God Helps Those Who've Hurt Themselves

Well, let me invite you to turn in your Bibles this morning to Genesis. Chapter 16. Genesis chapter 16 for our time of study. In God's word, this morning, we're doing a series to the Book of Genesis as we continue in that study, we come this morning to chapter 16, and my goal today is to cover all of chapter 16, and if you want to give a title to the message, it would be, God helps those.

who've hurt themselves. How many of you have ever hurt yourself and others by sinful choices that you've made? Raise your hand. Every head bowed, every eye closed.

OK. I see those hands. my hand is up, as well. There's a wonderful message in this passage that for those of us that have made such choices and maybe are even living inside the consequences of those choices today, God is a God who helps us.

We've all heard the statement that God helps those who help themselves, right? many people believe that that statement is in the Bible, but it is not. Actually, what is taught in the Bible is the opposite, and that is what the Bible teaches is God saves those who cannot help themselves and who are willing to admit Their helplessness. Paul tells us in Romans 5 that it was while we were helpless.

that Christ died for us. And all of us who know the Lord, we know that this is true. We got saved and converted to Christ by admitting our helplessness and looking to Jesus to be our Savior. But if we are honest, even as believers, we would have to admit that there are times where we as believers still try to help ourselves.

And even help God in ways that we should not. Sometimes we resort to sinful means in order to obtain some outcome that we want for ourselves and our lives. In fact, we do that every time we sin. Sometimes we think it is right to do wrong.

In order to achieve a good outcome. And so we make choices accordingly and make a huge mess and bring hurt to ourselves and to other people in the process. Maybe your life. Or your marriage or your family is a dysfunctional mess right now.

Because of sinful choices that you have made or that other people have made. And if you learn anything from our passage today, I want you to learn that God stands ready to work on your behalf in the midst of the mess that you're in, even if it's a self-made mess. As the curtains open on Genesis chapter 16, Abraham is 85 years old. And Sarah is 75 years old, and they still have no children.

And what makes this childlessness extra burdensome for Abraham and Sarah is the fact that over the previous 10 years, God has been repeatedly talking to Abraham and promising him descendants. In Genesis 12:2, 10 years prior to this chapter today, God promised to make of Abraham a great nation. And then on later occasions, God uses the word descendants 7 times when making promises to Abraham. In Genesis 15:4, God even promises Abraham that a son will come forth from his own body, who would be his heir.

So these promises come. But the years go by and the fulfillment is not arriving. Time rolls, rolls on and Abraham and Sarah. They have been in the land of promise now for 10 years, and the only thing they have to show for the last 10 years is a bag of promises and zero fulfillment.

And that's Abraham and Sarah's situation as we come into Genesis 16. But evidently, Sarah has been thinking about, thinking hard about their situation and she decides that God needs a little bit of help in fulfilling his promises. So she comes up with an alternative plan. And Genesis 16 is the story of this sinful alternative plan that Sarah and Abraham try.

And the complicated mess that it creates. Before this story is over, we will see a wife blaming her husband for what has gone wrong. We'll see a husband abdicating his leadership. We will see A member of the household being harshly treated.

And we'll see a member of the household running away from home. But we will also see how God graciously intervenes to help and how it all results. In a somewhat reunited household and the birth of a baby boy. Named Ishmael So the way we'll frame our study this morning is we'll observe 7 developments in the complicated story.

Of the birth of Ishmael, Abraham's firstborn son. And the first development we see in the first few verses, I, I don't know of any way else to word this. Let's word it this way, and that is that Sarah suggests to Abraham the Hagar method. Of childbirth Sarah suggests to Abraham the Hagar method of promise fulfillment.

Verse one, now Sarah, Abraham's wife had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian maid, in other words, an Egyptian slave girl whose name was Hagar. So Sarah said to Abraham, now behold, the Lord Jehovah has prevented me from bearing children. From the language that Sarah is using here, it's clear that she's viewing her inability to have children. As the result of the direct action of Jehovah, who is preventing her.

And there's a sense in which what she is saying is actually true, because it is God who opens and closes wounds, right? But there's a reason that God is restraining her, preventing her from having children right now, and that's because he's up to something. That will produce an outcome. That will prove to be far more amazing than if God had given her children now.

