G
E N E S I S
CHAP. XXI.
In this chapter we have, I. Isaac, the child of
promise born into Abraham's family, ver. 1-8. II. Ishmael, the son of the
bondwoman, cast out of it, ver. 9-21. III. Abraham's league with his neighbour
Abimelech, ver. 22-32. IV. His devotion to his God, ver. 33.
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The
Birth of Isaac.
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B. C. 1897.
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1 And the LORD
visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken. 2 For Sarah
conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God
had spoken to him. 3 And Abraham called the name of his son that
was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac. 4 And Abraham
circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded
him. 5 And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac
was born unto him. 6 And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so
that all that hear will laugh with me. 7 And she said, Who
would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for
I have borne him a son in his old age. 8 And the child
grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that
Isaac was weaned.
Long-looked-for
comes at last. The vision concerning the promised seed is for an appointed
time, and now, at the end, it speaks, and does not lie; few under the Old
Testament were brought into the world with such expectation as Isaac was, not
for the sake of any great person eminence at which he was to arrive, but
because he was to be, in this very thing, a type of Christ, that seed which
the holy God had so long promised and holy men so long expected. In this
account of the first days of Isaac we may observe,
I. The fulfilling
of God's promise in the conception and birth of Isaac, v. 1, 2. Note,
God's providences look best and brightest when they are compared with his
word, and when we observe how God, in them all, acts as he has said, as he has
spoken. 1. Isaac was born according to the promise. The Lord visited Sarah in
mercy, as he had said. Note, No word of God shall fall to the ground; for he
is faithful that has promised, and God's faithfulness is the stay and support
of his people's faith. He was born at the set time of which God had spoken,
v. 2. Note, God is always punctual to his time; though his promised
mercies come not at the time we set, they will certainly come at the time he
sets, and that is the best time. 2. He was born by virtue of the promise: Sarah
by faith received strength to conceive Heb. xi. 11. God therefore by
promise gave that strength. It was not by the power of common providence, but
by the power of a special promise, that Isaac was born. A sentence of death
was, as it were, passed upon the second causes: Abraham was old, and Sarah
old, and both as good as dead; and then the word of God took place. Note, True
believers, by virtue of God's promises, are enabled to do that which is above
the power of human nature, for by them they partake of a divine nature,
2 Pet. i. 4.
II. Abraham's
obedience to God's precept concerning Isaac.
1. He named him,
as God commanded him, v. 3. God directed him to a name for a memorial, Isaac,
laughter; and Abraham, whose office it was, gave him that name, though he
might have designed him some other name of a more pompous signification. Note,
It is fit that the luxuriancy of human invention should always yield to the
sovereignty and plainness of divine institution; yet there was good reason for
the name, for, (1.) When Abraham received the promise of him he laughed for
joy, ch. xvii. 17. Note, When the sun of comfort has risen upon the
soul it is good to remember how welcome the dawning of the day was, and with
what exultation we embraced the promise. (2.) When Sarah received the promise
she laughed with distrust and diffidence. Note, When God gives us the mercies
we began to despair of we ought to remember with sorrow and shame our sinful
distrusts of God's power and promise, when we were in pursuit of them. (3.)
Isaac was himself, afterwards, laughed at by Ishmael (v. 9), and
perhaps his name bade him expect it. Note, God's favourites are often the
world's laughing-stocks. (4.) The promise which he was not only the son, but
the heir of, was to be the joy of all the saints in all ages, and that which
would fill their mouths with laughter.
2. He circumcised
him, v. 4. The covenant being established with him, the seal of the
covenant was administered to him; and though a bloody ordinance, and he a
darling, yet it must not be omitted, no, nor deferred beyond the eighth day.
God had kept time in performing the promise, and therefore Abraham must keep
time in obeying the precept.
III. The
impressions which this mercy made upon Sarah.
1. It filled her
with joy (v. 6): "God has made me to laugh; he has given me
both cause to rejoice and a heart to rejoice." Thus the mother of our
Lord, Luke i. 46, 47. Note, (1.) God bestows mercies upon his people to
encourage their joy in his work and service; and, whatever is the matter of our
joy, God must be acknowledged as the author of it, unless it be the laughter
of the fool. (2.) When mercies have been long deferred they are the more
welcome when they come. (3.) It adds to the comfort of any mercy to have our
friends rejoice with us in it: All that hear will laugh with me; for
laughing is catching. See Luke i. 58. Others would rejoice in this instance of
God's power and goodness, and be encouraged to trust in him. See Ps. cxix. 74.
2. It filled her
with wonder, v. 7. Observe here, (1.) What it was she thought so
wonderful: That Sarah should give children suck, that she should, not
only bear a child, but be so strong and hearty at the age as to give it suck.
