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Larry Richards writes, "Well-established custom in the Patriarchal Age protected the rights of any child born to a man by a slave woman. Though the son of the wife was a man’s legal heir, his child by a concubine was guaranteed an inheritance. Sarah’s demand that Abraham send Ishmael away was doubly distressing. Abraham loved Ishmael. And he believed that sending Ishmael away was morally wrong. Only God’s direct intervention, and God’s promise to guarantee Ishmael future, finally moved Abraham to banish Hagar and his son. Abraham would surely understand the pain of those who lose their children through divorce. How desperately we need to remember that God cares for our loved ones, even when we cannot." The Bible Reader’s Companion, (Includes index.; Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books, 1991), Ge 20:1
Mark Early tells this remarkable story of how truly following Jesus transforms the lives of those who follow him and the lives with whom they come into contact. “For thirteen weeks, former child soldier Ishmael Beah has seen his memoir, A Long Way Gone, hover in the top ranks of the New York Times bestsellers list. For a young man whose village and family were burned, who evaded capture amidst the war-torn landscape of Sierra Leone, and finally was given an AK-47 and coerced to join the government army, a best-selling book comes as quite a twist in the road. As a child soldier, Ishmael heard his commanding officer frequently tell him and his comrades, ‘Visualize the enemy, the rebels who killed your parents, your family, and those who are responsible for everything that has happened to you.’ In their drills when they did not properly bayonet a banana tree, the officer reprimanded them by saying: ‘Is that how you stab someone who had killed your family?’ As Beah’s story unfolds, one cannot help but wonder about the fate of such children, suckled on revenge from such a tender age. What is strong enough to overcome that kind of past? The answer does not come as a surprise. It is the power of forgiveness and unconditional love. When UNICEF forces showed up one day and negotiated with Beah’s commander for the release of the children soldiers in his command, Ishmael and others found themselves suddenly transported to a rehabilitation camp. One would think that these children would be grateful for release and embrace these workers for their role in their redemption. But, you’re wrong. It would take months for these children to lose their appetite for brown-brown (cocaine mixed with gun-powder), for violence, and for revenge. Day after day these young kids would lash out at the workers and the other children. Day after day, the workers would respond with forgiveness and love. Beah recounts the story of one of the workers in the rehabilitation compound named Poppay, whom the children beat, stabbed and left unconscious. Several days later, Poppay returned from the hospital, limping, but with a smile on his face. ‘It is not your fault that you did such a thing to me,’ he said. As Beah recalls, ‘Most of the staff members were like that; they returned smiling after we hurt them. It was as if they had made a pact not to give up on us.’ Wittingly or unwittingly, they were displaying the turn-the-other-cheek kind of love that Christ taught. And through their display of grace, they sent a powerful message: Revenge stops here.”
LEAVING HOME WITHOUT YOUR KIDS
When we left to Pastor a Church in the Whitsundays we left our children, Ben and Rachel, behind in Sydney. Rachel was still in her late teens, but both of them were already involved in Hillsong Church and did not want to leave. We remember the pain of driving off without them, and for the next 10 years we commuted between the Whitsundays and Sydney every opportunity we had. It's so strange leaving home WITHOUT YOUR KIDS. It is normally the other way around.
In Genesis 21 Abraham's pain must have been so much worse as he realised he would never see Ishmael again.
"So Abraham got up early the next morning, prepared food and a container of water, and strapped them on Hagar's shoulders. Then he SENT HER AWAY with their son, and she wandered aimlessly in the wilderness of Beersheba" (Genesis 21:14 NLT).
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El Roi, The God Who Sees
Only used once in the Bible, Genesis 16:13, on the lips of Hagar. Sarah had given Hagar to Abraham to have children. This was according to custom in those days, but not according to God. After Hagar bore Ishmael, Sarah treated her so harshly, Hagar ran away. She fled into the wilderness. Think with me about her situation: She was removed from family. She was removed from friends. She was alone and away from shelter, food, water, help, sustenance, everything that she needed. Then the Lord’s angel appeared to her, and rescued her.
Gen 16:13: ’Then she called the name of th...