But all Sarah knows right now is that she can't have children and that in her thinking, God is preventing her from doing so. So Sarah comes up with an ingenious solution that bypasses her barren womb, yet it's closely connected enough to her that it just might work. In verse 2, she says to Abraham, Please go into my maid. Please go into my slave girl.

Perhaps I will obtain children. Through her There's no indication in the text that Sarah prayed about her idea and sought God's direction. This is an idea of her own making that she comes to Abraham with in order that she might thereby have a family built up through Hagar. I'm sure that Sarah hated that things had come down to this.

What wife would ever want to offer. Another woman to her husband for these purposes. From one standpoint, Sarah is being very sacrificial and offering to Abraham a way that he could have a child through another woman. As strange as Sarah's suggestion is to us, it was not a strange suggestion in Abraham and Sarah's day.

In fact, in the culture of Abraham and Sarah's day, Sarah's suggestion would not only be viewed by the culture as totally normal, but many people would be amazed that she waited 50+ years to take this step. Most people Most wives in this day would have done what Sarah does by the end of the 2nd year of their marriage. Such a step, such a solution to barrenness was legal, and it was common. And it was usually done early in marriage, if needed.

As Alan Ross says in the legal custom of the day, a barren woman could give her maidservant to her husband as a slave wife, and the child that would be born to that union would be regarded as the first wife's child. If the husband then declared in public that the child of the slave wife was his son, then that son would be adopted. As the heir Seems simple enough. So Sarah offers this plan to Abraham, a plan that was not of God, a plan that was totally wrong, yet a plan that was perfectly consistent with what everyone around them would have told them was OK.

This was a plan that seemed right in Sarah's eyes, yet it was not the plan of God. So how does Abraham respond? He should have responded by rejecting Sarah's proposal. And said to her, Sarah, we're gonna keep trusting the Lord.

But he didn't do that. Look at Abraham's response and this brings us to the 2nd development in this complicated story of the birth of Ishmael, Abraham's first born son, and that is 2, Abraham goes along with Sarah's plan to obtain a child through Hagar. He goes along with the plan. Verse 2 ends with the words, and Abraham listened to the voice of Sarah.

By the way, this is exactly the same language used in Genesis 3:17, the chapter describing the fall of man, when God says to Adam, because you have listened to the voice of your wife. Describing the fall. And here in Genesis 16, we see something similar happening. One commentator, Ralph Davis, says that we see the shadow of Genesis 3 being cast over Genesis 16, and this won't be the only time we see that shadow cast on the events of this chapter.

Sarah was a woman of faith. On one level, it's remarkable that she waited over 50 years to Suggest this plan to Abraham. I'm sure that Sarah offered great advice to Abraham on many occasions and that Abraham was all the better for listening to the voice of his wife on those other occasions, but on this occasion, Her advice was wrong. And Abraham sinned just as Adam did in obeying the voice of his wife in this instance.

Look at what Moses, the writer says in verse 3. He says after Abraham had lived 10 years in the land of Canaan, Abraham's wife Sarah took Hagar, the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to her husband Abraham as his wife, and he went in to Hagar. Notice the language used here to describe what Sarah does. In verse 3, the text says that she took Hagar and gave her to her husband.

Where else in the story of Genesis do we read of a wife who took something and gave it to her husband? Again, we see that very language. In Genesis chapter 3 verse 6, when Adam and Eve were falling into sin, Eve took of the forbidden fruit, and she gave it to her husband, and Adam partook. And here we're told that Sarah took Hagar and gave her to Abraham.

And then at the beginning of verse 4, we're told that Abraham Partook. He went into Hagar, meaning that he engaged in sexual intimacy. With her. You'll notice that Moses is clearly saddened by what he's writing.

You'll notice that in verse one, Moses refers to Sarah as Abraham's wife, even though he knows we the readers already know that from prior narrative. And then in verse 3, he refers to Sarah as Abraham's wife again. And then later in verse 3, he refers to Abraham as Sarah's husband. His intent here.

is to accentuate the tragedy. Of their behavior. This is not how a husband and wife are supposed to behave. A wife is not supposed to give her husband another woman to sleep with, and a husband is not supposed to sleep with a woman who is not his wife.

