Encounter the Truth

Jonathan Griffiths: We need to see and recognize the kindness of God, the faithfulness of God in all this. He is faithful in his care for his children. He remembers us. He sees our tears. He hears our cries, and he has a heart of compassion toward us.

Steve Hiller: You're listening to Encounter the Truth with Jonathan Griffiths, and we're continuing our series through the book of Genesis today, coming to Genesis chapter 21. For those who maybe are in a season right now of suffering and they can relate to the shedding of tears, sounds like we're in store for a message of hope and of comfort today.

Jonathan Griffiths: That's for sure. This is a lovely story and a lovely section in the Genesis narrative and in the life of Abraham and Sarah in that the promised child, the long-awaited child, is given to them. They've spent decades waiting for Isaac's arrival. God has promised his arrival. There have been all kinds of ups and downs in their life story before Isaac has come to them. But in this chapter, we see the promises of God fulfilled and we see the kindness of God displayed to this elderly couple in a very wonderful way.

Steve Hiller: Sometimes we can read this account and be quick to maybe judge Abraham and Sarah, some of the ways that they did not wait well. But waiting, I think, is one of the real struggles that we may have to face or that we will face, honestly, in the Christian life. Jonathan, how do we wait well?

Jonathan Griffiths: Well, waiting is very difficult. We struggle to wait for anything. We struggle from childhood to wait for things that we're looking forward to, and as adults, we may hide it slightly better, but we don't like waiting very much. But fundamental to the Christian life is to learn to wait. We are a waiting people.

We're waiting to be taken home to be with the Lord. We're waiting for the Lord Jesus to return. We're waiting for the fulfillment of the plans and purposes of God set out for us in the Scriptures. The saints of old, the heroes of the faith in the Scripture, they had to learn to wait, and they struggled with that. We see the ups and downs of waiting in the life of Abraham and the life of Sarah. But we also see within their story the faithfulness of God, that he didn't forget his promises, he didn't give up on them even as they struggled to wait well. He was entirely faithful. Walking with them through that process of waiting teaches us to wait well as we trust in the promises of God.

Steve Hiller: Well, we are going to look at God's faithfulness today as we begin a message from Genesis chapter 21. It's called The God of Astounding Faithfulness. Here is Jonathan.

Jonathan Griffiths: I don't know if you have this particular person in your life, perhaps as a colleague or a friend or a relative, but let me describe this person to you. This is the person you like and you appreciate, perhaps whom you love, whose company you enjoy well enough, but also the person upon whom you know you cannot rely, at least not 100%.

They say they're booking time for you on Thursday. Well, they might show or they might not show. Don't hold your breath. You bought a joint present with them for someone else, and they owe you their 50%. You put it on your credit card, but you know you might as well write off that money now because you probably won't see it. There's a job that they committed to do, but you know you better be ready to do it yourself.

In this relationship, you always need to have a backup plan. You always have to kind of manage things and organize things, and you always got to be prepared for disappointment. Many of us may have someone a little like that in our lives, or at least we have experienced a relationship a little bit like that at some point in our lives.

I mention that dynamic because I think there is a very real danger that you and I will treat God like that person in our lives. We like him. We love him. We enjoy his company. We value the relationship. But we always feel a little bit better if we have a backup plan, if we manage things on our own terms, in our own ways, if we hold on to control in the relationship.

We've never had cause to doubt him, of course, but we've had enough experience of disappointment with others to think it's better to be safe than sorry. We do that easily enough, I fear. In the story of Abraham and Sarah, within this story, we've actually seen these great heroes of the faith do precisely that, treat God in precisely this way.

We've seen the pattern repeated again and again. We've seen them try and do God's work for him, try to fulfill his promise of a child and a family through their own scheming, overcoming Sarah's barrenness by taking her servant to be a wife for Abraham. We've seen Abraham trying to provide for his own protection through deceit, first in Egypt a quarter of a century before, and then just recently in the previous chapter in the Negev, where once again he pretended that Sarah was merely his sister, not his wife.

