But God replied, “No—Sarah, your wife, will give birth to a son for you. You will name him Isaac, and I will confirm my covenant with him and his descendants as an everlasting covenant.” [Genesis 17:19 (NLT)]
In what’s known as the Abrahamic covenant, God promised Abram (later called Abraham) that he would found a great nation and that through him all nations would be blessed. After receiving God’s promise, Abraham departed Haran, arrived in Canaan, went to Egypt to escape a famine, returned to Bethel, separated from Lot, and rescued him from King Kedorlaomer. In those ten years, however, despite God’s promise, Abraham’s wife Sarai (later known as Sarah) had not become pregnant. When he grew despondent that he was without an heir, God repeated his promise of a son through Sarah and reassured Abraham of as many descendants as there were stars in the sky.
Nevertheless, presuming to know God’s intentions, Sarah blamed the Lord for preventing her from pregnancy! Assuming she knew better than God how and when to fulfill His promise of descendants, she offered her Egyptian servant Hagar as a substitute wife to Abraham. Giving no thought to God’s power or promises, the man listened to his wife rather than God and slept with Hagar. Neither Abraham not Sarah sought God’s advice on the matter and, by second-guessing God, theirs is a perfect example of walking by sight rather than faith!
Although Sarah got what she wanted—a pregnant Hagar—she wasn’t happy. After being given to Abraham as a wife, Hagar didn’t maintain the attitude of a servant and became proud of her pregnancy and disrespectful of her mistress. Although Sarah bore as much responsibility as her husband for the discord in their home, she blamed Abraham for her misery. Jealous and angry, she treated Hagar harshly and Abraham refused to become involved in the women’s conflict. The pregnant Hagar fled from her cruel mistress but later returned to give birth to Abraham’s son, Ishmael. Fourteen years after Ishmael’s birth (and twenty-five years after God’s first promise), Sarah gave birth to the promised son, Isaac, but his birth did not bring harmony to the household. Until then, Ishmael was Abraham’s sole heir but he was displaced when Sarah gave birth to a son. Nevertheless, seeing the Ishmael’s presence as a threat, Sarah demanded that Abraham send away both Hagar and her child. Abraham again listened to his wife and sent them into the wilderness, presumably to die.
When their faith wavered, Sarah and Abraham chose to trust their own timing and method rather than God and His plan. Free will, however, comes with consequences and the consequences from their actions continue to impact the world today. Instead of Sarah versus Hagar or Isaac versus Ishmael, it’s now Jews versus Arabs in the Middle East. Both Jews and Arabs trace their lineage back to Abraham—one through Isaac and the other through Ishmael. But, rather than brothers, they are archrivals!
In God’s covenants with Abraham, the land of Canaan was granted as an everlasting possession to his descendants. While the Hebrew Scriptures hold that Isaac is the son of God’s promise to Abraham, the Qur’an (“received” by Muhammad in 604 AD) holds that Ishmael is the son of the promise and that it was the beloved Ishmael (not Isaac) who Abraham almost sacrificed. The war that began last October when Hamas attacked Jews within Israel’s border is just the most recent chapter in their centuries old conflict.
When it comes to helping ourselves, God has nothing against hard work. The problem comes when we think God needs our help to accomplish His divine purpose on our timetable rather than His. The story of Abraham, Sarah, and their boys illustrates what happens when people choose to find their own worldly solutions to God’s heavenly purpose! As Charles Spurgeon wisely said, “Anything other than God’s plan carried out in God’s way and in God’s timing amounts to self-reliance.” God’s timing is as important as His will and whenever we choose to help ourselves by taking a detour from the clear will of God, trouble is waiting!
As God’s child advances spiritually he shall discover that the Lord’s time is as important as the Lord’s will. Do not rashly beget an Ishmael lest he become the greatest enemy to Isaac. [Watchman Nee]
Devotions of the Heart 