Some of our decisions have little impact on others. But some decisions we make extend for generations. Abram’s decision to have a child with Hagar had a global impact that is still having a major effect today. Here is how it all started…
Genesis 16: Sarai and Hagar
1 Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar.
2 And Sarai said to Abram, "Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her." And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.
3 So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife.
4 And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.
5 And Sarai said to Abram, "May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me!"
6 But Abram said to Sarai, "Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please." Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.
7 The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur.
8 And he said, "Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?" She said, "I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai."
9 The angel of the LORD said to her, "Return to your mistress and submit to her."
10 The angel of the LORD also said to her, "I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude."
11 And the angel of the LORD said to her, "Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the LORD has listened to your affliction.
12 He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen."
13 So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, "You are a God of seeing," for she said, "Truly here I have seen him who looks after me."
14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered.
15 And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.
16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
Genesis 17: Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless,
2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly."
3 Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him,
4 "Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.
5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.
6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you.
7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.
8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God."
9 And God said to Abraham, "As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations.
10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.
12 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring,
13 both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant.
14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant."
Isaac's Birth Promised
15 And God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.
16 I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her."
17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, "Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?"
18 And Abraham said to God, "Oh that Ishmael might live before you!"
19 God said, "No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.
20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation.
21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year."
22 When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.
23 Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all those born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him.
24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
25 And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
26 That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised.
27 And all the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.
Things to think about…
1. Where did Abram get the Egyptian slave Hagar I wonder, Gen 16:1. You guessed it – when he had fled from the Lord’s provision and went to Egypt to escape the drought in Canaan. A decision that would be made by later generations. Our past has a nasty habit of sprouting undesirable consequences in the future if it is not regulated by God’s word.
2. The Lord spoke directly to Hagar through an angel regarding Ishmael, Gen 16:7-13. Note that he would live alongside his brothers and that he would be a ‘wild donkey of a man’. Without any intention to be racist, I think this is true – we don’t have the term ‘mad arab’ for nothing. They can be very emotional and can be quite erratic. This is a blanket judgement call on my part, but I believe it to be true and an outworking of this original character of Ishmael and his line. Note that he would also be blessed Gen 16:10. Pray that the Lord has many true sons of Abraham among the Arabs today that they will be called sons of the living God through Christ. Pray especially for our “Blessing Beirut” fund that we may be used in some small way to bless Beirut Arabs with the gospel in the midst of this tragedy.
3. God’s commission to Abram is the same for us, Gen 17:1 “I am God Almighty, walk before me and be blameless.”
4. Look at the significance of the name changes – this surrounds the covenant and future blessing of Abram and Sarai’s children. Sarai means ‘princely’ was changed to Sarah which means ‘princess’. Abram means ‘honoured father’ to Abraham ‘father of many nations’. These names were prophetic and significant to their roles for the future blessing among the nations, Sarah the was the princess to the father of many nations. When we named our sons we prayed that the Lord would allow them to embrace the significance of their names. We of course are named among the children of Christ. But one day we will be given new names that will have significance in our eternal home, Rev 2:17.
5. We know circumcision is not required today to mark out the children of God, Gen 17:10-14. Sadly Muslim countries practise female circumcision as well. This of course is the most horrific abuse on baby girls. Pray the gospel affects these countries that are still ruled by Ishmael and continue in their wild donkey madness, Gen 16:12.
6. Remember Abraham also laughed. The word for Isaac is ‘laughter’. We often associate it with Sarah (in the next chapter), but they both laughed and doubted God. Have you ever wondered who the 12 nations ‘twleve princes’, Gen 17:20 were that would come from Ishmael? They are listed in I Chronicles 1:29-33. "And these are their generations: the first-born of Ishmael, Nebaioth, then Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, Mishma, and Dumah, Massa, Hadad, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These are the sons of Ishmael." These people inhabit modern day Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Qatar, etc. Pray for these nations, especially Lebanon and the city of Beirut with this terrible explosion. Fortunately not an attack, just a terrible accident. CBC has established a “Blessing Beirut” fund to help bless Christians in Beirut and the gospel in the city.
Vision Point
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Questions for Cell groups
Sunday’s sermon, “Am I my brother’s keeper” came from Gen 4:1-16 by Ps Jay.
1. Is there a person’s life that you envy, either past or present? Discuss reasons why.
2. God didn’t accept Cain’s sacrifice, but accepted Abel’s sacrifice. Why was this the case?
3. God told Cain that sin was crouching at the door, ready to strike. This is like Satan the snake. Cain didn’t listen, even though God spoke to him directly. Cain then murders Abel after speaking with him. Discuss why it is easier to destroy God’s servants rather than focus anger directly to the Lord.
3. Eve was told her seed would bring separation from the seed of the Serpent. What a tragedy for her when her son rather than being a messiah was a murderer. Discuss how you bring Christ to your children, even when they do not embrace the Saviour.
4. Pray for your cell group and prayer/praise points.
Prayer Points
1. Pray for Lebanon and the people of Beirut with this accidental blast from the storage of ammonium nitrate. 135 confirmed dead. 5000 wounded, 300, 000 left homeless. $3-$5 billion to rebuild.
2. Pray for those who heard the gospel on Sunday. Pray for Christ to grant them salvation.
3. Pray for Victoria they are in stage 4 lockdown. Curfews and very strict travel restrictions in place for 4 weeks.
4. Pray for our church services now meeting together and our streaming that both can continue to be done well every Sunday.
5. Continue to pray for our government for wisdom and economic management.
6. Sunday’s fb live messages and for Kids church. The message this week – “The legacy of Abraham” Gen 4 – Doug Horne.
7. Church finances to meet our expenses and to put a roof over our café.
8. Our City and Country – Pray for revival over our city and the leadership of our country even through these challenging times.
Praise Points.
1. New visitors on Sunday. Please pray that they receive Christ as their Saviour. Pray they keep coming back to CBC.
2. Full church – had to use our overflow in house and café
3. Wonderful spirit of joy in our church. Thankyou Jesus.
4. Finances being maintained and donation to Café roof. Thankyou!
7. Praise God for worship and technical team – amazing individuals.
Announcements
1. We are establishing a “Blessing Beirut” fund. Pray we can find a gospel centered ministry to bless the people of Beirut as they rebuild.
2. One service at 9:30am Every Sunday morning. This service will also be live streamed. No kisses, hand-shakes or hugs are allowed. Hand sanitizer is to be used, tables will be wiped and chairs arranged for appropriate distancing. Families can of course sit together. CBC is allowed up to 50 people inside, then we will have an overflow in the house and Kids church will be in the crèche in the cafe.
3. Cell groups – Ask for details as to how and what is required.
4. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
5. Kids Church will be run in the house when the message starts.
Q. 15. What do we pray for in the fifth petition? A. That God would pardon our sins for Christ's sake, and enable us to forgive those who have wronged us.
