Latest / Bible in a Year with Jack Graham / Hagar and Ishmael - The Book of Genesis

Transcript

Hagar and Ishmael - The Book of Genesis · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Let us pray. And the angel of the Lord said
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael, because the
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Lord hath heard thy affliction. Genesis 16.11 To my Lord
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: and Savior, thank you that you are so many things
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: in my life, and in this moment I choose to
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: thank you for being a shield and a covering for
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: my heart. May the cry of Hagar also serve as
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: my cry when others seem to mistreat me, even when
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: my heart is in the right place. When my good
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: deeds go unnoticed like Hagar in Genesis 16, I will
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: run to my place of refuge and seek your face
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: with the full assurance that you are a good God.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: and that you have a love like no other for
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: me and my heart. I rest in the finished fact
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: that no matter what others do to me, I can
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: walk with my head held high, because in spite of
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: how I'm treated, you will elevate and vindicate my life.
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: Thank you, God, that my story doesn't end with hurt,
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: but begins with your goodness. In Jesus' name. Amen. Thank
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: you for praying with me today. Continue listening for an
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: incredible Bible story brought to you by BibleInAYear.com.
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: Hagar and Ishmael. Before this story, we learned about the
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: covenant God made to Abram. and a promise that his
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: descendants would be as many as the stars in the sky.
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: Abram showed faith, and God accounted it to him as righteousness.
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: Now we will learn about the lack of faith Abram shows,
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: and the birth of Ishmael inspired by the book of Genesis.
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: Hello, I'm Jack Graham with today's episode of the Bible
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: in a Year podcast. We've been looking at the life
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: of Abram and God's promise to bless the world through him.
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: But Abram wasn't the only one in that plan. His
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: wife Sarah was to be the one to give him descendants.
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: And today we'll take a look at her and the
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: discouragement she and Abram felt as they continued to wait
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: on a promise yet to be fulfilled. Sometimes the journey
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: of faith feels like two steps forward, one step back.
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: And today, we'll see how Abram and Sarah took a
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: big step back, a step born out of impatience and
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: a desire to do the work that only God could do.
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: Once more, we'll see the devastating effects of wanting to
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: be like God and of failing to take responsibility for sin.
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: Listen to how God continues to patiently walk with Abram
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: and his household, even in the midst of unfaithfulness. Abram's
• 3:13
  Speaker 3: sin would not go without consequence. But God keeps his
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: promise to never leave or forsake him. And then finally,
• 3:20
  Speaker 3: pay attention to how God has compassion for those who,
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: like Sarah's servant Hagar, are wounded by the sins of others. Now,
• 3:29
  Speaker 3: here's today's story of Abram, Sarah, and Hagar, and Ishmael.
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: Years had passed since God's promise to give Abram and
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: Sarai descendants. So many years, in fact, that the possibility
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: of child-rearing seemed far out of reach. After all God
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: had promised, Abram and Sarai's hearts became discouraged. Out of discouragement, impatience,
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: and uncertainty, the two decided to repeat the sins of
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: their forefathers. They wanted to become like God. Sarai's impatience
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: reeled within her. As Eve took the forbidden fruit, so
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: she would become like God, so Sarai devised her own
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: plan to replace God's plan. Go in to my servant
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: Hagar and have a child with her. I will claim
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: the child as my own, she said. Abram, just as
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: his ancestor Adam, did nothing to defend his wife's honor
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: and integrity. Instead, he took the Egyptian maid servant to
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: his bed, and the two embraced often, and had sex
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: until a child was conceived. Given full permission by his wife,
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: yet ignoring the call to be a better man, Abram
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: went into her again and again, falling further from God's
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: plan for him. When Hagar discovered she had conceived, she
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: looked at Sarai with contempt. Her body had been used
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: for the twisted desires of her insecure mistress, and there
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: was anger and hurt because of it. Sarai, already feeling
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: the shame welling up within her, lashed out at Abram.
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: This wrong done to me is on your hands. I
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: gave my servant for you to embrace. The second she conceived,
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: she looked on me with contempt. God will judge you
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: for this. The once noble and heroic Abram, now crestfallen
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: and pitiful, pressed into his sin even more. She's your servant.
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: Do to her as you please. As Adam once did
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: in the garden, Abram refused any responsibility over his companion
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: and allowed her heart to stray even further. Sarai abused
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: her servant, Hagar. Her words and her fists oppressed her
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: into a panic. Feeling like she had no other options,
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: Hagar fled to the wilderness. Hagar ran until she found
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: refuge by a spring. There, an angel of the Lord
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: appeared to her, saying, Hagar, servant of Sarai, where did
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: you come from, and where are you planning on going? Frantic, pregnant,
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: and alone, she replied, I am fleeing from the oppression
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: of my mistress Sarai, for she has become cruel. The Lord,
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: with compassion and understanding in His voice, spoke clearly to her,
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: Go back to your mistress, Sarai. Submit to her. I,
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: the creator of life itself, will multiply your descendants as well.
