The Children of Abraham--Part II

The Children of Abraham—Part II

Genesis 21:1-7

            Ishmael has been born.  Hagar, Sarah’s servant, has given Abraham an heir.  Now his wealth—all his flocks, his tents, his goods—will not go to some distant relative, but to a son born of his own body.

            But God says, “Ishmael isn’t the one.  He will be great.  He will found a dynasty.  His offspring will be blessed; but this isn’t the one I promised you.  That one will come through Sarah.”

            Remember the story of the three men who visited Abraham?  You’ll find it in Genesis 18.  One day, Abraham is sitting by his tent, relaxing, because it is too hot to work.  He looks up and sees three men standing before him.  He doesn’t know who they are, where they came from, or how they appeared so suddenly, but none of that matters.  Middle Eastern hospitality demanded that he treat them as honored guests.  Not only does he prepare a meal for them, he also serves it himself.

            When they finished, God, speaking through them (for they were God’s messengers), promised that within the year Sarah would bear Abraham a son.  This would be the one God had promised.  This would be the one whose descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky, or the grains of sand upon the shore.  This would be the one whose children’s children’s children would inherit the Promised Land—Canaan, flowing with milk and honey.  Isaac would not only inherit Abraham’s considerable wealth, but God’s promise as well.

            Remember Sarah’s reaction?  Like a good Middle Eastern wife she did not show her face or interrupt the men as they ate and conversed.  Instead she hid inside her tent, where she could see and not be seen, hear and (she supposed) not be heard.  She could hear what the men said when they promised Abraham a son from Sarah, but they could also hear her.  She laughed.

            And why not?  She was well past child-bearing age.  Perhaps Abraham was still fertile, but she certainly wasn’t.  How many years had they tried?  How long had they hoped—hoped and tried until there was no more hope, and no more reason to try.

            Sarah laughed—and the men heard her.  Of course she denied it!  To do otherwise would be to dishonor her husband in front of his guests.  But the men wouldn’t let her get away with it.

            “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”  What a question!  Of course nothing is too hard for the Lord!  “God moves in mysterious ways His wonders to perform” the old hymn says—and we know it’s true, because we have experienced God’s power in our lives.  The God who has changed us can certainly defy the laws of nature.  After all, it is God who established those laws. 

            And so it came to pass, at the time God had promised, Sarah gave birth to a son—Isaac.  From Isaac came Jacob.  From Jacob came the twelve sons who would be the founders of the twelve tribes of Israel.  From them came the people who fulfilled God’s promise.  Abraham’s descendants are certainly without number.  They have spread outward from the land God gave them to dwell in every part of the world.  Through them God has blessed the nations in science, in music, in literature, in medicine—in almost any field you can name. 

They have also given the world the concept of monotheism, a concept which has more followers than any other religion on this planet.  These are also the people who have suffered much at the hands of those who would destroy them.  But still they flourish.

            What does this mean for civilization today?