Genesis 21

The Birth of Isaac

 

The Birth of Isaac

1The Lord visited Sarah just as He had said He would and did for Sarah what He had promised. 

 

God promised the birth of the seed-son.

 

2So Sarah became pregnant and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the appointed time that God had told him. 

 

The seed-son was born exactly one year later, just as God had promised. The dead womb of Sarah did not keep God from fulfilling His promise.

 

3Abraham named his son – whom Sarah bore to him – Isaac. 

 

Isaac means “laugher.” God has a sense of humor. Abraham and Sarah had laughed in unbelief. Now, they laughed with joy.

 

4When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him just as God had commanded him to do.

 

Isaac was the first Jewish son to be circumcised on the eighth day, per the conditions of the Abrahamic Covenant.

 

 5(Now Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.)

 

This birth occurred 25 years after God made the first promise to Abraham. It occurred after Sarah entered into menopause. God is slow, but He is never late.

 

6Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” 

 

At one time, Hagar and others laughed at Sarah. Now, they were laughing with her.

 

7She went on to say, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have given birth to a son for him in his old age!”

 

Sarah recognized the supernatural birth of her son.

 

8The child grew and was weaned. Abraham prepared a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. 

 

In that day, children were weaned between the ages of 3-5 years old. Ishmael would have been somewhere between the ages of 17-20 years old.  In those days, birthdays were not celebrated. However, the day of weaning was celebrated.

 

9But Sarah noticed the son of Hagar the Egyptian – the son whom Hagar had borne to Abraham – mocking. 

 

Notice that the Holy Spirit emphasized Hagar “the Egyptian.”  Hagar infused much of the satanic Egyptian culture into her son Ishmael. Ishmael was mocking the seed-son. The Hebrew word for “mocking” is צָחַק (zachak), a piel intensive verb, meaning that Ishmael was intensely and continually mocking Isaac’s name. He was laughing at Isaac. This was a violation of the Abrahamic Covenant.

 

Galatians 4:29 stated that “Ishmael persecuted Isaac.” The word persecuted in Greek is ἐδίωκεν (ediowken), an imperfect active indicative verb, meaning “to continually persecute with hostility.” Ishmael was the older son who should have received the blessing according to the ancient Middle East custom of that day. However, God does not follow Middle Eastern culture. He establishes His own standards by His own righteousness and sovereignty.

 

10So she said to Abraham, “Banish that slave woman and her son, for the son of that slave woman will not be an heir along with my son Isaac!”

 

Sarah did not want this satanic Egyptian influence around her seed-son. Isaac was to be the official heir in front of the community and Ishmael was to be publicly disinherited in front of the community. This corresponds with the laws of the Nuzi Tablets and the Code of Hammurabi. The son of the wife did have precedence over the son of a handmaid, even though Isaac had been born later. However, neither of these middle-eastern secular laws would allow the father to expel the son of the handmaid. Ishmael could be disinherited, but he could not be dishonored. Therefore, God’s intervention would have to come into play for the expulsion to occur.

 

11Sarah’s demand displeased Abraham greatly because Ishmael was his son. 

 

Abraham loved Ishmael. His failure to take control of his wife earlier in his life was beginning to cost him dearly.

 

12But God said to Abraham, “Do not be upset about the boy or your slave wife. Do all that Sarah is telling you because through Isaac your descendants will be counted. 

 

This was God’s seventh appearance to Abraham. This was the first time in Scripture that a husband was commanded to obey his wife.

 

13But I will also make the son of the slave wife into a great nation, for he is your descendant too.”

 

Abraham went against the law of the day because of divine direction to do so. Ishmael was not to be the seed-son, but he was to be blessed by the Abrahamic Covenant.

 

14Early in the morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He put them on her shoulders, gave her the child, and sent her away. So she went wandering aimlessly through the wilderness of Beer-Sheba. 

 

Sarah used the Hebrew word גָּרֵ֛שׁ (garish), meaning to expel with hostility. Abraham used the Hebrew word שָׁלַח (shalach), a neutral term, meaning to expel as a friend. This was the same Hebrew word used when God expelled Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden.

 

Abraham gave Hagar and Ishmael only bread and water, demonstrating publicly that Ishmael had been disinherited. Abraham gave them enough bread and water to arrive at the next oasis. Hagar and Ishmael became lost in the desert of Beer-Sheba. However, it was prophesied to Abraham that Ishmael would become a mighty nation, so Ishmael was immortal until this prophecy was fulfilled.

 

15When the water in the skin was gone, she shoved the child under one of the shrubs. 

 

Ishmael was between 17-20 years old, but he was the first to exhaust. He may have been weak physically. Hagar placed him in the shade of a bush.

 

16Then she went and sat down by herself across from him at quite a distance, about a bowshot away; for she thought, “I refuse to watch the child die.” So she sat across from him and wept uncontrollably.

 

Hagar could not bear to see her son die.

 

17But God heard the boy’s voice. The angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and asked her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard the boy’s voice right where he is crying. 

 

God made a promise to Abraham, so Ishmael was under divine protection. The Angel of God is the pre-incarnate Christ. He came down from heaven in the form of an angel in order to comfort Hagar. After all, it was He who had ordered the expulsion. This was all part of His divine plan.

 

18Get up! Help the boy up and hold him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 

 

The pre-incarnate Christ Himself will make Ishmael into a great Arabian nation.

 

19Then God enabled Hagar to see a well of water. She went over and filled the skin with water, and then gave the boy a drink.

 

God caused Hagar to see a well of water that she had missed. She gave water to Ishmael.

