1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:08,880 We are seeing that the Bible very, very wonderfully speaks into the brokenness of our world. 2 00:00:08,880 –> 00:00:15,080 Tangled webs of relationships, instability in family life. 3 00:00:15,080 –> 00:00:22,559 The Bible speaks right into the heart of it and shines the ray in Jesus Christ into all 4 00:00:22,559 –> 00:00:25,520 of our fractured lives. 5 00:00:25,520 –> 00:00:30,879 And we’ve been looking together at Abraham, who was the flawed father, the man of faith 6 00:00:30,879 –> 00:00:39,880 and yet flawed, as all of us are, at Sarah, the perplexed wife, Hagar, the single mother, 7 00:00:39,880 –> 00:00:43,040 experienced so much of God’s wonderful grace. 8 00:00:43,040 –> 00:00:47,720 And today we’re going to look at the story of Ishmael, who I’m describing as the troubled 9 00:00:47,720 –> 00:00:48,720 son. 10 00:00:48,720 –> 00:00:55,299 A quick review of the story, so that we’re all, as it were, on the same page. 11 00:00:55,299 –> 00:01:01,700 God had promised that his blessing would come to people from every nation on earth, and 12 00:01:01,700 –> 00:01:06,800 that this would happen through an offspring of Abraham. 13 00:01:06,800 –> 00:01:11,680 And Abraham and Sarah were aging and they had no child. 14 00:01:11,680 –> 00:01:19,559 And so Sarah gave Hagar, her servant, to Abraham so that a child maybe borne through her. 15 00:01:19,559 –> 00:01:24,639 And we saw last week that this would not have been particularly unusual in the culture, 16 00:01:24,639 –> 00:01:28,440 although it was never God’s design. 17 00:01:28,440 –> 00:01:33,760 The result of course of moving outside of God’s design for marriage is that an emotional 18 00:01:33,760 –> 00:01:36,059 triangle was created. 19 00:01:36,059 –> 00:01:41,459 We find Abraham being pooled between his love for his wife on the one hand and his love 20 00:01:41,459 –> 00:01:44,720 for his son Ishmael on the other. 21 00:01:44,720 –> 00:01:50,199 And this already fractured family as we’ve been following the story is now plunged into 22 00:01:50,260 –> 00:01:57,120 a much deeper web of conflicting loyalties and of hidden resentments. 23 00:01:57,120 –> 00:02:03,000 And the person who is right in the middle of all of this trouble of course is the boy 24 00:02:03,000 –> 00:02:11,259 whose name is Ishmael, the son born to Abraham through Sarah’s servant Hagar. 25 00:02:11,259 –> 00:02:18,619 And so today we’re going to look at the story through the eyes of Ishmael the troubled son. 26 00:02:18,699 –> 00:02:24,220 Let me say right at the beginning that the message today is a wonderful story of hope 27 00:02:24,220 –> 00:02:30,800 for every person who struggles with conflict that have their root in your family of origin. 28 00:02:30,800 –> 00:02:34,580 If that’s you, this is a story in the Bible that you should know. 29 00:02:34,580 –> 00:02:40,160 It is a story in the Bible that is a gift of God, especially for you. 30 00:02:40,160 –> 00:02:47,240 It is a wonderful story for every person who experiences intense conflict in your own soul. 31 00:02:47,240 –> 00:02:53,059 You sometimes feel like you are being pulled apart by impulses that you do not fully understand 32 00:02:53,059 –> 00:02:57,119 and they’re from within you and you do not even fully understand where they come from 33 00:02:57,119 –> 00:02:58,860 or why they are there. 34 00:02:58,860 –> 00:03:04,779 That is your experience, this is a wonderful story in the Bible that is a gift of God for 35 00:03:04,779 –> 00:03:05,779 you today. 36 00:03:05,779 –> 00:03:12,500 We’re going to look at four snapshots from Ishmael’s troubled life. 37 00:03:13,199 –> 00:03:20,699 We’re going to see how this person’s world imploded during his teenage years, the most 38 00:03:20,699 –> 00:03:24,580 vulnerable point in all of his development. 39 00:03:24,580 –> 00:03:29,479 And then we’re going to see how God met him, how God blessed him. 40 00:03:29,479 –> 00:03:36,960 And how God can do the same for the most troubled person who is listening to this message today. 41 00:03:36,960 –> 00:03:40,800 And you may be saying at that moment that is probably me. 42 00:03:41,300 –> 00:03:45,559 Well, there is hope for you in Jesus Christ and in the scriptures today. 43 00:03:45,559 –> 00:03:51,279 So I hope you have your Bible open and let’s begin then with these snapshots of Ishmael’s 44 00:03:51,279 –> 00:03:52,279 troubled life. 45 00:03:52,279 –> 00:03:56,199 First, I want you to remember and this is from last time the challenges that were in 46 00:03:56,199 –> 00:03:58,259 his temperament. 47 00:03:58,259 –> 00:04:04,600 Remember that a prophecy was given to Ishmael’s mother Hagar before the boy was born and God 48 00:04:04,600 –> 00:04:12,199 said in chapter 16 and verse 12, he shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand will be 49 00:04:12,199 –> 00:04:15,759 against everyone and everyone’s hand against him. 50 00:04:15,759 –> 00:04:17,600 Now that’s what God said about him. 51 00:04:17,600 –> 00:04:21,579 This boy that’s going to be born, boy he’s going to be troubled. 52 00:04:21,579 –> 00:04:23,859 He’s gonna have trouble in him right from the beginning. 53 00:04:23,859 –> 00:04:27,420 He’s a wild donkey of a man, that’s what he’s going to be. 54 00:04:27,420 –> 00:04:34,320 That tells you about the strength of impulse and of conflict that was tearing away at the 55 00:04:34,339 –> 00:04:39,839 hide of Ishmael’s soul right from the very beginning. 56 00:04:39,839 –> 00:04:46,179 Now all of us know what it is to be pulled in one direction or another by powerful impulses 57 00:04:46,179 –> 00:04:49,519 that are rooted in our flesh. 