At every turn, God has been patient to teach these servants of his that they can trust him fully, that they must trust him entirely, and they must allow him to do his work in his way. Now, here in our chapter today, in the incidents of this account, God puts the final nail in the coffin of that way of relating to him, and he shows them, and he shows us, that we can trust him entirely, that we must trust him fully. He shows us that he is faithful in every way.

The faithfulness of God headlines the chapter. It's so clearly the theme right from the get-go. Notice it again with me in verse one. "The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised." This God, he's faithful. This God, he is trustworthy. He can be relied upon. That's the big lesson of the chapter.

In our uncertain days, days of tremendous chaos and tremendous fearfulness, we need the reminder, and we need the lesson more than ever before. We see the faithfulness of God operating at two different levels in this chapter, and I want to kind of separate them out and treat them one at a time. We see God's faithfulness at work both in the practicalities of life, and we see his faithfulness at work in the promises of salvation. Let's start with the faithfulness of God in the practicalities of life.

As many of you know, as I've shared before, we lived in England before moving here to Ottawa. Like Canada, England has a state-funded health system called the National Health Service, the NHS. Now, it is often said of the NHS—and I don't know if this is entirely true and entirely fair—but it's often said that it is a good health system if you are really, really sick. If you are sort of knocking on eternity's door with a life-threatening condition, you're going to get world-class care. But don't expect too much if you go in with a broken toe or a runny nose.

I think we can sometimes fall into a trap of imagining that God is a little bit like that stereotype of the NHS for us. We imagine that he will help us when we are knocking on eternity's door, but not if we have stubbed our toe. His interest in us, his concern for us, extends basically to getting us to heaven in the end if we belong to Jesus. He will save us from the fires of judgment. We're certainly thankful for that. But as for the details of life in this world, life between now and the time when our days will come to an end, as for this in-between period, we more or less need to fend for ourselves.

We may not articulate things quite so starkly, but I think many of us slip into thinking and operating in those kind of terms. But one of the great delights of chapter 21 of Genesis, one of the great comforts of this portion of the story of Abraham, is that it highlights for us God's very practical concern, his practical care, his practical provision for the family of faith.

We see it from a few different angles here. On the most basic level, we see God's provision in the fact that Abraham and Sarah are actually now in a position to resume family life in chapter 21. Last chapter, they risked absolutely everything in their unwise dealings with Abimelech. Abraham really could have lost Sarah. He could have faced the anger, he could have faced the murderous wrath of a pagan king for his deceit. Chapter 20 could have ended in complete tragedy. It could have been the end of the Abraham story.

But here we are in chapter 21, and the story is still moving forward. Abraham and Sarah, they still have each other despite the sinful risks that they took. That is just God's kindness, his extraordinary kindness. How many times do we do things, perhaps not as dramatic as what Abraham did in chapter 20, but how many times do you and I make unwise decisions that place ourselves and our loved ones at risk? A moral decision that could cost us dearly. A financial decision that was reckless. A decision on the roads to drive too quickly when under time pressure. A decision about another type of risk that on reflection was the wrong decision.

I think we're just spiritually naive if we don't look back and recognize the hand of God in protecting us every day. That's not to say he guards us from every peril. No, awful things do happen. Tragedy does strike. We know that. But it is to say that God is actively involved in our care and our protection all the time, and we can't begin to imagine how many perils he has kept us from.

Steve Hiller: You're listening to Encounter the Truth with Jonathan Griffiths and a message called The God of Astounding Faithfulness. It's part of a larger series we're calling The Blessing. Today, really taking a look at Genesis chapter 21. Hope you will stay with us because we're going to get back to the message in just a moment. But if you miss any part of a broadcast, or you miss one in its entirety, you want to go back and check out what you missed, you can always do that by coming to our website. It's encounterthetruth.org. There you can stream the program or download an MP3 for free. Again, that's at encounterthetruth.org. Back to the message. Here is Jonathan.