But this is what Sarah and Abraham do. Sarah gives Hagar to Abraham and he is physically intimate with her. And how does the plan work out? Well, this brings us to the next development in This complicated story of the birth of Ishmael, Abraham's firstborn son.

The 3rd development is Sarah's plan works. Then backfires, leading to Hagar running away. Initially, the plan seemed to work out great. In verse 4, the text says, and she conceived.

This is exactly what Sarah was hoping for. The plan, by all indications, has worked. But be careful what you wish for. Sarah got what she wanted.

But some unintended consequences began to immediately emerge, which always happens, guys, when we make wrong and sinful choices. In verse 4, the text says the following. And when she, Hagar, saw that she had conceived, her mistress, who is Sarah, was despised in her sight. By the way, when you see the word mistress in this passage, think governess.

Master. That's what this term means in the Hebrew. In fact, our English word governor comes from the Hebrew word that is translated mistress here. Sarah was Hagar's governess.

And when Hagar saw that she had conceived, Her governess, Sarah. was despised in her Hagar's sight. Evidently, a change has come over Hagar that Sarah did not anticipate. Up to this point, Hagar has been an obedient servant to Sarah, but now that she has conceived in her womb, a child sired by Sarah's husband, Abraham, Hagar becomes proud.

She begins to think that she is superior to Sarah. She begins to walk with a strut. And begins to look down on Sarah and begins disrespecting her authority. Hagar is now walking around the house with an air that basically says, I did something for your husband that you could not do in 50 years.

I provided your husband with a child. And Hagar is now acting like she is the significant one in the family. And that Sarah is the insignificant one. In Proverbs 30, 1 of the proverbs reads as follows, Under 3 things the earthquakes, and under 4, it cannot bear up.

And then the four things are listed. And what the 4th and the greatest of those things that the earthquakes under is? Verse 23, a maid servant when she supplants her governess. And that's exactly what's happening here.

Sarah had a plan, and she and Abraham implemented that plan. Initially it seemed to work, but in the process they just unleashed a nuclear bomb into their home, and the earth is still quaking today. 4000 years later as a result of what happens here. Well, Sarah observes this and she is fit to be tied.

It's one thing to not be able to have children after so many years of marriage. It's another thing to have your slave girl sleep with your husband and get pregnant so easily and then have that slave girl strutting around. Now looking down on you because you could never give your husband the child that she has been able to give to him. Sarah is also realizing that if Hagar is intolerable now that she is conceived, she's only going to become more intolerable later after she gives birth.

So what does Sarah do in this situation? what she does? She unloads on her husband. Look at verse 5.

And Sarah said to Abraham, May the wrong done me or done against me be upon you. I gave my maid into your arms, but when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her sight, may the Lord judge between you and me. Obviously, Sarah's not in a good place here. She doesn't come to Abraham and say, may the wrong I've done be upon me.

Forgive me. For my wrong. Instead she lashes out at Abraham. She's basically saying to Abraham, may the guilt for the wrong that I am experiencing be upon you, Abraham.

Sarah is only focused on here, how she is the victim of wrong. Rather than focusing on her wrong in this. And this is what we do when we make sinful choices, isn't it? We sin We bring hurt to ourselves and to others.

And rather than admitting our sin, and our wrong and taking ownership of how our wrongs have not only been a sin against God, but it brought hurt to other people, we choose to act as if we are the righteous victim in the whole thing. And to point out how other people are wronging us. And that's what Sarah is doing here. When she says, may the Lord judge between you and me, she already knows the outcome.

That she expects. And that is that God would judge that the wrong being done against her. Abraham's fault. Basically, she's saying to Abraham, this is all your fault, and I know that God would agree with me on that.

Wow. We aren't told this in the text, but Abraham has to be scratching his head right now. I am sure the thought occurred to him to say to Sarah, wasn't this your idea in the first place? Isn't this your fault?

But Abraham probably had that conversation in his head and knew how that would have gone over. And he kept that thought to himself. On the positive side, Abraham should have said, you're right, Sarah. This was my fault for being a poor leader in our marriage and for going along with this plan.

I am sorry. Let's both go to God and repent and seek his face over where to go from here. But Abraham Doesn't do that. Verse 6 tells us what he does.

The text says, but Abraham said to Sarah, behold, your maid is in your power, do to her what is good in your sight. Boy, that's leadership, isn't it? Abraham is not leading his wife here. He should not be leaving it to her to do what is good in her sight.

