CHAPTER 21

(1892 B.C.)

THE BIRTH OF ISAAC

¹And the LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as He had spoken (despite all of Satans hindrances, Isaac, the progenitor and Type of the Messiah, is born).

²For Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. (Referring back to the past Chapter, if it be objected that this whole occurrence is incredible, because no heathen prince would desire to marry a woman upwards of ninety years of age, or to conceive such a passion for her that to secure her he would murder her husband the very fate which Abraham feared for himself it may be replied that God must have miraculously renewed her youth, so that she became sufficiently youthful in appearance to suitably be desirable. Three times in these first two verses, the clause points to the supernatural character of Isaacs birth.)

³And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. (The name means laughter. It speaks of blessing, increase, healing, life, and well-being [Jn. 10:10]. As Isaac was a Type of Christ, it would not be wrong to say that one of the names of Christ is laughter.)

⁴And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him (this was a sign of the Covenant that God would ultimately send a Redeemer into this world).

⁵And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him (this verse is placed in the Text so that all may know that Isaacs birth was indeed miraculous).

⁶And Sarah said, God has made me to laugh, so that all who hear will laugh with me. (The mention of Sarahs name some five times thus far in this Chapter is done for purpose and reason; the Holy Spirit is impressing the fact that Sarah was in truth the very mother of this miraculous child. Sarah had once laughed in unbelief; she now laughs in Faith, a laughter incidentally expressing joy which will never end. It all pointed to Christ. Because of Christ, untold millions have laughed for joy.)

⁷And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have born him a son in his old age (this is a poem, and could very well have been a song, and probably was).

⁸And the child grew, and was weaned (the custom in those days was to nurse children for two to three years before they were weaned; however, there is some indication that Isaac was approximately five years old when he was weaned): and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned (at this time, the boy was turned over to his father for training, at which time his education began).

THE BONDWOMAN AND HER SON

⁹And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking. (The effect of the birth of Isaac, a work of the Spirit, was to make manifest the character of Ishmael, a work of the flesh. The end result of the mocking was that Ishmael actually desired to murder Isaac [Gal. 4:29]. Ishmael was probably eighteen to twenty years old at this time.)

¹⁰Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: (Isaac and Ishmael symbolize the new and the old natures in the Believer. Hagar and Sarah typify the two Covenants of works and Grace, of bondage and liberty [Gal., Chpt. 4]. The birth of the new nature demands the expulsion of the old. It is impossible to improve the old nature. How foolish, therefore, appears the doctrine of moral evolution!) for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. (Allowed to remain, Ishmael would murder Isaac; allowed to remain, the flesh will murder the Spirit. The Divine way of holiness is to put off the old man, just as Abraham put off Ishmael. Mans way of holiness is to improve the old man, that is, to improve Ishmael. The effort is both foolish and hopeless.)

¹¹And the thing was very grievous in Abrahams sight because of his son. (It is always a struggle to cast out this element of bondage, that is, salvation by works, of which this is a type. For legalism is dear to the heart. Ishmael was the fruit, and, to Abraham, the fair fruit of his own energy and planning, which God can never accept.)

¹²And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in your sight because of the lad, and because of your bondwoman; in all that Sarah has said unto you, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall your seed be called. (It is labor lost to seek to make a crooked thing straight. Hence, all efforts after the improvement of nature are utterly futile, so far as God is concerned. The flesh must go, which typifies the personal ability, strength, and efforts of the Believer. The Faith of the Believer must be entirely in Christ and what Christ has done at the Cross. Then, and then alone, can the Holy Spirit have latitude to work in our lives, bringing forth perpetual victory [Rom. 6:14]. It must ever be understood, in Isaac [in Christ] shall your seed be called.)

¹³And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is your seed (out of this work of the flesh ultimately came the religion of Islam, which claims that Ishmael is the promised seed, and not Isaac).

