Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding. God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. (Hebrews 6:16-18 NLT)
Lesson Focus: Parenting, By Faith (We are taking a timely detour to explore how this plays out in our current world crisis)
When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly." Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, "Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God." . . .
And God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her." Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, "Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?" And Abraham said to God, "Oh that Ishmael might live before you!" God said, "No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year." (Genesis 17:1-8, 15-21 ESV)
This passage is the historical focal point of the Middle East conflict we are experiencing today.
[Warren Weirsbe’s masterful summary] God had made the covenant, and God would fulfill it. All Abraham and Sarah had to do was wait by faith (Heb_6:12). Alas, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak! In the previous chapter, Abraham listened to God and exercised faith, but here he listened to his wife and revealed his unbelief. He ceased to walk in the Spirit and began to walk in the flesh. We have seen that “faith is living without scheming,” but at this point both of them tried to help God accomplish His plan. This explains why God had to wait until they were old before He gave them the child. They had to be dead in themselves before He could work (Heb_11:11-12). In Gen_16:2 Sarah blames God for her barren condition and hints that He is not good to them (see Gen_3:1-6). She turns to the world for help — to Hagar, the Egyptian — but the whole scheme fails. The works of the flesh now appear (Gal_5:16-26). God did not recognize the marriage. He called Hagar “Sarah’s maid” (Gen_16:8). This is the first mention of the Angel of the Lord in the OT, and is none other than Christ. God cared for Hagar, instructed her to submit to Sarah, and promised that her son, Ishmael, would be a great man, but a wild man. “Ishmael” means “God will hear” (see Gen_16:11).
When Isaac, Sarah’s son, entered the family, there was no room for Ishmael and he was cast out (Gen_21:9). Eventually, Ishmael fathered twelve sons (Gen_25:13-15), and their descendants have been enemies of the Jews for centuries.
Gal_4:21-31 teaches that Sarah pictures the New Covenant and Hagar the Old Covenant. Hagar was a slave, and the Old Covenant enslaved people (Act_15:10); Sarah was a free woman and Christ makes us free (Gal_5:1). Ishmael was born of the flesh and could not be controlled. Likewise, the Law appeals to the flesh but cannot change it or control it. Isaac was born of the Spirit, a child of promise (Gal_4:23) who enjoyed liberty.
Do not miss the practical lessons here: whenever we run ahead of God, there is trouble. The flesh loves to help God, but true faith is shown in patience (Isa_28:16). We cannot mix faith and flesh, law and grace, promise and self-effort. [Weirsbe’s Expository Outlines]
Egyptians still find themselves caught in the middle between Isaac and Ishmael.
Are any of you still dealing with trouble handed down to you from past generations?
Legacy (something that happened in the past or that comes from someone in the past) is an important Biblical principle.
You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. (Deuteronomy 11:19)
Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6)
Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.
He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God. (Psalm 78:1-8)
As you can see God is actually leading us to break down destructive human legacies by turning to and trusting Him and his promises. There are also practical lessons in Biblical parenting, which also focus on following Christ.
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. "Honor your father and mother" (this is the first commandment with a promise), "that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land." Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:1-4 this passage was repeated to the Colossians in 3:20-21)
What are some of the good things that have been passed down to you from your parents?
As it was with our “Hall of Faith” legacy:
By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones. (Hebrews 11:20-22)
Promises Kept: We can invoke future blessings on our children by “training them up in the way they should go (Prov. 22:6);” mainly “the way, the truth, and the life (John 14.6).” There is no greater legacy you can leave your children than “to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. (Colossians 1:25-28)
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