God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but her name will be Sarah. I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. Yes, I will bless her, and she will be a mother of nations. Kings of peoples will come from her.”
Then Abraham fell on his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to him who is one hundred years old? Will Sarah, who is ninety years old, give birth?” Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!”
God said, “No, but Sarah, your wife, will bear you a son. You shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. As for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He will become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.”
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv15, 17, 18, 19, 20 15. As for Sarai thy wife God now promises…
15. As for Sarai thy wife God now promises to Abraham a legitimate seed by Sarai. She had been (as I have said) too precipitate, when she substituted, without any command from God, her handmaid in her own place. Abraham also bad been too pliant in following his wife, who foolishly and rashly wished to anticipate the design of God; nevertheless, their united fault did not prevent God from making it known to them that he was about to give them that seed, from the expectation of which, they had, in a manner, cut themselves off. Whence the gratuitous kindness of God shines the more clearly, because, although men impede the course of it by obstacles of their own, it nevertheless comes to them. Moreover, God changes the name of Sarai, in order that he may extend her preeminence far and wide, which in her former name had been more restricted. For the letter י (yod) has the force among the Hebrews of the possessive pronoun: this being now taken away, God designs that Sarah should every where, and without exception, be celebrated as a sovereign and princess. And this is expressed in the context, when God promises that he will give her a son, from whom at length nations and kings should be born. And although at first sight this benediction appears most ample, it is still far richer than it seems to be, in the words here used, as we shall see in a little time.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv15, 17, 19, 20 Or, dame, or princess.
Or, dame, or princess.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv15–21 Gen 17:15 And God said unto Abraham, As for…
Gen 17:15 And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah [shall] her name [be].
Ver. 15. Thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah.] The Chaldee, Sarai, is made Hebrew, Sarah: One of the four letters of Jehovah being also added (as before in Abraham), that she may be, absolutely, a lady or princess.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 Sarai signifies my lady, or my princess, which confines…
Sarai signifies my lady, or my princess, which confines her dominion to one family; but
Sarah signifies either a lady or princess, simply and absolutely without restriction, or the princess of a multitude, the Hebrew letter he being taken out of Hamon, and added to her name, as it was to Abram’s name.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v15 Here is, I. The promise made to Abraham of…
Here is, I. The promise made to Abraham of a son by Sarai, that son in whom the promise made to him should be fulfilled, that he should be the father of many nations; for she also shall be a mother of nations, and kings of people shall be of her, Gen 17:16. Note, 1. God reveals the purposes of his good-will to his people by degrees. God had told Abraham long before that he should have a son, but never till now that he should have a son by Sarai. 2. The blessing of the Lord makes fruitful, and adds no sorrow with it, no such sorrow as was in Hagar's case. "I will bless her with the blessing of fruitfulness, and then thou shalt have a son of her." 3. Civil government and order are a great blessing to the church. It is promised, not only that people, but kings of people, should be of her; not a headless rout, but a well-modelled well-governed society.
II. The ratification of this promise was the change of Sarai's name into Sarah (Gen 17:15), the same letter being added to her name that was to Abraham's, and for the same reasons. Sarai signifies my princess, as if her honour were confined to one family only. Sarah signifies a princess - namely, of multitudes, or signifying that from her should come the Messiah the prince, even the prince of the kings of the earth.
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III. Abraham's joyful, thankful, entertainment of this gracious promise, Gen 17:17. Upon this occasion he expressed, 1. Great humility: He fell on his face. Note, The more honours and favours God confers upon us the lower we should be in our own eyes, and the more reverent and submissive before God. 2. Great joy: He laughed. It was a laughter of delight, not of distrust. Note, Even the promises of a holy God, as well as his performances, are the joys of holy souls; there is the joy of faith as well as the joy of fruition. Now it was that Abraham rejoiced to see Christ's day. Now he saw it and was glad (Joh 8:56); for, as he saw heaven in the promise of Canaan, so he saw Christ in the promise of Isaac. 3. Great admiration: Shall a child be born to him that is a hundred years old? He does not here speak of it as at all doubtful (for we are sure that he staggered not at the promise, Rom 4:20), but as very wonderful and that which could not be effected but by the almighty power of God, and as very kind, and a favour which was the more affecting and obliging for this, that it was extremely surprising, Psa 126:1, Psa 126:2.
IV. Abraham's prayer for Ishmael: O that Ishmael might live before thee! Gen 17:18. This he speaks, not as desiring that Ishmael might be preferred before the son he should have by Sarah; but, dreading lest he should be abandoned and forsaken of God, he puts up this petition on his behalf. Now that God is talking with him he thinks he has a very fair opportunity to speak a good word for Ishmael, and he will not let it slip. Note, 1. Though we ought not to prescribe to God, yet he gives us leave, in prayer, to be humbly free with him, and particular in making known our requests, Phi 4:6. Whatever is the matter of our care and fear should be spread before God in prayer. 2. It is the duty of parents to pray for their children, for all their children, as Job, who offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all, Job 1:5. Abraham would not have it thought that, when God promised him a son by Sarah, which he so much desired, then his son by Hagar was forgotten; no, still he bears him upon his heart, and shows a concern for him. The prospect of further favours must not make us unmindful of former favours. 3. The great thing we should desire of God for our children is that they may live before him, that is, that they may be kept in covenant with him, and may have grace to walk before him in their uprightness. Spiritual blessings are the best blessings, and those for which we should be most earnest with God, both for ourselves and others. Those live well that live before God.
V. God's answer to his prayer; and it is an answer of peace. Abraham could not say that he sought God's face in vain.
1. Common blessings are secured to Ishmael (Gen 17:20): As for Ishmael, whom thou art in so much care about, I have heard thee; he shall find favour for thy sake; I have blessed him, that is, I have many blessings in store for him. (1.) His posterity shall be numerous: I will multiply him exceedingly, more than his neighbours. This is the fruit of the blessing, as that, Gen 1:28. (2.) They shall be considerable: Twelve princes shall he beget. We may charitably hope that spiritual blessings also were bestowed upon him, though the visible church was not brought out of his loins and the covenant was not lodged in his family. Note, Great plenty of outward good things is often given to those children of godly parents who are born after the flesh, for their parents' sake.
