Now as we come back to this 16th Chapter.  We see here another one of the tests of Abraham in which he failed.  You have here the unbelief of both Sarah and Abraham, and the birth of Ishmael.  This is certainly a let-down after the wonder of the last chapter.  It really is something that is quite disturbing.  

FAILED TESTING OF ABRAM AND SARAI

And will you note now as we come to Chapter 16, Sarai suggested to Abram Hagar the maid in view of the fact she could not have a child and at least had not had one.  And that, may I say, would be according to the law of that day.  The moral implications that you and I read into this are not quite here in the historical record.  That does not mean that God does not approve of it, because He doesn’t.  He’ll make that quite evident.  But Abraham and Sarah were brought up in Ur of the Chaldees in which this was a common practice, and the moral angle is not the thing that for them was so terrible.  

The thing that was so terrible was they just didn’t believe God, and that is the thing that’s the opposite today.  The sin that they committed—and it was a sin; God treated it as such by Abram taking Sarai’s maid Hagar.  That was a sin.  But today we reverse that.  We would say, yes, it’s a sin, but the unbelief we don’t pay too much attention to that.  And yet that was the real sin here.  That is a lots blacker than the other.

HAGAR FLEES

Now when this boy Ishmael was born, this maid looked down on Sarah.  Sarah realized she had done wrong, and we read in Verse 6 of Chapter 16:

But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thine hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.

Now she took off; she ran away.  And it would have probably meant death to her and certainly to the child.  And so:

And the angel of the Lord – And again, I’m inclined to believe the angel of the LORD here is none other than the pre-incarnate Christ, and it’s the picture of him. He’s always out looking for the lost.  

And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.

She had gotten a pretty good ways from home here.  

And he said, Hagar, Sarai’s maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.

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.  (Genesis 16:7-10)

Now you find when you get to the 4th Chapter of the Epistle to the Galatians that Paul uses this as an allegory, as he tells us that’s what it is, and he speaks of Hagar and her offspring as being Mount Sinai where the law was given and the legality of it and the bondage of it, and he speaks of Sarah, the one that is free.  The thing is that the one that belongs to Abraham actually was Sarah.  That was his wife.  And a great many today want to take on something different.  They want to get under the law.  My Friends, we’ve been joined to Christ.  The Church has been espoused to Christ, Paul says, as a chaste virgin.  And we’ll someday be the Bride of Christ.  Now may I say to you, you don’t want to take on the law.  That’s another one that you and I just don’t need.  That’s like Hagar; that’s the point that Paul’s making over in Galatians here.

Now this is going to be a great sorrow—not only to Sarai.  It’s already that to her, but it’s going to be a greater sorrow even to Abraham later on.  Verse 11:

And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction.  And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.  (Genesis 17:11-12)

Have you looked at this verse in light of about 4,000 years of history out there in the Middle East and what’s going on out there today?  He’s a wild man.  That’s been the story of those Bedouin tribes of the desert down through the centuries.  And it’s a fulfillment of the prophecy that God gave.  These are offspring from Ishmael, and they’ll tell you out there that they’re sons of Ishmael.  They are sons of Abraham, but also they are sons of Ishmael, and they go to Abraham through Ishmael.  Now Verse 13.  

And she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?

Now how gracious God is to her.  Not her sin, so God very graciously deals with her.  And I believe firmly that the Angel of the LORD here is none other than the preincarnate Christ, gone out to seek the lost again.  He’s that kind of a Shepherd, and he brings to her this good word.  

And she called the name of the LORD that spoke unto her, “Thou, God, seeth me.”  Now that is something new to her.  She did not realize that.  You see, they did have a very primitive idea and conception of God.  For she said, “Have I also here looked after him that seeth me.  And she’s overwhelmed by the fact that she’s seen of God.  Now that doesn’t seem to be very impressive to us today because we have a higher view of God than that.  But wait just a minute!  We probably come just as far short of really knowing about God as she does.  You see, it’s difficult for a little finite man to conceive of the infinite God, and all of us come short of understanding and of knowing Him.  I think that’s a theme that will engage us throughout the endless ages of eternity—is just coming to know God.  And that’s worthy of any man’s study.  That is something that will dignify man’s position throughout eternity, is to come to know God.

Now Verse 15-16.

