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Jonathan Griffiths: The account of this domino effect is here for us as a warning for whenever we are tempted to take matters into our own hands and drive them forward in our own way. And I suspect each one of us, we know something of that temptation and have seen something of the disastrous results.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Encounter the Truth with Jonathan Griffiths. Jonathan, I think one of the things looking back at even these early stories of the Old Testament reminds us is that we don't sin in a vacuum. When sin enters the picture and when we sin, it doesn't just impact us, but there can be a domino effect. It really impacts those around us as well.

Jonathan Griffiths: Well, I think Abram and Sarai learned that lesson the hard way in the incident that we're going to be looking at today in Genesis chapter 16. Sin is messy, and it makes a mess of relationships, and it impacts other people. I guess we probably know that experientially. We've learned something of that in the real world.

The Bible makes it so clear for us, and it's a sober lesson in the passage today, but it's hope-filled because it's not the end of the story. I often think with some of these disasters in the life of Abram that the Bible could have been a very short book because God could have given up in Genesis chapter 12 or 13 or 16 as we are here today.

But we look at the Bible and we realize it's really quite a long book, and this isn't the end of the story. Our mistakes, our sin, our rebellion, if there's repentance that follows, it doesn't need to be the end of the story. That's a great encouragement. Maybe it's the encouragement that some need to hear today who are listening.

Guest (Male): I hope that you will keep listening if that's the encouragement that you need today. I hope that you will not only listen but that you will grab a Bible and join us in the book of Genesis. We are in chapter 16 as we begin the message, "The Cost of Self-Reliance." Here is Jonathan.

Jonathan Griffiths: I wonder if it ever seems to you that the plans and the purposes of God are rather slow in coming to fruition. His plans and purposes for the gospel, for the church, for the world, his plans and purposes even for you personally. Gospel progress often seems unremarkable, doesn't it? Response, it often seems meager. Reaching the unreached to the very ends of the earth, it's taking a little bit of time, isn't it? And we might well ask, "Will the job ever be completed? Will the task ever be done?"

In the personal sphere, perhaps you sense that the Lord has set before you a certain task, a certain responsibility, but it's hard to gain traction with it. He's put it on your heart to serve in a particular way, but the opportunity just hasn't presented itself. The door hasn't been opened. You feel that it is his will for you maybe to get married, but it hasn't happened yet. You believe that he wants you to pray for a loved one, a relative to come to saving faith, but you've prayed for years and there's been no change of heart.

When you and I are called upon to wait for the outworking of the plans and purposes of God, there is a great temptation that often arises. It is the temptation to take matters into our own hands, to seek to achieve God's purposes in our own way, in our own time, and on our own terms. Genesis chapter 16 is the story of two servants of God, two people of faith who succumb to that very temptation. It's a messy incident. It's a blot on Abram and Sarai's record.

It comes to us as a cautionary tale, a warning against taking matters into our own hands when we are tempted to do so. It's here to highlight for us the sheer grace of God whose plans and purposes will not be derailed and will not be destroyed by the folly of his servants. This story of two believers who attempt to pursue God's purposes in a very human way, it highlights for us, first of all, the domino effect of sin.

The story of the life of Abram and Sarai has been a bit of a roller coaster so far as we've traveled through it together in these early chapters of Genesis. There have been some real highs where they have trusted God and walked with him in costly obedience, responding in faith to the word of promise. There have also been some lows, haven't there? Times of fear and of outright failure.

In the grand sweep of their story, Genesis 16 does mark a particular low point. It actually reads like some kind of a Greek tragedy, I think. It unfolds as a drama that you wince at every turn. Maybe you've watched a film or read a novel like this. You can just see the key characters walking into disaster, and you want to cry out to them. You want to shout at the television screen, "Stop this! Don't do this anymore! Pull back from this dreadful plan."

Every new move, each fresh compromise, it seems to dig them into a deeper and deeper hole, and you begin to wonder, "Is there any way out of this thing?" The chapter opens on an ominous note. Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. Given what we know of the promise of God to make of this family a great nation who would bring blessing to the world, this issue is a big issue. This problem is a big problem.