2. Covenant blessings are reserved for Isaac, and appropriated to him, Gen 17:19, Gen 17:21. If Abraham, in his prayer for Ishmael, meant that he would have the covenant made with him, and the promised seed to come from him, then God did not answer him in the letter, but in that which was equivalent, nay, which was every way better. (1.) God repeats to him the promise of a son by Sarah: She shall bear thee a son indeed. Note, Even true believers need to have God's promises doubled and repeated to them, that they may have strong consolation, Heb 6:18. Again, Children of the promise are children indeed. (2.) He names that child - calls him Isaac, laughter, because Abraham rejoiced in spirit when this son was promised him. Note, If God's promises be our joy, his mercies promised shall in due time be our exceeding joy. Christ will be laughter to those that look for him; those that now rejoice in hope shall shortly rejoice in having that which they hope for: this is laughter that is not mad. (3.) He entails the covenant upon that child: I will establish my covenant with him. Note, God takes whom he pleases into covenant with himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. See Rom 9:8, Rom 9:18. Thus was the covenant settled between God and Abraham, with its several limitations and remainders, and then the conference ended: God left off talking with him, and the vision disappeared, God went up from Abraham. Note, Our communion with God here is broken and interrupted; in heaven it will be a continual and everlasting feast.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv15–21 And God said unto Abraham,.... After he had changed…
And God said unto Abraham,.... After he had changed his name, and given him the covenant of circumcision:
as for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah her name shall be; her former name Sarai signifies "my princess", or rather "princesses", being to him in the room of many, and better than ten thousand; yet only a princess to him, and in his family, being sole mistress there: but Sarah signifies, as Jarchi observes, "princess" absolutely, because she was princess over all the princes and people that should come of her, as well as be the mother and princess of all female believers, who are called her daughters, Pe1 3:6.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv15, 17, 18, 20, 21 Sarah shall her name be - The same letter…
Sarah shall her name be - The same letter is added to her name that was to Abraham's. Sarai signifies my princess, as if her honour were confined to one family only: Sarah signifies a princess, viz. of multitudes.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21 Verse 15. Thou shalt not call her name Sarai,…
Verse 15. Thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah] See Clarke on Ge 17:5.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv15, 17, 18, 20, 21 Gen 17:15. Here is the promise made to Abraham…
Gen 17:15. Here is the promise made to Abraham of a son by Sarai, that son in whom the promise made to him should be fulfilled, that he should be the father of many nations, for she also shall be a mother of nations, and kings of people shall be of her, Gen 17:16. Thus God reveals the purposes of his good-will to his people by degrees. He had told Abraham long before that he should have a son, but never till now that he should have a son by Sarai. Sarah shall her name be — The same letter is added to her name that was to Abraham’s. Sarai signifies my princess, as if her honour were confined to one family only; Sarah signifies a princess, namely, of multitudes.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv15–20 Sara, princess of all the nations of the faithful,…
Sara, princess of all the nations of the faithful, not simply of one family. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv15, 17, 18, 19 As for Sarai . . . I will .…
As for Sarai . . . I will . . . give thee a son also of her--God's purposes are gradually made known. A son had been long ago promised to Abraham. Now, at length, for the first time he is informed that it was to be a child of Sarai.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv15–20 15. Sarai… Sarah — The precise meaning of the…
15. Sarai… Sarah — The precise meaning of the name Sarai (שׂרי) is not easy to decide, but the sense of my princess, generally adopted by the older interpreters, appears the most simple. In this sense she is heroine, princely, noble, in a more special idea of being the princess of a single race; or high princess, as Abram was high father. Sarah means princess, and “aptly is she so named, for she is to bear the child of promise, to become nations, and be the mother of kings.” — Murphy. Compare note on change of Abram’s name, Gen_17:5. Though Sarah and her female descendants receive not the sign of the covenant, they nevertheless are divinely recognised as identified with the chosen people, and heirs of the promise.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv15–20 15–22. The Promise to Sarai
15–22. The Promise to Sarai
15. Sarah shall her name be] That is, Princess. The name “Sarai” (LXX Σάρα) is altered to “Sarah” (LXX Σάῤῥα). The name “Sarah” is the feminine form of the Heb. Sar, “a prince.” Other explanations which give the meaning “the contentious one,” or “the merry one,” are improbable. “Sarai” may possibly have been an older form of “Sarah.” It cannot mean, as used to be asserted, “my princess.”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv15–19 (15) Sarai.—Probably princely, an adjective of the same form…
(15) Sarai.—Probably princely, an adjective of the same form as shaddai, Gen_17:1; while Sarah means princess. The change of name shows that she was admitted to the covenant. (Comp. Gen_17:10.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv15–21 And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy…
CHAPTER 17:15-27
And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, who, not having hitherto been mentioned in any of the promises, is now expressly taken into covenant, and accordingly receives a new name (cf. Ver. 5; Gen_32:28; Rev_3:12) thou shalt not call her name Sarai, princess" (Gesenius); "princely, noble" (Ikenins, Rosenm Keil, Delitzsch); "the heroine" (Knobel); "strife, contention" (Ewald, Murphy), with special reference to her struggle against sterility. (Kalisch) but Sarah "princess" (Gesenius), the meaning being that, whereas formerly she was Abram"s princess only, she was henceforth to be recognized as a princess generally, i.e. as the mother of the Church (Jerome, Augustine), or as princess to the Lord, the letter A being taken from the name Jehovah, as in the change of Abram into Abraham (the Rabbis); though Ikenius and Rosenm derive from an Arabic root, sara, to have a numerous progeny shall her name be.
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Vers. 15-27.
The covenant completed.
I THE ADMISSION OF SARAI
1. The changed name. As on entering within the covenant the name of Abram was changed to Abraham, so, to signalize the reception of his spouse, Sarai was transformed into Sarah (vide Exposition), the transformation having in her case the same significance as it had in Abraham"s. In particular it proclaimed that, like Abraham, Sarah was now a justified and regenerated believer in the Divine promise. N.B. There is only one gate of entrance to Christ"s Church, viz., faith or conversion.
2. The guaranteed blessing. What is here affirmed of Sarai is that she should not only be received into the Church, but made a sharer of Abraham"s blessing, i.e. become entitled to all the gracious provisions of the covenant. The blessing of Abraham belongs to all who are possessed of Abraham"s faith. Christ"s salvation is the common property of believers. And to all it is certain, as it was to Sarai. The "yea" concerning Sarai has now become for Christ"s people "yea and amen.
3. The promised son. This was the first intimation that Sarai was to be the mother of the seed. The Eternal never hastens. God"s disclosures of his own plans are ever slow, gradual, progressive, and mostly regulated by the faith of the recipients. When the fullness of the time arrives he is able to be minute, explicit, emphatic, as he was in intimating Isaac"s birth:
1. by the time a year hence, and
2. by the name Isaac.
3. The rejoicing husband. The laugh of gladness which escaped the patriarch, though partly owing to the reiterated promise of a son, was chiefly due to the announcement that Sarah was to be its mother. It was the joy of a husband in the happiness of a beloved wife, long tried, but at length about to be rewarded; it was also the joy of a believing husband in the well-founded assurance of his wife"s interest in the covenant of grace.
II THE EXCLUSION OF ISHMAEL.
1. The prayer of Abraham
(1) Reveals a note of sorrow. The displacement of Hagar"s child by the son of Sarah, though for Sarah"s sake thrilling him with joy, appears to have raised a tender sympathy in his breast for the disappointment which was to fall upon the lad and his mother. For years he had himself no other thought than that Ishmael might be the seed, and now he cannot put aside the cherished hope without regret. Let fathers learn that though it is beautiful to feel for children"s griefs, it is dangerous to construct plans for children"s greatness.
(2) Breathes an earnest spirit. Deeply concerned for the welfare of his son, Abraham was also filled with longing that God would listen to his prayer. If there is anything about which a parent"s heart should be sincerely passionate, it is the happiness and prosperity of his offspring; and if there is one season more than another in which a parent"s heart should be possessed by strong emotion, it is when pleading for his children at a throne of grace. (Psa_78:2)
(3) Craves a heavenly blessing. Though Ishmael was to be denied the honor of serving as a medium for the transmission of the blessings of the covenant to future ages, his father supplicated for him a personal participation in those blessings. The chief ambition of a parent should be the conversion and spiritual advancement of his children. (3Jn_1:4)
2. The answer of God
(1) Assures the praying father of acceptance. Ishmael, though not admitted to the succession of the holy seed, should not be excluded from the gifts of grace. If Hagar"s child, though born of the flesh, should become possessed of faith, he too would share in the spiritual benediction of the covenant. Let parents be encouraged to pray for their children.
(2) Promises great temporal prosperity to the son. Abraham had sought spiritual life for Ishmael; God bestowed m addition temporal renown. So God did with Solomon, (1Ki_3:11) and still does with saints. (Eph_3:20)
III THE ACQUIESCENCE OF ABRAHAM. This was signified by the patriarch"s observance of the rite of circumcision, in regard to which his obedience was
1. Immediate. There was no delay, no reluctance, no considering the question, but instantaneous compliance with the Divine directions. On the self-same day as God explained to him the provisions and conditions of the covenant, he declared his consent before God by the acceptance of the suggested sign. His behavior in this respect should be taken as a model by believers.
2. Cheerful. The rite of circumcision was of course attended with pain and something approaching to personal humiliation, and yet self-abasement and suffering were joyously assented to in view of the coming gift of the covenant. So should Christians delightedly accept tribulation and any sort of bodily indignity that God may impose, considering them as nothing in comparison with the eternal weight of glory.