Jonathan Griffiths: The very fact that Abraham and Sarah actually do reach chapter 21 as they do, a family unit still intact, it is only due to the sheer kindness of God. And then we come to this wonderful gift of a child. There are huge salvation implications for Isaac's coming, and we're going to turn to those and consider those in a moment. But I want to just think about the human aspect here for a moment, even the emotional aspect.

Here are a couple that have been longing for a child for decades. No doubt crying out to the Lord to lift from them this burden of childlessness. In many cases, of course, God will not choose to answer prayers of that kind in the way that we might hope, and some listening will know the pain of that very, very well.

But in the gift of Isaac, we do see the care and the compassion of God. After all these years, after all this heartache, after all this waiting, verse two: "And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him." Wonderful words.

This elderly couple, they could hardly believe the joy that was there. In fact, it brought laughter to them. In keeping with the instruction of God, they named this child Isaac, verse three, which means "he laughs." And it's laughable in a joyful sense. Remember verse five, Abraham is 100 years old at this point. And so Sarah exclaims, verse six: "God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me." Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.

And so now this elderly couple, they have the joy of throwing a baby shower at this point in their lives, verse eight. Just picture it, just imagine the scene. There's a party. There's a wonderful celebration. Maybe some of their friends and their contemporaries are pushing walkers rather than baby carriages, strollers of their own, when they arrive for this party. It's come about 75 years later than all the other baby showers of their friends. But the party is on.

We need to see and recognize the kindness of God, the compassion of God, the faithfulness of God in all this. Abraham and Sarah, they have a big role to play in God's salvation plan. It stretches well beyond themselves and well beyond their lifetime. But they were also, at the same time, ordinary human beings with longings and gifts and griefs and burdens of heart. They were real people.

God's kindness to them, it just reminds us that he is faithful. He is faithful in his care for his children. He remembers us. He sees our tears. He hears our cries, and he has a heart of compassion toward us. Now, that's not to say that he's going to fulfill every longing for us in this life, of course not. But he's so faithful and kind in his provision.

We see that for Abraham and Sarah. We see it elsewhere in the narrative too. The story takes what feels like a bit of a darker turn in the midst of the celebration. Amidst this joyful hubbub of the party that is going on, Sarah catches something out of the corner of her eye. It turns out that she's not the only one laughing at this turn of events. Her joyful laughter is echoed by a mocking laughter. You see it there in verse nine. "But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing. So she said to Abraham, 'Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.'"

Abraham is not keen to honor that request. But the Lord tells him, go and do that. At the same time, the Lord adds his provision of kindness. Yes, Isaac is the heir through whom the promises will come, but verse 13, "I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring."

On the morning of Hagar and Ishmael's departure, Abraham gets up early, no doubt with a heavy heart. He prepares a skin of water and some bread. He gives it to Hagar. He sends her away with the boy, with their son. And you can just imagine all the emotions within the heart of Abraham that morning. Guilt, sadness, conflicted loyalty, regret. But off they go to wander, verse 14, in the wilderness of Beersheba.

I gather that this is a pretty tough environment, pretty inhospitable, pretty dry, pretty sparse in terms of vegetation and cover. Soon enough, predictably, the water is gone. Hagar puts her son under some bushes to shield him from the elements, and the scene is now entirely heart-rending, verse 16. "Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about a distance of a bowshot, for she said, 'Let me not look on the death of the child.'"

Evidently, both mother and child are now crying out in despair, crying out in fear, crying out for any kind of help. It's a tragic scene of vulnerability and isolation. But verse 17 is really quite beautiful. Notice it with me. "And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, 'What troubles you, Hagar?'" And of course he knew. "Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation."

God heard. God saw. There was no one else there to help. They were totally alone. And there are those situations, are there not, where we can be isolated and vulnerable in our need? Perhaps that's your situation in some measure today. Does anyone see? Does anyone hear? Does anyone care? Can anyone help?