58 00:04:49,519 –> 00:04:56,359 But it’s very clear from this Scripture alone and indeed from others that some experience 59 00:04:56,359 –> 00:05:02,640 more powerful, more deeply rooted struggles than others. 60 00:05:02,940 –> 00:05:08,260 Ishmael was a wild donkey of a man. 61 00:05:08,260 –> 00:05:12,019 He was, as we would say, wild at heart. 62 00:05:12,019 –> 00:05:13,040 It was in him. 63 00:05:13,040 –> 00:05:15,739 It was his temperament. 64 00:05:15,739 –> 00:05:22,100 That is never said about Isaac, who was of a much calmer kind of frame and interestingly 65 00:05:22,100 –> 00:05:24,500 didn’t seem to achieve terribly much in his life. 66 00:05:24,500 –> 00:05:28,260 Can you think of three stories about Isaac that quickly come to mind other than the fact 67 00:05:28,260 –> 00:05:31,399 that once he nearly lost his life when he was a boy at the top of Mount Moriah? 68 00:05:32,359 –> 00:05:33,899 There are stories, of course. 69 00:05:33,899 –> 00:05:37,119 He struggled to find a wife, he opened a few wells… 70 00:05:37,119 –> 00:05:43,480 But you know, think of ten stories about Jacob, ten stories about Abraham. 71 00:05:43,480 –> 00:05:48,399 Isaac lived a quiet life in comparison. 72 00:05:48,399 –> 00:05:51,579 But Ishmael, boy, he’s a wild donkey of a man. 73 00:05:51,579 –> 00:05:53,779 That tells you something, doesn’t it? 74 00:05:53,779 –> 00:05:56,739 Different temperaments. 75 00:05:56,739 –> 00:06:02,980 And there was a struggle that was intense within this boy’s very being from the moment 76 00:06:02,980 –> 00:06:04,820 that he was born, it was in him. 77 00:06:04,820 –> 00:06:09,100 Now, listen, some of you will identify with Isaac. 78 00:06:09,100 –> 00:06:12,399 You have a certain calmness of spirit. 79 00:06:12,399 –> 00:06:16,739 By the way, the challenge for you is you will easily become comfortable in life and very 80 00:06:16,739 –> 00:06:18,160 self-righteous about it. 81 00:06:18,160 –> 00:06:21,260 Why can’t everyone just live a nice stable life like me? 82 00:06:21,260 –> 00:06:22,339 You will say. 83 00:06:22,339 –> 00:06:24,859 That will be your impulse. 84 00:06:24,859 –> 00:06:31,299 And others of you will immediately identify with Ishmael, and you will say, he’s my guy. 85 00:06:31,299 –> 00:06:38,940 There is a conflict that I experienced that goes on with an intensity inside me. 86 00:06:38,940 –> 00:06:43,299 You may find that there are impulses that seem to rage in you, that almost seem to tear 87 00:06:43,299 –> 00:06:45,059 you apart. 88 00:06:45,799 –> 00:06:55,839 Matthew Henry says this, Those who have turbulent spirits often have troublesome lives. 89 00:06:55,839 –> 00:06:58,420 And that was true undoubtedly of Ishmael. 90 00:06:58,420 –> 00:07:02,220 He always felt that people were against him. 91 00:07:02,220 –> 00:07:06,459 And his default position was that he was against everyone else, he wasn’t going to trust anyone 92 00:07:06,459 –> 00:07:08,619 else, he was always suspicious. 93 00:07:08,619 –> 00:07:10,940 That was just in his nature. 94 00:07:11,399 –> 00:07:17,820 A man on his own always fighting against the world, and it was in him, from the day of 95 00:07:17,820 –> 00:07:20,220 his birth. 96 00:07:20,220 –> 00:07:23,579 Some folks have harder battles than others. 97 00:07:24,980 –> 00:07:31,200 And, remembering that will help you to be more compassionate towards others. 98 00:07:31,220 –> 00:07:38,500 You do not know the intensity of your brother or your sister’s battle. 99 00:07:38,619 –> 00:07:44,540 It may be very easy for you to look at someone who is struggling with a particular issue, 100 00:07:44,739 –> 00:07:49,140 and you may say, well, why can’t they just get over it? 101 00:07:49,140 –> 00:07:54,420 And if you experience the intensity of the struggle that they are experiencing, you might 102 00:07:54,420 –> 00:07:57,500 not find it so easy, either. 103 00:07:57,500 –> 00:08:03,320 So, remember this, that there were particular challenges in this man’s temperament right 104 00:08:03,320 –> 00:08:05,559 from the time that he was born. 105 00:08:05,600 –> 00:08:10,359 On top of that, he was brought up with all kinds of tensions in his family. 106 00:08:10,359 –> 00:08:15,459 And we know enough about the story to have the feel of that already. 107 00:08:15,459 –> 00:08:19,899 But let me just paint the picture out for you with a little more color. 108 00:08:19,899 –> 00:08:25,940 Abraham, remember, was 86 years old when Ishmael was born, and we read in chapter 21 that he 109 00:08:25,940 –> 00:08:32,559 was 100 when Isaac came along, which means, of course, that Ishmael was 14 years old when 110 00:08:32,599 –> 00:08:35,799 his half-brother, Isaac, was born. 111 00:08:35,799 –> 00:08:43,119 Try and put yourself now, then, into the shoes of this 14-year-old boy. 112 00:08:43,119 –> 00:08:47,599 Ishmael’s father loves him. 113 00:08:47,599 –> 00:08:52,200 But Ishmael’s father does not love Ishmael’s mother. 114 00:08:52,200 –> 00:08:59,159 Abraham loves Sarah, to whom he is married, and Sarah is not Ishmael’s mother, 115 00:08:59,159 –> 00:09:02,780 and Ishmael does not get along with Sarah. 116 00:09:02,780 –> 00:09:05,580 Ishmael’s mother is Hagar. 117 00:09:05,580 –> 00:09:10,260 And Hagar loves Ishmael, but she is not in a position to care for him. 118 00:09:10,260 –> 00:09:15,099 That role belongs to Sarah, because Sarah is Abraham’s wife. 119 00:09:15,099 –> 00:09:18,020 And Ishmael’s mother is Sarah’s servant. 120 00:09:18,020 –> 00:09:21,719 I mean, can you imagine the tensions in this? 121 00:09:21,719 –> 00:09:25,820 I mean it’s incredible. 