Only a few verses ago, God had taken Abram outside to look at the night sky. You remember this moment. To look at the stars of the sky, and he had declared to Abram that his offspring would be as many as the stars above. He had then confirmed his covenant to Abram in that rather dramatic ceremony at the end of the last chapter.

The promises of God were ringing in the ears of Abram at the end of Genesis chapter 15, but the hard reality hadn't changed. Abram and Sarai were old and getting older, and Sarai was still barren. They had been living in the land of Canaan for a decade now. By this time, Abram is in his mid-eighties, and for Sarai, all of this must have been incredibly tough emotionally and spiritually.

The hopes and the expectations of the family, the very promises of God for the future not only of their family but of the world, it all rested upon her having a baby. It simply wasn't happening. It hadn't happened thus far, and at her age, it seemed impossible. Now, she and Abram were people of faith, remember. They never drifted into agnosticism or atheism. They weren't on the verge of giving up on the God of the covenant. Not at all. Far from it.

But evidently, Sarai could not see how the promises of God were going to be fulfilled unless she and Abram now did something, and did something fairly drastic. So an idea occurs to Sarai one day. It was not unheard of in the ancient world for servants to bear children in the place of their mistress if she could not conceive. It happened from time to time.

Sarai looked over at her Egyptian servant Hagar, and in Hagar, she began to see an uncomfortable but an efficient solution to a seemingly impossible problem. And so she put the idea to Abram. And Sarai said to Abram, "Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go into my servant. It may be that I shall obtain children by her." Often when you hear the story of a major disaster, you learn that there were a series of bad moves made by a series of people that combined to create this perfect storm, this domino effect.

The nuclear reactor, it overheats because of a problem in engineering and another problem in manufacture, followed by a problem in monitoring and control, followed by an extra element of human error. Or the ship, it sinks because of a design flaw that is compounded by a loading imbalance that is made more dangerous through a navigation error in the midst of a storm. And all that comes together to make for a terrible disaster. It is a domino effect.

Well, here in Genesis chapter 16, we begin to see the domino effect of a whole series of sinful blunders. This first one on the part of Sarai, it is such a warning to us, to each one of us. It is a warning to believers who aren't in any way planning or intending to turn our backs on the Lord, and I hope that's us this morning. She isn't questioning God's existence. She isn't questioning God's plan. She isn't converting to a pagan religion. She has just grown weary in waiting. Does that sound at all familiar?

She's grown impatient, and she has decided that now is the time to take things into her own hands. God doesn't seem to be doing it, so I am going to help him out. I will make this thing happen myself. Her suggestion here, it has to be said, it's not out of step with the culture of the time. These things did take place. We have record of it. But at the same time, this simply isn't God's way.

Nowhere has God said that polygamy would ever be his plan. Nowhere has he invited Abram and Sarai to consider this as a real option. And so here is the first domino that falls. It falls within the heart and the mind of Sarai. But the next one, it comes right away. Sarai makes her case, and Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Encounter the Truth with Jonathan Griffiths. Our message today is called "The Cost of Self-Reliance," looking at Genesis 16 and seeing how when we do things that are contrary to God's way, there really is a cost in that self-reliance. Now we're going to get back to the message in just a moment, so I hope you'll stay with us.

Well, I hope you're enjoying this broadcast and that you're able to listen regularly. As you do, I hope it's helping you grow in your knowledge and understanding of God's Word. If that's the case, we'd love to hear how God is using Encounter the Truth in your life. You can always give us your feedback through our website, that's encounterthetruth.org.

While you're there, not only can you give us some feedback, you can also listen to broadcasts online that you may have missed. You can connect with our social media channels. You can find our newsletter as well as our weekly e-devotional. There's that and a lot more at the website, encounterthetruth.org. Back to our message from Genesis 16. Again, here is Jonathan.

