WEDNESDAY, June 17, 2009                                                       READ: Genesis 16: 1 - 16                                                                                                        

FATHER ABRAHAM FAILED TO TAKE HIS STAND

MEMORIZE: Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the LORD has restrained me from bearing children. Please go in to my maiden perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai.’         Genesis 16: 1, 2

God often gives us His faithful promises, which He intends to fulfill, without telling us when He intends to do so. Just as often, we become anxious when He does not fulfill His promises according to the schedules which we develop and by which we expect Him operate.

God had been working with Abram, getting him to develop and to mature in faith. God brought Abram to a critical juncture when He got him to believe in His ability and willingness to provide a son, by whom He would provide the Promised Son (cf. Genesis 15: 6; 3: 15). We are told in Genesis 15: 18-21, that on that same day, God made a covenant with Abram to give his descendants the land from Egypt up to the Euphrates, then occupied by the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amonites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites. It seems safe to imagine that Abram went home from his encounter with God and related to Sarai what had taken place. It has been ten years since both Abram and Sarai entered the land to which God directed them. We do not know how long it had been between when God first spoke to Abraham, while he was still in Ur of the Chaldees, and he obeyed and entered the land of Canaan. We do not know when the whole idea of her own barrenness would have begin to be a matter of concern to Sarai. It would also be safe to imagine how Sarai would have felt each time Abram informed her that God had promised to them a son. Could she have felt that He might have had it in mind to open her womb, or, did He want them to employ their own to pull it off. Well, according to our text, Genesis 16: 1 – 16, it does seem that Sarai had concluded that, it would be okay to employ the means which were employed in the culture. Well, having been in Egypt and having an Egyptian maidservant, it would be in order to adopt or resort to the Egyptian cultural practice of getting a child through her own maidservant (cf. v. 2). In that same verse we see how Sarai made the request of Abram, and, seemingly, with no hesitation, he heeded her voice and consented to engage in this cultural practice. Did he inquire of the LORD to know whether or not this practice was part of what He had in mind for them? In v. 3, we read that Sarai gave her maid, Hagar,"… to her husband Abram to be his wife….” This was a very risky thing to do. In v. 4, we see the hazard. We do not know all that Abraham said to her in their tender moments. But when Hagar “… saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes.” We see in v. 5, how Sarai responded to the way in which Hagar began to treat her. She confronted Abram. He evidently did not affirm her enough before or to Hagar. He, quite likely, enabled Hagar to feel more special to him than his own wife, Sarai. She had done something for him that Sarai was not able to do for him. How does that work? We are able to see in v. 6, how Abram failed to take a responsible stand for what was right. Do you recall that Adam had already failed to take a stand against his wife’s suggestion to him? That, incidentally, summarizes the state of affairs with men, husbands and fathers today. We fail, too often, to take the appropriate stand for that which we know is right. Abram left himself in no position to mitigate the austere treatment which Sarai gave to Hagar. Hagar felt that she had to take matters into her own hands. What about passive, docile, hen-pecked men, who become husbands and fathers?

PRAY:LORD, God Almighty, here I am, realizing that times have changed, yet the situations are so closely similar. LORD, please help me to live so as to make a difference. Let Your righteous rule come through me today. I am asking this in Jesus’ strong name. Amen.