122 00:09:26,359 –> 00:09:38,400 You will think of parallels today of incredibly complex emotional tensions in multiple relationships 123 00:09:38,400 –> 00:09:42,380 in extended and broken families. 124 00:09:42,380 –> 00:09:50,219 And here’s young Ishmael and he’s growing up in the middle of it all. 125 00:09:50,260 –> 00:09:56,739 He is growing up in a home where there is constant tension, regular argument. 126 00:09:56,739 –> 00:10:03,580 He is shaped from childhood by an unhappy world that is filled with resentments and 127 00:10:03,580 –> 00:10:04,979 agendas. 128 00:10:04,979 –> 00:10:12,419 It is the only life that this young boy has ever known. 129 00:10:12,419 –> 00:10:18,020 And in the middle of it all he grows up in this family with all of its trouble learning 130 00:10:18,020 –> 00:10:24,159 about the God of the Bible and the great promise that God has made to His Father Abraham that 131 00:10:24,159 –> 00:10:29,719 all nations will be blessed and they will be blessed through an offspring of Abraham. 132 00:10:29,719 –> 00:10:34,059 And Ishmael is Abram’s offspring and there is no other. 133 00:10:34,059 –> 00:10:35,919 So that says something good for him. 134 00:10:35,919 –> 00:10:43,179 Then one day the news comes along that Dad and Sarah are expecting. 135 00:10:43,179 –> 00:10:46,140 And this is not good news for Ishmael. 136 00:10:46,140 –> 00:10:47,179 Everybody is laughing. 137 00:10:47,179 –> 00:10:52,539 People are rejoicing about this, but not Ishmael. 138 00:10:52,539 –> 00:10:59,979 From this moment on all the focus seems to move from the 14 year old to the baby. 139 00:10:59,979 –> 00:11:06,840 And the word around is that Isaac, not Ishmael, is going to be the boy through this marvelous 140 00:11:06,840 –> 00:11:09,679 promise and blessing will be fulfilled. 141 00:11:09,679 –> 00:11:10,700 Not Ishmael. 142 00:11:10,799 –> 00:11:19,419 And you can imagine what’s going through this 14 year old’s mind, pounding through his mind, 143 00:11:19,419 –> 00:11:22,260 Isaac, Isaac, Isaac, it’s always Isaac. 144 00:11:22,260 –> 00:11:27,539 What Isaac’s gonna do, who cares about me? 145 00:11:27,539 –> 00:11:33,799 And the 14 year old is sidelined, displaced. 146 00:11:33,859 –> 00:11:42,159 Some of you know about this, you have a super gifted sister, or brother, they always seem 147 00:11:42,159 –> 00:11:46,840 to shine your sister has the charm and the looks and the brains. 148 00:11:46,840 –> 00:11:50,739 Your brother is the great achiever so what in the world is left for you? 149 00:11:50,739 –> 00:11:59,460 The tension is not equally divided, favoritism seems to be thinly disguised or perhaps not 150 00:11:59,460 –> 00:12:02,960 even disguised at all. 151 00:12:02,960 –> 00:12:09,659 Someone else has the blessing and then there’s you. 152 00:12:09,659 –> 00:12:14,320 And that begins to shape you. 153 00:12:14,320 –> 00:12:17,080 And Ishmael put up with this for a couple of years. 154 00:12:17,080 –> 00:12:26,200 And then we get to verse 8, on the day when Isaac was weaned, Abraham threw a great feast. 155 00:12:26,200 –> 00:12:31,440 Weaning in those days probably a couple of years, expect commentators think probably 156 00:12:31,479 –> 00:12:35,900 Ishmael at this point is around 16 years of age. 157 00:12:35,900 –> 00:12:41,419 And you imagine there’s this big extended family gathering and all the preparations 158 00:12:41,419 –> 00:12:44,679 for this is going to be the great day of celebration. 159 00:12:44,679 –> 00:12:52,880 By the way, isn’t it amazing, how easily tensions that simmer within a family can erupt on the 160 00:12:52,880 –> 00:12:56,500 one time when you bring everyone together and you just want everybody to be happy for 161 00:12:56,500 –> 00:12:57,500 one day? 162 00:12:58,219 –> 00:13:05,200 Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, let’s just have everyone 163 00:13:05,200 –> 00:13:06,380 be happy, alright? 164 00:13:06,380 –> 00:13:08,599 No trouble today. 165 00:13:08,599 –> 00:13:15,659 And here’s a 16 year old and he’s just had enough and he blows, as it were, on precisely 166 00:13:15,659 –> 00:13:21,359 that day where Abraham has had the great feast. 167 00:13:21,359 –> 00:13:22,479 Ishmael’s not happy. 168 00:13:22,979 –> 00:13:24,219 You know, it’s very interesting, isn’t it? 169 00:13:24,219 –> 00:13:26,940 Jesus told this story so well known. 170 00:13:26,940 –> 00:13:31,599 The prodigal son and the elder brother is not happy about the feast. 171 00:13:31,599 –> 00:13:33,619 And you have exactly the same thing here. 172 00:13:33,619 –> 00:13:34,760 Who’s the feast for? 173 00:13:34,760 –> 00:13:35,640 Oh, it’s Isaac. 174 00:13:35,640 –> 00:13:36,700 Isaac, Isaac, Isaac. 175 00:13:36,700 –> 00:13:40,619 It’s always Isaac, Isaac’s feast. 176 00:13:40,619 –> 00:13:43,460 And Ishmael despised him. 177 00:13:43,460 –> 00:13:45,979 Ishmael mocked him. 178 00:13:45,979 –> 00:13:51,520 Look at this little scrap of flesh, what’s all the fuss about? 179 00:13:51,640 –> 00:13:55,919 And Ishmael laughed at him. 180 00:13:57,299 –> 00:14:00,539 And that was it for Sarah. 181 00:14:00,539 –> 00:14:07,760 She saw what was happening, it was the eruption of what had been going on for some time anyway. 182 00:14:07,760 –> 00:14:11,820 And she says, verse 10, in effect, Ishmael must go. 183 00:14:11,820 –> 00:14:18,760 Look at it there, Abraham said to, Sarah said to Abraham, cast out this slave woman and 184 00:14:18,880 –> 00:14:25,460 her son – notice, she won’t even name him, wont even say his name, just the slave woman 185 00:14:25,460 –> 00:14:28,059 and her son. 186 00:14:28,059 –> 00:14:36,059 For the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son, Isaac. 