Note, Mothers, if they be able, ought to be nurses to their own children.
Sarah was a person of quality, was aged; nursing might be thought prejudicial
of herself, or to the child, or to both; she had choice of nurses, no doubt,
in her own family: and yet she would do her duty in this matter; and her
daughters the good wives are while they thus do well, 1 Pet. iii. 5, 6.
See Lam. iv. 3. (2.) How she expressed her wonder: "Who would have
said it? The thing was so highly improbable, so near to impossible, that
if any one but God had said it we could not have believed it." Note,
God's favours to his covenant-people are such as surpass both their own and
others' thoughts and expectations. Who could imagine that God should do so
much for those that deserve so little, nay, for those that deserve so ill? See
Eph. iii. 20; 2 Sam. vii. 18, 19. Who would have said that God should send his
Son to die for us, his Spirit to sanctify us, his angels to attend us? Who
would have said that such great sins should be pardoned, such mean services
accepted, and such worthless worms taken into covenant and communion with the
great and holy God?
IV. A short
account of Isaac's infancy: The child grew, v. 8. Special notice
is taken of this, though a thing of course, to intimate that the children of
the promise are growing children. See Luke i. 80; ii. 40. Those that are born
of God shall increase of God, Col. ii. 19. He grew so as not always to need
milk, but was able to bear strong meat, and then he was weaned. See Heb. v.
13, 14. And then it was that Abraham made a great feast for his friends and
neighbours, in thankfulness to God for his mercy to him. He made this feast,
not on the day that Isaac was born, that would have been too great a
disturbance to Sarah; nor on the day that he was circumcised, that would have
been too great a diversion from the ordinance; but on the day that he was
weaned, because God's blessing upon the nursing of children, and the
preservation of them throughout the perils of the infant age, are signal
instances of the care and tenderness of the divine providence, which ought to
be acknowledged, to its praise. See Ps. xxii. 9, 10; Hos. xi. 1.
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Hagar and Ishmael Expelled.
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B. C. 1892.
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9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the
Egyptian, which she had borne unto Abraham, mocking. 10 Wherefore
she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of
this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.
11 And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his
son. 12 And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy
sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath
said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be
called. 13 And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a
nation, because he is thy seed.
The casting out
of Ishmael is here considered of, and resolved on.
I. Ishmael
himself gave the occasion by some affronts he gave to Isaac his little
brother, some think on the day that Abraham made the feast for joy that Isaac
was safely weaned, which the Jews say was not till he was three years old,
others say five. Sarah herself was an eye-witness of the abuse: she saw the
son of the Egyptian mocking (v. 9), mocking Isaac, no doubt, for it
is said, with reference to this (Gal. iv. 29), that he that was born after
the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit. Ishmael is here
called the son of the Egyptian, because, as some think, the 400 years'
affliction of the seed of Abraham by the Egyptians began now, and was to be
dated hence, ch. xv. 13. She saw him playing with Isaac, so the
LXX., and, in play, mocking him. Ishmael was fourteen years older than
Isaac; and, when children are together, the elder should be careful and tender
of the younger: but it argued a very base and sordid disposition in Ishmael to
be abusive to a child that was no way a match for him. Note, 1. God takes
notice of what children say and do in their play, and will reckon with them if
they say or do amiss, though their parents do not. 2. Mocking is a great sin,
and very provoking to God. 3. There is a rooted remaining enmity in the seed
of the serpent against the seed of the woman. The children of promise must
expect to be mocked. This is persecution, which those that will live godly
must count upon. 4. None are rejected and cast out from God but those who have
first deserved it. Ishmael is continued in Abraham's family till he becomes a
disturbance, grief, and scandal to it.
II. Sarah made
the motion: Cast out this bond-woman, v. 10. This seems to be
spoken in some heat, yet it is quoted (Gal. iv. 30) as
if it had been spoken by a spirit of prophecy; and it is the sentence passed
on all hypocrites and carnal people, though they have a place and a name in
the visible church. All that are born after the flesh and not born again, that
rest in the law and reject the gospel promise, shall certainly be cast out. It
is made to point particularly at the rejection of the unbelieving Jews, who,
though they were the seed of Abraham, yet, because they submitted not to the
gospel covenant, were unchurched and disfranchised: and that which, above any
thing, provoked God to cast them off was their mocking and persecuting the
gospel church, God's Isaac, in its infancy, 1 Thess. ii. 16. Note, There are
many who are familiarly conversant with the children of God in this world, and
yet shall not partake with them in the inheritance of sons. Ishmael might be
Isaac's play-fellow and school-fellow, yet not his fellow-heir.