They're in the trouble that they are in, at least in part, because Sarah has done what was good in her sight. Abraham should have come along his wife and said, we're going to do what's right in God's sight. But instead, he says to Sarah, your maid is in your power. You are her governess.

Do to her whatever is good in your sight to solve the problem of Hagar despising you. So with this authorization from Abraham, Sarah does exactly that. In verse 6, we're told the following. So, Sarah treated her harshly.

Sarah treated Hagar harshly. Literally, this could be translated, Sarah afflicted her. This word also means to humble. Which indicates that the motive behind Sarah's harsh treatment of Hagar was the intent to humble Hagar until Hagar stopped disrespecting her.

Well, this goes on for who knows how long, but Hagar is not in a place where she's wanting to receive that message and humble herself, so rather than humbling herself, look at what Hagar does. At the end of verse six, we're told, And she fled. Hagar fled from Sarah's presence. Literally, she fled from Sarah's face.

She never wanted to see Sarah's face again. So she runs away. And what a dysfunctional mess this whole thing is. Everyone is doing the natural thing.

In response to what has happened. Sarah offers a sinful plan to Abraham. Abraham sinfully goes along with it. Hagar gets cocky with Sarah.

Sarah blames Abraham. Abraham abdicates his leadership in the home. Sarah mistreats. Hagar And Hagar runs away from the problem.

So here we go. We got blame or blame shifting, abdicating. A role in the home, treating harshly and fleeing. Four very common ways that we typically respond to the messes that we make in our lives and especially in our homes with the poor choices that we make.

Do you guys recognize any of this? You ever seen this in anyone else's family? Or your own Amazingly, This is why I'm so blessed to be able to preach this passage. It's here that God intervenes in the story.

God could have looked upon this whole mess and said, you guys don't deserve my help. Clean up your own mess. I'm done with all of you. But he doesn't do that Instead, God intervenes into this broken situation and helps this dysfunctional family out.

Observe the next development in this complicated story of the birth of Ishmael Abraham's firstborn son. The angel of the Lord finds Hagar. And directs her back to Sarah. He counsels her back to Sarah.

Look at what happens in verse 7. Now the angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness. By the spring on the way to sure. Scholars are pretty sure.

I've waited 2 months to say this line here, but, so let me say it. Scholars are pretty sure that they know where sure is. And I wish my daughter Brianna was here to hear me say that. She would have a pained expression on her face right now, rolling her eyes.

We know that the wilderness of Shuur is in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, so it's very evident, guys, that Hagar is on her way back to Egypt. And she's already traveled quite a distance from Hebron, which is where Abraham and Sarah lived. And it is when she is approaching, sure, that she stops by a spring of water and it's here that the text tells us that the angel of the Lord found her by this spring of water. The angel of the Lord appears a number of times in the Old Testament.

And of all of those appearance, this is the first time that he appears. In scripture And of all people, he's appearing to Hagar. A single mom, fugitive slave girl. Who's on the run Back to Egypt Running away from her problems.

The angel of the Lord appears in order to serve Hagar and to serve Abraham and Sarah and Hagar in an episode of tragic dysfunction. When they were the least deserving of help. And this angel of the Lord, guys, is not just any angel of the Lord, he is the angel of the Lord. Whatever he is, he's the only one in his class.

This angel will specifically tell Hagar that he will multiply her descendants. Which is something only God can do. And after this encounter with the angel of the Lord, Hagar is going to speak about the fact that she has seen God. Which indicates that Very likely the angel of the Lord is the Lord Himself, perhaps a pre-incarnate appearance.

Of Christ. As one Scottish preacher says, this may be Jesus trying on the clothes. Of his incarnation. And showing up in this dysfunctional situation.

So far it's evident in the narrative that no one else, no one's been seeking the Lord in this situation, yet the Lord graciously shows up anyway. The text says that he found Hagar by the spring that's on the way to shore. She didn't find him, he found her. Just as he has found many of us in this room when we were not seeking Him.