187 00:14:36,059 –> 00:14:42,859 You know the feel of what this boy’s been growing up with? 188 00:14:42,859 –> 00:14:47,479 My guess is, at that point, it didn’t worry Ishmael too much. 189 00:14:47,479 –> 00:14:53,780 She probably was not too sorry to see Sarah upset, if I read the dynamics of this rightly. 190 00:14:53,780 –> 00:15:05,320 Dad’s in my corner, I’m his firstborn, dad loves me, he’ll stand up for me. 191 00:15:05,320 –> 00:15:09,359 More trouble for Sarah? 192 00:15:09,359 –> 00:15:13,840 So imagine Ishmael’s astonishment, where the next morning, Abraham comes to him, and 193 00:15:14,520 –> 00:15:23,520 heavy heart, the father who truly loves him, says, Ishmael, you’ve got to go. 194 00:15:23,520 –> 00:15:27,119 You’ve got to go. 195 00:15:27,119 –> 00:15:30,559 And there are fathers in the congregation who have known the heartbreak of having to 196 00:15:30,559 –> 00:15:35,440 say such a thing to a son that they deeply love. 197 00:15:35,440 –> 00:15:37,719 You got to go. 198 00:15:37,719 –> 00:15:41,960 Now, put yourself in Ishmael’s shoes. 199 00:15:41,960 –> 00:15:43,559 The family has torn apart. 200 00:15:43,559 –> 00:15:47,500 It’s been fractured, it’s coming apart completely. 201 00:15:47,500 –> 00:15:51,479 And this huge, huge question is raised. 202 00:15:51,479 –> 00:15:59,880 For Ishmael, how can God love me, if he chooses to bless my brother, and takes me away from 203 00:15:59,880 –> 00:16:03,159 my father? 204 00:16:03,159 –> 00:16:11,440 And how can this God, that my father believes in, really care about me if he allows this 205 00:16:11,440 –> 00:16:13,520 to happen? 206 00:16:13,520 –> 00:16:15,500 My life. 207 00:16:15,500 –> 00:16:21,299 so I want you to stack these things up to get the sense of the trouble that was in Ishmael’s 208 00:16:21,299 –> 00:16:22,400 young heart. 209 00:16:22,400 –> 00:16:26,119 He’s got all this stuff that’s going on in his temperament. 210 00:16:26,119 –> 00:16:29,280 A wild donkey of a man at 16 years of age. 211 00:16:29,280 –> 00:16:30,799 You think about that. 212 00:16:30,799 –> 00:16:33,599 Think of what’s going on inside of him. 213 00:16:33,599 –> 00:16:38,380 And on top of that, all these tensions that have shaped him over these years, and have 214 00:16:38,380 –> 00:16:42,599 now erupted on the day of the feast. 215 00:16:42,599 –> 00:16:50,659 And I want to suggest to you a third thing that comes to me merely from reflecting on 216 00:16:50,659 –> 00:16:56,340 what it was to be Ishmael and you can think about this with me. 217 00:16:56,340 –> 00:16:59,059 Put yourself in this boy’s shoes. 218 00:16:59,059 –> 00:17:03,859 The focal point of all the trouble in the fractured family. 219 00:17:03,859 –> 00:17:07,619 All the trouble is around him. 220 00:17:07,619 –> 00:17:11,380 And I’m suggesting to you that there must surely have been questions that went to the 221 00:17:11,380 –> 00:17:15,119 root of his very existence. 222 00:17:15,119 –> 00:17:23,420 Now I speculate here but there must have been times surely when he had questions along these 223 00:17:23,420 –> 00:17:24,900 lines. 224 00:17:24,900 –> 00:17:31,640 And I say it because others in the congregation will have struggled with questions like this. 225 00:17:31,640 –> 00:17:34,400 I was a mistake. 226 00:17:34,400 –> 00:17:37,760 I know I was a mistake. 227 00:17:37,760 –> 00:17:41,280 I was never meant to be. 228 00:17:41,280 –> 00:17:43,780 I seem to be a trouble to everyone. 229 00:17:43,780 –> 00:17:48,400 It would be better for everyone if I had never been born. 230 00:17:48,400 –> 00:17:52,800 Seriously, think about this. 231 00:17:52,800 –> 00:18:02,760 What would you say to a person whose life began as the result of a rape? 232 00:18:02,760 –> 00:18:09,619 What would you say to a young person who struggles with the whole question that their very existence 233 00:18:09,619 –> 00:18:17,079 comes out of their father or their mother engaged in an affair? 234 00:18:17,079 –> 00:18:24,140 How do you process that, the whole question that goes to the very core of your identity 235 00:18:24,140 –> 00:18:28,439 and whether God has any purpose for your life at all? 236 00:18:28,439 –> 00:18:32,560 These are huge questions. 237 00:18:32,560 –> 00:18:41,359 And they’re addressed directly in this marvelous story of hope that is given to us right here 238 00:18:41,359 –> 00:18:45,160 in the book of Genesis. 239 00:18:45,160 –> 00:18:51,180 So I say that there is very good reason for describing Ishmael as the troubled son, not 240 00:18:51,180 –> 00:18:55,560 only because of what God tells us about what was in his soul, and not only because of what 241 00:18:55,560 –> 00:19:01,199 we know about his early family life and all of that dysfunction, but also because of the 242 00:19:01,199 –> 00:19:07,439 very way in which his life came about, which must’ve raised all kinds of questions in his 243 00:19:07,439 –> 00:19:12,160 mind and in his heart. 244 00:19:12,160 –> 00:19:16,800 And then there’s one more thing to stack even on top of that, the struggles that inevitably 245 00:19:16,800 –> 00:19:20,079 came for him with regards to God’s providence. 246 00:19:20,079 –> 00:19:24,260 Look at verse 14, what God allowed in his life. 247 00:19:24,260 –> 00:19:26,219 Why does God allow these things to happe? 248 00:19:26,219 –> 00:19:28,839 That’s what I mean by struggles with providence. 