Wednesday Bible Study - Foundations of Redemptive History Pt. 2 (Session 4)

Thank you. Thank you.

I will trust Him when my strength is small. For I know the shield of Jesus is the safest place of all. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, may my heart be ever yours.

He has said His way is best, and I know the path He's chosen leads to everlasting rest. Jesus, only Jesus, help me trust You more and more. Jesus, only Jesus, may my heart be ever Yours. Jesus, only Jesus, help me trust You more and more. Jesus, only Jesus, may my heart be ever Yours. Oh, on that cross.

Oh, on that cross, how it was seen. I can go now ever trusting in the One who died for me. What can I bring? For Your gift is complete. So, I trust You, simply trust You, Lord, with every part of me. Oh, on that cross, how it was seen. I can go now ever trusting in the One who died for me.

What can I bring? What can I bring? For Your gift is complete. So, I trust You, simply trust You, Lord, with every part of me. Jesus, only Jesus, help me trust You more and more. Jesus, only Jesus, may my heart be ever Yours. Jesus, only Jesus, help me trust You more and more. Jesus, only Jesus, may my heart be ever Yours. I have a Maker.

He forms my heart. I have a Maker. He forms my heart. Before even time began, my life was in His hands. I have a Maker. I have a Maker. He forms my heart. I have a Maker. He forms my heart. Before even time began, my life was in His hands. He knows my name.

He knows my every thought. He sees each tear that falls. And hears me when I call. I have a Father. I have a Father. He calls me His own. He'll never leave me. No matter where I go. He knows my name. He knows my every thought. He sees each tear that falls.

And hears me when I call. He hears me when I call. He hears me when I call. Okay, well, welcome back to Bible Study, everyone. We have two announcements. One is our VBS is going to be recruiting for volunteers. The days are going to be on June 22nd through June 26th. And so you have to be child safety trained. So make sure that as you're signing up, you try to kind of get that covered or figured out.

And then secondly, Passion Week is coming up March 30th to April 5th. And as most of you know, that week is very full. We have Palm Sunday. And then Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday are devotions. Thursday, we have the Passover meal. Friday, we have Good Friday. And then we have Resurrection Sunday along with the early rice service. Now, all of that information are going to be on these two things. This is an invitation card, invitation bookmark. They're going to be at the welcome table over there. Or if you come to church on Sunday, it will be, I think, in the foyer over there. So please make sure to pick these up. Pick up as many as you'd like to. And I know our outreach team is going to be putting up somewhere down the line sign-ups middle of the week, on Saturdays, things like that, leading up to the day or to that week.

So please sign up for that as well as we share the gospel, we share people to come and hear the gospel that week. Okay. I think that's all announcements. So let me give just a couple quick slides here before we move to our groups. I'm sorry. I don't know how to cover that. Okay. So we have, continuing here, in Sarai, Hagar, and Doubt. So we are in session four. We're going to have ten sessions all together. And then, today, as we begin here, let's go through a quick review. So Genesis thus far, we have Genesis one, creation. Everything looked great in Genesis one. And then, we have Eden and humanity, led to the fall in Genesis three and Genesis four. If you remember Cain and Abel, the first murder, and immediately we saw the enemy at work, trying to disrupt what was going on in the genealogy.

The promised seed that was going to come, Messiah that was going to come. And so the genealogy is given right after that, almost as if it's trying to prove a point or make a point there with the line of Seth. And then, we have corruption. Even though the genealogy continues, we have the genealogy of Cain. We have the corruption. We have the flood and the judgment. And then, we have the promise. And Noah, him and his three sons, and all the wives, eight people total, were saved from the flood. And through them, we have the Noahic covenant, and then the table of nations. Now, all the nations, the languages, the tribes and tongues, come from the table of nations. And then, chapter 11 tells you what happened to get us there.