And when the angel of the Lord found her, verse 8, he said, Hagar Sarah's maid. Where have you come from and Where are you going? Keep in mind, guys, that It was a serious offense in this day for a slave to run away from their master. Slaves could be punished severely or Lose their lives for doing something like this, and I'm sure that Hagar, as she fled.

was concealing her identity wherever she went and hanging out on the fringes of any settlements that she traveled through so as not to be recognized or noticed by anyone. Yet here, the angel of the Lord shows up in the middle of nowhere when Hagar is so close to Egypt. Which was her destination in all likelihood, and he calls her by name. He calls her Hagar, and he indicates that he knows her status.

She's Sarah's slave girl. And then he asked her two questions, not for his own benefit, but for Hagar's benefit, to get her to think and to give her an opportunity to confess. These are the two most important questions that God would ask of anyone. Where are you coming from?

And where are you going? Hagar's life is on the line right now and she knows that. She could, if she wanted, deny that she is Hagar. She could conceal her identity.

Or she can be honest. And evidently there was something about this angel of the Lord that made her feel seen and known like she had never experienced before. So she offers no denial. This woman who's been hiding the whole time she's been running.

In this moment, she offers no denial, she conceals nothing, and instead, she confesses where she's coming from and where she's going, making no excuses for herself. Look at verse 8. And she said, I am fleeing from the presence of my governess. Sarah Basically, she's saying to the angel of the Lord, you're right.

I am Hagar. I am the slave girl of Sarah. And I am fleeing from the presence of my governess, Sarah. Hagar is being honest, she's confessing the truth and trusting her fate into the angel of the Lord's hands.

Well, look at how the angel of the Lord responds to Hagar. He doesn't strike her dead for fleeing from Sarah. Instead, he gives her an instruction, verse 9. Then the angel of the Lord said to her, return to your governess and submit yourself to her authority.

Literally, the Hebrew reads, return to your governess and be humbled under her hands. There are some who are cynical of the scripture and they criticize the fact that a story like this is being told where the angel of the Lord is telling Hagar to return. To an abusive situation, but this criticism assumes a lot that should not be assumed. And it ignores the full picture.

We don't know the ways that Sarah was mistreating Hagar. And also keep in mind that Sarah was not mistreating Hagar because Hagar got pregnant. She was mistreating Hagar because Hagar was pridefully despising Sarah. It was Hagar who first started despising and disrespecting Sarah, and Sarah was wrongly responding to that hatred and disrespect.

So the angel of the Lord here is telling Hagar to return to Sarah with a humble posture. He's telling her literally to let herself be lowered under Sarah's authority and in the process, Hagar will remove The major stumbling block that was provoking Sarah's mistreatment of her. Also, This isn't stated in the text, but I'm pretty sure that if God was going out of his way. This far away to reach out to and find Hagar and minister to her in this moment, I'm pretty sure that the Lord was also working in Sarah's heart.

And softening her heart toward Hagar and readying Sarah's heart for Hagar's return. Well, the angel of the Lord does more than simply instruct Hagar to return to her governess, Sarah. He also gives her some encouragement and assurances, and this leads us to the next development in the story of the birth of Ishmael, Abraham's firstborn son, and that is that the angel of the Lord makes promises to Hagar regarding her descendants. Look at verse 10.

Moreover, the angel of the Lord said to her, I will greatly, I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count. By the way, there are several times. In the Old Testament, when God promises to multiply one's descendants, but In all of the other places, he always makes those promises to men. This is the first and the only time that God ever makes this promise to a woman, and he makes this promise to Hagar.

This is a grace that would not be lost on Hagar. Rather than slaying her, this angel of the Lord is promising her that she will live and that she will have more descendants than anyone will be able to count. And that's not all. Look at verse 7.

The angel of the Lord said to her further, behold, you are with child. Keep in mind that's not come up yet in the conversation. He's saying, I know you're pregnant. I have that knowledge about you.

And you will bear a son. And you shall call his name Ishmael. Because the Lord has given heed. To your affliction.

There are only 6 people. In the Bible who are given a name before they're born. Only 6 You might guess some of them. Let me give you them.

Jesus, John the Baptist, King Josiah. Solomon and Isaac. What an impressive list. But of the 6 people, those are 5, of the 6 people who are given a name before they're born, Ishmael was the first.