3. Thorough-going. Prompt as to its time, willing in its spirit, the obedience of Abraham was also minute in its performance. The appointed ordinance was administered to himself, his son Ishmael, and every male domestic in his house, as God had said unto him. So God"s people are required to observe all things written in the book of the covenant
HOMILIES BY R.A. REDFORD
Ver. 15. shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be," &c. "Mother of nations;" "kings of peoples shall be of her.
I EXALTATION OF THE LOWLY. A pilgrim and stranger, made a princess. A mother of nations, though once desolate, mourning, ready to murmur. The lamentation turned into laughter.
II THE FREEDOM OF DIVINE GRACE. The blessing unexpected, apart from creature strength, notwithstanding blind and foolish attempts to obtain blessing in our own way the Ishmael, not the Isaac. Though many things "said in our heart," the one thing Divinely purposed the only true fulfillment of that heart"s desire.
III FOREGLEAMS OF THE COMING GLORY. The seed of the woman, specially representing the promise of God, supernaturally given, coming as the royal seed, son of a princess and forerunner of kings of peoples. God-given heir, God-given inheritance. The birth of the child of promise, so manifestly Divine, points to the yet greater glory: "Unto us a Son is born. R.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv15, 21 As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call…
Gen_17:15-22
As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah
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The clearer revelation of covenant blessings
In Gods spiritual dealings with mankind the patience of faith is rewarded by a clearer discovery of His will.
Obedience is the way to knowledge. The darkness in which faith commences turns to light in the end. The lines along which Gods gracious dealings are to proceed are now distinctly laid down before Abraham. The clearer revelation, in this instance, is marked by the same general characteristics as belong to the advance of Scripture.
I. THERE IS THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THINGS CONTRARY TO HUMAN EXPECTATION.
1. Thus God preserves His own glory (Pro_25:2). God hides His purpose from man until the time comes for Him to reveal it more clearly. This concealment must tend to His glory, for it is rendered necessary by His infinite superiority to us. We who are but of yesterday cannot scan the designs of Him who is from everlasting to everlasting. The great deep of Gods judgments is to us unfathomable.
2. Thus God preserves His independence of man. He has no need of our suggestions or advice. How can we contribute any light to Him who is the Fountain of Light?
3. Thus God humbles the pride of man. If we could calculate beforehand what God shall reveal, or what blessings He shall bestow, we might be tempted to pride ourselves upon our clear and sure reason. Our humility is promoted by that arrangement which renders it impossible for us to discover what God is pleased to conceal.
4. Thus piety is of necessity a life of faith. God so deals with mankind that if they are to serve and please Him at all they must trust Him. We are made to know enough of His goodness to commence trusting Him; and He still keeps much hid from us so that we may continue to trust Him.
II. THERE IS AN INCREASED STRAIN PUT UPON THE STRENGTH OF OUR FAITH.
1. Gods gracious purpose is to throw our faith completely upon its own inherent power. It must not be hampered by the operations of the intellect, or by the feelings of the heart.
2. Faith must look to God alone.
III. THERE IS A REVELATION OF HUMAN WEAKNESS IN US. The faith of Abram, though it rose superior to trials, was yet mixed with some human weakness.
1. The weakness of a thoughtless amazement. The laugh of Abraham, when he heard the real direction of the promise, unquestionably had in it the elements of adoration and joy. But there was also in it a kind of unreflecting amazement--that unhealthy astonishment which paralyses. It was a joy which was yet half afraid.
2. The weakness of doubt. In Gen_17:17, Abraham expresses a doubt. It was a momentary feeling, but at that time it rose irresistibly to the surface.
3. The weakness of attempting to thrust our own way upon God.
IV. THERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY GIVEN FOR THE GLORY OF GODS GOODNESS TO SHINE FORTH. In every fresh revelation God is but showing Himself to His servants. He is showing His goodness mere and more, and that is His glory. The qualities of the Divine goodness would now be manifested more clearly to the soul of Abraham.
1. This is seen by the supernatural character of the blessings promised (Gen_17:15-16; Gen_17:19).
2. This is seen by the intrinsic excellence of the blessings promised.
3. This is seen by Gods gracious provision even for those human desires which betray imperfection. God would remember Ishmael, after all, and in some way satisfy the yearnings of Abrahams heart (Gen_17:20). God does not chide His servant for those humanly natural longings. With all his imperfections, the heart of the patriarch was right at bottom, and his purpose to please God steady and sincere. If we have true faith, whatever desires there are in us which still betray some human imperfections, God will turn them into better courses, and show us His way. (T. H. Leale.)
Sarah: Abrahams wife and Isaacs mother
I. SARAHS HISTORY.
II. SARAHS CHARACTER.
1. There was in her a clear and decided spiritual faith.
2. She had a strong, loving, and imperious affection.
3. There were defects in her faith, and may have been defects in her character.
III. THE TYPICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF SARAHS LIFE AND HER PLACE IN THE UNFOLDING OF THE REDEMPTION OF HUMANITY. The story is written in the Book of Genesis mainly in the masculine gender and in relation to Abraham. But, in reference to the covenanted mercy, there are two great blessings to which special significance is attached, and concerning both Sarahs was a prominent position. The one was the seed, the other the land. (W. H. Davison.)
Sarah
I. THE MEANING OF HER NAME, AND ITS CONNECTION WITH THE COVENANT.
II. DEFECTS IN HER CHARACTER.
1. She did not, as the Scriptures teach, avoid all appearance of evil.
(1) At the palace of Pharaoh.
(2) At the court of Ahimelech.
2. She did wrong in giving Hagar to be Abrahams concubine.
3. She showed a weakness of faith in laughing at the promises of God.
4. She was cruel in sending Hagar and Ishmael away from her home.
III. THE STRENGTH OF HER CHARACTER.
1. She was truly devoted to her husband, and preferred him to all others, even though kings sought to gain her.
2. She is commended for her holy life and fidelity to Abraham, and as such is an example for wifely imitation (1Pe_3:6).
3. After all, faith was the ruling principle of her life. Doubt was only a momentary exception. (The Homiletic Review.)
O that Ishmael might live before Thee.
Abrahams prayer far Ishmael
I. ABRAHAMS UNBELIEF. Not that his prayer was altogether destitute of faith. He believed in the reality of the personal God, and in His power and willingness to bless; but unbelief as to the methods was struggling with his faith.
1. It is the thought of the heart that is here recorded.
2. The natural obstacle to the fulfilment of the promise was greater now than on the previous occasion.
3. He had to discharge from his mind a belief which he had long nourished and cherished.
II. ABRAHAMS IMPATIENCE.
III. ABRAHAMS NATURAL AFFECTION. (J. W. Lance.)
The prayer for Ishmael
I. A SPIRIT NATURAL TO A TRUE PARENT. Abraham desired the prosperity of Ishmael.
II. A SPIRIT ESSENTIAL TO THE TRUE SAINT. Dependence on God.
III. A SPIRIT HONOURED BY HEAVEN (Gen_17:20; see Gen_25:10-15). (Homilist.)
Abrahams prayer for Ishmael
I. WHAT THE CHRISTIAN PARENT SEEKS FOR HIS OFFSPRING. What is meant by living before God? It means to enjoy His forgiving grace, that we be not consumed by His wrath; and to receive His fostering protection and blessing, without which life would be a calamity, and existence a burden. We would not have our children go forth through life neglected of God; still less, contending against Him as an enemy. Many blessings may be included in this general one.
1. There are spiritual blessings; life in and through Jesus Christ. Forgiveness. Regeneration. Eternal life.
2. Temporal good is sought; not without, but in addition to, spiritual blessings; and not absolutely, but in entire submission to the will of God.
II. HOW THE CHRISTIAN SHOULD ACT TO BE CONSISTENT WITH THESE DESIRES ON BEHALF OF HIS OFFSPRING.
1. Prayer.
2. Instruction.
3. Example.
4. Discipline. Conclusion:
(1) To parents who neglect their duty altogether. Ye are cruel fowlers, and dreadful for you will it be to meet your spoiled and ruined offspring in hell.
(2) To those who labour in this way. Be encouraged and incited to persevere. Your work will not be in vain.