How, from one family, you get to something like chapter 10 on the table of nations. Chapter 11 tells you how that happened. The tower of Babel. And from there, one person is plucked, the man Abram, a moon worshiper from the area of Babel. The Ur of the Chaldeans is where it was called. He's pulled. Chapter 13, we saw a story of Abram and Lot and the separation that occurred there, the war. We hit Melchizedek. And through Melchizedek, we have what you would call, like, a sharpening of the covenant. In chapter 12, we had the covenant that was given. It was very broad. Remember, all the way back in chapter 12? It was a very broad covenant. We had the nations. We had the land. We had the blessings.

But it was just very broad. And as it sharpens, Melchizedek became somebody that helped sharpen that. In Genesis 15, we saw the ratification of that covenant. And then today, we're going to be going through chapter 16. So some personal thoughts from chapter 15. A few. Abram's faith is weak and small. But God's promises are certain and guaranteed. And so what we're seeing is a process. Abram is not static through the 12 or so chapters that we see devoted to him. We see movement. We see growth in faith. But we do see that speck, that mustard seed of faith, that is present as a thread all the way through his narrative. Even in the very beginning, him going into the promised land was an act of faith.

Right? And so there's a lot of testing. And he has many failures. But we see that God's promises are certain. So more than a man and his weak and small faith, we see God's certain and guaranteed promises. And then, God continues to reinforce and remind us of his certain promises. So again, the sharpening of that. We're seeing the reiteration of that. Next week, we're going to see like a sign of the covenant and circumcision. And he's doing that for not him, like trying to say like, you better do this, but more so for our benefit. He's communicating with us. The seriousness, the needs, and even, we'll talk about this next week, the conditions.

Which is interesting because last time we saw that God alone passed through the severed animals. Normally, you'd have the master. And maybe some of us looked at this. Some of us might not know what this is. But it was a very common thing back during that culture, the master-servant or the caeseran-vassal dynamic. When a country would come and dominate over another country, they would regularly march a parade of the losing people along with the victors through these two animals. Or the animals that were split in two. And so, this is what happened, except God walked through it all alone. And so, God proceeds through it. This is what you would call a unilateral covenant. Or what we've been calling an unconditional covenant.

That it's conditioned upon God. Right? Okay. So, that's kind of where we are right now. Here are the study questions. We'll come back at 8 o'clock. Thank you. Thank you.

I'll see you next time. Thank you. Thank you.

We can come back from the other room. Thank you. Thank you.

Alex, can you give me my wrapper for the talk stuff so I can get through here? Thank you.

Thank you. Okay. Let's begin here.

So we have Genesis chapter 16 with Sarai and Hagar, and I'm sure that we're doing a lot of this kind of replaying of the story with one another, kind of asking questions about what was this, what was that, and a lot of like cultural implications, cultural things that you had to kind of research into. Otherwise, it would be a little bit of this, but it would be a little bit. It would just mush everything together, and it would just mush everything together, and it gets overwhelming, and so we'll start with this first point, the setting. So here, first, it starts off with this statement that Sarai bore Abram no children. And so induct the story, and so induct the story, easy question, and so it just kind of gives it as a fact, and so it just kind of gives it as a fact, and you don't just move on over it.

You go like, okay, this must mean something because it's setting the foundation for the story. It's the setting. Every one of the facts that are presented, it matters. Abram's wife had borne him no children. So what are some thoughts that might come up? Well, we already know that there was a main problem, and there was going to be one solution. Pastor Peter talked about it, the Proto-Evangelion, is that Jesus the Messiah was prophesied of in Genesis chapter 3. That's why genealogies were so important. And between your seed and her seed, he shall bruise you on the head, meaning he will smash you, and you shall bruise him on the heel. He will be struck. And so from that point on, there was an understanding that somewhere down this line, there's going to be seed, a seed who is going to bring about a reversal or some kind of redemption.