HOW TO LEAVE A LIFECHANGING LEGACY
The artwork and design of my wife's book on her family tree is magnificent. The storyline is clear and so interesting. Hours and hours of work, a labour of love. I am so proud of her. A legacy for generations to come.
In the prologue of her book, Julie writes "It seems a strange thing, almost a disrespectful thing, to reduce the lifetime of one person to a page, a line or just a photo in a book. If only we could go back in time and spend an hour, a day, with each of our forebears, and listen to each one express their lives in their own words - the highs and lows, the challenges and accomplishments, the disappointments and surprises, the heartaches and celebrations - not only would we know more about them, we could appreciate more of the valuable contribution each made to following generations, and understand more about who we are ourselves."
In Genesis 25, Abraham marries Keturah. Everyone knows about Sarah and Hagar but very few know that Abraham also had another wife. We all know he had trouble having children with Sarah. God healed both Sarah and Abraham in order for them to have children, so by the time he marries Keturah all those problems are long gone. Did you know that he had six more sons, as well as Ishmael and Isaac?
God said that nations would come from his family tree and Abraham is proving this to be right. But the promise God made to Abraham was that the blessing that would come to the human race would come through his son Isaac. (Genesis 12:3; 17:19)
What is the story with these other sons and grandsons? Strange names like Zimran, Ishbak, Ashur, (We named a cat Ashur. I wonder what ever happened to Ashur?) and Letush (great name for a market gardener), and Dedan (the trail goes dead with Dedan), and more. We never really find out? The line is followed only through Isaac, the promised son, not though these other sons.
In Julie's family tree we can trace back a history of ten generations and a history of faith in Christ for at least five generations. Who knows how many generations to come will seek to find a relationship with Jesus Christ as part of their family heritage? Others in the family tree we know very little about, however.
In Genesis 25 we are talking about Abraham's family history. That's why it is strange to get a mention in Abraham's family tree and then disappear into OBSCURITY. It seems they do nothing of any real significance.
These sons and grandsons made no real contribution to God's purposes on the earth except to fulfil a promise made to Abraham of numerous descendents. Why are they mentioned by name at all? Perhaps God deliberately contrasts them with those who follow the believing line which runs through Isaac.
I like the way my wife speaks about LEAVING A LEGACY. She says...
"The days of a man's or woman's life is, Scripture says, like the flower of the field, "the wind blows over it and it is gone". But while there are times and seasons, beginnings and endings in God's blueprint for life, Scripture tells us too that "He has also set eternity in the heart of man". Each flower drops it's seed into the ground, it takes root, and flourishes in another generation. So while we cannot transport ourselves back through time, we can however, remain thankful for the seeds of the lives of our ancestors which continue to bear fruit in our allotted time, being careful ourselves to drop seeds of eternal significance into the generations which follow us."
The choices Abraham makes in his life give me an invitation to explore what it would look like if I believed in the promises of God. What if I, like Abraham, believed in One through whom the nations of the world would be blessed. The promised Messiah came through Abraham's descendents. What if I believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, who died for my sins? What if I chose not to simply disappear into obscurity, but instead pursue God's purposes for my life?
This passage is not about Abraham dying. All of us die. It about the choices we make. Like Abraham God gives me an opportunity to choose His purposes. I choose to believe in Christ and LEAVE A LIFECHANGING LEGACY for generations to come.
What about you?
CLAIMING YOUR INHERITANCE
"MISHMA, DUMAH, MASSA," (Genesis 25:14). Three of the children of Ishmael, maybe triplets. Their names became a PROVERB. Adam Clarke in his commentary on Genesis says "Mishma" means HEARING. "Dumah" means SILENCE; and "Massa" means PATIENCE. The idea is "Hear much, say little, and have a lot of patience." Perhaps that's what James was quoting when he wrote in James 1:19 (NLT) "... You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry."
MISHMA, DUMAH AND MASSA were tested at the bank recently. It was a comedy of errors from start to finish. My Mum didn't sign her will and after her death my elder sister and I needed therefore to personally finalise various papers at the bank. We wanted the bank to release the money from my Mothers account, our INHERITANCE. It would only take five minutes in my lunch break.