And Hagar bare Abram a son: (Remember, Ishmael was Abram’s son) …and Abram called his son’s name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael.  And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.

Now he was 86 years old.

CHAPTER 17

Now we come to Chapter 17, and we’ve now come to the chapter that in many ways, and a great many consider it one of the outstanding chapters of the Bible.  Before we get into it, I’d like to just make, as it were, a recapitulation of what we’ve said along:  That God tested Abraham.  God appeared to him seven times.  And we’ve noted that there were certain failures in the life of Abraham, but also there were successes.  And actually there were seven tests that God gave to Abraham.  

• We saw, first of all, that God called him out of Ur of the Chaldees, his home.  And Abraham responded partially.  His faith was weak and imperfect, but at least he moved out. 

• And we find that Abram finally arrived safely in the Land of Canaan, and God blessed him.  Then there’s famine in the Land of Canaan; that was the second.  And Abram fled from the Land of Canaan to Egypt, and he acquired riches and Hagar that we’ve just been talking about, and both were a stumbling block.  

• Then the third test, Abraham was given riches, and they’re a real test.  They’ve been a stumbling block for many a man, by the way.  The riches, I’ve always, frankly, wished the Lord had let me have that kind of a test than some of the others that I’ve had.  But, nevertheless, I’m of the opinion that He couldn’t have trusted me with them.  Abraham, actually, didn’t forget God, and he was certainly generous and magnanimous toward his nephew Lot, but it separated him from Lot, and God appeared to him. 

• Then we saw Abraham was given power by the defeat of the kings of the east; that is a real test.  He happens to be the conqueror.  And this man Melchizedek met him, and I think that strengthened Abraham for the test, and so he refused the spoils of war.  And God appeared to Abraham and encouraged him.  

• Then we have the fifth test.  God delayed giving Abraham a son by his wife Sarah.  And Abraham became impatient and, through the prompting of Sarah, he took matters into his own hands and moved outside the will of God.  Then you have the birth of Ishmael.  And the Arabs of the desert today will still plague the nation Israel, and they’ll keep right on doing that I think until the millennium.

• Then the sixth test we’ll see later was at the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

• And then the seventh one will be the offering of Isaac.  

Now this more or less gives us the picture that is before us.  But now let’s come back here to this 17th Chapter. In view of the fact it’s such a remarkable chapter.  And as we’ve said, a great many actually feel that this is the outstanding chapter of the Book of Genesis.  

Well, God here makes His covenant with Abram and changes the name of Abram to Abraham.  And God also confirms His Promise to Abraham about a son.  He lets him know that Ishmael is not the one that He’d promised him.  Now, in one sense, this chapter is the key to the Book of Genesis.  It’s actually maybe a key to the entire Bible.  God’s covenant with Abraham concerns two important items here:  A Seed and a Land. 

A NEW NAME 

God reveals Himself to Abraham by a new name, El Shaddai—the Almighty God!  And also He gives Abram a new name.  And I’ve been calling him first Abram and Abraham, but up to this point actually his name was Abram.  Now it’s changed to Abraham.  Abram means “high father” and Abraham means “father of a multitude.”  Ishmael is not the son God promised Abraham.  That is the thing this chapter makes very clear.  Now let me come to Chapter 17 and read in your hearing.

And when Abram was ninety years old and nine–Think of that.  He was 86 years old when Ishmael was born.  And it was not until about 13 years later—well, fact it was 14 years later when Isaac was born.

And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.  (Genesis 17:1)

I am El Shaddai, I am the Almighty God (new name); walk before me, and be thou perfect.  This is the picture that’s given to us.

And I will make my covenant…

And 13 times in this chapter we find the name or word “covenant”.  And in 27 verses for that to appear 13 times obviously means God’s talking about the covenant.  That is very important.  Listen to Him now.

And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.  (Genesis 17:2)

Now this is God’s fifth appearance to this man.  Not only His fifth appearance to this man, but now He comes not only to make the covenant, but to reaffirm the promise that He has made, which absolutely, of course, rules out this boy Ishmael.  And I’m not sure but what that’s one of the very important reasons why it was like that.  

Now you find that Paul, writing in the 4th Chapter of Romans, the 19th Verse, he said this. 

And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb….