And so if you remember the genealogies that lead to Christ, it was that word toladot, the account of the heavens and the earth, generations of Adam, and it follows generations of Noah, generations of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. So it gives kind of like a crossroads, and then as it goes into the sons of Noah, it beelines into the generations of Shem, because it's constantly trying to track where the Messiah is going to come from. Now the generations of Terah, and then it kind of like sidetracks again to the generations of Ishmael, and then it gets back on track with, that wasn't it, the generations of Isaac. Generations of Esau, it talks about the generations of Esau, saying, oh, this wasn't it.

Remember, it was kind of like that with Cain. Remember, there was a genealogy of Cain, it's to show you that that wasn't it, and then the generations of Jacob. And so if we go all the way to Matthew chapter 1, remember that genealogy? It strings together the New Testament back into the Old Testament. Well, it starts with Abraham, and then the whole point of it is that this goes all the way to the Messiah. So, of course, every one of those names in the middle, it matters. But the point is, the record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah had to come from this line, Abraham. And so that's what's going on here. There's so much ink spilled on this, so much prophecy and covenant that God is giving through Abraham, and this is why it matters.

It's not just that it's going to be any way. God said that there is going to be a line that he goes through. And so when it says that Sarai bore Abraham no children, we go, so what? Oh, this is huge an implication. This is a huge problem. This is the end, right? Like, if God, I mean, it has to work, because God promised. It brings into doubt whether God is actually going to follow through. Does everyone remember how old Abraham was when they came into the Promised Land? 75. He was already 75 years old, and it's said that Sarai was barren. This was back in chapter 11.

And then we have another part of the setting. Hagar was an Egyptian maid. So we go, what? So what? So there it is again. Sarai, Abraham's wife, had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian maid. Her name was Hagar. Just facts that are set out. You go, okay. So she's an Egyptian maid, and we ask questions about, like, who is this woman? Hagar, it literally means foreigner or maybe flight or something like that. So that's her name. So that's probably significant, right, to this point. And if you remember, that Abram and Sarai, they, because of famine, went into the Negev. And then from the Negev, they went into Egypt. And that's where he made, like, just a crucial mistake, right, with what was going on with Pharaoh.

And the Pharaoh's family was struck with plagues. All of this is called foreshadowing. And so they're struck with plagues. But it says that, in essence, he loots Egypt. He comes out with riches. He comes out with gold and silver and servants. And so comes Hagar. Okay, so that's the setting. Okay, second point. The action.

Verses 2 to 4, the first thing that happens, the Lord is blamed. So Sarai said to Abram, Now behold, the Lord has prevented me from burying children. The Lord has prevented me from burying children. So you just stop. Remember, inductive study, you slow down. Listen to what you're saying. The Lord has prevented me from burying children. His fault. You remember, like, some of the, some of these echoes that happen through the book of Genesis? This one's a little bit different, a little bit more innocent, but it's still, like, there's some echo of it there. Abram said this a chapter earlier. Since you have given no offspring to me. Remember, God had promised that it is going to be your offspring, not Eleazar of Damascus' offspring.

It's going to be yours. And so, one born in my house is my heir. And then he says, no. So the Lord is blamed. You see this echoing going on. And secondly, Sarai then begins to hijack the promise. Why? Because they're listening to God's voice. He said, you can imagine Sarai's thought process, right? He said that it's going to come through you, Abram. Through you. He didn't say anything about me. It was through you, not Eleazar. So maybe, just maybe, we can figure this out. It's been years. Now, have you ever stopped to ask the question, how many times does God speak to them? Now, we look at this and we know that, like, at least until the end of the chapter that we've read, 11 years have elapsed, right?

75 to 86 years old. And so, within that time period, how many times did they, like, see a vision or hear God's voice or He appears? Probably, it's extremely rare. We might have gotten every instance. It's possible that we got every instance that He appears to them. So we're talking about long years in between where He promises and then He goes silent and attests their faith. And so, after 10 years of this, okay. And so, this is much more understandable than we might think initially. And she says, please, go into my maid. Perhaps I will obtain children through her. Now, this was a very common cultural practice. That if there was barrenness in a woman, then they can grab a maidservant and then it's almost like surrogacy.