Jonathan Griffiths: So here is the first domino that falls. It falls within the heart and the mind of Sarai. But the next one, it comes right away. Sarai makes her case, and Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. Within a marriage, God gives a husband and a wife to one another to provide counsel and encouragement. In particular, the husband has a God-given role of giving godly leadership within the family.

But rather than counter-balance Sarai's suggestion, rather than speak sense and wisdom into the situation, Abram, he just hears the heartache in Sarai's voice. He feels the urgency of her appeal, and he unquestioningly goes along with the plan. He actually completely abdicates any responsibility for true leadership here. He ducks the opportunity to steer things in a godly direction, to course correct. And here we actually have an echo, don't we, of the Garden of Eden? A powerful echo.

You remember what happened there. The serpent spoke to Eve, tempted her. She was taken in, and Adam then followed in her sin without raising a single question or an objection. And so another domino falls. The plan, it's initiated. After Abram had lived 10 years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife.

The mess, it gets more messy. Abram goes along with this plan that he should have lovingly and firmly refused. He abandons his monogamous commitment to Sarai and embraces the polygamy of the surrounding cultures. And this plan, this arrangement, this sin, well, it only opens the door to more sin. The next domino quickly falls. Hagar duly becomes pregnant, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.

It's hard to imagine all the emotions of Hagar in this situation, how she might have felt in being asked or coerced or even forced into this arrangement. We just don't have a record. But once she conceives, we do now gain some insight into her feelings and her response. She looks with contempt on her childless mistress. Respect of any kind, which would have been fitting within the household, respect for Sarai gives way to smugness and then contempt.

Now Hagar is a wife of Abram like Sarai is, but she actually has the upper hand because she has produced the much-anticipated heir. Unsurprisingly, Sarai feels hurt. She feels humiliated, and another domino falls. She turns her anger now on Abram. "May the wrong done to me be on you. I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me."

"It's your fault, Abram. It's all your fault. I let you marry my servant to help the situation move forward, but look what's happened here. The Lord is going to judge, but I know the verdict. You are guilty, Abram. Your fault." Well, we don't want to be too hard on Sarai here in her distress, but we have to acknowledge as well how unreasonable all this seems. This was your idea after all, Sarai. You suggested it. You wanted it this way. And it's not like no one could see that this path forward was strewn with rocks and obstacles and dangers.

But in any case, the situation has now led to tension and acrimony between Sarai and Abram. And as if things weren't messy enough already, they quickly get worse. Abram responds to this, not with an attempt to speak reason to the situation, not with a gentle rebuttal to the tirade. No, he just redirects Sarai's anger toward Hagar, who is actually fundamentally helpless. "Behold, your servant. She's in your power. Do as you please."

Look, Hagar may be my wife now, but she still came into this house as a servant. She came into this house as your servant. Do whatever you want with her. But Abram, Hagar, she needs protecting here. She was dragged into this situation. It hardly upheld her freedom or her dignity in the first place. And now to allow her to become a whipping post for the anger of Sarai? Abram, you can't do that. What are you thinking?

Now the next domino falls. Sarai does what we anticipate she would do. She deals harshly with her former servant. She deepens her own sin and her own shame by abusing a defenseless woman within her household. And all this, it leads to the falling of one more domino. All this leads to one more unhappy outcome. Hagar flees. She runs for it. It's a reasonable response, of course. We can hardly fault her for running away.

But this sad outcome, it is a bad outcome because despite everything, the blessing of God still rests on Abram and his family and his household. Ultimately, for Hagar to know the blessings of God, the salvation blessings of God, she needs to remain part of the family of faith, however messy that family may be. One domino after another after another after another. The initial idea, the initial inclination to take matters into human hands, the initial sin, it sets off a cascade of other sins.

Sin begets sin here, and things go from bad to worse to worse again. Now the account of this domino effect, the presentation of this tragic drama before us, it is here for us as a warning. It's here as a warning for you and for me in those seasons when the plans of God for the gospel, for the church, for our loved ones, for us personally, when the plans and purposes of God seem slow to come to fruition.

