Fear No Fear

Abram and his wife Sarai had the promise of descendants. They had had it for ten years, saw it as a thing coming, but they didn’t have a REVELATION of it. They BELIEVED, but their TRUST was still developing. Sarai had a great idea. It was not even a good idea, and it definitely wasn’t a God idea. But it was AN idea. Since she was barren, she gave Abram her Egyptian maidservant Hagar as a second wife in order to be a surrogate for Sarai. Any child Hagar had, Sarai could claim and therefore fulfil the promise of offspring – since she was barren. You see? God wasn’t in this idea. His promise would glorify Him – a key aspect to knowing His will – and this action would not. It is human, easily doable, and not miraculous in any way. But, they went with it. Lesson: know not only God’s will for our lives, but also know and obey His plan to accomplish it (1 Corinthians 2:16; Luke 1:34).

This whole situation could have been avoided if Abraham would have been responsible. Like with Adam, he listened to and followed the will of his wife, not what he had been told. He didn’t seek the Lord over any questions he had. Abram was 85 years old, and he went in to Hagar and she conceived. Then the problems started. Hagar starting lording her condition over Sarai. Sarai immediately blamed Abram. Abram threw up his hands and told her that Hagar was her maid, so she could do what she wanted. What she wanted, was to abuse Hagar so badly that she ran away (some Rabbis teach the abuse caused a miscarriage, which makes the child she has later a SECOND pregnancy). She fled into the desert and collapsed by a spring of water between Kadesh and Bered. She didn’t deserve her treatment, but she DID start despising Sarai before Sarai did anything. This was a harvest of what she reaped, though Sarai overstepped her bounds (like the Egyptians with their cruelty). Everyone was at fault and none of them belonged in it. If nothing else in the bible will convince you, this story should: man was not meant to have more than one wife (Matthew 19:4-8).

The Lord sent an angel to talk to her. It is interesting that this is one of the few times in the Old Covenant where the angel did not have to lead with ‘Do not be afraid’. The Rabbis teach that angels were so common around Abram’s house (remember all the altars), that Hagar was used to them. The angel affirmed that she would have a child who would have many offspring (the child WAS the seed of Abram, after all). She was to name it Ishmael. The angel told het to go back to Sarai and submit to her authority (don’t despise her for barrenness). Which Hagar did, after realising it was actually an angel of He who watches her (God). At eighty-six, Abram had a child by Hagar which he did call Ishmael.

“So she called the name of Yahweh who spoke to her, “You are El-Roi,” for she said, “Here I have seen after he who sees me.”” (Genesis 16:13, LEB)

At ninety-nine years old (almost 25 years after the promise of a son), Abram was again visited by Yahweh. Blood covenants are very important. Since Yahweh is a spirit, last time Abram killed the animals that were used to ratify God’s part of the covenant. Abram, however, did not ratify HIS part. Part of the purpose of this visit was to have Abram ratify his part so that the entire covenant would be sealed with blood – the most serious covenant known. Even with mere human covenants between each other a blood covenant could last as long as eight generations. God’s last longer (Deuteronomy 7:9). In a blood covenant, they are sealed in blood and names are exchanged. God did this too.

Yahweh placed part of HIS name into ABRAM’s name: Abr-ah-am. Abraham meant ‘high father’, ‘father of multitudes’, and ‘father of nations’. Every time Abraham said his name, he would be reminded of God and the promise. Sarai was also given a new name from Yahweh’s name: Sarah. It meant ‘princess’ or ‘noble woman’. A name to frame their new identities that God was giving them. Parents to a multitude. Parents to offspring that would be prosperous and blessings to everyone around them. Every time they said their names they were reminded of where they were being called to.

God again promised to multiply Abraham from his own seed through Sarah. Abraham laughed out of joy it would happen, though he had no idea how. Abraham was commanded to walk before the Lord and be blameless – this was before the Law, so the requirement was one of BELIEF and TRUST in God shown through OBEDIENCE to what he was told. To seal it, Abraham and every male of his household were to be circumcised. Circumcision was to be done perpetually throughout ALL the generations of his descendants on the eighth day – the day clotting becomes possible in an infant. Circumcision has a lot of good health benefits, but that wasn’t the point. This was a visible marker in blood of Abraham’s covenant with God and God’s covenant with Abraham. All who partake in it are circumcised – in the church, believers are SPIRITUALLY circumcised and gain the same benefit whether Jew or Gentile (Colossians 2:11; Philippians 3:3).

Abraham and Sarah were visited by three men. They showed up out of nowhere and Abraham showed them great hospitality. He gave them rest. He washed their feet. He provided food for them. He acted like a servant. They asked where Sarah was – she was in the tent, listening. They prophesied that they would return and she would have a child. Remember she had always been barren and both of them were WELL past regular childbearing ages. This was nineteen years after Ishmael was born. Sarah laughed out of scorn because she and Abraham were old and withered. But the men knew she laughed, told Abraham she laughed, and said in spite of that she WOULD bear a child. The three men got up and went on their way, Abraham following.

Two kept going to Sodom. The other (now called the Lord) stayed behind because Abraham was a friend to God (Isaiah 41:8-10) and God didn’t want to keep anything from him. He told Abraham He was going to destroy the Valley. The people were guilty of NOT being hospitable (Ezekiel 16:49-50) in spite of being wealthy and abundant. They didn’t care. They flaunted it. This setting themselves against the basic order of human kindness helped them turn against other basic orders. They embraced homosexuality and other immoral behaviour, including slander (Jude 7-8). The old people were like this. The young people were like this. All the people were like this. They were so bad that it hurt Lot on a DAILY basis to be around them (2 Peter 2:7-9). It was BAD and God had come down (like at Babel) to see it Himself so none could accuse Him of acting without evidence or due diligence.

Abraham was worried about Lot. He was also worried that maybe it was only a few bad apples and the innocent would be harmed. As a friend, he asked God to spare the Valley (Sodom and Gomorrah were the largest settlements, but remember there were five Genesis 13). Abraham KNEW there were guilty, but prayed there would be innocents. He asked God to spare it if there were fifty. Then forty-five. Then forty. Thirty. Twenty. Abraham did not have much faith that righteous people would be found there. He knew he was bargaining with God – he asked for mercy in asking. God so trusted and related with Abraham that He allowed the asks. God is ALWAYS seeking to be merciful and postpone judgment until salvation through repentance and submission could be achieved. Abraham continued and asked for mercy if there were only 10. God agreed. Abraham went no further and God departed, but I have to wonder: did God want him to go farther? Perhaps all the way to one?

Summary

Key Players: Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Angels

Key Themes: God’s Will; Covenant/Circumcision; Belief; Mercy

Key Verse(s): Genesis 16:1-2, 12; 17:1-2, 5, 15-16, 24-27; 18:13-14, 17, 32-33