And I'll explain a little bit more of that in a bit. But this idea of, like, hijacking the promise, of trying to get into the driver's seat of the promise, have we seen an echo of that before? Or have we heard an echo? We have. Where Abram, he's like, oh, we've got to be careful here because we know the seed is supposed to come through me. Please say that you are my sister so that I may go well with me because of you and that I may live an account of you. And so, in all of these things that are going on, be very careful because we're coming back to this idea of prescription versus description. You don't want to take this and say, therefore, my wife can grab a woman and say, here, right? Because Abram did it.

And he's a man of faith. He's describing something that occurred. He is not endorsing polygamy. We're going to talk a little bit more about that come chapter 21 or so, as Abram takes one more, a woman named Keturah. And we're going to talk about it and we're going to flesh it out when we get there. But this is a description of things. That they were trying to do what the other nations were doing. They were trying to do what others were doing instead of just simply trusting in God. And so, Sarai hijacks the promise. Now, this is actually something that's highlighted. Abram passively listens to Sarai. This is a bigger problem. Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. It just says it blatantly. After Abram had lived 10 years in the land of Canaan, Abram's wife, Sarai, took Hagar, the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to her husband, Abram, as his wife.

Have we seen that before? Yes. Nothing new under the sun. Constant echoing. Sin is the same thing. Nothing changes. In fact, even the two verbs used is actually trying to echo this. Genesis 3, 6. When the woman saw that the tree was good for the food and that it was a delight to the eyes and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate and gave also to her husband are the two exact verbs that's being used. She takes Hagar and gives to her husband. And so, he's passively listening to the voice of his wife. Genesis 3, 17. And look at the condemning that God gives unto Adam. He said, because you have listened to the voice of your wife. He doesn't say, because you took up the fruit and ate it.

You would kind of think that, right? Like, you ate it. At the end of the day, you have to kind of attest to that. But there is something even deeper than just that. It was you listened to the voice of your wife. You did not lead. And you have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, you shall not eat from it. Cursed is the ground because of you. And I take a page from Pastor Peter here. Does anyone remember when Pastor Peter showed this picture? You guys remember what this is? This caused a stir in our church. What flowers are these? Everyone remembers. Okay, it made everyone uncomfortable, right? Well, pansies, right? And it's a really good way to think about this. That there is something about Abram that wilts under pressure.

Just like Adam wilts. And it's not that they're just listening. It's double sin. Because they're listening to the voice of their wife. But they're allowing the wife to go into sin. And they're using that to go onto the coattails to get what they want, too. Right? There's a passivity to it. There's a passage in 1 Corinthians 16, 13. It says, be on the alert. Stand firm in the faith. Act like men. And he says, be strong. Now, Abram was breaking apart what God had created this to be. That he was supposed to lead. That he was supposed to be a leader of faith in the household. And yet, it is Sarai who is taking charge. And we see this happening. And we'll see it again in the story of Jacob and Esau.

What Jacob's mom does. And all of these kinds of things. We'll get back to those places, right? But Abram passively listens to Sarai. And therefore, something happens. Hagar conceives. Hagar conceives. And there are consequences to this. But there are so many applications. One of these weeks, instead of just questions, I'm going to have us in our pre-discussion questions just share applications. There are so many applications that can come out. Do I subtly blame the Lord for problems in my life or for not having things that I desire? Do I see the spirit of Abram and Sarai in my own heart? Is that there? Do I try to take things into my own hands when I don't have what I want? Especially if it seems like God will not give it to me.

Do I want what God wants or do I want what I want? Here's another question. While I might not be the initiator of sin, is there anywhere I am sinning by being passive and allowing sin to reign in those around me? Is there a cowardice in me in not being a truth proclaimer? Is there a difficult situation I'm tempted to run from? These are all questions that we can ask. For the men, am I strong in my trust and conviction in the Lord? And so as we're going through these studies, we should not just be here. And it's okay if you don't get in the beginning. But at the end, all the application should be pouring out. The purpose of the Word of God is that it evokes change in us. The Word of God sanctifies us.