III. Abraham was
averse to it: The thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight, v.
11. 1. It grieved him that Ishmael had given such a provocation. Note,
Children ought to consider that the more their parents love them the more they
are grieved at their misconduct, and particularly at their quarrels among
themselves. 2. It grieved him that Sarah insisted upon such a punishment.
"Might it not suffice to correct him? would nothing less serve than to
expel him?" Note, Even the needful extremities which must be used with
wicked and incorrigible children are very grievous to tender parents, who
cannot thus afflict willingly.
IV. God
determined it, v. 12, 13. We may well suppose Abraham to be greatly
agitated about this matter, loth to displease Sarah, and yet loth to expel
Ishmael; in this difficulty God tells him what his will is, and then he is
satisfied. Note, A good man desires no more in doubtful cases than to know his
duty, and what God would have him do; and, when he is clear in this, he is, or
should be, easy. To make Abraham so, God sets this matter before him in a true
light, and shows him, 1. That the casting out of Ishmael was necessary to the
establishment of Isaac in the rights and privileges of the covenant: In
Isaac shall thy seed be called. Both Christ and the church must descend
from Abraham through the loins of Isaac; this is the entail of the promise
upon Isaac, and is quoted by the apostle (Rom. ix. 7) to show that not all who
come from Abraham's loins were the heirs of Abraham's covenant. Isaac, the
promised son, must be the father of the promised seed; therefore, "Away
with Ishmael, send him far enough, lest he corrupt the manners or attempt to
invade the rights of Isaac." It will be his security to have his rival
banished. The covenant seed of Abraham must be a peculiar people, a people by
themselves, from the very first, distinguished, not mingled with those that
were out of covenant; for this reason Ishmael must be separated. Abraham was called
alone, and so must Isaac be. See Isa. li. 2. It is probable that Sarah
little thought of this (John xi. 51), but God took what she said, and turned
it into an oracle, as afterwards, ch. xxvii. 10. 2. That the casting
out of Ishmael should not be his ruin, v. 13. He shall be a nation,
because he is thy seed. We are not sure that it was his eternal ruin. It
is presumption to say that all those who are left out of the external
dispensation from all his mercies: those may be saved who are not thus
honoured. However, we are sure it was not his temporal ruin. Though he was
chased out of the church, he was not chased out of the world. I will make
him a nation. Note, (1.) Nations are of God's making: he founds them, he
forms them, he fixes them. (2.) Many are full of the blessings of God's
providence that are strangers to the blessings of his covenant. (3.) The
children of this world often fare the better, as to outward things, for their
relation to the children of God.
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God's Mercy to Hagar and Ishmael.
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B. C. 1892.
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14 And Abraham rose up early in the
morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar,
putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she
departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. 15 And the
water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the
shrubs. 16 And she went, and sat her down over against him
a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death
of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and
wept. 17 And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God
called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar?
fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.
18 Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a
great nation. 19 And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of
water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad
drink. 20 And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the
wilderness, and became an archer. 21 And he dwelt in the
wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.
Here is, I. The
casting out of the bond-woman, and her son from the
family of Abraham, v. 14. Abraham's obedience to the divine command in
this matter was speedy--early in the morning, we may suppose
immediately after he had, in the night's visions, received orders to do this.
It was also submissive; it was contrary to his judgment, at least to his own
inclination, to do it; yet as soon as he perceives that it is the mind of God
he makes no objections, but silently does as he is bidden, as one trained up
to an implicit obedience. In sending them away without any attendants, on
foot, and slenderly provided for, it is probable that he observed the
directions given him. If Hagar and Ishmael had conducted themselves well in
Abraham's family, they might have continued there; but they threw themselves
out by their own pride and insolence, which were thus justly chastised. Note,
By abusing our privileges we forfeit them. Those that know not when they are
well off, in such a desirable place as Abraham's family, deserve to be
cashiered, and to be made to know the worth of mercies by the want of them.
II. Their
wandering in the wilderness, missing their way to the place Abraham designed
them for a settlement.
1. They were
reduced to great distress there. Their provisions were spent, and Ishmael was
sick. He that used to be full fed in Abraham's house, where he waxed fat and
kicked, now fainted and sunk, when he was brought to short allowance. Hagar is
in tears, and sufficiently mortified. Now she wishes for the crumbs she had
wasted and made light of at her master's table. Like one under the power of
the spirit of bondage, she despairs of relief, counts upon nothing but the
death of the child (v. 15, 16), though God had told her, before he
was born, that he should live to be a man, a great man. We are apt to forget
former promises, when present providences seem to contradict them; for we live
by sense.