My sister met me at my office and we went to the BANK together. We finally found the bank in the heart of the shopping centre but realised we had left the papers in the car. So we walked all the way back to the car and then found our way down the three floors once again to the bank. It only took us about 15 minutes. Patience. Still plenty of time.
The woman at the bank was helpful but insisted that we needed to find a JUSTICE OF THE PEACE to authorise certain documents. Don't say anything that you will regret. Listen to the woman. She is only doing her job. Patience.
The Justice of the Peace came in on Wednesdays. It was Tuesday. We walked back to the car and drove back to my office where I enlisted the help of a Justice of the Peace from my workplace.
With papers authorised, once again we travelled back to the bank. The initial fifteen minutes had become two hours by the time we finalised the papers. Now all we had to do was post these documents to our solicitor who would enable us to "CLAIM OUR INHERITANCE".
It could have been worse. We might have realised that we had left the papers at the bank when we had arrived back at my office, but fortunately the quick thinking woman from the bank came running down the corridor and handed us the documents. We had left them on the counter. My sister looked at me and said "Don't say anything!" and we laughed at how we had made a simple task take so long. Mishma, Dumah and Massa came in handy that day.
In Genesis 25, only Isaac is named on the will, signed by Abraham Himself, to take to the bank to collect his INHERITANCE. Only Isaac was chosen by God to be the son whose descendents would one day lead to Jesus Christ. Who needs a Justice of the Peace when you have the GOD OF JUSTICE AND PEACE to verify the COVENANT?
Seventeen years ago I was keenly interested in a widow in our church. Renfro laughed at me for saying she and I had a conversation in which we negotiated whether we could date or not. Listen, if there are things on which you do not agree, either negotiate a lasting change or else keep on trucking.
I negotiated an agreement for a change, but the agreement didn’t last. I desperately wanted to marry her, but there came a time when I knew that relationship was over. We were not agreeing, and she asked me to pray about it. But God had already told me. I remember right where I was standing - beside the A/C unit in my back yard - when God spoke to my spirit, "Slow down."
I remembered the story of Balaam. Balak, the king of Moab, sent messengers with a fee to ask Balaam to curse the Israelites. God told the prophet he couldn’t do that, because his people were blessed.
King Balak upped the offer. He sent other princes more numerous and distinguished than the first. (You can read this in Num. 22.) They offered a handsome reward. Balaam prayed again and felt the Lord told him he could go with the messengers but do only what God told him.
There followed that account of Balaam’s riding his donkey between two stone walls. The donkey saw an angel of God, which the prophet did not see. That’s another sermon. Finally Balaam recognized the angel, who said, "Go with the men but speak only what I tell you."
He was never allowed to curse the people of God, but he did tell Balak a way to get the people to bring curses on themselves by engaging in sex sins. He brought destruction to himself and others.
She then said, "I can’t make this change without your marrying me and being there to support me." Then I remembered Abraham, to whom God had promised a son. When that child didn’t appear, Sarah suggested Abraham father a child by her handmaiden and they would count it as their own child. You know the problems that arose when Abraham fathered Ishmael. Fourteen years later God gave Abraham and Sarah a son named Isaac.
So I replied, "You told me God had already given you a plan to deal with this situation, which you have not followed - God’s plan, not mine. To approach a solution another way would be to go against the direction of the Lord."
Then a concerned person wrote a prophecy and sent it to me, confirming again that this relationship was not right.
So I had all the things I preach for guidance: circumstances (We were in conflict), Balaam and Abraham’s experiences in the Word of God, a word through another Christian, and God’s speaking directly to my spiri...
Here are some opening lines to books or poems. See if you recognize them.
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" -A Tale of Two Cities- Charles Dickens
"Call me Ishmael" -Moby Dick – Herman Melville
"Tell me, O Muse, of the man of many devices, who wandered full many ways after he had sacked the sacred citadel of Troy." - The Oddesy – Homer
"Two households, both alike in dignity" - Romeo & Juliet – Shakespeare
"I hope I will be able to confide everything in you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support." - The Diary of Ann Frank –
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