(3) To all who bring their children for baptism. You do take these vows upon you. Be faithful. This you cannot he, unless fully bent upon your own salvation.
(4) To young people. See your parents anxiety for you. Be awakened to a sense of your sin and danger. (The Congregational Pulpit.)
Abrahams prayer for Ishmael
I. It must strike the most casual observer, that THERE IS A SPECIALITY IS THE PRAYER which makes it necessary that the import of the prayer should be unfolded. For it appears not but that Ishmael was in all the glow and vigour of his youthful health; there was no symptom of physical decay, there was no indication of approaching death. Whence, therefore, and why did the patriarch pray, Oh! that my child might live? Was it that his days might be lengthened out? Was it that his health might continue unimpaired? was it that he might live to a green and a good old age? No, we find a key to the patriarchs prayer in the one simple expression--Before Thee. Oh! that Ishmael might live before Thee. Before his fathers eyes, before the eyes of mankind, the child lived; but the father had reference to another and a higher and a different life--a life in the sight of God. It follows, then, that adequately to comprehend the import of the prayer, we must illustrate the death, from which the patriarch desired his child to be set free. And we are led to remark, that every child of man, as he comes into the world, is dead in the sight of God, in a two-fold sense; he is legally dead, he is spiritually dead. He is dead in the sight of God in law, and he is dead in the sight of God in his moral nature. He is dead in trespasses and sins. But how, then, is life given to man? and what was the life, for which the patriarch prayed on behalf of his child? In order to remove the eternal death under which we lie, the Son of God took our nature upon Himself, stood as our substitute; so that God might be just in justifying every penitent, that lays hold on the righteousness of the Redeemer and comes to God in faith. Everyone, then, that by faith is brought into a participation of the righteousness and redemption that is in Christ, is, in virtue of that righteousness and that redemption, passed from death to life.
II. I pass simply and briefly to press upon you THE IMPORTANCE OF THAT PRAYER.
1. The importance of the patriarchs prayer appears, in that till that prayer is accomplished in a child or in a man, that child or that man is a poor, maimed, imperfect being. What a wretched life is the mere vegetable life for a man to live!
2. But the importance of the patriarchs prayer is still more emphatically and touchingly impressed on our minds, if we remember the fearful peril in which every man stands, that is not living before God. (H. Stowell, M. A.)
Parental duties and encouragements
I. I shall inquire WHAT BLESSINGS SHOULD A CHRISTIAN PARENT SEEK FROM GOD ON BEHALF OF HIS CHILDREN?
1. Is it forbidden to desire the continuance of their natural life? Certainly not; provided that desire be entirely under the control of submission to the will of God.
2. Nor is it forbidden to ask those things for our children which would contribute so much to their temporal comfort; provided, that desire be also in entire submission to the will of Jehovah.
3. Still, however, these things are but secondary objects of desire with him who contemplates, in its true light, the character and destiny of that being which with rapture he calls his child. What can or what ought a Christian parent to desire for his child, as the grand ultimatum of all his anxiety and solicitude, short of everlasting bliss? It is in this sense that he uses the prayer of Abraham, Oh that Ishmael might live before Thee.
II. I shall now mention THOSE MEANS WHICH MUST BE USED BY HIM IN ORDER TO OBTAIN IT. In the distribution of His favours to the human race, God generally connects His bounty with our exertions. This remark applies both to temporal and spiritual benefits.
1. If we would have our children grow up as we desire, we must maintain discipline in our families. By discipline, I mean the exercise of parental authority in enforcing obedience to all suitable commands and prohibitions. This part of religious education should begin early. The supple twig bends to your will, while the sturdy oak laughs at your authority.
2. Instruction is the next branch of religious education. I shall consider:
(1) The matter of instruction. And this must be the doctrines and the duties of revelation. Assiduously inculcate upon your offspring every relative and every social duty. Teach them that holiness is necessary both to our felicity on earth and in heaven.
(2) The manner of religious instruction should also be regarded with attention. This, of course, should be as much adapted to the capacity of the child as is possible. Instruction should not be confined merely to stated seasons, as in other branches of education; but it ought to occupy a considerable share of the common conversation of the parent.
3. If you would give either meaning or force to anything you say, add to instruction a holy and suitable example. I would also insist upon the necessity of not only setting them good examples at home, but of using the utmost caution that they be not exposed to the contagion of bad example abroad. It should therefore be your business to select for them suitable companions. Of course, this establishes also the importance of choosing a proper person to superintend the general education of your children.
4. Let it not be supposed that any system of education can be complete without prayer.
III. Exhibit THE ENCOURAGEMENT WHICH THE SCRIPTURES AFFORD, THAT SUCH EXERTION WILL BE BLESSED TO THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THEIR DESIRED END. (J. A. James.)
Passion, impatience, and expediency
I. THE DARLING WISHES OF MEN ARE NOT ALWAYS GRATIFIED BY GOD.
II. A REASONABLE EXPLANATION OF THIS REJECTION OF ISHMAEL CAN BE SUGGESTED.
1. God had other purposes in view, from which He would not depart to gratify the wishes of the best man living.
2. The purpose of God was associated with righteousness, whereas Ishmael originated in a pitiful, immoral expedient. Many a failure in the individual life, and church life, and national life, is rooted in the rank, poisonous manure of wrong-doing.
3. The blessing of God was in connection with Isaac, the glad meditative son of peace. It is in vain that we try to force the hand of Providence if our heart is set on Ishmael, the offspring of our human passion and impatience.
III. GOD WILL, IN AN UNEXPECTED SENSE, ANSWER OUR PETITIONS. Look at the answer that came to Abrahams prayer. It had already been predicted that he was to be a wild man, his hand against every man, etc. Now still further comes this guarantee. . . .I will make him a great nation. Abrahams gift of intercession was not an unqualified good. If his supplication had not been successful, much misery might have been spared to himself, his family, his nation, and humanity at large. Can anyone calculate the mischief that has been created by the existence of Ishmael in the world? (W. J. Acomb,)
Abrahams dilemma
Abraham believed God, and was overcome with joyful surpass. But a doubt immediately occurs, which stakes a damp upon his pleasure: The promise of another son destroys all my expectations with respect to him who is already given! Perhaps he must die, to make room for the other; or if not, he may be another Cain, who went out from the presence of the Lord. To what drawbacks are our best enjoyments subject in this world; and in many cases, owing to our going before the Lord in our hopes and schemes of happiness! When His plan comes to be put in execution, it interferes with ours; and there can be no doubt in such a ease which must give place. If Abraham had waited Gods time for the fulfilment of the promise, it would not have been accompanied with such an alloy: but having failed in this, after all his longing desires after it, it becomes in a manner unwelcome to him! What can he do or say in so delicate a situation? Grace would say, Accept the Divine promise with thankfulness. But nature struggles; the bowels of the father are troubled for Ishmael. In this state of mind he presumes to offer up a petition to heaven: Oh that Ishmael might live before Thee! Judging of the import of this petition by the answer, it would seem to mean, either that God would condescend to withdraw His promise of another son, and let Ishmael be the person; or if that cannot be, that his life might be spared, and himself and his posterity be amongst the people of God, sharing the blessing, or being heir with him who should be born of Sarah. To live and to live before God, according to the usual acceptation of the phrase, could not, I think, mean less than one or other of these things. It was very lawful for him to desire the temporal and spiritual welfare of his son, and of his posterity after him, in submission to the will of God: but in a case wherein natural affection appeared to clash with Gods revealed designs, he must have felt himself in a painful situation: and the recollection that the whole was owing to his own and Sarahs unbelief, would add to his regret. (A. Fuller.)
A mothers prayers
A young soldier suddenly embraced religion much to the surprise of his comrades. One day, he was asked what had wrought the sudden change. He took his mothers letter from his pocket, in which she enumerated the comforts and luxuries which she had sent him, and, at the close said, We are all praying for you, Charlie, that you may be a Christian. Thats the sentence, said he. The thought that his mother was praying for him became omnipresent, and led him to pray for himself, which was soon followed by a happy Christian experience.