249 00:19:29,040 –> 00:19:32,239 You will know what it is to ask questions about that. 250 00:19:32,239 –> 00:19:40,339 So Abraham, verse 14, rose early in the morning, and he took bread and a skin of water, and 251 00:19:40,339 –> 00:19:50,699 he gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder along with the child, and sent her away. 252 00:19:50,699 –> 00:19:58,699 Now the thing that is very striking to me about this is how little Abraham provided 253 00:19:58,780 –> 00:20:08,540 for Ishmael and for Hagar. Remember that Abraham is a very rich man. He has manservants, he 254 00:20:08,560 –> 00:20:16,959 has maidservants, he has camels, he has donkeys and on and on and on. He is a very rich man. 255 00:20:16,959 –> 00:20:22,859 And here’s his firstborn, and his firstborn is going out into the desert. What will he 256 00:20:23,000 –> 00:20:30,000 provide? The answer is a loaf of bread and a skin of water. How long is that going to 257 00:20:30,479 –> 00:20:37,479 last for two people in the desert? The answer is, not long. What about protection? The desert 258 00:20:38,319 –> 00:20:42,660 remember was the most dangerous place for a person to be in those days, wild animals 259 00:20:42,660 –> 00:20:49,660 and so forth and so on. The desert then, was like being alone in the city now. And Abraham 260 00:20:50,339 –> 00:20:56,900 is sending them out. He could easily, with all the resources that he had, sent a small 261 00:20:56,900 –> 00:21:03,900 security force with his firstborn son and with Hagar, his mother. But no. The firstborn 262 00:21:06,579 –> 00:21:13,579 son and the mother are sent out into the desert with what? A loaf of bread and a skin of water. 263 00:21:14,579 –> 00:21:21,579 And we know from the story that was not the inclination of Abraham’s heart. He did not 264 00:21:23,500 –> 00:21:28,699 want to send them away in the first place, verse 11. The thing was very displeasing to 265 00:21:28,699 –> 00:21:35,699 Abraham on account of his son. Sarah may have this thing going with regards to Ishmael, 266 00:21:35,739 –> 00:21:42,739 but he is Abraham’s boy and Abraham does not want to let him go. So why did this happen? 267 00:21:44,339 –> 00:21:51,339 If his natural instinct was not to let the boy go, his natural instinct would have been 268 00:21:51,339 –> 00:21:57,640 to provide for the boy generously. So how come that we have the single loaf of bread 269 00:21:57,640 –> 00:22:00,719 in the skin of water? The answer is in verse 11. 270 00:22:00,719 –> 00:22:07,719 But God said to Abraham be not displeased because of the boy and because of the slave 271 00:22:08,719 –> 00:22:15,719 woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you. That’s the voice of God to Abraham. 272 00:22:24,680 –> 00:22:29,300 So Sarah says he’s gotta go. Can you now picture this little cameo? 273 00:22:29,300 –> 00:22:33,979 Sarah, what should we give him? Let’s send him away with something generous. Give him 274 00:22:34,099 –> 00:22:41,099 nothing. Why? Everything we have belongs to my son, Isaac. You’re not taking anything 275 00:22:44,339 –> 00:22:51,339 from Isaac for him. And all the inclinations of Abraham’s heart are being torn here, but 276 00:22:52,760 –> 00:22:59,760 the Word of God has come to him and said do whatever Sarah tells you. 277 00:23:00,060 –> 00:23:04,119 So the next morning here’s this man and he’s operating under the authority of Almighty 278 00:23:04,119 –> 00:23:08,579 God and he doesn’t even understand why he should be put in such a position. But he’s 279 00:23:08,579 –> 00:23:14,180 faithful and he’s obedient to Almighty God. And he says, son you’ve got to go and here 280 00:23:14,180 –> 00:23:21,180 it is, a loaf of bread and a skin of water. And at that point I’m trying to put myself 281 00:23:21,819 –> 00:23:27,680 and asking you to put yourself in Ishmael’s shoes and saying, now my father has even given 282 00:23:27,680 –> 00:23:32,660 up on me, my father who’s a rich man and could provide for me abundantly, and he gives 283 00:23:32,660 –> 00:23:39,160 me a skin of water when he’s sending me out into the desert, God Himself must be against 284 00:23:39,160 –> 00:23:45,859 me. There can only be one explanation, God is sending me out into the desert to die because 285 00:23:46,859 –> 00:23:53,859 that’s what’s going to happen. There is no purpose for my life, and Ishmael is sent out 286 00:23:58,400 –> 00:24:05,400 with nothing. And here’s the extraordinary turning point of this story, that this too 287 00:24:05,400 –> 00:24:12,400 was in the incredibly gracious purpose of God, because it was the very lack of supply 288 00:24:19,780 –> 00:24:26,699 that was the means by which this boy came into a life changing encounter with God in 289 00:24:26,699 –> 00:24:32,560 the desert. If he had had a retinue of folks around him, if he’d had enough supply for 290 00:24:32,579 –> 00:24:39,579 the next half year, he would have gone on in the desert quite happily. But God sending 291 00:24:39,579 –> 00:24:46,579 him out into the desert with nothing, because God is going to encounter him in precisely 292 00:24:47,599 –> 00:24:53,459 that place in an extraordinarily and a life changing way. Remember that when you feel 293 00:24:53,459 –> 00:25:00,479 that God is not providing what you need. He has a very, very gracious purpose in saying 294 00:25:00,560 –> 00:25:07,560 to Abraham, you just go with what Sarah says, I know what I’m doing and you are not going 295 00:25:07,579 –> 00:25:14,579 to be the means of supplying for this boy, I am, I am. 296 00:25:15,060 –> 00:25:21,819 So I want you to see how this wonderful, wonderful story unfolds. Follow it with me, verse 14. 