INTRODUCTION:

1. The key characters in Genesis 21 are Abraham and Sarah (21:1, 2).
2. There are some other important characters also. First, there is their son Isaac (21:3-8).
3. Then there is Abraham s other son, Ishmael. Though Ishmael is not mentioned by name, he and his mother Hagar are referred to in Genesis 21:9-21.
4. Another important character is Abimelech, the king of Gerar (21:22-32; cf. 20:1-3, etc.). Abimelech is not his proper name, but title (like Pharaoh or Caesar, etc.).

I. ISAAC (21:1-8)

1. Finally, the Word of God was fulfilled, and Sarah received the long-promised son. The LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken (21:1).
2. From man s perspective, it was a long time waiting for Isaac. But not from God s perspective. Isaac came at the set time (21:2).
3. The Bible says Christ was born at the set time, and that He will return at the set time. That is why our Lord said, Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh (Matthew 24:44).
4. Note the repetition as He had said as He had spoken at the set time of which God had spoken to him (21:1, 2).
5. God is faithful. Joshua said to the children of Israel, There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass (Joshua 21:45).
6. Then later on, Joshua said, And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof (Joshua 23:14).
7. God spoke, and Abraham believed God (cf. Romans 4:16-25).
8. Notwithstanding the circumstances; notwithstanding his advanced age, and Sarah s advanced age, Abraham believed God.
9. Abraham was fully persuaded that what God had promised, He was able also to perform (Romans 4:21).
10. At God s set time Sarah, gave birth to Isaac, and Abraham circumcised him on the eighth day, as God had commanded him (21:4).
11. Bible names are important, and Isaac means laughter (21:6, 7; cf. 17:17; 18:11-15).
12. The day of weaning arrived, and Abraham made a great feast (21:8). In those days, in that part of the world, a child was usually weaned in the second or third year.
13. Isaac led a quiet and peaceful life. While his father Abraham dominates Genesis 12 25, and Isaac s son Jacob dominates Genesis 27 50, very little is said about the life of Isaac.
14. Theodore Epp has described Isaac as the ordinary son of a great father, and the ordinary father of a great son.
15. Thus, God calls Himself the God of Isaac. The God of Isaac is the God of ordinary people -- those involved in the routine of daily living. Isaac's life was not filled with glory and spectacular events. Yet he had a very meaningful life. He filled his place in life with complete contentment, not looking for the spectacular. Therefore, a study of Isaac's life will greatly benefit us because most of us are ordinary people desiring to please God in the routine of daily living. (Back to the Bible).

II. ISHMAEL (21:9-20)

1. Up to this point, Ishmael was Abraham s only child and undoubtedly they were very close. So when Isaac was born, it changed everything.
2. Ismael mocked Isaac, and his mocking offended Sarah (21:9, 10).
3. Ishmael mocked. A preacher (John Phillips) said this reminds us that spiritually is not hereditary, but carnality is.
4. We are all born with a fallen, sinful nature. We were all mockers before we were born again.
5. Jesus said, That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again (John 3:6, 7).
6. It is a spiritual birth not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:13).
7. The apostle Paul uses the conflict with Ishmael as an illustration (or an allegory ) of the conflict between the flesh and the Spirit.
8. Paul says, he who was of the bondwoman (Ishmael) was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman (Isaac) was by promise (Galatians 4:23).
9. Galatians 4:29 says, But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
10. Therefore, Ishmael did more than mock; he persecuted Isaac.
11. Sarah responded to this mocking and persecution by telling Abraham to cast out the bondwoman (Genesis 21:10).
12. Nothing of Ishmael s life is known before Isaac's birth, and it wasn t till after the birth of Isaac that the true nature of Ishmael was revealed.
13. There is a lesson here for the believer. It is not until a person is saved and receives the new nature, that he discovers the real character of his old nature.
14. Before we were saved, we had no idea how dangerous and deceitful and diabolical our old nature is. And as we start to read God s Word, and as understand God s Word, this lesson is startling.
15. The world teaches that men are good, and that they can get to heaven by their good works.
16. But the Bible says, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9).
17. The Bible says, They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one (Psalm 14:3).
18. The Bible says, The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God (Psalm 9:17).
19. The discovery that man is a wicked, hell-deserving sinner can be a very painful one. After all, all through life we are told how wonderful we are!
20. The discovery of the old sinful nature can be upsetting, but it should not be because it is evidence that one has been born again.
21. The very fact that there is a struggle taking place in your life is proof of your salvation.
22. This conflict is proof of salvation, because when the new nature comes in to control the life, the old nature sets up an intense conflict.
23. There is no conflict when there is only the old nature. Worldly people can curse, watch dirty television shows, lose their temper, cheat on their taxes, and do many other wicked things and it never bothers them.
24. But when a Christian does these things he is convicted and full of shame.
25. The apostle Paul referred to this conflict when he said, "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would" (Galatians 5:17).
26. When we were saved we received a new nature, and this new nature is in opposition to the old nature.
27. In the case of Ishmael and Isaac, one had to be expelled. There could be no peace in the home otherwise. Sarah s words seem harsh, but she was right Ishmael had to leave.
28. In like manner, the believer cannot yield to both natures but must choose the one he will obey. A choice must be made.
29. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? (Romans 6:16).
30. There can be no compromise with the flesh. There must be a complete break with the old nature, if the Christian wants to please God and go forward in his Christian life.
31. John Phillips said, It was a hard lesson for Abraham, and it is a hard lesson for us to learn. The old nature is very tenacious. But once we come to see its inveterate hatred of the new nature, no choice remains (Exploring Genesis).
32. That is the allegorical lesson presented by the apostle Paul. The historical lesson reminds us that sin always leads to problems. Here we see that sin left a tangled web of jealousy, resentment, bitterness, hostility, and anger.
33. Sarah said, The son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac (Genesis 21:10).
34. Sarah was repeating what God had already promised. God had already declared that Isaac alone would be the heir, not Ishmael (17:21; cf. 21:12b).
35. Ishmael s mocking and Sarah s outburst caused much grief for Abraham (21:11), but he created the problem in the first place when he followed Sarah s suggestion to have a son with Hagar.
36. But graciously interposed amidst all of this strife and sorrow (21:12, 13). W.H. Griffith Thomas said, God overruled His children s mistakes and sin, and (did) the very best that was possible for them (Genesis).
37. God did not approve of Sarah s angry words, but He did tell Abraham to go ahead and follow her counsel (21:12). Her actions may seem harsh, but Ishmael had to go.
38. God promised to make Ishmael a nation (21:13; cf. 21:18 a great nation ). In the Bible they are called Ishmaelites. Today, they are known as the Arabs.
39. God blessed Ishmael because he was the seed of Abraham (21:13b). And God was with the lad (21:20).
40. The Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary says, Thus Providence overruled a family brawl to give rise to two great and extraordinary peoples (the Israelites and the Ishmaelites).
41. Genesis 21:19 says, And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water... God opened Hagar s eyes and she saw the well that had been there all along.
42. Her eyes were unable to see it and so God had to open them. We need to ask God to open our spiritual eyes!