Prayers of a mother
Samuel Budgett was about nine years of age, when, one day passing his mothers door, he heard her engaged in earnest prayer for her family, and for himself by name. He thought, My mother is more earnest that I should be saved than I am for my own salvation. In that hour, he became decided to serve God; and the impression thus made was never effaced. (W. Arthur.)
Why Ishmael could not inherit the covenant blessing
Two reasons in particular seem to have made it unsuitable, or even incompatible with the Divine purposes, that Ishmael should be the continuator of the sacred line, and the inheritor of that blessing for mankind which had been secured to Abraham by covenant.
I. For one thing, Ishmael was slave born. The children of a slave mother shared her condition, even when the father was a free man--indeed, though he were the master himself. In the absence of any issue by the free and proper wife, it is true that Ishmael could have inherited his fathers wealth, just as, in the absence of any issue, Eliezer of Damascus might have done so. Inherently, however, he possessed no right of inheritance. So soon as a free-born son appeared, Ishmael sank to his mothers level. It is easy to see how unfit such an heir would have been to represent, at the very outset of a family history which was to be saturated throughout with symbolical meaning, the entire body of Gods spiritual children, for whom the great blessing was ultimately destined.
II. In the second place, Gods covenant with Abrahams seed was one of gracious promise. By it, the Eternal and Omnipotent drew near again to sinful men, laden with spontaneous blessings, such as they themselves could neither win by force nor merit by virtue, but must expect to receive through the superhuman operations of God. The Promiser of such blessings must be also their Donor. The fulfilment of a Divine promise, whose characteristic is sovereign grace, could not lie within the sphere of mans natural ability, or what in Bible language is called flesh. It lay outside that region altogether; in a redemptive, and therefore miraculous, interposition of God. Now it corresponded ill with an alliance like this, that the first to inherit and transmit its benefits or hopes to posterity should be one into whose origin there had entered so little faith, and so much fleshly policy and fleshly desire. (J. O. Dykes, DD.)
The love of the worldly life
Ishmael was born after the flesh; and he was first in order, as being born of blood, and of the will of the flesh, and of the will of man. He was, nevertheless, a gift of God, and, perhaps, a gift of faith; but he was not the one to whom the promise was made. Ishmael, therefore, stands for the promise of this earth, of the world, and of this present life. I do not mean that he represents our sin, nor those evil passions which haunt and afflict us, nor the low, gross life of carnal men: for Abraham, his father, was a man of faith and a servant of righteousness before Ishmael was born; but he stands for the fair good promise of this earth, before a better thing is born in the soul. While the world lasts, it is the gift of God; for He created it, and the earth is the Lords, and the fulness thereof. Our desire for it, our love of it, our pleasure in it, are natural, and would not be subject to reproof, had we never known of another state and a higher life. And there is a time, in the history of Gods servants, when they might fairly be likened to Abraham, content in Ishmael, and devoted to that child which Hagar bare to him. What Ishmael was to his father, such was once, to many a man and woman now consciously and resolutely alive in Christ, the first and native wish and passion of the undisciplined will, the first love of the mere worldly life. The child of the heart was there, beloved, and to all appearance, secure, yea, moreover, sufficient to every desire and wish. The thirteen years had established that dominion; and, in the still possession of that dear object of a natural desire, the conscience had grown torpid, and the earlier hours of life had slipped away. Consider if it be not so. The history of many a life, perhaps the history of every life led apart from God, is this: that some prevailing tendency, some dominant motive, exists there, having the influence and gentle lordship of a child of the heart, the offspring of the desire and will. Of offspring thus engendered, naught can come but anxiety and pain. Ishmaels pedigree was fated and banned from the very first; it is so with everything that springs out of the human heart without the prominent grace of God. Whenever a man permits some one desire to get the better of him, or, at least, to exert a wide and general influence over his actions; and when he finds, as the result, that he is growing nervous and uneasy, that a feverish solicitude pervades his thoughts, that he frets himself continually, that the dignity of a well-balanced character is slipping from him; or else, when it is come to this, that he feels as if with one deep draught of that soul desire, every day, he could be content to live on here, interminably; or when, for the want of such gratification, the day is tedious, and the hours are long, and hunger and thirst grow and burn within; when signs like these appear, he must be blind indeed who cannot read the story of his life; who knows not that he is fast in the worlds net; that another Lord besides his own has dominion over him; that the fierce and untamed Ishmael is in his tent; that his life is bound up in a temporal promise, and that he has ceased to care for the promise of the world to come. So is it with you, who are not consciously and lovingly in Christ: and so was it once with you, who, now changed and altered from the pattern of your former selves, can yet look back upon days when you were wandering, and either thought wrongly, or thought not at all, of God. And here the allegory meets us once again, and shows the marvellous dealings of the Holy Ghost with the souls of those whom He brings forth and fixes in the Lord. As Ishmael represents the promise of the earth, so Isaac stands for the promise of heaven. The new promise comes, not in the natural course of things, not in the common order of this monotonous world, but in another way, known to God. Marked religious changes are sometimes the result of strange and bitter disappointment; but it is not always so. They often come, simply, of some word of the Lord, which carries a promise, and yet breaks in upon a repose in which we would fain have continued without even His most holy intrusion. The object proposed is above this world, and beyond it; faith discerns, resignation accepts, the old man dies hard. Slowly and with reluctance hath many an one cast forth the bondwoman and her son, to give place to the intruder who cometh in the name of the Lord. It should not be thus with reasonable men when they lay hold of the promises of God. Those promises are unearthly, distant, and somewhat shadowy; they are calculated, not to add a piquancy and zest to the banquet which we have already spread for ourselves, but to sweep all from the board and lay the table anew. They demand, on mans part, submission and resignation; they tell him that it is time to leave off playing with petty conceits, and that the hour has come to go to the rigorous school of Christ, where men may not seek their own, nor mind earthly things, but bend themselves bravely to duty, and let pleasure go for a time. Who can hear these things without trembling? Who can rebuke the rising wish that it might be otherwise? Who can wonder that men should try to keep as much of the old life as they can, when they attempt the higher life of grace? Such emotions appertain to that weakness of ours in which Gods grace must be made perfect; and the victory is to be sought, by accepting what may look like a dubious favour and setting faith in its rightful lordship over sight. Then, if the trial seem too hard to bear, reflect once more upon the allegory; there is comfort in it, if you read it intelligently. Ishmael lived. The natural gifts and blessings of God are not destroyed by His supernatural graces: they are remanded to their own place, allowed to work out their determined ends, to yield increase after their proper law. Nothing can be lost forever, which Gods grace can hallow; the Son of Man cometh to save, not to destroy; and that, in us, which God saw and pronounced to be good, when He created us, may be refined in fire, purified, and may be a part of our eternal treasure. (M. Dix, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v15 Gen_17:15. Thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Gen_17:15. Thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.] “It is acknowledged on all hands that Sarah means a princess; but as to Sarai, Hebraists are far from agreed. Gesenius and Ewald interpret it ‘contentions,’ which seems unlikely in itself; Kalisch, combating or contending, which is not far off the other though differently understood, viz., ‘as contending with difficulties;’ and Delitzsch remarks well on this, that the name of conflict, Sarai, is changed into the name of triumph, Sarah. Others again (as Keil) suppose Sarai to signify princelike, and Sarah, princess; others, that Sarai means my princess, Sarah, princess absolutely” (Alford). “As the ancestress of nations and kings, she should be called Sarah (princess), not Sarai (heroine)” (Knobel).
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Gen_17:16. She shall be a mother of nations. Heb. She shall become nations. This was the first declaration that Sarah should be the mother of the promised seed.
Gen_17:17. Laughed. Onk. Rejoiced. Jer. Tar. Marvelled (Psa_126:1-2; Job_8:21). The laughter of admiration and joy. The promised son was by Divine direction called Isaac, which means “laughter” (Gen_17:19). Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old?] Thus his laughter was grounded on astonishment, as if this form of the blessing was most unlooked for. There may have been some hidden doubt suggested by the natural difficulties. Alford regards Abraham’s feeling as one of mingled reverence and incredulousness.
