God’s Covenant Threatened…walk with the Patriarchs

Everything in life is meant to draw us to God. 

God’s design was for us to have relationship with Him.

That is why He created us.

If we could ever peek behind the scenes in our lives, we would see a web of divine intervention. We often wonder why things happen and see no connection or purpose. But God has purposed things for our lives for His glory.  When His story is threatened, we forget His sovereignty and how He has orchestrated not just the beginning but also the end. Even if we make a choice to momentarily unfollow God, His story is the same. His purpose for our salvation is the same. His longing to fellowship with us is the same.

In the Old Testament, that story is His covenant…the promise to bring His people to Him. We often look at this story as if we can control it.  If we obey, His story will continue.  If we disobey, then we kill His story.  This simply is not true.  Whether we join in the telling of His story or not, His story will be told!

Listen as we continue in His story of the covenant made with His people. This covenant was threatened, but never lost…because this is God’s story!

TWO UNLIKELY CHARACTERS

This story picks up with two unlikely characters…an Egyptian slave and an illegitimate child. Within this, the covenant was threatened.

Abraham’s wife, Sarah, was barren and could not have children. So, Sarah decided to take things in her own hands. The promise for Abraham to birth a nation didn’t seem as though it was going to come from Sarah’s womb. So, Sarah chose her servant, Hagar, to have intercourse with her husband in order to begin God’s promise of a nation. The covenant given to Abraham became threatened. Once again, humankind stepped in to do what God can only do. So, God said yes and God said no. Hagar will have a son, but it will not be the birth of God’s promised nation.

The hope for this covenant looked very grim. Sarah could not conceive. And Abraham’s son with Hagar, Ishmael, will not be that covenant. The promised covenant of a nation must come from the seed of Abraham and the womb of Sarah. But time was running out. The window of opportunity was closing. Abraham was old and so was Sarah. 

THE PROMISE OF THE COVENANT DEEPENS

After the birth of Hagar’s son, Ishmael, the covenant promise deepened between God and Abraham. But how was God going to accomplish this? This felt hopeless…unattainable!

Within a conversation, God assured Abraham that this covenant, His story, would be carried through. God assured Abraham that it would be through the womb of Sarah that this would be accomplished. Listen to these amazing verses of God’s sovereignty.

“I will bless her (Sarah) so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” Genesis 17:16 NIV

In a moment of disbelief, Abraham said…

              “…If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!” Genesis 17:18 NIV

Abraham could feel this impossibility, so through his human filter he went for second best…his son Ishmael.

Then God said. ‘Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son and you will call him ISAAC. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.” Genesis 17:18 NIV

When we think the situation to be impossible, we accept second best. But God has not given up on first best.

God continues in this conversation with Abraham…

“But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.” Genesis 17:21 NIV

We have a due date, a gender reveal, and a name all in one sentence!

What once seemed a general promise from God is now a specific promise kept. But remember that this promise was not so Sarah and Abraham would be happy that they finally get a child. This promise was solely so the story of God would continue. The joy of a bouncing baby boy was simply a byproduct of promises kept.

THE COVENANT THREATENED AGAIN BY ONE SEXUALLY ACTIVE KING

After the confirmation of God’s word that a baby would be born to Abraham and Sarah this time next year, the nomadic family packed up their things and moved to a different region of Canaan.

The king of that region took Abraham’s wife, Sarah to be his wife. Sarah was a beautiful woman and men wanted her.  King Abimelek was no exception. As they entered into his region of reign, the king sent for Sarah. Abraham had figured out, though, that in order for him not to be killed because of his wife’s beauty, he would introduce her as his sister (which she was his half-sister). This is the second time on record that Abraham, used his wife’s half-sister status to save his life.  And this is the second time that God reached in and intervened.

Sarah’s womb was now opened in order to conceive a son with Abraham. But because of Abraham’s foolishness by introducing her as his sister to the king, the covenant was threatened in that she could have gotten pregnant with another man’s child.  Once again, this child would not have been the chosen child to carry God’s covenant, so God intervened…

“But God came to (king) Abimelek in a dream one night and said to him, ‘YOU ARE AS GOOD AS DEAD because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman.’” Genesis 19:4 NIV

“Keep your hands off of her because she is not yours for the taking. I have bigger plans than your satisfaction of sexual desires!” – God

This story with the king and Sarah and Abraham seems rather random in the trajectory of this story. But this story shows us the sovereignty of God.

There is NOTHING that can stop the plan of God. Not our sin…not our mistakes…not even our own will! God’s plan is sovereign so either buckle up and go for the ride or get out off the road!

God’s timing is PERFECT! We may think that we are helping God out by speeding up the process, just like Sarah did with Hagar. But God’s plan can never be rushed. Don’t forget that!

We cannot control what CANNOT BE CONTROLLED. Sarah’s closed womb could not be controlled yet she tried to control with her own efforts. Often when we step in to take control it is honestly just an attempt to thwart God’s plan. We forget that God is bigger than us!

SECOND BEST is not THE best. Abraham tried to offer his son, Ishmael, to live under God’s blessing (Genesis 17:18), but this was offering God second best.  God demands THE BEST!

No matter how much we try to step in to “help” out, God does not need our help. He just needs our willingness!

Join me next week for the birth announcement!