It's a warning for us, isn't it, for whenever we are tempted to take matters into our own hands and drive them forward in our own way. And I suspect each one of us here, we know something of that temptation. We know something of that experience, and perhaps you personally have seen something of the disastrous results. Maybe you've seen it in a ministry endeavor. Things aren't coming together as you had expected, as you had planned.

The Lord hasn't made the provision. He hasn't brought along the partners. He hasn't opened the door, but you are determined anyway, this thing is going to happen. Maybe you've seen it in your evangelism or your discipleship of your loved ones. The Lord just hasn't yet done the work in their heart that you've been longing he would do. And it's been a long time that you've been praying, and so you decide, "Okay, now is the time," and you push and you cajole, and the results, they're not pretty, are they?

Maybe you've seen it in your personal life. The Lord hasn't provided that believing spouse that you've been praying for. And so you think, "If the Lord won't come through for me, here's what I'll do. I will find a sympathetic non-Christian and I'll just make it work." And of course, the results, they're messy. This is a real area of temptation and danger for us who know the Lord.

It's a subtle temptation. Of course, it is a subtle danger. Remember, Abram and Sarai, they wasn't saying, "We don't have faith anymore." They weren't saying that the promises of God were not true. They were not wanting to walk away from the Lord or to stop serving the Lord. No, none of the above, not at all. They believed that the promises of God were true. They believed that his plans would come to fruition ultimately.

They simply and wrongly assumed that if God seemed slow in working out his purposes, it was right now for them to take matters into their own hands. It was fine for them to employ a shortcut or two. It was appropriate to drive things through by human means. But the results, as we all can see, the results were disastrous. One sin led to another, which led to another, which led to another, and there was carnage at every turn. Pursuing God's plan humanity's way, it highlights the domino effect of sin.

Guest (Male): You know, it is such a temptation to think that we can keep sin under control. But as we've been looking at today, certainly a domino effect. You're listening to Encounter the Truth with Jonathan Griffiths and the first part of the message entitled "The Cost of Self-Reliance." And we're going to continue this message on our next broadcast, so I hope you'll make it a point to listen. If you ever miss a program, come and listen online. Our website is encounterthetruth.org.

Encounter the Truth is able to be on the station because of your financial generosity. Being listener-supported, we do depend on hearing from you to keep Jonathan's teaching on this station. And as you give a gift of any amount this month, we want to send you a book called "The Final Lap," written by John Wyatt. And Jonathan, why do you think that this book is going to be useful or helpful?

Jonathan Griffiths: Well, John is really trying to encourage Christian people to think carefully about the final stages of life and the retirement years as well, and to be prepared for navigating that season of life as believers. Retirement and old age will come upon us eventually if the Lord gives us those years, and not many of us give a whole lot of thought to what it looks like to live well through those seasons of life and to trust the Lord through the ups and downs of those years and those decades.

John's book is designed to help us think through those things well. And for some listeners, that will be while you are retired or you are living through old age and the Lord's given you the blessing of those years. And I think this book will be a real encouragement to think through what it looks like to be a faithful believer in that season of life.

Then other listeners will be caring for perhaps elderly parents and seeking to encourage elderly parents or grandparents. And I think this book will be a resource and an encouragement to think Christianly about how to do that and how to be an encouragement. I think there's tremendous value here actually for all of us as believers to get hold of this book and to take in the lessons that John has for us from the Word of God.

Guest (Male): Well, it is called "The Final Lap: Navigating the Transitions of Later Life," written by John Wyatt. Our thank-you gift to you as you financially support Encounter the Truth this month. You can call and give over the phone at 1-833-99-TRUTH, or go online to encounterthetruth.org. Again, our phone number is 1-833-998-7884 or encounterthetruth.org.

You can also write us at Encounter the Truth, 2176 Prince of Wales Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, K2E 0A1, or in the US at Encounter the Truth, 215 North Arlington Heights Road, number 102, Arlington Heights, Illinois, 60004. For Jonathan Griffiths, I'm Steve Hiller. Thanks for listening, and I hope you'll join us next time.