Rev. David Holwick E Abraham #5
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
February 13, 2005
Genesis 16:1-6
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I. Schemes can work.
Three lawyers and three accountants were traveling by train to a
conference at a mountain resort.
At the station the three lawyers, who had each just purchased
individual tickets, watched as the three accountants bought a
single ticket between them.
"How are three people going to travel on only one ticket?" asked
one of the lawyers.
"Watch and you'll see," answered one of the accountants.
They all boarded the train together.
The lawyers took seats in the same section but accountants all
crammed into a restroom and closed the door.
Shortly after the train departed, the conductor began collecting
tickets.
As he passed the restroom he knocked on the door and said,
"Ticket, please."
The door opened just a little and an arm emerged with a ticket.
The conductor took the ticket and then moved on.
The lawyers were impressed.
So after the conference, the lawyers decided to copy their
traveling companions on the return trip.
When they got to the station, they bought a single ticket.
To their amusement, the accountants didn't buy a ticket at all.
"How are you going to travel without a ticket?" chided one lawyer.
"Watch and you'll see," said one of the accountants.
When they boarded the train the three lawyers crammed into one
restroom while the three accountants crammed into another.
The train departed the station.
Shortly afterward, one of the accountants sneaked over to the
lawyers' restroom, knocked on the door and said,
"Ticket, please."
#19221
Have you ever tried something like that?
Do you think you could get away with it?
Would you try it if you could?
II. God is taking an awfully long time.
A. Abram and Sarai have been in Canaan 10 years.
1) God promised them offspring, then reaffirmed it.
2) Where does his wife Sarai fit in?
a) The promise was given to Abram.
b) Of course, it takes two to have a baby.
c) Sarai is in her late 70s and no baby is in sight.
3) Barrenness was a big deal back then.
a) It is a big deal now.
b) People will spend tens of thousands of dollars to
have a child of their own.
c) Abram and Sarai did not have that kind of technology.
B. Their scheme.
1) Sarai proposes a solution - her maid can get pregnant.
a) We would call this a surrogate mother.
b) It was perfectly legal in Abram's day.
1> Several of the sons of Jacob, who became tribes in
Israel, were born to surrogates (concubines).
2) Sarai proposes, but God disposes.
a) It is never any other way.
III. Four stupid things Christians do.
A. Think that God needs your help.
1) Sarai's scheme provides a human solution to God's promise.
a) However, it ignores that fact that her extraordinary
God can do extraordinary things.
b) It also injects jealousy and hatred into her family,
as events show.
2) We use lots of schemes with God.
a) Desperate people are willing to try anything.
1> Affairs, because we are not getting attention.
2> Drug use, because parents don't understand us.
3> Gambling, so God can prosper us.
b) "God wants me to be happy" has justified much sin.
"Saved!" movie - main character's mother is having
a platonic affair with a pastor.
She explains to her daughter, "God wants me to be
happy, so it must be OK."
c) Paul's warning in Galatians 6:7 -
"Do not be deceived.
God cannot be mocked.
A man sows what he reaps."
3) Galatians 4 - Sarai's scheme is an example of religion of
the flesh.
a) It is trying to use human effort to reach God.
b) This never works.
B. Put people before God.
1) Abram agreed with his wife. 16:2
a) Literally, he listens to her (instead of God).
2) This is one of several allusions to the Fall from the
Garden of Eden.
a) By putting his wife first, he jeopardized his promise.
C. Pass the blame instead of taking responsibility.
1) Sarai blames God, then her husband, for her situation. (2,5)
a) She basically calls a curse down on her husband. 16:5
2) Blame is easy; personal responsibility is hard.
a) Blame means we won't learn from our mistakes, but will
repeat them.
b) It also doesn't enhance our relationships any!
D. Accept peace at any price.
1) Abraham, the great hero of faith, crumbles before his wife.
a) He lets her do whatever she wants.
2) In the end, it brings bitterness rather than peace.
IV. Everybody loses.
A. Sarai is humiliated, and loses a maid.
B. Hagar is exiled and loses her home.
C. Abram loses a son and peace in his family.
V. A sovereign God lets everybody win.
A. All of them end up blessed in the end.
1) Sarai will have a son of her own.
2) Hagar has a son who receives a promise from God.
B. Don't leave God out of the picture.
1) Do what he tells you to do, and leave the details to him.
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SOURCE FOR ILLUSTRATION USED IN THIS SERMON:
#19221 "Cheap Train Rides," author unknown, Rev. John Gillmartin's
Sermon-Illustrations-Each-Week (SIEW), June 4, 2001.
Also, some of the key points are borrowed from the sermon "Four Stupid
Things Believers Do To Mess Up Their Lives," by Rev. Dave Redick,
Kerux sermon #10933.
This and 25,000 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,
absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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Study Notes
Kidner
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I. Another stage in eliminating every means but miracle concerning son.
A. Abram has been a strong hero, but now caves in to his wife.
B. God watches over them and works his sovereign will.
II. Surrogates were acceptable for producing children.
A. It was acceptable, but not wise.
1) It happened in Jacob's family.
B. Ten years has gone by.
1) (Wenham - apparently acceptable to Abram, but not to Sarai.)
III. Abram's actions are a slip of faith.
A. He follows wife's voice, not God's.
B. NT compares Ishmael to the products of self-effort in religion.
Gal 4:22; also 4:29
C. Each of the three characters displays the untruth that is part
of sin:
1) False pride. 16:4
2) False blame. 16:5
3) False neutrality. 16:6
Wenham
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I. Sarai's suggestion was perfectly acceptable in her society.
II. Nevertheless, the passage puts it in a bad light.
A. God seems to promise the birth would be abnormal, miraculous.
B. Sarai's initiative is similar to Abram's deception in 12:10-20.
C. The wording of the passage clearly alludes to Genesis 3.
1) 16:2 - Abram obeyed [lit. listen to the voice], only found
here and in Gen 3:17.
2) 16:3 - Sarai "takes" Hagar and "gives" her to Abram.
3) 16:5 - Sarai shifts blame to Abram. Gen 3:12-13
4) Conclusion: both Gen 3 and Gen 16 are accounts of a fall.
D. May the Lord judge - essentially a curse.
III. Hagar.
A. Sarai humiliated her - same word used of Egyptian treatment of
Israelites.
B. Scene ends in total disaster:
1) Hagar has lost her home.
2) Sarai has lost her maid.
3) Abram has lost his second wife and newborn child.
IV. Conclusions.
A. Hasty action springing from unbelief does not advance the divine
purpose.
B. Yet human error can be redeemed by God's grace.
1) Ishmael becomes much-beloved son of Abram.
2) God's protection of Hagar shows his concern for outcasts
and downtrodden.
3) "What the Egyptians would later do to Sari's children,
Sarai did to a child of Egypt. But God listened to both;
His compassion is with all his creatures." [Tsevat]
C. Hagar stands with the Virgin Mary as examples of women who
obediently accept God's word and thereby bring blessing
to a multitude of descendants.
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