Has anyone else ever felt
that the family dynamics in the book of Genesis are a bit dysfunctional? I mean, really, sometimes when I read the Bible, I feel like I am instantly teleported into a Jerry Springer show. Between the tasteless talk between babies mommas, and the secrets lives of incest and adultery, and all the DNA tests to find out who is the real daddy - it’s all kind of fricken crazy! Do you know what I mean? I can’t even watch that show - because it all about "this girl and that guy" going to and fro! But I have to be in the Bible. I have to know every detail - so that I can better understand who I am and who is My creator is. So - you may be wondering why. Why is Cherie comparing Bible stories to a tasteless talk show? Well, the answer is because I am currently reading about the relationship between Sarah and Hagar; or put in another way - the mother of God’s promised son and the mother of Islam - who gave birth to Isaac and Ishmael. In a nutshell - this is how it goes - It started with one man going on a journey. God called Abram out of his hometown, Babylon, and brought him into the land of Canaan, the land of the giants. Along the Way, the Lord came to him and made many promises through a covenant. The promise included a son, who would go on to father many nations. But when Sarai was remained barren she offered her servant, Hagar, to Abram - to have sex with him so that Hagar could give him the child he desperately wanted. But when Hagar was pregnant, Sarai said to Abram (by the way, these were the names they had before God transformed them) - “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.” Genesis 16:5 Well, Abram brushed aside the responsibility, and said, “Your slave is in your hands, do with her what you want.” Genesis 16:6 So Sarai mistreated Hagar, and then Hagar fled from her, and ran into the desert. But the angel of the Lord found Hagar there, and said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” And Hagar said, “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai.” Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” Genesis 16:8-9 Then the angel of the Lord said, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.” You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael (meaning God Listens) for the Lord has heard of your misery. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.” Genesis 16:10-12 Hagar gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: Beer Lahai Roi, “You are the God who SEES me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” Genesis 16:13 Isn't that interesting. The mother of "God Listens" is the one who named the Lord, "You are the One who Sees Me" The mother of Islam saw God, and spoke to Him, and she submitted herself to His will. Why doesn’t Ishmael listen, like his name says? Perhaps it's because Ishmael was hurt? Perhaps it's because he felt abandoned? Perhaps it's because he was mistreated? He probably felt like Cain - and wondered why God did not choose him. In the story, Hagar listened. She returned to Sarai to pledge her allegiance and endure the rest of her submission. Then, when Abram was 99 years old, and Ishmael was age 13 - the Lord appeared to Abram again and gave him and Sarai new names. Sarah was 89. The Lord said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.” Genesis 17:1-2 Then the Lord told Abraham to circumcise the flesh of every male child who is 8 days old. He said this act would happen for all the generations to come, including those born in his household and those purchased, and in his possession. Genesis 17 The Lord also reminded Abraham that he would have a son - the son that He promised him before he slept Sarah's servant. When the Lord spoke these words “Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man 100 years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of 90?” And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!” Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac (Isaac means the one who rejoices). I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year. And when the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.” Genesis 17:17-22 Now, in Genesis Chapter 21, after Isaac was weaned, Abraham threw a feast for him. But Sarah saw Ishmael mocking. So Sarah said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.” I can only imagine that Abraham was thinking, “What the hell have I done?” Abraham took matters into his own hands when he took Sarah's servant into his bed. Abraham and Sarah were both impatient, and did not put their full trust in God. So they endured the consequences of their man-made choices. And that is why it sounds like the Jerry Springer show. But Abraham had come to love Ishmael. If he didn’t, he would not have asked the Lord to bless him. God reassured him. He said to Abraham, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Genesis 21:12 LOL! First Sarai gave bad advice, and told Abram to sleep with her servant. Now God tells Abraham to listen to Sarah, and do whatever she says. Abraham now trusted God, so he lined up his will with what God said - "Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba. When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there, she began to sob. God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.” Genesis 21:8-21 Obviously, Hagar and Ishmael made their way down from the Desert of Beersheba (the Negev in Southern Israel) to the Desert of Paran (from the Gulf of Aqaba to the southern shore of the Dead Sea). Perhaps Hagar was trying to return to the land from where she was taken? The scripture says she was an Egyptian, and she got Ishmael a wife from Egypt. I do not know. So you may be wondering why? Why did God send His promise through Isaac and not Ishmael? The answer is “I do not know.” Why did God prefer the gift from Abel, instead of his brother Cain? Perhaps it has nothing to do with the gift at all, but the heart of the person that beats inside? But who am I to question God the author and finisher of creation? All I can say is this - anyone who believes in Jesus, as the only begotten Son of God, is grafted into the tree of life that grows on the Mountain of Zion. The Bible says so. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” You see, there is an order and a lineage to Jesus. You can read all about it in Matthew, Chapter One - or you can start at the beginning in Genesis One. The physical seed starts with Adam and goes from Seth to Noah and Shem to Abram - upon which he was given a new name. Abraham sent the seed through Isaac, the promised son given by God, and Abraham was willing to sacrifice him, just like he did with his first son, Ishmael. The seed moved onto Jacob, who took the birthright from his older twin. Then deceptive Jacob wrestled with the Angel of the Lord, and won (Israel means Triumphant with God). Isreal had 12 sons (just like parallel Ishmael did) and one was named Judah. From the tribe of Judah, King David was born, and from his line Joseph came. Joseph was scheduled to marry Mary, the virgin woman who conceived God's Son by the Holy Spirit, without intercourse. You see, Jesus is the only begotten Son, fully God and fully human. The Word of God was implanted into a virgin woman, betrothed to Joseph, by God's Holy Spirit. At first, Joseph did not believe. He probably responded much like you and me! “But after Joseph had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:20-21 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet Isaiah, “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.” Matthew 1:21-25 Can't you see? It’s always been about the gene of faith. We are saved by God’s grace. We are saved by the blood of Christ. God’s Word has always been good - just like in the days of Abraham. My prayer is that the Jewish people would hear this message and know that their Messiah has come. If you are Jewish, please read Romans 11 - and read what Paul said to the remnant of Israel. “Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written: “The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” Romans 11:25-27 And to the descendants of Ishmael - I am genuinely sorry for your suffering. I am sorry that you felt unwanted. It had to be hard to wander aimlessly through the desert. It's truly something we have all had to do. But the Lord can be your refuge. He has offered a blessing just for you. The written Word of God says that “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13 Anyone reading this poem - Jew or Gentile, Man or Woman, Slave or Free - All you have to do is believe - call out to God and repent for your sin. Now go. Get off you mat and spread the good news. Jesus is coming back soon. I have heard the Lord whisper in my ear, “I am wringing out My remnant for one drop of My blood covers a multitude of sin.” None of us are righteous. Not one person! It is only by the blood of Jesus, that we are healed. I love you.
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