How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?” That’s Luke 1:34.

(4) Both Isaac and Jesus were named before their births.

Abraham and Sarah were both told that they were going to have a son and that they were going to name him Isaac. And with the birth of the Lord Jesus, we find that He was also named beforehand. The angel said to Joseph, “… you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.” ” That’s Matthew 1:21. Jesus means Salvation.

(5) Both births occurred at God’s appointed time.

Verse 2 of this chapter says that at the set time which God had spoken to them of, Sarah brought forth Isaac. And regarding the birth of Jesus, we note that Paul says, “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law”. That’s Galatians 4:4.

(6) Both births were miraculous.

The birth of Isaac was a miraculous birth, and, certainly, the birth of the Lord Jesus was. No man had any part in that.

(7) Both sons were a particular joy of their fathers.

We read that “Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac,” meaning laughter. This was the name he gave his son because back at the time when God made the announcement, he laughed because of his sheer joy in it all. Referring to the Lord Jesus, we read that the Father spoke out of heaven and said, “… This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” That’s Matthew 3:17. Both sons were a joy.

(8) Both sons were obedient to their fathers, even unto death.

In chapter 22 we are going to see that this boy Isaac was offered up by his father. He wasn’t a small boy of eight or nine years. Isaac was about thirty–three years old when this took place, and he was obedient to his father even unto death. That was true of Isaac, and that was certainly true of the Lord Jesus Christ. There’s an incredible picture of the birth and life of Christ in the birth and life of Isaac.

(9) Finally, the miraculous birth of Isaac is a picture of the resurrection of Christ.

We ‘ve already noted Paul’s words that Abraham “considered not his own body now dead … neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb” from Romans 4:19. Out of death came life. That’s resurrection, my friends.

After Paul emphasizes this, he goes on to say of the Lord Jesus, “Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification”. Romans 4:25. We have in Isaac quite a remarkable picture of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now we find how God graciously deals with Abraham and also with Hagar and her son Ishmael. When God moves it’s always the best for everyones interest.

Now I’m reading from Genesis 21 verse 12,  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. 

Here, God makes it clear yet again to Abraham that He’s not going to accept Ishmael as the son He had promised.

Verse 13,  Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed

God had said, “Of your seed, I will make nations to come from you,” So God again states that a great nation will come from Ishmael also.

Now we read verses 14  to 21, So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and sent her away. Then she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba. 

And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs. 

Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot; 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. 

And God heard the voice of the lad. 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.” 

Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink. 

So God was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. 

He dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran; and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt. 

Now all this happened after the weaning of Isaac.

They usually nursed children till they were three or four years old, so it means that Ishmael was actually about sixteen years old or so at this point.

Because of the lack of water, he was faint, or passing out with thirst so Hagar put him under a bush, one of the shrubs. Possibly she led him and helped him lay down in the meagre shade.

Then she goes away for a distance because she’s convinced Ishmael is close to death and she doesn’t want to see his final death throes. Then she lifted up her voice and wept.

Evidently, Ishmael was also praying to God as well as he was lying there under that shrub physically close to death because God heard the voice of the lad.

The angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, “What ails you, Hagar? Fear not; for God has heard the voice of the lad. God then tells Hagar to get up and lift up the lad, and hold him in her hand, andHe (God) will make Ishmael a great nation.

Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water, and she went, filled her water bottle, and gave Ismael a drink. We’re not told if the water source was miraculously provided or if it was there all the time but hidden in some way from Hagar.

God was with the Ishmael and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness of Paran, and became an archer and his mother found a wife for him from Egypt.

So Ishmael became the father of the Arabs. The Arabs and the Israelis are linked together through Abraham and yet, to this day there’s bitterness and animosity between the Arabs and the Israelites.

The Scriptures are going to drop the line of Ishmael now and follow it no longer, but his descendants, the Arabs, are still out there in that land even today.

Now we’re going to change the focus again, this time back to Abimelech. You’ll recall in chapter 20 the encounter with Abimielech when Abraham lied to him about Sarah being his sister.

We read now verses Genesis 21:22-23, And it came to pass at that time that Abimelech and Phichol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, “God is with you in all that you do. 

Now therefore, swear to me by God that you will not deal falsely with me, with my offspring, or with my posterity; but that according to the kindness that I have done to you, you will do to me and to the land in which you have dwelt.” 

So, Abimelech wants to make a contract or a treaty with Abraham—and they become good friends because of this.

We read in verses 32 and 33,  Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba. So Abimelech rose with Phichol, the commander of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines. 

Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there called on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God.

Abraham’s calling upon God’s name everywhere he goes.

Verse 34,  And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines many days.

We ‘e told later that Abraham was always a stranger and a pilgrim in this land that God promised to him, and this is evidence of it.

Now friends next time we come to Genesis chapter 22 where Abraham offers his son Issac and it’s one of the great highlights of the Bible. So until then may God be with you and keep you and may you find all the great blessings that He freely offers you in His Word.