COME AS A CHILD - LESSON 47 - BECOMING THE LAUGHING STOCK OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD

                

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

Sarai must have felt like the laughing stock of the tents of Abram.  Had God not given them a promise that Sarai would bear a son?  Well, what silly notion had given them that idea?  Anyone with eyes to see could look at Sarai growing older every day without a child.  That promise that God had given to Abram must have been for Hagar’s son, Ishmael.  Yes, Hagar was a very blessed woman indeed.  She had been an Egyptian slave girl, yet she had worked her way up to the status of Abram’s wife.  The women in the tents must have considered her very smart.  Now she was the mother of Abram's first-born child.  That Hagar was one lucky girl, and that Sarai must do something about's those foolish thoughts that she imagined God had put into her head. 

This was probably the main gossip as the women gathered at the well every day and as they kneaded the flour for their bread.  They all lived very close.  They all knew each other’s business, or at least they THOUGHT they did.  

Sarai, who had once been known as the most beautiful woman in the land, who had been sought after by Kings and Pharaoh’s and the one whom Abram had chosen because of her beauty and her spirit must have struggled to hold her head up and remember who she really was.  The next thirteen years that transpired for Sarai were probably very hard.

When the people around you mistake your identity and purpose for someone and something else, you can get confused and forget the promises God made specifically to you.  You can have days when the voices haunt you and the whispers behind your back annoy you and even you might begin to doubt yourself and wonder what is wrong with you.  If you aren't very careful you will catch yourself believing the lies.  

When you begin to believe the lies you can feel very low.  Sarai must have been feeling pretty low during those long years of Ishmael's childhood.  Perhaps she was keeping inside her tent, simply tending to her household duties and not venturing out much.  It probably wasn't much fun for her to watch Abram wrestling and playing under the trees with Ishmael.  She probably did not enjoy seeing the smile that must have played across the lips of Hagar.  Perhaps she became more introverted, not greeting everyone that came along, not singing all the time, just keeping an on-going silence.   

The lies, they stop the love.  The lies hurt and they can make even the most beautiful woman on earth feel ugly.  Only God can pull you away from the lies.  Only God can show you again who you really are.  Only God can restore the truth to your reputation when people allow the devil to take over their tongues and their actions and none of it is within your own control.  

Sarai knew God.  She sought his refuge.  He must have comforted her in this hard time of her life. 

Abram at this point also must have felt like some things were amiss.  I guess he might have been going through a late mid-life crisis.  Yes, it seems even Abram had such problems. Many think that Abram forgot to call on the name of God for a while during the childhood of Ishmael.  There are thirteen years of time missing from the account in the scriptures.  It was as if Abram had become distracted from God.   Perhaps he was disturbed over the division that had formed within his household when he and Sarai had not followed God's plan.  Perhaps he thought God must be angry with him for listening to Sarai and being impatient and perhaps he thought God had turned His face away.  All we know is that Abram had a covenant with God; he had not been patient enough to wait on God's promises; he now had a son by an Egyptian handmaiden who was growing up wild and unruly.  

He had also probably spent more time in the tents of Hagar than Sarai during this time.  Perhaps nothing he could do would make this up to Sarai.  There was a lot that Abram needed to repent.  

Perhaps he had finally thought things through and found himself waking up to the reality of the wrong things he had done.  Perhaps he spent hours thinking, realizing how far away he had wondered from God's will for his life.  When he looked at the wild unruly son growing up before him, he probably did not see any of the promises of God being fulfilled in him.  Abram must have often asked God for forgiveness.  He must have reached a lonely place where he began to seek the comfort of God again; perhaps still confused at how things were beginning to transpire and unfold.  He must have had a million questions when he finally turned his face back toward God.  The main question:  why did Sarai not bear him a son?  Why had Hagar been the one?  What was God’s will – REALLY?   He must have asked God this question on a daily basis. 

It came time for Ishmael’s 13^th birthday.  This was the beginning his manhood and the end of his time of childhood.  Abram must have asked God again, why Ishmael?  How should I treat this son when you told me it would be Sarai’s son whom You would covenant with?  What am I to do now?

And God  finally answered Abram.  He told him to walk before Him and be righteous.  Well, yes, that had been a problem!  God always keeps his promises, He had made an unconditional covenant with Abram earlier.   It seems that Abram was once again agreeing to walk righteously before God.  God told Abram to be perfect before Him and he would make His covenant with Abram to multiply his generations.

  "Being perfect with God" can often be as simple as repenting, receiving grace and turning from the things that you have done wrong.   That last part is very important, that part that says to turn from the things that you have done wrong.  God wanted Abram to turn.  This must have been what God wanted when Abram spoke to God after a long time of silence.  Abram had time to realize that his life had got to be off-track with God's will.   God was waiting on Abram to come to his senses and turn from his disobedience.    Finally, God felt Abram was ready for an answer.