The angel of the Lord is telling Hagar, this is what I want you to name your son. And Ishmael is given a beautiful name that teaches something wonderful about God. The name Ishmael is a combination of the Hebrew word Shama that means to hear or to give heed or to hearken to an Ale which means God. The name Ishmael means God hears.

He gives heed. And that's why the angel says you shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has given heed to your afflictions, Hagar. The angel of the Lord is assuring Hagar that God has heard. He's witnessed and he's given heed to her affliction.

Which is an affliction in part that she brought on herself by despising her governess, Sarah. And yet God is saying, this affliction that you've at least contributed in part to, I've seen it. I see it. I, I've heard it.

I, I've given heed to the pain. That you are experiencing. The angel of the Lord is telling Hagar that he knows what she's been going through. He has heard her cries, and he's letting her know that Any affliction she endures on the road ahead after returning to Sarah, he will give heed.

To her affliction He will continue to hear her cries. And he will give careful heed to any wrongs that are done against her. So he doesn't just say go back. And humble yourself under Sarah's hand, but he gives her this assurance.

That is enshrined in the name Ishmael. The angel of the Lord has given the Hagar here some meaningful encouragement. He also tells Hagar the man that her son would grow up to become, which is not so encouraging, but it's the truth. Imagine ladies being told this about a child that you are pregnant with, describing Ishmael, the angel of the Lord says he will be a wild donkey of a man.

His hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand will be against him, and he will live to the east of all his brothers. I would personally hate to be told this. About one of my children, but this is the truth, and it will be true of Ishmael and of his descendants as the rest of the Old Testament will unpack. And the angel of the Lord is communicating this information to Hagar.

About her son here. Well, how does Hagar respond? She responds beautifully. This brings us to the next development in the story of the birth of Ishmael, Abraham's first born son, and that is Hagar responds to the angel of the Lord with worship and obedience.

Worship and obedience. Look at what Hagar does in verse 13. Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her. You are a God who sees.

The Hebrew here is honestly very difficult to translate, but, let me just say at the very least, it's obvious that something special is happening in Hagar's heart. You don't go responding to God this way and giving God a name and a name like this unless you have some relationship with Him. So it seems that Hagar has a relationship with the true God, even if it's starting at this moment. And she calls the name of the Lord.

Literally, URL Roy. Which could be translated in one of Of two ways. It could be translated, you are the God who sees me. And with this translation, Hagar would be relishing the fact that God sees her, that he sees into her heart, sees into her womb, sees into her affliction, he sees her plight, he sees all there is to know about her and her situation.

For the first time in her life, Hagar feels truly seen. And it's God who sees her. This name of God could also be translated, you are the God of my seeing. If this is what she means, then She is relishing here the fact that God has allowed her to see him and see herself and see her situation in a whole new light.

And there's probably an element of both ideas here because the literal Hebrew of the rest of verse 13 reads like this, for she said, here's her explanation for why she's giving God the name UR El Roy, for she said, and this is a literal translation, it's different than what's in the new American Standard, literally translating from the Hebrew. We could translate it this way, for she said, I have seen after the one who sees me. In other words, she's saying, I see clearly after encountering the one who sees me.

Moses, the writer of this story, then says in verse 14, therefore, the well, was called Beer Lahairoy.

And this expression means the well of the living one who sees me. And giving the well this name, Hagar is basically saying this is the spot where the living one, or maybe even the life giving one saw me. In my affliction As for the location of this well, Moses says, behold, it is between Kadesh and Bed. Again, this would place the well in the Sinai Peninsula, which clearly indicates that Hagar was on her way back to Egypt when the angel of the Lord found her.

So Hagar here responds wonderfully with worship, but she also responds with obedience. The angel of the Lord told her to return and to humble herself under Sarah's hand, and the text makes it abundantly clear that she did exactly that. She didn't just worship the Lord, she obeyed him too. There's also every indication in the following verses that Hagar returns to Abraham and Sarah's house, a changed woman who's been profoundly humbled.

By her encounter with the Lord, and she's thankful to even be alive after seeing God. She's returning home with a humbler disposition than she had before, which would have no doubt improved relations between Her and Sarah. At least for the time being. And again, I'm sure that while God is working in Hagar's heart, He is undoubtedly working in Abraham and Sarah's heart and readying them for the moment when Hagar returns.