Remember what Jesus says. Sanctify them in the truth. And He says, your word is truth. This is what sanctifies us. These stories are supposed to be sanctifying us. So we have to get there. Don't forget. Third point. The result. The result. Verses 4-6. Hagar, it says, it uses this word, despises, Sarai. Looks down upon Sarai. He went into Hagar and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her sight. And it's a passive. This is a passive. It doesn't say that she despised. It says her mistress was despised. It kind of softens this in a very interesting way. Now, surrogacy, again, that was something that other people would do. But in these different cultures, it would be well within the right of a maidservant who was taken as, like someone who was doing surrogacy, to assert herself.

And to, and again, there's a lot of messiness to this, right? There's nothing, like if you're trying to find morality in this, you're not going to find it. But it would be a very common place for the maidservant would see that there's barrenness in this, in this, what you would call the master. And in the master, be able to usurp and almost like switch positions. And it would be well within, again, her rights to do something like that. And so Hagar, or Hagar, it says that Hagar kind of like despises Sarai, or her, her mistress was despised in her sight. And so Sarai blames Abram. And you're like, what? You know, I bet a bunch of us did that. We're like, wait, what are you doing? Like, wasn't this your idea?

Right? It's kind of like that. But no, no, no, this is Abram's fault. Don't let Abram off the hook. You should, you ought not to be looking at Sarah. Sarah is messed up right here too, you know? This is a whole messed up situation. When she blames Abram, you're like, yeah. How could you let this happen? And Sarah said to Abram, may the wrong done me be upon you. Now, now Sarah though, man, she is being dramatic. The word wrong there, I underlined it because that's, that's a very strong word. It's the word for violence. It's the word for deep oppression. It's the word that, it gave, it gives the Egyptians upon what they did to the Israelites. And so it says, may the wrong done me be upon you.

I gave my maid into your arms. But when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her sight. May the Lord judge between you and me. Sarah is beginning to feel the insecurity of this. She's like, wait a second. If this happens, what does this make me? Remember, it was Abram and Sarai and Lot who entered into the promised land. It was, it was, the promise was given to, to them, right? And so they're like, she's feeling the threatening of that. It's like, wait, this is going to just like disclude me from that.

And I want to remind you that there is so much manipulation happening here with Sarai and Abram. Remember in Genesis 3.16, it says, yet your desire will be for your husband and he will rule over you. And we talked a little bit about, Pastor Peter, he brought up like kind of what this means. Because in chapter 4 of Genesis, do you remember? He used the same exact phrase for what sin is doing to Cain's heart. Its desire is going to be over you, but you must overcome it. And it's the very same phrase given that her desire is going to be over her husband, but her husband has to dominate her, right? This is the result of the fall. And so some other translations kind of help. The ESV says, your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.

The NLT, it says, and you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you. And we're seeing this at work. We're seeing this played out in this narrative, right? And she's pulling all the strings here. And he's just passively listening. He's just passively going along with it. Abram passively allows Sarai to lead. But Abram said to Sarai, behold, your maid is in your power. Do to her what is good in your sight. Now, oh my gosh. This is like absurdity, right? You're like, okay, I'll take her and then we'll have a baby. And it's like, ah, this is your fault. It's like, okay, then go and do whatever you want to her. Right? You know what this is? You know what he's supposed to be?

This is like absurdity, what's going on here. And so Sarai abuses Hagar. Sarai abuses her. Sarai treated her harshly, so much so that she flees. Now, this is a death sentence. This is a death sentence. A woman was running away with child, like bearing a child. And so this brings us to our fourth point. The Lord's response. And so finally the Lord comes in here in verses 7 through 12. And we kind of keep asking questions. Remember, inductive study, ask questions. Where's she going? Don't think like she's just running. There's direction. Now, the angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness. But not just any wilderness. Wilderness could just be like, I'm just thinking forest.

