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17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, "Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?" 18 And Abraham said to God, "Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!" 19 Then God said: "No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him." ~ Genesis 17:17-19
Today, we return to our study of Genesis 17 where Abraham has just learned that what he thought for thirteen years to be true was not. For thirteen years Abraham and Sarah thought that the son of Hagar, Ishmael, was the son of the promise. But in today's passage we learn this was not to be the case. In the context of this disappointment, God gave to Abraham a new revelation and a new name. In today's passage, we will see that God is about to give Abraham and Sarah a new joy.
In v.17 of today's passage we read, "Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, 'Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?'"
Abram responded here to the word of the Lord the same way that he did in v.3, except this time "he laughed." We don’t know exactly what kind of laugh this was; was it one of unbelief?, or one of confusion? He undoubtedly had mixed emotions. And his laughter anticipated Isaac’s name. Abraham's questions reveal to us that he thought God’s promise of a child from him and Sarah was impossible given their age. God's plan made no sense to Abraham, even though he had entered into a deeper relationship with God. Despite the frustration and confusion, Abraham did not know that God was positioning him to see that God is the God of the impossible.
In Matthew 19:26 we read, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
The disciple who believes that seemingly impossible things can happen will over time develop an incredibly strong faith. In fact, we can measure our faith by our concept of the impossible. Little faith only sees little possibilities, and, as a result, only little things ever happen. But big faith sees big possibilities, and big faith brings big results. Eventually, as we will see, Abraham believed in the God of the impossible. It is most important to note that Abraham didn't believe in himself, in his insights, in his faith or in his feelings. As Romans 4:17 reminds us Abraham believed in the God of the Bible.
In v.18 of today's passage we read, "And Abraham said to God, 'Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!'"
Abraham wanted God to consider the son he already had. Abraham was convinced that Ishmael was the easier, more certain, in-the-flesh option. Abraham thought that the promises of God should come through Ishmael because he and Sarah could not possibly produce another son. Abraham was trying to steer God into a more humanly reasonable path, but this was not the plan of God.
I find it most instructive that God didn’t come down hard on Abraham with judgment and condemnation at this point because of his myopic way of thinking. Abraham was truly being steered by his small mindedness. God is never hard on us when we are experiencing these kinds of struggles; He knows this process is necessary for us to grow in genuine faith. What Abraham was experiencing was not what we know today as "positive thinking" or the idea that "we speak things into existence." No, the object of Abraham's faith was to be in the end God and nothing else.
I believe in thinking positively, but thinking positively is not the same as positive thinking. Biblical faith in the God of the Bible is not the same as positive thinking. Positive thinking only works when we have control over the situation. It’s worthless if the situation is out of our control. When we find ourselves at a dead end, we need something more than a happy thought to get the job done. This is where God comes in to lift our myopic thinking to His level. In the end, we are left with His will, not ours.
In v.19 of today's passage we read, "Then God said: 'No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him.'"
As was always, what God had promised came to pass despite the circumstances and the obstacles. The shadow cast by faith will always be present in our lives this side of heaven for the shadows and the questions are a necessary part of the development of our faith in the God of the Bible. It is those shadows that create our questions which fuel our pursuit of more than just the answers we desire, these questions fuel our pursuit of God Himself.
All of this underscores the civil war that rages in all believers. This battle rages continually in even the most spiritually mature believers in Christ; they raged in Peter and Thomas and the Apostle Paul. As believers in Christ, we will always struggle with the reality that we obey what we do not want to obey. This struggle is the result of sin living in us, and it is a very real reality for all believers. As we grow in our personal relationship with the Lord Jesus, we will delight in God’s law but we must be real that there is yet another law at work within. This explains the battle that rages within, and it is a battle that we largely hate.
All of this is to say that, as believers in the Lord Jesus, we have two natures, the old and the new man. And, the nature that we feed the most is the one which will win on any given moment. Even though this battle against sin is constant, the believer in Christ is no longer under its control. At the cross of the Lord Jesus, the penalty and power of sin was broken. Because of the cross, the believer in Christ is truly a "new creation" in Christ, and it is the Lord Jesus Christ who has rescued us and will ultimately rescue us from this civil war that rages within.
As the two sons of Abraham and Sarah subtly illustrate, there are two ways to relate to God, as an heir or as a slave. The difference is that a slave earns God's acceptance through his performance and an heir has been given by God promised acceptance. The trust that is forged by the second approach is the difference. A slave can never be sure enough that he has done enough to earn the acceptance of his master. A son rests in the standing he has by virtue of his birth and the covenant his father made in his will for his children. This is a trust that is cemented in the hope of the confidence we have in Christ's perfect performance on our behalf.