2. In this
distress, God graciously appeared for their relief: he heard the voice of
the lad, v. 17. We read not of a word he said; but his sighs, and
groans, and calamitous state, cried aloud in the ears of mercy. An angel was
sent to comfort Hagar, and it was not the first time that she had met with
God's comforts in a wilderness; she had thankfully acknowledged the former
kind visit which God made his in such a case (ch. xvi. 13), and
therefore God now visited her again with seasonable succours. (1.) The angel
assures her of the cognizance God took of her distress: God has heard the
voice of the lad where he is, though he is in a wilderness (for, wherever
we are, there is a way open heaven-ward); therefore lift up the lad, and
hold him in thy hand, v. 18. Note, God's readiness to help us when
we are in trouble must not slacken, but quicken, our endeavours to help
ourselves. (2.) He repeats the promise concerning her son, that he should be a
great nation, as a reason why she should bestir herself to help him. Note,
It should engage our care and pains about children and young people to
consider that we know not what God has designed them for, nor what great use
Providence may make of them. (3.) He directs her to a present supply (v.
19): He opened her eyes (which were swollen and almost blinded with
weeping), and then she saw a well of water. Note, Many that have reason
enough to be comforted go mourning from day to day, because they do not see
the reason they have for comfort. There is a well of water by them in the
covenant of grace, but they are not aware of it; they have not the benefit of
it, till the same God that opened their eyes to see their wound opens them to
see their remedy, John xvi. 6, 7. Now the apostle tells us that those things
concerning Hagar and Ishmael are allhgoroumena (Gal. iv. 24), they are to be allegorized; this
then will serve to illustrate the folly, [1.] Of those who, like the
unbelieving Jews, seek for righteousness by the law and the carnal ordinances
of it, and not by the promise made in Christ, thereby running themselves into
a wilderness of want and despair. Their comforts are soon exhausted, and if
God save them not by his special prerogative, and by a miracle of mercy open
their eyes and undeceive them, they are undone. [2.] Of those who seek for
satisfaction and happiness in the world and the things of it. Those that
forsake the comforts of the covenant and communion with God, and choose their
portion in this earth, take up with a bottle of water, poor and slender
provision, and that soon spent; they wander endlessly in pursuit of
satisfaction, and, at length, sit down short of it.
III. The
settlement of Ishmael, at last, in the wilderness of Paran (v. 20, 21),
a wild place, fittest for a wild man; and such a one he was, ch. xvi.
12. Those that are born after the flesh take up with the wilderness of this
world, while the children of the promise aim at the heavenly Canaan, and
cannot be at rest till they are there. Observe, 1. He had some tokens of God's
presence: God was with the lad; his outward prosperity was owing to
this. 2. By trade he was an archer, which intimates that craft was his
excellency and sport his business: rejected Esau was a cunning hunter. 3. He
matched among his mother's relations; she took him a wife out of Egypt: as
great an archer as he was, he did not think he could take his aim well, in the
business of marriage, if he proceeded without his mother's advice and consent.
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Abimelech's Covenant with Abraham.
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B. C. 1892.
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22 And it came to pass at that time,
that Abimelech and Phichol the chief captain of his host spake unto Abraham,
saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest: 23 Now
therefore swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not
deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's son: but
according to the kindness that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me,
and to the land wherein thou hast sojourned. 24 And Abraham said,
I will swear. 25 And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well
of water, which Abimelech's servants had violently taken away. 26
And Abimelech said, I wot not who hath done this thing: neither didst thou
tell me, neither yet heard I of it, but to day. 27 And
Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech; and both of them
made a covenant. 28 And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock
by themselves. 29 And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean
these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves? 30 And he
said, For these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they
may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well. 31
Wherefore he called that place Beer-sheba; because there they sware both of
them. 32 Thus they made a covenant at Beer-sheba: then Abimelech
rose up, and Phichol the chief captain of his host, and they returned into the
land of the Philistines.
We have here an
account of the treaty between Abimelech and Abraham, in which appears the
accomplishment of that promise (ch. xii. 2) that God would make his
name great. His friendship is valued, is courted, though a stranger,
though a tenant at will to the Canaanites and Perizzites.
I. The league is
proposed by Abimelech, and Phichol his prime-minister of state and general of
his army.
1. The inducement
to it was God's favour to Abraham (v. 22): "God is with thee in
all that thou doest, and we cannot but take notice of it." Note, (1.)