Or I'm just thinking desert. Or something like that, right? It says, by the spring on the way to Shur. Some of us might have looked up Shur, but remember. So there is Hagar. She has Ishmael inside of her. And then this is, so right up there, that's Hebron. Remember, that's kind of Hebron by the Oaks of Mamre. That's where, it's kind of like home base. Remember, remember Hebron, Oaks of Mamre. It matters. So they're up there, somewhere around there. And then she's going down, remember the Negev? That way. And this is called the way to Shur. Do you see that dotted line? That's the way to Shur. And then, right there, maybe somewhere around there, is where Bir Lahai Roy was. And that's where God meets her.

And where is she headed? Egypt. She's running home. Right? Very natural response. A natural place of like running back to safety. Now, there's a great reversal happening here. And we talk about echoes all the time because basically all of the Old Testament, think about it like echoes. Shadows. There's Sarai. She is a Hebrew. Remember where the word Hebrew comes from? The line of Eber. Hebrew means the Eberites, right? And they knew that Abram was a Hebrew. So, Sarai, the Hebrew. And then there's Hagar, the Egyptian. And already when we see Hebrew and Egyptian, we're like, wait a second. Did we just not get a prophecy that there is going to be oppression for 400 years? And between Sarai and the Egyptian slave, the Hebrew and the Egyptian, there is going to be conflict.

And then the Egyptian flees into the wilderness. And then the Lord meets her there. And this is a reversal because it's a picture. It's a story that's showing that one day there's consequence to this. That God is a God who always allows, even though He is gracious to situations, that there is consequence. Have you asked the question, like, why? Why is there this oppression? There's always consequences. And they're bigger than we think. Remember when David sleeps with Bathsheba? Or, like, at the end, that was an egregious crime. And what happened there was crazy because there's murder involved and all these things. But you're like, but it's just at the end of the day, it's relegated to a few people.

No, no, no. Because of that sin, the kingdom splits. Like, literally, that's the result. It's bigger. There's consequence to these things. And so these sins, it points forward to consequences. The Egyptians oppress the slaves. They flee into the wilderness. And the Lord beats them. And so this is what you would call consequence. Consequence. Okay. So there's application. There are far-reaching consequences for sin according to God's sovereign ordination, justice, and discipline. So we can ask these questions to further application. Do I see that there are consequences for my sin beyond what I can presently see? Where are some places in life where I have seen these far-reaching consequences, whether in my life or others?

Do I erroneously think that consequences will be limited to what I perceive to be only the walls of my own life? How do sins infiltrate into the lives of those around me, my family, the church, and the world? These things matter.

When I see consequences, how do I respond? Blame? Defensiveness? Control? Or is there true repentance?

Now, talking about echoes, then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea. And remember, when Israel is being oppressed by the Egyptians. And like, if you look at the wording, there's so much cool interplay. These maidservants and things like that. But it says that Moses led Israel out of Egypt, right, into the Red Sea. And they went out into the wilderness of, oh, we love this place now, right? Sure, because that's where God meets. And they went three days in the wilderness, and they found no water. Remember, you remember where she was. She was in the wilderness of Shur by a well. So there she is. And Israel is brought up out of Egypt into, like, what you would call kind of the Negev. And they're supposed to march right into the Promised Land, where Abram used to reside, right?

But because of their unbelief, their refusal to believe, he takes them east. But right after that, where he takes them out of Egypt, into the wilderness of Shur, the Lord said, I've surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. So I've come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place. And now these names now we're familiar with. To the place of the Canaanite, Hittite. Remember, that's the people of Heth. Amorite, Perizzite, Hivite, Jebusite. These are Canaanites.

Now behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to me. Furthermore, I've seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them. There is our word. The wrong done me. Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt. And God is trying to reverse the effects of sin.