Gen_17:18. O that Ishmael might live before thee.] Not only in himself, but in his posterity. Abraham did not wish to relinquish the hopes which had already centred in his son, and still seems to look to him as the heir of the promise. The Heb. word for “live” has often the meaning of prospering. (Deu_8:1; 1Sa_25:6; 1Sa_25:19). Indeed.] Heb. But indeed. “An emphatic term, as if to deny the contrary thought, couched, perhaps, in Abraham’s plea for Ishmael. ‘You need not doubt it. Indeed, on the contrary, Sarah is bearing thee a son.’ ” (Jacobus). Isaac.] Heb. He shall laugh. Thus laughter complicated with astonishment and perplexity would, for Abraham, be turned into true laughter. I will establish My Covenant with him.] This was to be the Covenant son—the true type of Christ—the channel of blessings to all nations. (Rom_9:7).
Gen_17:20. Twelve princes shall he beget.] “As Jacob, the son of Isaac, was the father of twelve patriarchs or phularchs, i.e., heads of tribes, so Isaac is here made the subject of a parallel prediction; and for its remarkable fulfilment consult the history” (Gen_25:12-16). (Bush.)
Gen_17:21. This set time in the next year.] This very time in the following year. (Compare Gen_21:2.)
Gen_17:22. God went up from Abraham.] Chal. “The glory of the Lord went up.” The visible majesty of Jehovah, the Shekinah, the symbol of the Divine presence (Gen_35:13; Eze_1:28; Eze_8:4). But God was personally present, though revealed in some visible form (Gen_17:1).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Gen_17:15-22
THE CLEARER REVELATION OF COVENANT BLESSINGS
As the time draws nigh, the contents of the Covenant promise are described more circumstantially. In God’s spiritual dealings with mankind the patience of faith is rewarded by a clearer discovery of His will. Obedience is the way to knowledge. The darkness in which faith commences turns to light in the end. The lines along which God’s gracious dealings are to proceed are now distinctly laid down before Abraham. The clearer revelation, in this instance, is marked by the same general characteristics as belong to the advance of Scripture.
I. There is the announcement of things contrary to human expectation. The promises which had hitherto been made to Abraham included much, but were announced in a vague form. He had cause to hope in God’s Word, and he verily believed that he should be the father of many nations and kings, and a source of blessing to all the families of mankind. But he thought that the Divine purpose was to be fulfilled through that son which he already had. He thought he saw God’s way, and the foundations of his future greatness already laid. But now he is told that this beginning of his great destiny has yet to be made—that the promised seed is to be born of Sarah. The child who was to transmit his life to remote generations, and on whom the promise of his great family depended, was to be born in an extraordinary manner and against the course of nature. Thus all his human calculations were disappointed. The blessing is to come through a different channel from what he expected, and by a way in which he never would be likely to look for it. Man is liable to fall into mistakes when he attempts to reason beforehand concerning what God shall reveal, or anticipates the course by which His will is to be accomplished. Thus God baffles the efforts of human wisdom to discover Himself and His ways, and ever shows us that His thoughts are not as our thoughts.
1. Thus God preserves His own glory. “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing” (Pro_25:2). God hides His purpose from man until the time comes for Him to reveal it more clearly. This concealment must tend to His glory, for it is rendered necessary by His infinite superiority to us. We who are but of yesterday cannot scan the designs of Him who is from everlasting to everlasting. The child cannot comprehend at once the reasons of his father’s dealings. If this be the case with respect to two finite minds, one of which is but a little in advance of the other, how much more must the plans of Infinite Wisdom be beyond the grasp of our narrow faculties! The great deep of God’s judgments is to us unfathomable.
2. Thus God preserves His independence of man. He has no need of our suggestions or advice. How can we contribute any light to Him who is the Fountain of Light? God does not take us into His council chamber to confer with us as to how He shall execute His government. Abraham had need of this lesson, for he had adventured to lend aid to God in fulfilling His purposes. He must now learn that God is quite independent of man.
3. Thus God humbles the pride of man. If we could calculate beforehand what God shall reveal, or what blessings He shall bestow, we might be tempted to pride ourselves upon our clear and sure reason. Our humility is promoted by that arrangement which renders it impossible for us to discover what God is pleased to conceal.
4. Thus piety is of necessity a life of faith. God so deals with mankind that if they are to serve and please Him at all they must trust Him. We are made to know enough of His goodness to commence trusting Him; and He still keeps much hid from us so that we may continue to trust Him. Abraham would now have additional reason for maintaining that faith which he had already exercised. Thus the man of God goes from strength to strength because he is drawn onwards by the Infinite.
II. There is an increased strain put upon the strength of our faith. Ever since Abraham had been called of God he lived the life of faith. But now Providence gives him an opportunity for performing a supreme act of faith—one which gives a special character to his religious life, and makes him the model believer for all ages. His faith hitherto had leaned to a considerable extent on human supports. It had been aided by his own wishes, and by his favourable interpretation of the appearances of things. He thought that the process of fulfilment was already begun. But now his faith must stand alone, unsupported by any human aids, and resting solely upon the word of promise. All hope that the promised child should be born of Sarah had long ago been cast off, but now he is told that through her God’s word is to be fulfilled. He stands now confronted with a natural impossibility. All his former hopes were destroyed. His faith is now challenged in the bare word of God. This is the point of resistance where the strength of his faith triumphed. “Against hope Abram believed in hope that he might become the father of many nations,” etc. (Rom_4:18-19.) The advance of revelation puts us in possession of enlarged knowledge, but, on the other hand, introduces us to new difficulties. Our faith is subjected to a severer strain. The word of the Lord tries us.
1. God’s gracious purpose is to throw our faith completely upon its own inherent power. Faith, in order that it might stand at a fair advantage, must be perfectly free. Faith must not be hampered by the operations of the intellect. If Abraham had followed the suggestions of his reason he would have looked for the fulfilment of the promise in a direction different from that which God designed. Reasoning from what he knew, he must have been led to far other conclusions. Faith must not be subjected to any restrictions whatever. It should be able to brave and defy the impossible, and like the woman in the Gospel, to press on to its object through all difficulties. Faith must not be hampered by the feelings of the heart. Our feelings, sometimes, lead us to look for the accomplishment of God’s Word in some way which His will has not ordained. Abraham’s heart turned to Ishmael and felt that through this son already given the blessing would come. But God has His own way. Our human feelings must give place to His declared will. Faith must be bold and strong enough to overcome these when they stand in God’s way.
2. Faith must look to God alone. Faith fastens solely upon the Word of God and allows no difficulties to come between. It has always a refuge in the goodness of His character, and in His power to accomplish; and with that is satisfied.
III. There is a revelation of human weakness in us. The faith of Abram, though it rose superior to trials, was yet mixed with some human weakness.
1. The weakness of a thoughtless amazement. The laugh of Abraham, when he heard the real direction of the promise, unquestionably had in it the elements of adoration and joy. But there was also in it a kind of unreflecting amazement—that unhealthy astonishment which paralyses. It was a joy which was yet half afraid.
2. The weakness of doubt. In Gen_17:17, Abraham expresses a doubt. It was a momentary feeling, but at that time it rose irresistibly to the surface. The fact that he was an hundred years old and Sarah ninety presented a difficulty which seemed as if it would have overwhelmed him. The barrier of nature seemed to him as if it must prevail. When our pet schemes are suddenly dashed to the ground our first temptation is to doubt. We scarcely know where we are for the time, and we are taken in the moment of our weakness. God’s revelation serves to bring our difficulties home to us. But true faith has a kind of elastic force, so it soon recovers itself when the momentary pressure is removed.