297 00:25:21,819 –> 00:25:28,819 Hagar departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. And when the water in the skin 298 00:25:29,540 –> 00:25:36,540 was gone, that could not have been very long, she put the child under one of the bushes. 299 00:25:38,640 –> 00:25:44,359 Then she went and she sat down opposite him a good way off about the distance of a bow 300 00:25:44,359 –> 00:25:51,359 shot, for she said, let me not look on the death of the child. 301 00:25:52,099 –> 00:25:59,099 So Ishmael’s strength gives out first in the desert and the boy lies in the sand and he’s 302 00:26:02,060 –> 00:26:09,060 under the bush and his mother’s at breaking point and the situation is absolutely hopeless. 303 00:26:10,260 –> 00:26:17,260 His father couldn’t keep him and didn’t provide for him, his mother’s resources, which were 304 00:26:17,459 –> 00:26:24,459 always limited, are now exhausted and her strength is gone, what more can she do? And this very 305 00:26:28,739 –> 00:26:33,900 strong woman, everything that we read about Hagar, the single mother indicates the strength 306 00:26:33,900 –> 00:26:40,380 of this woman. This woman comes to breaking point herself. And for the first time in the 307 00:26:40,380 –> 00:26:44,699 story, we read about her breaking down in tears and she weeps and she cries out. 308 00:26:45,000 –> 00:26:53,099 For Ishmael, it looks like this really is the end of the road. And then we read 309 00:26:53,099 –> 00:27:05,199 these remarkable words, and God heard the voice of the boy.” It’s this boy with all this stuff 310 00:27:05,199 –> 00:27:13,199 going on inside of him and all this environment that has shaped him and caused and increased 311 00:27:13,300 –> 00:27:18,680 the tension that was already there, and all the very questions about whether there was 312 00:27:18,680 –> 00:27:24,119 a point to his own existence, and all of his struggles about how there could ever be a 313 00:27:24,119 –> 00:27:28,800 God who possibly cared for him in the light of everything that had happened. And now in 314 00:27:28,800 –> 00:27:42,800 his extremity God hears the voice of the boy right there in the desert when the pathetically 315 00:27:43,119 –> 00:27:50,119 limited supply that was given to him had completely run out. It had completely run out. I want 316 00:27:55,119 –> 00:28:00,359 you to notice that God does three very wonderful things. I just want you to get these snapshots 317 00:28:00,359 –> 00:28:07,359 as we look at how God’s redeeming grace now sweeps into the broken life of this troubled 318 00:28:07,739 –> 00:28:15,219 son. The reason we’re looking at this story is God’s grace that swept into the life of 319 00:28:15,219 –> 00:28:20,099 this troubled son can sweep into the life of this troubled daughter and this troubled 320 00:28:20,099 –> 00:28:25,099 son here in the congregation today even as we’re listening to the word of God. This is 321 00:28:25,099 –> 00:28:31,359 the God we are coming here to worship and to find hope in. He’s the God for you at the 322 00:28:32,099 –> 00:28:38,479 troubles and the intensity of them. The first thing that God does here is that he gives 323 00:28:38,479 –> 00:28:44,520 this wonderful promise. Verse 18, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand he 324 00:28:44,520 –> 00:28:51,520 says to Hagar, for I will make him into a great nation. A great nation, isn’t that the 325 00:28:52,560 –> 00:28:59,560 promise for Isaac? Yes it is. But here is a promise wonderfully given just for Ishmael. 326 00:29:00,040 –> 00:29:07,040 God has a purpose uniquely for you. I suspect that the promise at first may have sounded 327 00:29:09,439 –> 00:29:15,739 remote to Hagar. We’re just trying to get to the end of the day and we have no water 328 00:29:15,739 –> 00:29:20,739 and now you’re talking about future generations of God? There’ll never be future generations 329 00:29:20,739 –> 00:29:27,739 if we don’t have water today. But here’s the important thing to notice hope for you begins 330 00:29:29,880 –> 00:29:36,880 by embracing the promise of God. Hope for you begins by embracing the promise of God. 331 00:29:40,020 –> 00:29:46,719 God will provide but hope for you begins by embracing the promise of God and what is the 332 00:29:46,719 –> 00:29:52,040 promise of God in relation to you? The promise of God to you is that everything that you 333 00:29:52,040 –> 00:29:59,040 need will be yours in Jesus Christ. That God is for you in Jesus Christ and that everything 334 00:29:59,640 –> 00:30:06,839 that you need is in Jesus Christ. That if Jesus Christ is yours, everything that you 335 00:30:06,839 –> 00:30:12,520 need will be yours. That is His promise to you. Right now, you may not be able to see 336 00:30:12,520 –> 00:30:17,979 how He is going to get you through the situation that you’re in immediately but I’m saying 337 00:30:17,979 –> 00:30:23,560 to you that hope begins, not by seeing the provision, hope begins with believing the 338 00:30:24,479 –> 00:30:31,479 promise and trusting Him to do it. Hagar, this is not the end for you or for your troubled 339 00:30:31,800 –> 00:30:35,880 son. There’s a great future beyond this. You can’t see how you’re going to get to tomorrow 340 00:30:35,880 –> 00:30:40,180 right now but I’m giving you a promise and I want you to trust this promise. The future 341 00:30:40,180 –> 00:30:44,920 is in my hands. There is a future for Ishmael and I’m telling you, I will make of him a 342 00:30:44,920 –> 00:30:50,060 great nation. If Hagar believes that promise, she will have confidence in a provision yet 343 00:30:50,099 –> 00:30:58,979 to come. But hope begins when you believe the promise of God. And what a marvelous promise 344 00:30:58,979 –> 00:31:05,979 