There had to have been a lot of coming together. Of everyone in this situation because look at what happens next and this leads us to the final development in the story of the birth of Ishmael, Abraham's firstborn son, and that is that Hagar bears Abraham. A son Whom Abraham Names, Ishmael. God's promise to Hagar came true.

Verse 15, the text says, so Hagar bore Abraham a son. This would mean guys that she's back home and she's giving birth to a boy who will belong to Abraham. Beyond this, it's very evident that Hagar would have shared with Abraham. about her experience with God.

And her encounter with the angel of the Lord and how the angel of the Lord had told her to name her son Ishmael. We know this because here in verse 15, we read, and Abraham called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore. Ishmael This tells us that Abraham totally, he's heard and he totally believes Hagar's account that the angel of the Lord had appeared to her and had truly spoken to her. This also means that Abraham is letting himself be instructed by the revelation that God had delivered to Hagar.

And he's obeying the instruction of the angel of the Lord in naming Hagar's son Ishmael. So there's obedience here. On Hagar's part and even Abraham's. Abraham here is coming together in agreement with Hagar and enshrining the truth that God is a God who hears, who hears the afflictions of Hagar in particular.

And guys, think about this. What an amazing accountability this name would put. On Abraham and Sarah. And how they treat Hagar from this point forward.

And this is no doubt, at least a part of God's purpose. God appears to Hagar, tells her to give her son a name that represents the fact that he gives heed to her afflictions. And That and Abraham naming and agreeing with Hagar and naming him Ishmael, God hears, he hears Hagar's afflictions. that Abraham and Sarah were very careful how they treated Hagar.

In the days afterward. The fact that Abraham is naming Ishmael also means that he's receiving him as his own son. This son Ishmael may have come about under sinful circumstances, but Abraham opens his heart to him and receives him as his son, just as God received Ishmael and gave him a name. The writer of Genesis gives us a time marker in Abraham's life at this point.

The end of the chapter in verse 16, he tells us that Abraham was 86 years old when Hagar bore Ishmael. To him. It's still gonna be another 14 years. Before Isaac.

The child of promise is born. There's a lot for us to ponder here as we close. This morning Let me throw a few things at you. One thing to learn here, guys, is God doesn't need your help.

He doesn't need our help. We see in this account that God doesn't need our help to fulfill his good purposes or his promises in our life, especially when we have to disobey God. And violate his word to provide our version of the help. Mark my words, guys, and especially you young people, listen very carefully.

It is never right. To do wrong In order to achieve A good outcome It is never right. To do wrong In order to achieve a good outcome. If you have to disobey God and violate explicit commands in his words, in order to achieve some outcome that you think God should want for you and that you want for yourself, You're on the wrong path.

God never needs you ever to sin. In order to generate an outcome that he wants for you, never. Another thing we learned in this story is that sin is the great complicator. Sin complicates our lives.

Sin is the great complicator. It always complicates our lives and sometimes it complicates our lives permanently. So be careful, especially young people, the choices you make. In his commentary on this passage, R.

Kent Hughes speaks about his 40 years as a pastor of congregations, and he says this, not a few times, not a few times I have had believers. I thought I had it on the screen, I don't. So just listen. Not a few times I have had believers in my office whose resort to expediencies.

In other words, the Hagar methods. In order to hurry what they have believed to be God's will. Has resulted in humanly unsolvable problems. In fact, some situations have been so complicated that there can be no solution in this life.

There is grace, of course. But some sins are such that the results cannot be taken back. And the pain goes on and on in this world. And then he concludes by saying, believers, beware.

This is a great warning for us derived from this chapter. Abraham and Sarah made choices in this chapter that complicated their lives hugely with complications that didn't have to be. On top of that, they created complications that still plague the world today. As one commentator says, Abraham and Sarah made choices in this chapter that ended up creating an entanglement so snarled and so twisted that 4000 years have not unraveled it.

And we see on the headlines in the Middle East. The violence The lack of peace, the discord that reigns today, that in part at least emanates from decisions that Abraham and Sarah made in this chapter. So beware of the choices that you make. And choose wisely.

But let's relish the greatest lesson of all from this story, and that is that God Doesn't give up on us when we make bonehead choices. He helps us even after we've sinfully tried to help ourselves and help him, and we've made a mess in the process. In such moments God doesn't wash his hands of us and give up on us. Instead, he moves toward us and he gets under the load of those very complexities with us.