3. The weakness of attempting to thrust our own way upon God. Abraham still clings to the suggestions of his own mind and heart. He desired God to accept his existing son as the heir to the promise (Gen_17:18). He wished that Ishmael might live and be the appointed channel of the promised blessing. This is evidently the meaning of his prayer, though the contrary has been asserted by writers who are determined to find no flaw in the faith of Abraham. But the sacred historians are more true to nature. They paint men as they are, and not according to some desired ideal. Abraham had the natural impulse to thrust his own way upon God, and for the moment he could not repress it.
IV. There is an opportunity given for the glory of God’s goodness to shine forth. In every fresh revelation God is but showing Himself to His servants. He is showing His goodness more and more, and that is His glory. The qualities of the Divine goodness would now be manifested more clearly to the soul of Abraham.
1. This is seen by the supernatural character of the blessings promised (Gen_17:15-16; Gen_17:19). They were not to come in the ordinary course of nature, but in a way quite above and beyond it. They are thus seen to be manifestly Divine. They were above all that Abraham could ask or think. Such are the blessings of the Gospel revelation. They are supernatural. Such was Christ. He came not in the common way of nature, but was given to mankind by a supernatural grace. All the blessings of His Gospel are extraordinary, and wear the impress of the direct gifts of God’s great goodness. They are those good and perfect gifts which come down from the Father of Lights.
2. This is seen by the intrinsic excellence of the blessings promised. It was not meet that the bond-woman should be the mother of the Covenant-seed. God, in His surpassing goodness, willed it that His promise should be fulfilled through a nobler person and one who would show an extraordinary instance of His power. Thus the blessing had all the qualities of dignity and importance.
3. This is seen by God’s gracious provision even for those human desires which betray imperfection. God would remember Ishmael, after all, and in some way satisfy the yearnings of Abraham’s heart (Gen_17:20). God does not chide His servant for those humanly natural longings. With all his imperfections, the heart of the patriarch was right at bottom, and his purpose to please God steady and sincere. If we have true faith, whatever desires there are in us which still betray some human imperfections, God will turn them into better courses, and show us His way. Amidst our ashes and smoke, if a spark of goodness is to be discovered in us, He will not quench it. We may, like His servant here, take all our griefs and anxieties to Him, even though they may show much human ignorance and infirmity. He will raise what is noble and destroy in us what is base. He has compassion upon our weakness, for “He knoweth our frame and remembereth that we are dust.”
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Gen_17:15. Sarai is now formally taken into the Covenant, as she is to be the mother of the promised seed. Her name is therefore changed to Sarah, princess. Aptly is she so named, for she is to bear the child of promise, to become nations, and to be the mother of kings.—(Murphy.)
Hitherto, in this renewal of the Covenant, nothing has been said as to the line of descent in which it is to be established. Hagar’s child is not formally set aside; the Covenant, as yet, is merely established generally in the seed of Abraham; and the father’s affections, despairing of any other son, may still be set on Ishmael. But he must be completely stripped of all confidence in the flesh, and made to live by faith alone. It is not to a son born after the flesh, but to a son by promise that he is to look; not to one born of the bond-woman, and typical of the law of bondage, but to one born of the free-woman—the pledge of the law of liberty, even of the glorious liberty of the sons of God. The name of his wife, accordingly, as well as his own name, is changed. She is no longer “Sarai,” my princess, as if she stood in that honourable relation to her husband alone; but Sarah, generally and without limitation, a princess, or the princess—the princely and royal mother of nations and kings, of the very nations and kings of whom, in Christ, Abraham is the father.—(Candlish.)
God gives the name before the thing signified, as a support to weak faith.
Gen_17:16. God’s blessing is not a mere empty sentiment of goodwill, but a solid good expressed in the gifts of His kindness.
Faith is challenged upon the simple word of promise, even against the impossible in nature. The soul must cast herself entirely upon God, leaving Him to deal with all difficulties.
God can bless His children by a way contrary to all appearances and natural prospects.
It was fitting that the Church of God, now to be established, should have a fair and noble origin. That Church, which is the kingdom of God, is a large and free fellowship. All her children are the sons of the free mother. (Gal_4:26.)
“Kings of people.” The order which God’s Providence has established in the political world suggests to our minds that order which He maintains in His spiritual kingdom. That kingdom is ruled by law, but yet it is a law which must be swallowed up in love. Not, indeed, that it is hereby repealed, but rather glorified and transfigured, the hard outlines of it scarcely visible in the light of that love which fills all.
This is the first express mention of the destined mother of the seed promised to Abraham. This annunciation would, of course, correct the error into which both she and her husband had fallen, imagining that the prospect of her having a child was hopeless, and therefore, if the promise were fulfilled at all, it must be in Ishmael. But now all mistake on that head is precluded. God will give to Abraham a son of her, and kings of people shall be of her. Their former fault in resorting to a carnal expedient is not to be allowed to stand in the way of the execution of God’s purposes of mercy. The Divine goodness shines forth conspicuously in this, that notwithstanding men in their perverseness do so much to obstruct its course, it is still made to triumph over their unworthiness, and spend itself upon them, even in spite, as it were, of themselves.—(Bush.)
In our ignorance, we may think that we have found out what is God’s way; but when He fulfils His faithful word to us, then we see what His way really is, and how far it is above and beyond ours.
The faithful children of God shall find that His mercies are above all they ask or think. Abraham could never have expected so extraordinary a blessing as is here promised.
“Yea, I will bless her.” This is repeated for the greater comfort of this good old couple. I will doubly bless her, bless her with a witness.—(Trapp.)
Gen_17:17. It is difficult to receive a great and extraordinary joy, at once, in all its fulness. We are, for the while, beside ourselves. Astonishment holds us, and our feelings require time to adjust themselves to conditions so altogether new and unlooked for.
The context shows that there was here nothing like contempt or derision of God’s Word, but quite the contrary. “Shall it be so indeed?” Can this be? This that was only too good to be thought of, and too blessed a consummation of all his ancient hopes, to be now at this late day so distinctly assured to him by God Himself. Yet it would not be wonderful if he also in his laughter expressed a hidden doubt of what seemed in itself so absurd, so ridiculous in its more natural aspects. And if so, then we can also understand his meaning in the ensuing passage.—(Jacobus.)
In the region of unbelief the doubt is of no moment. It has its importance in the life of believers, where it presupposes faith, and leads as a transition step to a firmer faith. (There is, however, a twofold kind of doubt, without considering what is still a question, whether there is any reference to doubt in the text). Luther thinks that Christ points to this text in Joh_8:56. Then the laughing also is an intimation of the overflowing joy which filled his heart, and belongs to his spiritual experiences.—(Lange).
When God’s great goodness is suddenly manifested to the soul, it is not to be wondered at that there passes over it a momentary shade of doubt. The gifts of His goodness are of so wonderful a kind that it is one of the great difficulties of our faith to believe them.
Considering our present situation, it is not surprising that obstacles should stand in the way of our perfect trust in God. The things of faith are far off and difficult to apprehend; they affect us but languidly; and we require considerable time to realise them at all.
Gen_17:18. A doubt immediately occurs which strikes a damp upon his pleasure: “The promise of another son destroys all my expectations with respect to him who is already given.” Perhaps he must die to make room for the other; or, if not, he may be another Cain, who went out from the presence of the Lord. To what drawbacks are our best enjoyments subject in this world; and in many cases, owing to our going before the Lord in our hopes and schemes of happiness. When His plan comes to be put into execution, it interferes with ours; and there can be no doubt, in such a case, which must give place. If Abraham had waited God’s time for the fulfilment of the promise, it would not have been accompanied with such an alloy; but having failed in this, after all his longing desires after it, it becomes in a manner unwelcome to him. What can he do or say in so delicate a situation? Grace would say—Accept the Divine promise with thankfulness. But nature struggles; the bowels of the father are troubled for Ishmael. In this state of mind he presumes to offer up a petition to heaven: “Oh that Ishmael might live before thee.” Judging of the import of this petition by the answer, it would seem to mean, either that God would condescend to withdraw His promise of another son, and let Ishmael be the person, or, if that cannot be, that his life might be spared, and himself and his posterity be amongst the people of God, sharing the blessing, or being “heir with him” who should be born of Sarah.—(Fuller.)