it is. All this mess, all this folly that human sin has created, all this pain that 345 00:31:08,920 –> 00:31:17,920 has now ruptured a family and caused all this alienation. And out of it, God’s redeeming 346 00:31:18,140 –> 00:31:25,140 love is going to bring a great nation. In fact, multiple nations that trace their descent 347 00:31:26,199 –> 00:31:33,199 and heritage from Ishmael. And out of these nations, many hundreds, thousands and millions 348 00:31:33,859 –> 00:31:40,859 of people, who on the last day in the presence of God, descended from Ishmael and redeemed 349 00:31:41,839 –> 00:31:48,219 by Jesus Christ, will rejoice in unspeakable joy forever. That’s the redeeming grace that 350 00:31:48,219 –> 00:31:55,219 God brings out of the pain of Ishmael’s life. That at many times he must have thought, was 351 00:31:55,260 –> 00:32:00,680 there any point to it at all. Look at what God will bring out of your life. That’s the 352 00:32:00,680 –> 00:32:07,140 promise that’s coming. And embracing the promise, I want you to 353 00:32:07,619 –> 00:32:14,420 notice how wonderfully they then experience God’s provision. Verse 17, the angel of the 354 00:32:14,420 –> 00:32:21,420 Lord called to Hagar from Heaven. Verse 19, then God opened her eyes and she saw a well 355 00:32:23,619 –> 00:32:30,619 of water, and she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. 356 00:32:31,459 –> 00:32:36,020 a drink. Now I want to show you something in the 357 00:32:36,020 –> 00:32:39,979 Bible that’s actually never been clear to me before. I’ve never quite seen this and 358 00:32:39,979 –> 00:32:46,979 so it’s come fresh to me and it is of huge importance with regards to world mission. 359 00:32:48,099 –> 00:32:55,099 Abraham had two sons. Both of their lives were laid on the line. And both of them were 360 00:32:55,719 –> 00:33:02,719 saved, in precisely the same way, by a miraculous intervention of God. 361 00:33:02,939 –> 00:33:08,260 Most of you know the story of Isaac, really well. It’s in the next chapter, chapter 362 00:33:08,260 –> 00:33:12,300 22. Abraham takes him up to Mount Moriah and you remember the story they’re 363 00:33:12,300 –> 00:33:15,979 carrying the fire and the wood, and Isaac says at one point to his father, 364 00:33:15,979 –> 00:33:20,140 now where’s the lamb that’s going to be used for the burnt offering? And Abraham 365 00:33:20,599 –> 00:33:25,660 the burnt offering, and Abraham says, well the Lord will provide, and then they get 366 00:33:25,660 –> 00:33:29,140 to the top of the mountain and suddenly Isaac realizes that he’s going to be the 367 00:33:29,140 –> 00:33:35,459 burnt offering, and the boy’s life is on the line. Then God steps in. What happens? 368 00:33:35,579 –> 00:33:37,619 An angel of the Lord calls to Abraham 369 00:33:37,739 –> 00:33:44,040 from heaven, Genesis 22 and verse 11, Abraham looks up and behold … he sees 370 00:33:44,040 –> 00:33:48,540 something he had not seen before … behold, behind him was a ram caught in a 371 00:33:48,579 –> 00:33:54,079 thicket by his horns, and Abraham takes the ram and he offers it up as a burnt 372 00:33:54,199 –> 00:33:59,640 offering in the place of his son. Now that is the very, very well-known story 373 00:33:59,640 –> 00:34:04,599 of Isaac in Genesis chapter 22. What I want you to notice, and it’s very 374 00:34:04,599 –> 00:34:10,300 important, is that right next door to it in Genesis chapter 21 is a precisely 375 00:34:10,300 –> 00:34:17,320 parallel story with regards to Abraham’s other son Ishmael. Ishmael is sent out 376 00:34:17,419 –> 00:34:22,520 into the desert and, without water, and his life is on the line. There’s intent 377 00:34:22,520 –> 00:34:28,560 in this, you see. And what happens? Exactly the same thing. Verse 17, the 378 00:34:28,560 –> 00:34:34,899 angel of the Lord calls out to Hagar from heaven, and verse 19, the Lord opens 379 00:34:34,899 –> 00:34:38,300 Hagar’s eyes to something that she had not seen before. She sees a well 380 00:34:38,300 –> 00:34:45,459 of water. It’s very striking. Ishmael and Isaac are saved in precisely 381 00:34:45,459 –> 00:34:51,399 the same way, by an intervention of Almighty God himself. In both stories, God 382 00:34:51,399 –> 00:34:55,780 speaks from heaven. In both stories, God opens the eye, first of Abraham, then of 383 00:34:55,780 –> 00:34:57,540 Hagar, to see something that they had never 384 00:34:57,540 –> 00:35:02,419 seen before. Miraculously appears it is the provision of God that saves 385 00:35:02,419 –> 00:35:10,459 a life. In the one story, God provides a lamb that is sacrificed so that Isaac 386 00:35:10,580 –> 00:35:15,679 may be saved. In the other, God provides a well of water so that Ishmael may be 387 00:35:15,679 –> 00:35:27,699 saved. Now, this is of huge importance for this reason. Jews, Muslims, and Christians 388 00:35:27,699 –> 00:35:38,899 all trace their heritage back to Abraham. Muslims trace their heritage to Abraham 389 00:35:38,899 –> 00:35:46,620 through Ishmael. Jews trace their heritage to Abraham through Isaac. 