Now Sarah’s womb actually was a tomb.  It was the place of death.  And out of death came life.  Isaac was born and Paul concludes that 4th Chapter of Romans by saying:

[Jesus Christ] who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.  (Romans 4:26)  

Life out of death and that is the Promise now God is making to this man!  He is 99 years old, and that means that Pharaoh was 89 years old.  When Isaac was born, Abraham was 100 years old; Sarah, 90.  Now God goes on to say:

And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.  (Genesis 17:3-4)

“You’ll be a father of many nations.”  Now we have here the father of many nations.  I suppose that it could be said that he’s probably had more children than any other man that’s every lived on the earth as far as we know.  Just think of it.  For 4,000 years, two great lines; the line of Ishmael, the line of Isaac, and there have been millions in each line.  What a family.  What a homecoming.  

And added to that, there’s a spiritual seed, and we are called the children of God by faith in Christ.  And Paul in Romans 4:16 says—speaking of Abraham—says, “who is the father of us all,” that is of believers and also of the nation Israel and also of the Arabs, by the way.  Just think of the millions of people.  I tell you this man here God says, “I’m going to make you a father of many nations.”  Now God’s made that good.  This thing was said 4,000 years ago.  And he goes on to say:

Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.  (Genesis 17:5)

Now the word Abram means “high father; a father of the height; exalted father.”  And Abraham means, as we’re told here, “father of a multitude.”  Now suppose in that day—and now I’m injecting a little story in here to illustrate this; to show you something of the faith of this man Abraham.

Now suppose one morning that Abraham and Sarah got up, and they were working around the tent.  And all of a sudden out at their little oasis where they had a spring there at Hebron, and the well that he had there, why there appear a group of traders.  They’ve come down from the north, and they’re on the way down to Egypt, and they want to know if they can water their camels.  And Abraham goes out to meet them.  

There were a great deal of hospitable people in that day, by the way.  It’s quite interesting.  We speak of the caveman of way back yonder and how terrible he was.  May I say to you that in that day a stranger couldn’t go through the country without somebody opening their home, and they would entertain you.  If you came into Los Angeles a stranger, Friend, and knew nobody, I don’t know anybody that’d take you in.  Frankly, I don’t, and there are a lot of Christians in this area.  Our culture is altogether different today, but we certainly lack the hospitality they had in that day.  

And Abraham went out to meet them.  He said, “Sure, help yourself.”  He said, “I’ll feed your stock.  And would you like staying for a while?”  And they said, “No, we’re in a hurry to get down to Egypt.  We’re on a business trip.”  And one of the men says, “My name is Allah.”  And the other one says, “My name’s Allah Boba.”  And they said, “What’s your name?”  He says, “My name is High Father.”  And they said, “My, boy or girl?”  And Abram says, “Well, I don’t have any children.”  He said, “You mean to tell me that you don’t have any children and your name is Abram?”  And he said, “Yes, my name is Abram.”  And so they laughed.  They said, “How in the world can you be a father and not have children.”  And they ride off on the desert laughing.  

And they come back six months later.  And when they come by again, Abram goes out to greet them again, and they said—they all began to laugh.  “Hello there, High Father.”  And he said, “My name’s not High Father anymore.”  “Oh,” they said, “what is it?”  “Father of a multitude.”  And they said, “My, must’ve been twins.”  And Abraham says, “No.  I still don’t have any children.”  And then they really laughed.  They say, “How ridiculous can that be!”  Well, here is a man who was a father before he had any children; it’s Abraham.  And he’s that by faith now.  

But 4,000 years later where I sit and where you are listening right now, we can say that God sure made this good.  The name stuck, if you please!  And he’s still Abraham, the father of a multitude.

GOD’S COVENANT

Now God says in Verse 6:

And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.

Has God made that one good?   He certainly has!  Now in Verse 7.

And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.  (Genesis 17:7)

Now what kind of covenant did God make with Abraham?  An everlasting covenant!  Well, if it’s everlasting, is it good today?  It certainly is!  You see, God promised you and me everlasting life if we’d trust Christ, and that’s a covenant God made.  And, my Friends, if God’s not going to make this one good he made to Abraham, you’d better look into yours again.  But I have news for you!  He’s going to make yours good!  But He’s also going to make Abraham’s good, but we’ll have to wait until next time to see this covenant.