SATURDAY, June 20, 2009 READ: Genesis 18: 1 - 15
GOD’S PROMISE OF A SON
MEMORIZE: "Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah, your wife?” So he said, “Here in the tent.” And He said, “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.” Genesis 18: 9, 10
We are told in the Scriptures that Abram was in Ur of the Chaldees when God called him and directed him to leave his country, his family and his father’s household to go to a land that He would show him. God promised to make him a great nation. We do not know how long it was between when he received the call and when he actually entered the land. We are told that he was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran, in Syria, where he had lived with his father, until his death. We are told in Genesis 11: 30, that Sarah was barren. We do not know when it became an issue. Abram and Sarai really wanted a son. Now Abraham was ninety-nine years old and Sarah was eighty-nine years old, and more than likely, they had given up the idea of Sarah having a baby. There was hardly any real doubt about Abraham’s ability to make her pregnant if God opened her womb. God had promised and we are able to see how He was indicating that He was ready, in His own time, to fulfill His promise (cf. Genesis 17: 17 – 22).
According to our text, Genesis 18: 1 – 15, not long after entering into the covenant with Abraham and his descendants after him, and after instituting the sign of their participation, God visited Abraham to take him another step further in his faith. Abraham had asked the LORD just to allow his son Ishmael to be the son, his heir. The LORD was on His way to Sodom, but decided to pay a visit to Abraham. In vv. 1 - 8, we are told that Abraham saw three men coming towards his tent. Without knowing who they were, Abraham extended hospitality to them (cf. Hebrews 13: 2). In vv. 9 – 15, the matter about which they had come was raised. Up until this point, the LORD has not spoken to Sarah. Why? We do not know. We can surmise, but we do not know why. God will speak to us if we are in a position to listen to Him. In v. 9, the visitors asked for Sarah. Note how Abraham told them where Sarah was. In vv. 10, 11, with Sarah in the tent behind where Abraham was standing, the LORD told Abraham that, “… I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and your wife shall have a son.” We are told that both Abraham and Sarah were well passed child-bearing age. When Sarah heard those words, she laughed. Is that an indication that Sarah was a bit skeptical? It was too late. It was not humanly possible.
God sought to make it clear that Sarah was going to have a son. This was a specific reference to Isaac (cf. 17: 19). Remotely, it contained a reference to the One who would be a Son, who would come into the human family through Isaac’s line (cf. Genesis 3: 15; Isaiah 9: 6, 7). God was continuing to introduce the idea of the One promised actually being divine and a Son. Note that in Genesis 3: 15, the One who has been indicated is actually “… the seed of the woman.” Is there significance in that? Notice that the son promised to Abraham and Sarah would be conceived and born outside of natural course of life. Sarah would have stopped producing reproductive eggs already. This was intended to indicate that his birth would be divinely enabled. Are you in touch with that? God, the Father, had been introducing His Son to Adam’s descendants (cf. John 6: 39, 40; 1 John 5: 5; Acts 4: 12). He wants us to recognize Him and believe in Him (cf. John 3: 16)? Have you?
PRAY:LORD, God Almighty, thank You for who You are and for making it possible for us to become a part of Your household. Thank You for giving Your Son, and through Him, eternal life. I believe in Jesus of Nazareth. I believe that He is Your only begotten Son. I believe that He died to put my sins away and that You brought Him back from the dead and gives us Your life through Him. Thank You, in Jesus’ strong name. Amen.