Sunday night we continued our study in the book of Genesis where in chapter 16 we meet Hagar who will become the mother of Ishmael.
The first thing that hits me in the face when I read Genesis 16 is that when we allow ourselves to forget the promises of God and when we get consumed with our circumstances, our sin nature quickly takes over and everything begins to fall apart.
Sarai didn't trust that God would provide would provide her a child and therefore took the matter into her own hands and presented Abram with Hagar. Abram wasn't the leader of his family that God had called him to be and indulged in the temptation that was put in front of him, and Hagar was clearly in it for the money and was an Old Testament version of a gold-digger... Things deteriorate so quickly for all parties involved.
We also looked at the similarities between Adam and Eve when they sinned earlier in Genesis, and Sarai and Abram in this story. We see that:
Both women offered their husband what was forbidden
Both men are not being the leaders God calls them to be and fall into sin
In both instances the effects of the sin is devastating on human history
I find these similarities between the 2 couples so interesting as we see that Adam and Eve were the prototype for what God intended our relationship to be with God and each other and they quickly ruined things by falling into sin. God therefore chose Abram and Sarai as a vehicle by which he would restore humanity back to himself through Christ and yet Abram and Sarai fall into an almost identical sin!
We also learned that when we choose to sin, we choose to suffer great consequence. Ever since Genesis 16 there has been great conflict between the offspring of Ishmael and Isaac. It would be almost impossible to even consider the amount of war and lives lost to this indiscretion on the part of Abram, Sarai, and Hagar. It is easy to see why Christians, Jews, and Muslims are all uncomfortable with this chapter as it doesn't paint a great picture of the father (or mothers) of our faith.
We ended the night by looking at Genesis 16:10-16 where Jesus Christ shows up as the hero! In verse 10 Hagar has fled from Abram and Sarai because Sarai had become jealous and was mistreating her, she was pregnant, traveling across the dessert, going to a foreign land with the child of an alien. Things were not looking good for Hagar to say the least!
But we see in Vs. 10 that THE angel of the Lord (Jesus) comes to Hagar, blesses her, commands her to return to Abram and Sarai and most importantly causes Hagar to call upon the Lord and brings her to himself!
What I love about Genesis is that time after time we see that without Christ things fall apart and time and time again Christ shows up and restores things. It is impossible to read the Old Testament and not see Christ as the focus of everything that is taking place!
It was a great night and we are learning so much through our study of the Word together!
Cal
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