 

20God was with the boy as he grew. He lived in the wilderness and became an archer. 

 

God fulfilled His promise to Abraham, taking care and protecting Ishmael in the wilderness. Ishmael became a deadly archer, meaning that he was preparing for aggression. An archer of the Middle East was equal to a modern day sniper. They could kill their enemy from a great distance without getting involved physically in the conflict.

 

21He lived in the wilderness of Paran. His mother found a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

 

Paran was along the border of the Negev and the Sinai desert. Hagar went to Egypt and found Ishmael a wife. The Egyptians were Hamitic, from the line of Ham. They were very anti-semitic. Therefore, Hagar was teaching Ishmael to hate the Jews, while his Egyptian wife was doing the same. The offspring of Ishmael will grow up into a mighty nation of anti-Semitic Arabs who hate Israel. As already noted in the earlier prophecy to Hagar, this hatred will continue until the Second Coming of Christ (Genesis 16). Only the Messiah can heal this brotherly blood feud.

 

22At that time Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do. 

 

Abimeelch is the title of the King of Gerar. Philcol is the title of the commander of Gerar. These pagans recognized that Abraham was a man of God and he was blessed by God. Abraham was a powerful witness to the Canaanite people.

 

23Now swear to me right here in God’s name that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants. Show me, and the land where you are staying, the same loyalty that I have shown you.”

 

Abraham was a feared chief of a powerful nomadic tribe. The surrounding city states did not want to mess with him. They recognized that his God was powerful. Therefore, they desired a peace treaty with him. Most pagan tribal chiefs would be interested in conquest. Abraham was different, as he was interested in prophesying about the one true God.

 

24Abraham said, “I swear to do this.”

 

Abraham was a man of peace and not a man of war and conquest. This humble and compassionate attitude was extremely rare in that day, especially for kings and tribal leaders.

 

 25But Abraham lodged a complaint against Abimelech concerning a well that Abimelech’s servants had seized. 

 

This event shows that the King of Gerar was not innocent either.

 

26“I do not know who has done this thing,” Abimelech replied. “Moreover, you did not tell me. I did not hear about it until today.”

 

The King of Gerar claimed that he did not know of this event.

 

27Abraham took some sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech. The two of them made a treaty. 

 

Livestock or possessions were usually associated with ancient peace treaties as a token of friendship.

 

28Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs apart from the flock by themselves. 

 

Abraham went beyond the requirements of the ancient peace treaties. He was asking for more terms.

 

29Abimelech asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?” 

 

The King of Gerar wanted to know what other terms Abraham wanted from the treaty.

 

30He replied, “You must take these seven ewe lambs from my hand as legal proof that I dug this well.” 

 

The seven lambs were a testimony that the well belonged to Abraham.

 

31That is why he named that place Beer-Sheba, because the two of them swore an oath there.

 

Beer-Sheba means “the well of the seven,” meaning the seven lambs that were given to the King of Gerar. It also means “the well of the swearing”, because this is where the peace treaty took place.

 

32So they made a treaty at Beer-Sheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, returned to the land of the Philistines. 

 

Gerar was part of the Philistine plain. Many skeptics claim that there were no Philistines in the area at this time, so this must be a Bible error. However, there were Aegean traders during this period, so the Philistines mentioned here likely were peaceful traders who settled on the southwest coast of Canaan.

 

33Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-Sheba. There he worshiped the Lord, the eternal God.

 

When Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at the well of Beer-Sheba, he was planning on ending his nomadic lifestyle and living at this well.  

 

The Hebrew word for “The Lord, the eternal God” is יְהוָ֖ה אֵ֥ל עֹולָֽם (Yahweh El Olam), meaning the promise-keeping-covenant-keeping-single-God-of-longevity. Many English versions translate עֹולָֽם (olam) as eternity, but there is no eternity term in Hebrew. עֹולָֽם (olam) denotes a long period of time up to the end of an era or dispensation. For example, David will not rule forever during the Millennial Kingdom. He will rule for 1000 years until the end of the Millennial Kingdom. After his 1000 year rule is over, then the Eternal Order will begin. There is no teaching of the Eternal Order in the Old Testament. It was first introduced in Revelation 21-22 and very little is said about it. Believers will have to wait until they get to eternity to experience it.

 

34So Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for quite some time.

 

Abraham lived among the Philistines for many days.

 

In conclusion, the human viewpoint of the satanic world system teaches that global politics can bring peace to the Israeli-Arab conflict.

 

The divine viewpoint of the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God teaches that only the Messiah can bring peace to the Israeli-Arab conflict.

 

Human viewpoint teaches that whenever there is no archaeological evidence available to support the Biblical record, then the Bible must be wrong.

 

Divine viewpoint teaches that whenever there is no archaeological evidence available to support the Biblical record, then it just has not been found as of yet. An example is the Hittites, who were a lost nation mentioned in the Bible 47 different times. Skeptics mocked the accuracy of the Bible until Hugo Winkler discovered 40 Hittite cities in the late 1800's.

 

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1. SAQ--What is the theme of Genesis 21?

 

2. What does Isaac mean?

 

3. What kind of culture was prevalent in Hagar and Ishmael?

 

4. Why did Sarah command Hagar and Ishmael to leave?

 

5. How old was Ishmael at his departure?

 

6. Why did Ishmael fatigue before his mother?

 

7. Where did Ishmael get his wife?

 

8. Why did Ishmael master archery?

 

9. Why did Abimelech desire a peace treaty with Abraham?

 

10. When will the Israeli-Arab conflict be solved?