We see this, echoing, continuing to Jesus. Now when they are gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt. And remain there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him. Remember, Herod is what you would call, we just loosely call him a Hebrew. Calls him to go and flee into Egypt. But Joseph got up and took the child and his mother while it was still at night and left for Egypt. He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord to the prophet, Out of Egypt, I called my son. Get up, take the child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel.

We're naming this series, Foundations of Redemption. All of this pointing forward to the coming Messiah, the Redeemer, the seed. Because all this time, that's what's being threatened. And constantly, he's trying to show the shadows of what's going to happen. Remember, in Revelation, a great sign appeared in heaven. A woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet and on her head. A crown of twelve stars, and she was with child. And she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven. Behold, a great red dragon having seven heads, ten horns, seven heads and ten horns. And on his head were seven diadems. And a dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, So that when she gave birth, he might devour her child.

And she gave birth to a son, a male child who was to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. And her child was caught up to God and to his throne. Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by God, So that there, she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days. We're not going to go into all the parallels here. But these echoes are for sure. These things in Genesis, you would call Genesis the first bookend. Revelation becomes the last bookend. You're going to see pictures of Eden, and you're going to see pictures of what happened with sin, And you are going to see the reversal of that in the book of Genesis. You're going to see Babel, and you're going to see Babel again in the book of Revelation.

You're going to see all of these things because God is trying to point forward, And it was all started here. I'll put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise you in the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel. But coming back to this, where was Hagar going? Now second, who was the angel of the Lord? I'm sure a lot of us had nice, robust conversation about this. This is the first time we see this phrase. The angel of the Lord. And the angel of the Lord again right there. And it says, the angel of the Lord again, the angel of the Lord again. So four times the angel of the Lord is mentioned. And many of us are probably seeing things like, Things like, angel of the Lord said, return to your mistress, submit yourself to authority.

But he knows things, right? He knows things like, Hagar, Sarai's maid. So he knows Hagar's name. He knows her occupation. Or for whatever reason, he says, where are you, where you've come from? You know, like, where are you going? And you're like, uh. It kind of feels like in the Garden of Eden. He's like, Adam, Eve, where are you? It's like, did you not know?

Do you remember the Samaritan woman at the well when Jesus approaches her? And then she says, like, come and see this man who knows everything about me. You know? But then there's this cool thing happening here. Hagar, Sarai's maid, where have you come from? Where are you going? And he points her back. Go back. Go back. And then the angel of the Lord said to her, I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count. It's strange, right? You would think that if it's the angel of the Lord, he would say something like, the Lord says. Remember in the book of Revelation when an angel appears before John and John falls on his face flat? And the angel says, do not worship me for I am not.

I am created one just like you. Nothing like that here. He receives it. I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count. Further, the angel of the Lord said, behold, you are with child. And all these things, all this prophecy happens. This is what you would call a theophany. Remember this word? Remember what it means? It means God appears. Now, we use theophany with this idea of like pillar of cloud, pillar of fire. Remember the smoking oven, things like that? That's a theophany. What we're seeing here is a little bit more than just a theophany. This is what you would call a Christophany. Christophany is that Christ appears. Christ appears. We will call this the pre-incarnate Christ.

Okay. There's a lot to think about here, and we're going to revisit this a few more times before this session or this period of Bible study is over. But I want to remind you of a few things as we march toward those. John 1.18. No one has seen God at any time. At any time. That's what Jesus says. The only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained to Him. This word begotten, it's not someone being born, it's someone who is proceeding. Again, there's a difference there. It's somebody who is proceeding. Now, I'm going to do a real quick just drop here. This idea of like what God does with His word is that His word is so true, His word is so strong, that when He speaks where there is nothing, manifestation occurs.