Just as he did for Abraham and Sarah. He intervenes. Into our messes that we've created. And stands ready to walk with us and counsel us and direct us.

In order that we might walk in grace and obedience even in the midst of the dysfunctional messes that we've made or that others have made for us by their choice. If your life is a dysfunctional mess right now. Or your family Realize that God That dysfunctional mess does not mean that God is finished with you. Or that he's washed his hands of you forever.

God is not finished with Abraham and Sarah, we all know that. The story doesn't end in Genesis 16. In fact, their best days still lie ahead of them. A day is coming when both Abraham and Sarah will be laughing their heads off at the wonderful and gracious ways that God surprises them with his miraculous blessings upon unworthy people.

And up to our present day, 2017, God is still not even finished bringing good out of the mess that Abraham and Sarah made in this passage. Guys, do that many descendants of Ishmael In the Arab world are coming to faith in Christ and becoming your brothers and sisters in Jesus? Do that I am sure in a congregation this size that we have descendants of Ishmael in this church whom we call brother or sister? Do that when God promised to bless all the families of the earth through Abraham in Genesis 12:3, that promise included the family of Ishmael.

Do that the book of Revelation teaches that Jesus purchased with his blood people of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and that means that there are descendants of Ishmael among that number? Do you realize that one day in heaven, you will look at a descendant of Ishmael in heaven and say to him or to her, man, if Hagar never had Ishmael, I would never have you. As my brother or sister for all eternity around the throne of God to join me in praising. Him who saves.

Through the shed blood of Jesus. Never underestimate God's ability to bring about good from the most broken of situations, and that includes yours. Maybe your life today is a tangled web of heart-wrenching complications as a result of your sins or perhaps the result of the sins of others. OK.

Do whatever repenting that you need to do for your sins. And take comfort in the fact that God is a God who forgives sins to the precious blood of Jesus. Maybe you have some forgiving yourself. That you need to do forgiving other people.

Maybe you have some humbling that you need to do. And going to others humbly like God counseled Hagar to go back to Sarah humbly. Take comfort in the fact that God sees and God hears your afflictions. He hears the cries of your heart, and he loves to insert himself into dysfunctional situations exactly like yours.

Take comfort in the fact that God is with you, that he will walk with you through your complexities, He will give you direction for the road ahead. Take comfort in the fact that God wants to do a work. In your circumstances that will ultimately leave you dazzled and amazed. And that will redound to the glory of God.

Take comfort in the fact that God is a God so gracious that he even helps those who have sinfully tried to help themselves. And they've hurt themselves and others in the process. And this is the God we see on display. In Genesis 16.

Let's pray together If you've never called upon the name of this Lord, I pray that today, Your heart would be open to him, that you would feel truly seen. By him And that you would say right here, right now, just like Hagar. Basically said right here at this well. You would say, right here, right now, Lord, I'm surrendering to you.

I'm calling on the name of Jesus. To be my Lord and Savior. Please do that if you've not done that. You are a believer and you've gotten on the wrong road, it's time to repent.

Let God truly intervene. And direct you back onto the right path. And bring wholeness and healing where right now there is brokenness between you and him and maybe between you and others. Let's pray together.

Lord, you are an amazing God. You are a God for dysfunctional people like us. We thank you that you are willing to enter In broken situations. Like what we see in Genesis 16 and like the circumstances in our lives, sometimes the messes that are of our own making.

That we would think, man, God wouldn't want anything to do with this, and yet there you are, you show up. And you're loving and giving counsel and directing. And providing a place for us to relate to you and worship you and be loved by you in the middle of our afflictions. Even afflictions sometimes of our own making.

We also learned a wonderful lesson here, Lord, Ishmael was the product of a sinful union between Adam, between Abraham and Hagar. Yet you embraced him. And you named him. And you blessed him Teaching us that all children are to be embraced and valued.

Make us more Like you In this way, Lord, We thank you, Lord, for this opportunity that we have to give of our offerings to you. Receive. Our offerings today and do much with everything that is given for the glory of Jesus and the spread. Of the message of the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We give ourselves to you, Lord, in humility and surrender, ready to obey you. In the name of Jesus, and all God's people said, Amen.