Well, God sees, he hears, he cares, and he can help. He sees every vulnerability. He hears every cry of heart. What a thought that is, what a truth. And hearing and seeing, he extends his kindness now, and it's clear that he does so in particular out of faithfulness to Abraham. That's very, very interesting.

God had indicated this intention in verse 13. He's going to make a nation out of Ishmael. This won't be the end of Ishmael's story. And he will do so because of Abraham, because he is Abraham's son. Now, Hagar and Ishmael, they've left the covenant household. They've left the place of blessing. Ishmael has actually despised the son of the promise. Hagar is going to go and seek a wife for him from Egypt, and that's never a good thing, going down to Egypt. She's not going to seek a wife for him from the people of God. They're not inside the realm of God's salvation here. I think they've stepped away. That's the symbolic significance.

But God is still showing his kindness to them. He is doing it in a special sense on account of his promises to Abraham. And seeing that, observing it, it just expands our view and our understanding of God's faithful concern. I don't know the particulars of your circumstances, but I'm sure there are some with us today, some listening who are in that very tough situation of having children or grandchildren who have walked away from the faith that they were once taught. They're off in the wilderness, as it were. And it burdens you. It grieves you.

Well, in the midst of that heartache, don't imagine that God doesn't care about them anymore. The scene in the wilderness is a lovely picture of how God's faithful care follows people, even as they are traveling away from the household of faith. He hasn't forgotten them. They're not off his radar. Obviously, we need to pray for salvation to follow such people, and that's a serious matter. The story isn't telling us that God's salvation reaches every wanderer. But in practical terms, what kindness God shows.

Verse 19. "Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow. He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt." The Lord made a way for this family, this mother and son. He made a future for him, gave him gifts and skills, and in earthly terms, he blessed him. And it shows us something of the faithfulness and the kindness of God that seems to almost overflow and spill over from the household of faith and even reach out into the wilderness. It's wonderful to see.

Steve Hiller: Jonathan Griffiths here on Encounter the Truth and part of a message called The God of Astounding Faithfulness. We're going to continue this next time, so I hope you'll make it a point to tune in. Well, Jonathan, we're currently on the radio in a series on the life of Abraham. You've also written about this in your book, Strangers and Exiles. And as you studied Abraham and as you sat down and wrote this book, what are you hoping that we'll take away from the life of Abraham?

Jonathan Griffiths: Well, there's so much to take away. It's such a rich study. And the story of Abraham and the person of Abraham occupies such an important place in the salvation plan of God. The more I studied it, actually, that section of Genesis, the more I studied Abraham's life, the more I found there for our Christian discipleship, which was so key.

A few things. I think there is a real emphasis within the story of Abraham on the faithfulness of God. Through all the ups and downs of history and through all the ups and downs of the life of his people, we see God's steady faithfulness and his determination to work out his purposes, no matter what's happening in the story of his people. And I think that's so important for us to take hold of, that the unchanging God is faithful and will fulfill his plans and his purposes.

But then on the level of discipleship, you know, Abraham is far from perfect. We see his sin and his failure and sometimes his slowness to believe and his slowness to obey. That's all there in 3D and the Bible doesn't hold back in telling us the truth about that. But we see that the Lord is willing to use him and work in his life nonetheless. The Lord's grace just permeates the story.

And then the third thing we see is that the story of Abraham and the promises made to Abraham by God point us forward well beyond Abraham himself to the Lord Jesus Christ and to the fullness of the gospel. And it's so wonderful to see how the salvation plan of God is traced through the storyline of the Bible. Studying that and seeing that actually increases our confidence in the coherence of the wider plan of God and the whole word of God. And I think that's immensely enriching for us to see.

Steve Hiller: Well, you're going to see that as you receive a copy of Jonathan's book, Strangers and Exiles. It is our thank you gift to you as you financially support Encounter the Truth this month. You can give a gift online at encounterthetruth.org or call us at 1-833-99-TRUTH. That's 1-833-998-7884. And again, the website is 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 and our producer Mark Breatta, I'm Steve Hiller. Thanks for listening, and I hope you'll join us next time.