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: He continued, You shall bear a son and call his
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: name Ishmael, because I have seen your affliction and heard
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: your cries. Your son will grow to be a wild
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: and strong warrior. He will struggle, fight, and be beaten
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: by many. The world will be against him, but I
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: will bless him, and he will gain the respect of
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: his people and rule over them. Hagar, having just been
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: used by her master and mistress, finally felt some semblance
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: of worth. She felt that God had truly seen her.
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: So there at the spring, she gave a personal name
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: for God, the God of Seeing. She said, I have
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: seen the God who looks after me. Hagar returned to
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: Sarai and Abram and bore a son just as God
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: had said. She named him Ishmael, which means God hears.
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: Abram was now 86 years old, and his unfaithfulness to
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: God would not go without its consequences. Yet God's promise
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: to bless Abram was not void, for he made a
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: covenant to Abram and would not leave him or forsake him.
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: Just yesterday, as we examined the story of Abram and Lot,
• 8:11
  Speaker 3: it seemed God's chosen vessel for His great plan of
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: redemption had learned His lesson. Abram was trusting God, seeking
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: Him continually and waiting patiently even when the promise seemed distant,
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: even an impossibility. But time has passed as we reach
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: today's story. Abram and his wife, Sarah, are growing impatient. Worse,
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: they once again decide to take matters into their own hands.
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: and made a plan of their own. Here's a powerful
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: truth you need to hear. God invites us to be
• 8:43
  Speaker 3: a part of his plan, but he doesn't need us
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: to help him. When something isn't happening yet, it isn't
• 8:51
  Speaker 3: because God can't do it or because he has forgotten
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: his promise. God is simply working in his own perfect timing.
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: Abraham and Sarah have forgotten that, forgotten the covenant that
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: God had made, and they decided to act like God.
• 9:07
  Speaker 3: Enter Hagar, Sarah's younger, fertile servant. If she can't have
• 9:12
  Speaker 3: a baby, Sarah thinks her maidservant will do the job
• 9:15
  Speaker 3: for her. But that wasn't God's plan. And when Hagar conceives,
• 9:20
  Speaker 3: another character that we've seen before emerges, jealousy. Sarah now
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: looks with jealousy on Hagar. Hagar, for her part, gets
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: prideful and looks with contempt on Sarah, her mistress. But
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: Abram is the wise hero of the story, right?
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: Ha!
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: He'll step in and acknowledge the error and seek reconciliation
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: and forgiveness, right? Well, no, not this time. Abram, just
• 9:46
  Speaker 3: as Adam did, shifts the responsibility off his own shoulders.
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: He refuses the mantle of leadership in his family and
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: tells Sarah to deal with her servant as she pleases. This,
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: of course, doesn't go well. There's a relationship. stress and
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: strife and separation all over the place. Hagar flees, feeling worthless.
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: But the ever-caring and loving God seeks her out and
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: comforts her. He promises that even though the son she
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: is bearing is not the one chosen for God's ultimate
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: plan of redemption and blessing, He will be a great man.
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: Listen to these beautiful, comforting words God spoke to her
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: through his angel, Genesis 16, 11. The angel of the
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: Lord said to her further, Behold, you are pregnant, and
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: you will give birth to a son, and you shall
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: name him Ishmael, which means God hears, because the Lord
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: has heard your affliction. When you are going through trials,
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: through suffering, through disappointments, you can know too that God
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: hears you. Your cries are not falling on deaf ears.
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: God hears the cries of his children and cares deeply
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: for you. Abram's lack of faith will leave long-lasting tragic consequences.
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: Yet still, God renews his covenant and promises the blessing
• 11:06
  Speaker 3: will come just as God had promised. He will not
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: leave Abram. When your faith walk stumbles, God promises the
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: same to you. He will not cast you out for
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: your failures. In Jesus Christ, he will restore you and
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: work his plan in your life for your good and
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: for his glory. Heavenly Father, thank you for this story
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: that shows your compassion for those who are hurting, for
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: those who are confused, for those who are struggling. Thank
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: you that we can know that you do in fact
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: hear us and care for us as you did Hagar.
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: And thank you that when we stumble and fail and fall,
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: you remain with us. You have promised to never leave
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: or forsake us. Your presence is always with us. Amen.
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: Thank you for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast.
• 11:57
  Speaker 3: I'm Pastor Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. Download the Pray.com
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: app and make prayer a priority in your life. If
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: you enjoyed this podcast, share it with someone you love.
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: By sharing this podcast, you can make a difference in
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: someone's life. And if you want more resources on how
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: to tap into God's power for successful Christian living, be
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: sure to visit jackgram.org. God bless.