Echoes of Time - Lesson 3 - Abraham & Sarah

Genesis 12:1-7, ‘Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.’


Our first passage, tells us about God's call and promise to Abraham. At that time, his name was Abram, and his wife's name was Sarai. They had already been living as nomads and had migrated with Abram's father to Haran. God promised Abram that He would make of him a great nation and that He would bless those who blessed him and curse those who cursed him. After hearing the promise, Abram and Sarai, along with Abram's nephew Lot, pulled up stakes and traveled south until they arrived in Canaan, the Promised Land.


One remarkable thing about God and His promises to Abraham is that He told Abram the same thing several times …

Genesis 13:14-15, ‘And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.’

Then again in verse …

Genesis 15:5, ‘And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.’
Abram and Sarai weren't quite sure how God was going to fulfill His promise. Quoting from…

Genesis 11:30, ‘But Sarai was barren; she had no child.’


So it seemed obvious that this problem was a major obstacle in the way of the promise that they would become a great nation. At one point, Abram seems to think he will never have any children and that a servant will be his heir …

Genesis 15:2, ‘And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?’

… and then Sarai comes up with the idea that maybe God wants Abram to have children through Sarai's servant, Hagar …

Genesis 16:1, ‘Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.’


So, between having severe doubts and trying to solve the problem themselves, Abram and Sarai ended up going through a lot of turmoil as they waited to see God's promise come into being.

It seemed like God was delaying, and in the mean time, trouble would come their way. A famine came into the land …

Genesis 12:10, ‘And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.’

… and they went to Egypt, but because Abram was afraid, he and Sarai agreed to deceive the Egyptians and conceal their marriage, claiming that they were only brother and sister. The same sort of thing happened again later when they deceived another king about their marriage, Genesis chapter 20. Because of this deception, Sarai was taken into the household of other men, first of Paraoh and then of Abimelech.


Imagine how you would feel if you were Abram.


Imagine how you would feel if you were Sarai.


We read how their names were changed in Genesis17:5 and 17:15

Why?



Finally, Sarah became pregnant long after she was of childbearing age, and she gave birth to Isaac. A squabble broke out between Sarah and Hagar, because Hagar thought she was better than Sarah--she had been able to bear a son for Abraham and had named him Ishmael. Sarah got tired of Hagar acting superior and of Ishmael making fun of Isaac, so she demanded that Hagar and Ishmael be sent away (chapter 21). Abraham didn't feel very good about that--after all Ishmael was his son--but God told him to listen to Sarah.


You would think that finally God would be satisfied that they had waited in faith and that He had now fulfilled his promise of giving them an heir. However, in chapter 22, we read about one last test. This time God tells Abraham to take his only true heir, Isaac, to a mountain and to sacrifice him to God. It turns out that just as Abraham was ready to plunge the knife into Isaac's chest on the altar, God stopped him, satisfied that Abraham really believed that God could overcome even the death of Isaac and still fulfill His promise. God provided a ram for the sacrifice instead.


In the New Testament passages, we find out that Abraham is held up as a man who believed God's promises despite the apparent impossibility of their being fulfilled. He is also shown to be one who put feet to his faith by obeying God when God told him to do something.


Sarah is held up as a model for women,
showing them how to be influential with their husbands.


We know, having read Genesis, that Abraham and Sarah were not always confident in their faith and that there were several times when their marriage went through difficult periods. But in the New Testament, we learn that they triumphed.


It's good to know that God doesn't demand perfection,
but He does want us to hold tight to our faith
and to the ones we love as we travel the path He has prepared for us.


Impatient of divine delays

Let’s compare Gen 15:4 with Gen 16:2

Genesis 15:4, ‘And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.’

Genesis 16:2, ‘And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.’


She fails by limiting God's power to the common order of nature, as though God could not give her children in her old age.

Do we also show attempts to anticipate the plans of God’s providence?





Those we love best may be the means of leading us astray. We reviewed last week how the father of mankind willingly sinned by hearkening to his wife, and now, this week, we see the father of the faithful follows his example.



Brings family trouble upon herself

Genesis 16:5, ‘And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the LORD judge between me and thee.’

‘My wrong be upon thee;’ You are the cause of this evil, and you should have prevent it.


It was Sarai who proposed the arrangement, and now she chastises her husband for it. It is of no use to lay the blame of our faults upon others, for if we step out of the straight path we shall be sure personally to smart for it.


What is Abraham’s response?

Genesis 16:6, ‘But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.’


‘Thy maid is in thy hand.’ He would not tolerate her in any thing disrespectful to Sarai.
Those who would keep up peace and love, must return first answers to hard accusations;
husbands and wives particularly should endeavour not to be both angry together.

‘And when Sarai dealt hardly with her’ – Making her to serve with rigor;
‘she fled from her face.’ – She not only avoided her wrath for the present,
but totally deserted her service.



Let’s follow the progression

Sarai was first unbelieving to God,
Next unkind to her husband,
and then cruel to her servant;
so one wrong step leads to others.



Again disbelieves God's promise

Genesis 18:12-15, ‘Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?’
‘And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?’
‘Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.’
‘Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.’


In verse 12 she believed the order of nature,
rather than believing the promise of God.
For which she is rebuked.

In verse 14, what an encouraging question is that.
"Is anything to hard for the Lord?"
Our family troubles, cares, and needs are not
beyond the power and wisdom of our heavenly Father.
Let us not despair, but in faith cast our burden upon him

In verse 15, sin makes way for another sin;
and the disbelief of God's word is a sure source of
multiple and aggressive transgressions.



In conclusion

He who discerns all hearts could not be deceived.

See how honest Holy Scripture is,
for it records the faults even of the best of the saints;
and yet how tender is the Spirit of God.

For in the New Testament Sarah's fault is not mentioned,
it had been forgiven and blotted out,
but the fact that she called her husband "lord" is recorded to her honor.

We serve a gracious God who,
when our hearts are right, commends our good fruit,
and leaves the untimely figs to drop out of notice.

Let us be careful not to mar the joy of his promises
and his grace by any unseemly expressions or actions.

It would be a sad tribute for us
in the middle of the remembering of divine love,
to have to confess that we laughed at the promise.

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