III. ABIMELECH (21:22-34)

1. Abimelech was the king of Gerar. Abraham first met Abimelech when he and Sarah traveled south into Philistine country (20:1, 2).
2. Abimelech knew Abraham was a great man, and wanted him as friend, and not a foe. He wanted Abraham as an ally, not an adversary.
3. So Abimelech and Phichol, the chief captain of his army, came to Abraham with a special request (21:22-24).
4. Abimelech asked Abraham to take a vow that he would be at peace with him. Abraham agreed to Abimelech s request, and assured him there would be peace between them.
5. However, Abraham reproved (rebuked, corrected) Abimelech because of a well of water, which Abimelech's servants had violently taken from Abraham (21:25).
6. This was an important matter. Wells were extremely valuable in Palestine, because of the long absence of rain during the dry season (March through November).
7. Furthermore, if a man owned a well, he could claim possession of all the property surrounding the well.
8. Abraham seemed to imply there could be no genuine peace until this problem was resolved.
9. Abimelech claimed to know nothing about this, and Abraham apparently believed him (21:26, 27).
10. Once again we see that Abraham was a peacemaker. When there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's cattle and the herdsmen of Lot's cattle, Abraham said to Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left (Genesis 13:7-9).
11. Abraham was gracious and generous with Lot, and Abraham was gracious and generous with Abimelech.
12. Jesus said, Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God (Matthew 5:9). Are you a peacemaker or a trouble-maker?
13. Abraham s conduct is a great lesson for Christians today. Colossians 4:5 says, Walk in wisdom toward them that are without.
14. Ephesians 5:15 says, See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise.
15. We would see more people saved if God s people would be careful to walk in wisdom, and were to walk circumspectly.
16. And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant (21:27).
17. In addition, Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves (21:28). The ewe lambs were a special gift added on by Abraham to ensure that there would be no strife between them (21:28-30).
18. Abraham called the name of the place Beer-sheba, which means well of the oath (21:31). Beer-sheba marked the southern limit of Judah.
19. Nine times in the Old Testament, we see the phrase, From Dan to Beersheba. This refers to the settled areas between Dan in the North and Beer-sheba in the South.
20. After World War I, the term from Dan to Beersheba was used by British politicians when they drew up their plans for the British Mandate for Palestine.
21. Interestingly, while it was easy to locate Beer-sheba, no one was sure exactly where to find Dan.
22. After this covenant was made, Abimelech and Phichol returned home, and Abraham planted a grove there in Beer-sheba (21:32, 33). This grove was a memorial of Abraham s covenant of peace with his neighbor Abimelech.
23. As was his custom, Abraham called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God (21:33). This name emphasizes the eternal God s unchangeableness.

CONCLUSION:

1. It should be noted that this new revelation of God as the everlasting God (21:33) came right before the big crisis on Mount Moriah (cf. 22:1, 2).
2. God was preparing Abraham for the greatest trial he d ever after to face.
3. Two of the most important chapters in the Bible are Genesis 22 and Psalm 22.
4. It s been said that whereas Psalm 22 shows us what Calvary meant to the Son of God My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (22:1); Genesis 22 shows us what Calvary meant for God the Father (22:1, 2).