It may be because I’m writing this in December, but reading about Isaac’s birth brings Galatians 4:4 to mind: “In the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son to be born of woman, born under Law, that he might redeem those under Law.” Not that Isaac was God’s Son, but the timing of the birth is clearly miraculous and required God’s divine intervention.
Why didn’t Sarah have babies before? Why couldn’t Isaac have been born when she was young? I don’t know. I can think of several reasons why not, but they’re purely conjecture. However, if we follow the idea behind Galatians 4:4 we can say that the time wasn’t right then. But at Genesis 21 the time was right, so Sarah becomes a mother in her old age, and they name the baby Isaac – which means “laughter.”
The name is meaningful. Sarah laughed in doubt and derision when she first heard she’d bear a son for Abraham. She must have laughed with hope and anticipation when she realized she was pregnant. And after Isaac was born the laughter had to have been pure joy.
But the joy turned to jealousy after Isaac was weaned.
Isaac was probably 2 or 3 years old, and Abraham threw a great celebration to recognize this early milestone in his son’s life. At some point in the celebration Sarah saw Ishmael laughing. It’s the same root word in Hebrew for the name and the verb. The text does not say why Ishmael was laughing. Again we could guess, but it’d only be conjecture. What matters is that Ishmael’s laughter had no place in Sarah’s celebration of her “Laughter” and she wanted Ishmael and Hagar thrown out.
It’s sad when petty jealousy tears families apart. But the Bible is a record of real people living in relationship with a real God. They had real flaws and sins, and God gave them real grace and forgiveness. This is one of the reasons the Bible is such a comfort to us as we live. We’ve all experienced pettiness and jealousy – in our families, at work, even at church. We’ve all received the short end of the stick at some point from someone who should have supported us. Sometimes though we’ve been the petty jealous ones, and wronged others. But as surely as God dealt with Ishmael, Hagar, Sarah, Abraham and Isaac out of His mercy and love, He gives that same mercy and love to us. He didn’t wait for them to “get their act together.” He acted on their behalf. And he does the same for us giving his very Son to redeem us through His life, death, and resurrection.
Not that God made everything easy. Hagar despaired and left her son to die. I can hardly imagine the fear and sorrow listening to Ishmael cry having lost his father and his family, as Hagar left him under the bushes as she went off where she couldn’t hear him. God had a plan and He would protect Ishmael even while He passed on the promises of the savior to Isaac. The promise He would truly fulfill in the fullness of time.
Living by faith is not easy. But God always blesses and guides us by His grace.
Father, thank you for dealing with real people like me and showing me love and mercy in Jesus. Amen.
Why didn’t Sarah have babies before? Why couldn’t Isaac have been born when she was young? I don’t know. I can think of several reasons why not, but they’re purely conjecture. However, if we follow the idea behind Galatians 4:4 we can say that the time wasn’t right then. But at Genesis 21 the time was right, so Sarah becomes a mother in her old age, and they name the baby Isaac – which means “laughter.”
The name is meaningful. Sarah laughed in doubt and derision when she first heard she’d bear a son for Abraham. She must have laughed with hope and anticipation when she realized she was pregnant. And after Isaac was born the laughter had to have been pure joy.
But the joy turned to jealousy after Isaac was weaned.
Isaac was probably 2 or 3 years old, and Abraham threw a great celebration to recognize this early milestone in his son’s life. At some point in the celebration Sarah saw Ishmael laughing. It’s the same root word in Hebrew for the name and the verb. The text does not say why Ishmael was laughing. Again we could guess, but it’d only be conjecture. What matters is that Ishmael’s laughter had no place in Sarah’s celebration of her “Laughter” and she wanted Ishmael and Hagar thrown out.
It’s sad when petty jealousy tears families apart. But the Bible is a record of real people living in relationship with a real God. They had real flaws and sins, and God gave them real grace and forgiveness. This is one of the reasons the Bible is such a comfort to us as we live. We’ve all experienced pettiness and jealousy – in our families, at work, even at church. We’ve all received the short end of the stick at some point from someone who should have supported us. Sometimes though we’ve been the petty jealous ones, and wronged others. But as surely as God dealt with Ishmael, Hagar, Sarah, Abraham and Isaac out of His mercy and love, He gives that same mercy and love to us. He didn’t wait for them to “get their act together.” He acted on their behalf. And he does the same for us giving his very Son to redeem us through His life, death, and resurrection.
Not that God made everything easy. Hagar despaired and left her son to die. I can hardly imagine the fear and sorrow listening to Ishmael cry having lost his father and his family, as Hagar left him under the bushes as she went off where she couldn’t hear him. God had a plan and He would protect Ishmael even while He passed on the promises of the savior to Isaac. The promise He would truly fulfill in the fullness of time.
Living by faith is not easy. But God always blesses and guides us by His grace.
Father, thank you for dealing with real people like me and showing me love and mercy in Jesus. Amen.
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