Abram fell on his face when this answer came.   Those years of hopelessness must have melted away.   Finally hearing the voice of God again must have given him great joy and relief!  The long time of not hearing the voice of God had changed Abram's heart.  Perhaps he went from being hard-hearted  and frustrated to being confused and lonely, from feeling hopeless to feeling humble and repenting of his sin.  True repentance always brings the hope of hearing God's voice again.  When God spoke again, it must have stirred Abram's heart to walk closer and better with God.   This time Abram was very intent in his listening to God.   He never wanted to do the wrong thing again.  He wanted to hear this right!  He wanted to grasp it all.  

God has this uncanny way of always knowing when our time of destiny has come.  He waits and waits patiently on our hearts to change, refusing to move until our hearts are in the right place.  Abram's heart had definitely been changed.  He had come to recognize his deep humanity and how far away he had wondered from God's plan for his life.  He longed to change this, to please God again, to walk with God as he had done before his sin.  He must have poured this out in prayer.  God is always there, listening, waiting.  All we have to do is lay down our stubbornness and pride and seek His face with repentance.  

Once again God told Abram that His covenant was with him and God explained that Abram would be the father of many nations; but this time, something was different.  This time God told Abram that his name would be changed.  Abram meant "Exalted Father."   The name Abram had been given by his earthly father and might have seemed like an embarrassment at this point in life, as he had remained fatherless for a long time, then only having one son by a handmaiden and not his chosen wife.  It was becoming more and more apparent that Ishmael would only be exalting himself as he grew and matured.  He had respect for no one.  

God said Abram would now be called Abraham, which meant “Father of Many.”  This name given by his Heavenly Father was even more of an overstatement for where Abraham was living in time.  When God emphasizes something enough to rename it, it is always best to believe it.  These things always come to pass, even when they seem impossible.  This time Abraham chose not to doubt, but to believe with all his heart.

God said once again that Abraham would become the father of many nations and that Kings would come from Abraham.  God said that he would establish His covenant with Abraham as well as the generations of Abraham’s descendants.  He would be their God and they would be His people.  Once again God mentioned the Land of Canaan, and said that it would be given by Him to Abraham and all of his descendants.  God commanded Abraham and his descendants to keep His covenant of circumcision.  This was to be true of all of Abraham’s household, both born and bought as slaves or adopted.  By the time they were eight days old, every male of The House of Abraham should be circumcised. 

Then God mentioned Sarai.  Sarai meant "princess."  It was the name given to her by her earthly parents.  God changed her name to Sarah, which means “princess of many.”  Once again God told Abraham that Sarah would have a son, and from her son will come Kings of nations.  God says clearly to Abraham that He will bless Sarah. 

There it was again!  God was calling the impossible, possible.  


The changing of names here is a precious principle that we all would do well to remember.  We walk through a world that names us according to the lies, but God has holy purposes that He has hidden deep within each of us.  He renames us according to His purpose for our lives.  We must determine to do just what Abraham did.  We must listen carefully to God and hear the name He gives to us instead of listening to the lies of the world.  God is outside of time.  He knows the beginning from the end.  He KNOWS us and He alone can direct us.  Open your ears to be listening for your new name.  He has one just for you if you are willing to do like Abraham; turn and repent and listen for further instructions and do the will of God.  Knowing your new name will help to keep you on track.  If it feels impossible just remember that God can DO the impossible.  Believe.

At this point in the story, Abraham wants to be very sure he understands.  He thinks of Ishmael and mentions him to God for a blessing.  God makes it very clear to Abraham that Sarah will bear a son and this is the son that God will covenant with.  God tells Abraham to name Sarah’s son "Isaac." 

Then God mentions Abraham’s request for Ishmael and says he too will be blessed.  God will make him fruitful and a nation will grow from him and he will have 12 sons of his own.  But God makes clear to Abraham that it is Isaac that will be the covenant son, and God tells Abraham that Isaac will be born to Sarah about this same time next year. 

At that point God left Abraham to ponder and carry out all the things they had discussed.  Abraham went home and circumcised every male in his household, including himself and Ishmael.  Abraham was 99 years old and Ishmael was 13.  All of the men living in the tents of Abraham both free and slaves were circumcised.  The covenant of circumcision required action on Abraham’s part and on the part of all those of his household.  It was a painful act of obedience.  They were obedient.  Abraham followed everything that God had told him to do; then he went back to his tent with Sarah and sat down to wait to see what The Lord was going to do next.  

Abraham, the circumcised man with the new name had learned to wait on God and not make his own plans.