Bible Reading: Genesis 16; Nehemiah 5; Matthew 15; Acts 15
Genesis 16:2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.
God had made Abram a promise. He had made a covenant with him and promised him an heir.
Genesis 15:4 And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
Can't you just hear Abram and Sarai laying in their tent at night talking about this promise? Abram was in his eighties at this time and Sarah was in her seventies. How excited Abram must have been as he thought about having a son! But as time when on, Sarai began to realize that what God had promised was impossible. We do not know if she was bitter against the Lord or not, but she said, "The LORD hath restrained me from bearing." So she began to think. She came up with a plan and presented it to Abram.
In that day it was customary for a woman who could not have children to adopt the child of another woman with her husband. The child would literally be born 'on her knees'. When the time came for the birth, the pregnant woman would sit on the lap of the barren woman and the child would belong to the barren woman. This was Sarai's suggestion for Abram to have an heir. She would give him her handmaid Hagar, an Egyptian girl.
This might have been customarily acceptable in the day, but it was not what God wanted. The Bible says:
Proverbs 16:25 There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
It seemed right to Abram and Sarai to try and bring about God's promise through their means. They took it into their own hands and tried to figure out how to make it work. This child, Ishmael we are told is an example of what the flesh can accomplish:
Galatians 4:23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
God was going to do a miracle! Abram and Sarai tried to bring it about by their own means. Be very careful that you don't do as they did. We must:
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Trust God and do not lean on your own understanding. Do not try to bring about the promises of God by the flesh!
In Christ,
Rody
