Confirmation from God

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

Gen 21:6-13

CONFIRMATION FROM GOD

 

6 Sarah said, "God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me." 7 And she added, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age." 8 The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. 9 But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, 10 and she said to Abraham, "Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac." 11 The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. 12 But God said to him, "Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. 13 I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also, because he is your offspring."

NIV

One moment there is jubilee and laughter because Sarah is now a mother, even in her old age, and then that laughter turns to jealousy, perhaps through protecting her own son, but nevertheless, that jealousy just about turned into wrath. This is troubling to us because it was Sarah who gave her maidservant to Abraham so that she would bear him with a son. If that were to happen today, many would judge Sarah as not being very Christlike, and forgiving. However, God intervened once again and assured Abraham that Ishmael would be made into a great nation because he was the son of Abraham. God did not want Abraham to become distressed over the matter, but to take the counsel of his wife in this matter. Perhaps Sarah was not wrathful, but she wanted to make sure Ishmael had no claim to Abraham’s inheritance. No sharing, no charity or love for anyone but herself and her son. This is what it looks like to us. However, that may have been the way in those days, and we should not judge people of the past by the standards we live by today. But it is a lesson for us about jealousy and wrath, or revenge and forgiveness. If they held to their own right living, the firstborn would have the right of inheritance, even though he was through a second wife. He was still Abraham’s first-born son. However, Abraham did have the promise of God that He and Sarah would have a son, and his name was to be Isacc. Once again, God told Abraham Isaac would be the one his offspring would be reckoned. Interestingly, the Hebrew word translated as reckoned has a direct meaning of seed, but can also be used as descendants or offspring, and is used as a moral quality, a practitioner of righteousness. Both the word seed and righteousness, point to Jesus. Because we have hindsight, with the knowledge of the fulfillment through Isaac we can see Jesus, but all Abraham had was the word of God, the promise of God. Once again, we take that lesson to heart. We have the word of God and his promise to us through faith in Jesus. Because Abraham believed God, it was credited to him as righteousness. Because we believe and have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, it is credited to us as righteousness in the eyes of God. Abraham did what God told him, and we should do what God tells us. Sarah may not have been completely in the right, but she protected her son's rights. Let us always be listening to the voice of God, and sometimes the counsel of a good wife if God confirms it as his will, as he did with Abraham. We always need the confirmation from God.