¹⁴And 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. (This moment marks a distinct advance in the spiritual experience of Abraham. From this moment onwards all is strength and victory. He casts out the bondwoman and her son; he no longer fears the prince of this world [Abimelech], but reproves him; and now that the heir is come, Christ in Type, he knows himself to be the possessor of Heavenly as well as earthly promises.)

¹⁵And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs (she told Ishmael to sit down, with a shrub providing a little shade; child, in the Hebrew, can refer to a young man, which applies to Ishmael).

¹⁶And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bow shot: 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 (without water, both of them would die very soon).

THE COVENANT

¹⁷And God heard the voice of the lad; and the Angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What ails you, Hagar? fear not; for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. (It is not said that either Ishmael or his mother prayed to God in their distress. Hence the Divine interposition on their behalf was due solely to Mercy and to Gods love for Abraham.)

¹⁸Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in your hand; for I will make him a great nation. (Ishmael, being between 18 and 20 years old at this time, the phrase actually means, place your hand on his shoulder and steady him. True to Gods Promise, the Arabs sprang from Ishmael.)

¹⁹And 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 (evidently, the Lord had purposely blinded her to the well, until certain things could be made known to her, and that she would acknowledge them, which required a modicum of Faith).

²⁰And God was with the lad (which means that the Lord, despite Ishmaels murderous attitude toward Isaac, did all for the sake of Abraham); and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.

²¹And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt (we have here the beginning of the Arab people).

ABRAHAM

²²And it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech and Phichol the chief captain of his host spoke unto Abraham, saying, God is with you in all that you do (It is evident that Abimelech was a smart man; he had sense enough to know that if God was with Abraham, He would be with all who befriended Abraham; modern Christians could take a lesson from this man):

²³Now therefore swear unto me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my sons son: but according to the kindness that I have done unto you, you shall do unto me, and to the land wherein you have sojourned (Abimelech wants the covenant to extend even to his grandson).

²⁴And Abraham said, I will swear (Abimelech recognized that Abraham had power with God; he wanted to be on the positive side of that power, and not the negative).

²⁵And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water, which Abimelechs servants had violently taken away (the ownership of wells in that part of the world was a jealously guarded possession).

²⁶And Abimelech said, I do not know who has done this thing; neither did you tell me, neither yet heard I of it, but today (this shows that Abimelech was not dealing falsely with Abraham; he did not know of the situation).

²⁷And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant (these animals evidently were for sacrifice).

²⁸And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves (this was a symbol of a covenant, with which Abimelech was not familiar).

²⁹And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What do these seven ewe lambs mean which you have set by themselves? (Seven ewe lambs are picked out and placed by themselves, and by accepting these, Abimelech bound himself to acknowledge and respect Abrahams title to the well. Apparently this manner of ratifying an oath was unknown to the Philistines.)

³⁰And he (Abraham) said, For these seven ewe lambs shall you take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me, that I have dug this well. (If Abimelech takes the seven lambs, which he obviously did, this shows that he agrees with Abrahams contention concerning the fact that the well had originally belonged to him, and had been fraudulently taken.)

³¹Wherefore he called that place Beer-sheba; because there they did swear both of them. (The word in Hebrew for swearing is a passive verb, literally signifying to be sevened, that is, done or confirmed by seven.)

³²Thus 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. (This area ruled by Abimelech is called here the land of the Philistines for the first time; however, the main body of the Philistines who established their cities in the south coastal plain of Canaan did not arrive until later.)

³³And Abraham planted a grove (tree) in Beer-sheba (accordingly he takes possession of the land, thereby planting a tree; in the Hebrew the word is tree and not grove), and called there on the Name of the LORD, the Everlasting God. (The Patriarch now refers to Jehovah as Elolam. In 14:22, Abraham claimed for Jehovah that He was El Elyon, the supreme God; in 17:1, Jehovah reveals Himself as El Shaddai, the Almighty God; and now Abraham claims for him the attribute of eternity. As he advanced in holiness, Abraham also grew in knowledge of the manifold nature of the Deity of God.)

³⁴And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines land many days (the Patriarch would actually live here until he died).