Does that make sense? So, what I mean by that is, if there is no rock and God says rock, His word makes a rock appear. He does not need to take material and create a rock, right? It happens. So, whatever proceeds out of His mouth is life itself. So, that's why this idea of in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, it says that He speaks and it is. And then in John 1, it says, in the beginning, and it doesn't say God created the heavens and the earth, but He uses the same exact phrase, and He says, was the word. And you're like, oh, I know word, because God used His word to create. But it says, and the word was with God, and the word was God. And you're like, what? You know? And that's why the Pharisees are like, oh, bless me.

And so, it says that, and the word became flesh, and He dwelt among us, the only begotten. It says, no one has seen God at any time. The only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. And you have to figure out who is He and who is Him. So, there's a lot here. John 6, 46. Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the one who is from God, or proceeds from God. He has seen the Father. Jesus was sent into the world as God's very communication. It's an amazing, amazing concept. Okay. So, in this promise to Hagar, Ishmael, there is some promise given. He will multiply your descendants, and there's going to be a life of hardship. And so, he says that, I'll greatly multiply your descendants, and you shall call his name Ishmael.

And then, five. We've got to beat up here. Hagar's response, 16, verse 13 through 16, he says, she names God. She says, El Roy, El El Roy, God who sees. And Ishmael means God who hears. And so, we see this in this passage. Then, she called the name of the Lord. And you start wondering, what kind of testimony did Abram and Sarai give? Because they were following Yahweh in faith. You ask, did Hagar know God? Did Hagar understand? Were Abram and Sarai evangelizing to their maidservants? Right? And you would think, of course. But then, how could Sarai do this? How could Sarai be wronging me like this? Right? You could think about all the things going on. How could Abram be like this? And so, she goes out there and she meets the Lord.

And you're like, wow. God meets her. And she says, you are God who sees. And we take these thoughts of God sees. Even the widow, the orphan. He sees everything. And it leaves us at the end here. Abram was 86 years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him. 86 years old. That's wild. That's wild. Think of your oldest grandfather. You know, like, this is wild stuff. And Isaac still hasn't appeared. Remember 12, 15, 17 for now. Chapter 12, 15, 17. Chapter 12, God announces the covenant. Chapter 15, he ratifies the covenant with the animals. Chapter 17, next week, he is going to drop the sign of the covenant. Okay? So, God is continuing this. But, before we end here, let's just remember that what was going on is that he sees the afflicted one.

I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt. And I think that's just so interesting to me. Like, that's just so interesting to me. They're in Egypt. And he says, I see their affliction. And we can take a lot of comfort in that. In our struggles, but also in our need to care for others. Remember Psalm 139, 1. Oh, Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up. I just, sometimes I, like, when I, when I, when I'm, like, thinking about, like, this upon my life. It brings me so much comfort. I bet, like, in a way, like, this is kind of what was going on with Hagar. You know when I sit down and when I rise up. You understand my thought from afar.

You scrutinize my path and my lying down and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue. Behold, O Lord, you know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before and laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is too high. I cannot attain it. Where can I go from your spirit or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there your hand will lead me. And your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say surely the darkness will overwhelm me and the light around me will be night.

Even the darkness is not dark to you, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to you. God always sees and hears everything. Remember that as an application. You see, there is not one thing that is outside of His sight. There is not one evil thing going on in this world that God just allows to be outside of His sovereignty. He is not a passive actor, as if He is a God of what you would call the deists, where He just allows the ball to roll and He just watches and observes it happening. He is actively involved in every part of what's happening in your life, in my life, and what's happening in the world today. God is sovereign. He's in control, and we should remember that.

Now, does the fact that God sees and hears everything, does it strike fear in me? So, that will be one of our application points. Comfort in me. When does this truth evoke one emotion over the other, and why? How do you know which is appropriate? Next week, we'll be hitting Genesis 17, God's covenant of circumcision. And Justin will mail this to you guys. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, as we go back into our discussion now, we pray for your Spirit to help us, to bring to our eyes, and not just our physical eyes, but the eyes of our hearts, back to this text, to see what it is that you're trying to communicate, and that the end result would be worship. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you. Thank you.