God in his providence sometimes shows his people such tokens for good that
their neighbours cannot but take notice of it, Ps. lxxxvi. 17. Their affairs
do so visibly prosper, and they have such remarkable success in their
undertakings, that a confession is extorted from all about them of God's
presence with them. (2.) It is good being in favour with those that are in
favour with God, and having an interest in those that have an interest in
heaven, Zech. viii. 23. We will go with you, for we have heard that God is
with you. We do well for ourselves if we have fellowship with those that
have fellowship with God, 1 John i. 3.
2. The tenour of
it was, in general, that there should be a firm and constant friendship
between the two families, which should not upon any account be violated. This
bond of friendship must be strengthened by the bond of an oath, in which the
true God was appealed to, both as a witness of their sincerity and an avenger
in case either side were treacherous, v. 23. Observe, (1.) He desires
the entail of this league upon his posterity and the extension of it to his
people. He would have his son, and his son's son, and his land likewise, to
have the benefit of it. Good men should secure an alliance and communion with
the favourites of Heaven, not for themselves only, but for theirs also. (2.)
He reminds Abraham of the fair treatment he had found among them: According
to the kindness I have done unto thee. As those that have received
kindness must return it, so those that have shown kindness may expect it.
II. It is
consented to by Abraham, with a particular clause inserted about a well. In
Abraham's part of this transaction observe,
1. He was ready
to enter into this league with Abimelech, finding him to be a man of honour
and conscience, and that had the fear of God before his eyes: I will swear,
v. 24. Note, (1.) Religion does not make men morose and unconversable;
I am sure it ought not. We must not, under colour of shunning bad company, be
sour to all company, and jealous of every body. (2.) An honest mind does not
startle at giving assurances: if Abraham say that he will be true to Abimelech,
he is not afraid to swear it; an oath is for confirmation.
2. He prudently
settled the matter concerning a well, about which Abimelech's servants had
quarrelled with him. Wells of water, it seems, were choice goods in that
country: thanks be to God, that they are not so scarce in ours. (1.) Abraham
mildly told Abimelech of it, v. 25. Note, If our brother trespass
against us, we must, with the meekness of wisdom, tell him his fault, that the
matter may be fairly accommodated and an end made of it, Matt. xviii. 15. (2.)
He acquiesced in Abimelech's justification of himself in this matter: I wot
not who has done this thing, v. 26. Many are suspected of injustice
and unkindness that are perfectly innocent, and we ought to be glad when they
clear themselves. The faults of servants must not be imputed to their masters,
unless they know of them and justify them; and no more can be expected from an
honest man than that he be ready to do right as soon as he knows that he has
done wrong. (3.) He took care to have his title to the well cleared and
confirmed, to prevent any disputes or quarrels for the future, v. 30.
It is justice, as well as wisdom, to do thus, in perptuam rei
memoriam--that the circumstance may be perpetually remembered.
3. He made a very
handsome present to Abimelech, v. 27. It was not any thing curious or fine
that he presented to him, but that which was valuable and useful--sheep and
oxen, in gratitude for Abimelech's kindness to him, and in token of hearty
friendship between them. The interchanging of kind offices is the improving of
love: that which is mine is my friend's.
4. He ratified
the covenant by an oath, and registered it by giving a new name to the place (v.
31), Beer-sheba, the well of the oath, in remembrance of the
covenant they swore to, that they might be ever mindful of it; or the well
of seven, in remembrance of the seven lambs given to Abimelech, as a
consideration for his confirming Abraham's title to that well. Note, Bargains
made must be remembered, that we may make them good, and may not break our
word through oversight.
33 And Abraham planted a grove in Beer-sheba, and called
there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God. 34 And Abraham sojourned
in the Philistines' land many days.
Observe, 1.
Abraham, having got into a good neighbourhood, knew when he was well off, and
continued a great while there. There he planted a grove for a shade to his
tent, or perhaps an orchard of fruit-trees; and there, though we cannot say he
settled, for God would have him, while he lived, to be a stranger and a
pilgrim, yet he sojourned many days, as many as would consist with his
character, as Abraham the Hebrew, or passenger. 2. There he
made, not only a constant practice, but an open profession, of his religion: There
he called on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God, probably in the
grove he planted, which was his oratory or house of prayer. Christ prayed in a
garden, on a mountain. (1.) Abraham kept up public worship, to which,
probably, his neighbours resorted, that they might join with him. Note, Good
men should not only retain their goodness wherever they go, but do all they
can to propagate it, and make others good. (2.) In calling on the Lord, we
must eye him as the everlasting God, the God of the world, so some.
Though God had made himself known to Abraham as his God in particular, and in
covenant with him, yet he forgets not to give glory to him as the Lord of all:
The everlasting God, who was, before all worlds, and will be, when time
and days shall be no more. See Isa. xl. 28.
Contents
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