390 00:35:46,620 –> 00:35:52,120 Christians trace their heritage to Abraham through faith. That’s in 391 00:35:52,120 –> 00:35:57,659 Galatians chapter 3 and verse 7 and it’s repeated very clearly in Galatians 392 00:35:57,659 –> 00:36:06,439 chapter 3 and verse 9. And the storie of Ishmael and the story of 393 00:36:06,459 –> 00:36:16,479 Isaac are pointing in precisely the same direction as to how people are saved, 394 00:36:16,479 –> 00:36:26,399 whatever their line. Christ is the sacrifice who was laid down in our place, 395 00:36:26,399 –> 00:36:30,840 the lamb led to the slaughter, pierced for our transgressions and crushed for 396 00:36:30,840 –> 00:36:35,399 our iniquities. And Christ is the well of living water 397 00:36:35,760 –> 00:36:40,459 that springs up to everlasting life. That’s how he describes himself in John 398 00:36:40,459 –> 00:36:44,439 chapter 4 in verse 14. That’s it. Whoever drinks of the water that I will give 399 00:36:44,439 –> 00:36:48,600 him will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in him a 400 00:36:48,600 –> 00:36:57,300 spring of water welling up to eternal life. Christ is the provision of God for 401 00:36:57,300 –> 00:37:03,340 all the children of Abraham. To all the people of the world who would identify 402 00:37:03,379 –> 00:37:09,100 themselves as Muslim, this story points to Jesus Christ as God’s provision for 403 00:37:09,100 –> 00:37:18,280 you. He’s the well of water, life-giving water for you. To all the people who 404 00:37:18,280 –> 00:37:23,379 identify themselves as Jewish, this story points to Jesus Christ as God’s 405 00:37:23,379 –> 00:37:31,439 provision for you. He is the lamb sacrificed in your place that you may 406 00:37:31,439 –> 00:37:37,219 have life. To all the people who would identify themselves as, quote, 407 00:37:37,219 –> 00:37:40,659 Christian, which evidently is somewhere like 80 percent of the population of 408 00:37:40,659 –> 00:37:46,679 this country, many of whom have no particular love for our faith in Christ, 409 00:37:46,679 –> 00:37:54,800 this story is pointing to Jesus Christ as God’s provision for you because you 410 00:37:54,800 –> 00:37:58,679 do not enter into everlasting life, your sins are not taken away simply because 411 00:37:58,719 –> 00:38:01,600 you, quote, call yourself Christian or happen to be born in a particular 412 00:38:01,600 –> 00:38:08,419 culture. But only as you, along with people from every other kind of 413 00:38:08,419 –> 00:38:13,080 background in the world, are plunged into a Living Union with Jesus Christ, God’s 414 00:38:13,080 –> 00:38:16,340 provision for all the children of Abraham, for all the peoples of the 415 00:38:16,340 –> 00:38:25,739 world. The sacrifice, the well of living water springing up to everlasting life, 416 00:38:25,820 –> 00:38:38,080 that’s the Son of God. And he is the Savior of the world. God’s promise. God’s 417 00:38:38,080 –> 00:38:43,139 provision. And then just very briefly at the end here, I want you to notice God’s 418 00:38:43,139 –> 00:38:48,780 presence remains with the boy. And I’m using this to speak to the most 419 00:38:48,780 –> 00:38:53,219 troubled person in the congregation here today. There’s a provision of God for you, 420 00:38:53,540 –> 00:38:57,239 there’s a promise of God in relation to you. There’s the presence of God that’s 421 00:38:57,239 –> 00:39:02,979 promised to you if you will embrace Christ today. And God, verse 20, was with 422 00:39:02,979 –> 00:39:07,199 the boy. Isn’t that a fantastic statement? God was 423 00:39:07,199 –> 00:39:12,679 with this most troubled boy. God was with the boy. The boy with all this 424 00:39:12,679 –> 00:39:16,060 dysfunction in his background. The boy with all this trouble in his own soul. 425 00:39:16,060 –> 00:39:20,540 The boy with all these questions about his own identity. God was with the boy. 426 00:39:20,540 –> 00:39:27,139 God comes to this boy and says, I am for you, I am with you, and I will never 427 00:39:27,139 –> 00:39:33,699 leave you and I will never forsake you. I just love this, because it’s a reminder 428 00:39:33,699 –> 00:39:38,540 to us as the Bible speaks to us about this so often that God often cuts His 429 00:39:38,540 –> 00:39:47,679 brightest gems from the darkest places. He is the God who specializes in works 430 00:39:47,840 –> 00:39:53,260 of grace in the most troubled of temperaments. Think about Ishmael with 431 00:39:53,260 –> 00:40:00,500 all of his struggles wild at heart but God lays hold of him at the lowest point 432 00:40:00,500 –> 00:40:06,879 of his life. Think about another man who I think was wild at heart, Saul of Tarsus. 433 00:40:06,879 –> 00:40:13,580 All this anger going on inside of him. Violence, blasphemy coming out of his 434 00:40:13,719 –> 00:40:21,360 mouth and God lays hold of him, turns him around and this man’s energies are now 435 00:40:21,360 –> 00:40:24,760 channeled in a new direction. He lives one of the greatest lives that has ever 436 00:40:24,760 –> 00:40:31,120 been lived. That could be you, and at the end of it he says, it is by the grace of 437 00:40:31,120 –> 00:40:39,820 God that I am what I am and his grace to me has not been without effect.” God did 438 00:40:39,879 –> 00:40:45,899 it for them, the same God can do it for you through Jesus Christ and so the 439 00:40:45,899 –> 00:40:51,000 message today to the most troubled person listening is simply this, there is 440 00:40:51,000 –> 00:40:57,459 a promise and there is a provision for you in Jesus Christ. He is the sacrifice 441 00:40:57,459 –> 00:41:04,800 for all your many sins and he can be to you the well of living water that will 442 00:41:04,879 –> 00:41:12,139 bring to you a new life that will spring up for all eternity and he reaches out 443 00:41:12,139 –> 00:41:23,100 to you today and there is hope for you in him. Father please take your word into 444 00:41:23,100 –> 00:41:32,199 the most troubled places of our hearts, the most troubled heart listening, and 445 00:41:32,600 –> 00:41:39,780 cause our work of redeeming grace to well up to the praise and glory of Jesus 446 00:41:39,780 –> 00:41:45,699 Christ in whose name we pray and everyone together said Amen.