The Syrian leper, when told to wash in the Jordan, that he might be clean, thought that he knew a shorter and better way: “Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the rivers of Israel?” So Abraham, for the moment, hesitates to accept God’s way without reserve and entirely. He still clings to his old hopes.
When God beckons us onwards to better and higher things, we still take the last lingering look of sense. Through the strife of the flesh against the spirit, we come to the victory of faith.
The difficulties of our faith may arise from what God has already, in his goodness, given to us.
Life before God implies—
1. A share in the Divine favour.
2. The power and impulse of serving God. The energy of life is necessary to enable us to do our duty. The proof that a man has vigorous life is found in the fact that he is able to work.
3. The enjoyment of God for ever. This is life in its noblest and best sense.
Gen_17:19. God does not withdraw His promises of better things, even though we may ask unworthily and strive to thrust our own way upon Him.
The assurance or conviction that God is true, and will fulfil His word, is the best cure for our doubt and hesitation.
When God accomplishes His designs concerning us we shall have occasion for great joy, even though His way should run contrary to all we had expected or desired.
Isaac. The name teaches that those who tread in the footsteps of Abraham’s faith will at times find cause for laughter in the unexpected, sudden, and great blessings they receive. There is reason in God, both for weeping and laughter.—(Roos.)
This was to be the Covenant son—the son of promise—the type of Christ—the channel of blessings to the nations. (Rom_9:7.) God finds and prepares His own men to carry out His work in the world, and often refuses those whom we appoint and, perhaps, think more worthy.
No wrong is done to any one when God chooses certain men to carry out His great purposes; because they are chosen, not simply for their own sakes, but for the benefit of the race.
I will establish My Covenant with him. My spiritual Covenant, containing the promises of the Messiah, and all its related privileges and blessings. Yet, from the fact that Ishmael was commanded to be circumcised, and that the rite was perpetuated in his family, the inference would seem fairly drawn that the Covenant, in some of its aspects, did properly pertain to him. So far as it had a temporal bearing Ishmael seems to have been made as much a partaker in it as Isaac, and Esau as Jacob. Nor are we authorised to conclude from the circumstance of the Covenant in its more spiritual features being restricted to the line of Isaac, that, therefore, the line of Ishmael was in any way injured as to the prospect of eternal life. The Covenant of peculiarity was indeed more especially established with the former; but as many who were included in it might fail of salvation, so many who were excluded from it might still become heirs of salvation. The door of mercy was always open to every one who believed; and in every nation and in every age he that feared God and wrought righteousness was accepted of Him.—(Bush.)
Gen_17:20. God hears and answers even those prayers which are mixed up with much human imperfection and vain wishes.
Great blessings are not denied to those who are not included in God’s special Covenants. The lack of privilege does not form an effectual bar to the Divine goodness, or shut out from salvation.
God chose one nation to preserve His truth in the world. But He formed other nations also. They were His ordinance, they stood in certain relations to Him, and therefore were under the obligation of duty towards Him.
Meanwhile Ishmael should not be cut off. God’s Covenant with Isaac should not lead to the rejection and exclusion of Ishmael. He should also enjoy the Divine favour. Abraham’s prayer for him was heard. His blessings were to be chiefly temporal. He should become great and powerful—occupy large districts; twelve princes should descend from him—as twelve from Jacob (ch. Gen_25:12-16); and the dread of his name should inspire respect and fear. But the salvation of mankind was to proceed not in the channel of earthly conquests and grandeur, but of spiritual gifts.—(Jacobus.)
In this instance, also, let us behold the marvellous condescension of God, and the overflowing of His love. He is not offended at the pleading of His servant, or by the outpouring of his natural longings and desires. He hears them, and, as far as may be, He meets and answers them. Ishmael is to be blessed, though Isaac still must be the heir. What blessed encouragement have we, in this example, to lay aside all reserve in our intercourse with God. Freely and frankly we may unburthen our hearts to Him, and unbosom all our grief. Whatever be our care or anxiety, and whatever our wish, we may speak of it to Him. We may tell Him, as if in confidence, all that we feel and all that we desire. Our very groanings need not be hid, and are not hid from Him; the Spirit makes intercession with them, and God knows what they are. If only there be the presence of the Spirit, and if there be submission to the will of God He is not offended. For He is patient and pitiful. If it be possible, He will let the cup pass, or mingle some drop of soothing comfort in it; He will speak peace to us, and send strength from on high.—(Candlish.)
Great nations do not spring from chance, or from the selfishness of man, or from social contracts, or the assertion of the rights of rulers. God is their Maker, and He has given them their peculiar work on this earth.
The Jews had certain national peculiarities, and a special destiny to fulfil in the history of mankind. So had the Ishmaelites. “I will make him a great nation.”
A great nation implies—
1. Law and order.
2. Energy and enterprise.
3. Patriotism.
4. Loving fellow-feeling.
5. The spirit of wisdom and understanding.
The peculiar features of national character are not to be regarded as a sad variety, or an injury to the harmony of the race. They are rather necessary to that harmony, and owe their existence to the appointment of God.
Gen_17:21. This is the thirteenth time that the Covenant is named in this chapter, saith an interpreter; and hereby is meant the promise of Christ and salvation by Him. A subject so sweet to every sanctified soul, that St. Paul cannot come off it. He names the Lord Jesus Christ ten times in ten verses (1Co_1:1-10.) It was to him honey in his mouth, melody in his ear, joy in his heart.—(Trapp.)
Isaac, a type of Christ.
1. He is born in a miraculous manner. He was the child given by promise, and came not in the ordinary course of nature. So Christ was long promised and miraculously born.
2. He was the Son of the House, while all others were His servants. So the position of Christ in the heavenly household was made by His birth. No circumstances could alter his relationship to that household. He was there by a natural necessity. Others may come and go, but the Son abides.
3. He was the progenitor of a free race. Isaac was the son of the free-woman, and the ancestor of a great and free people. Christ makes men free when they are born into the kingdom of God by His spirit, and thus belong to that holy nation whose children walk in perfect liberty.
4. He was the channel of blessing to all nations. Christ was the life and power which gave effect to that blessing. He was that blessing itself.
Isaac, a type of the regenerate man.
1. He was born by a distinct act of the will of God. So the regenerate man becomes God’s child, not by the course of nature, but by a special grace. He is eminently born of God.
2. He was free born. So each child of God is made free from all bondage. He needs not the commands of law to compel him to obedience, for he obeys from love of his Father. Thus Isaac was the type of the evangelical dispensation, as Ishmael was that of the legal.
In Holy Scripture, the points of time are laid down and determined along which we are able to trace those lines of history leading up to the manifestation of the Son of Man.
The Bible notices nations and men as they effect the development of God’s kingdom. Isaac stood in a certain relation to that kingdom, therefore the exact time of his birth assumes a special importance, and the mention of it has an appropriate place in that Book whose subject is Christ.
Gen_17:22. Revelation continues only while the necessity for it lasts. God leaves off speaking with men, so that they may return to duty and service.
The moral miracle of the continued presence of God in immediate converse with us would be too much for our spiritual strength. Such a state of awe and rapture would put too severe a strain upon our faculties, and unfit us for the practical work of life.
Abraham was specially privileged in dealing with his God, who was personally present under some visible form. But all the children of faith can commune with God and receive His word. Miracles may pass away when the special reasons for them are no longer in force; but we still have prayer, by which we speak to God; and we still have the teaching of His Spirit, by which He reveals Himself to us.
There are those who, while they do not deny His existence, yet say that God has never spoken to man—that no revelation has been given. But shall we not render God justice? We claim for man the right of communicating his thoughts to his fellow man—the right of free speech. And shall not that right also be yielded to God? Is He who has given man the faculty of thought and speech to be precluded by any law of ours from disclosing His mind in language? There are reasons why God should speak. Revelation is necessary if we are ever to know Him and attain to His glory.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v18
Genesis
A PETULANT WISH
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Gen 17:18.
These words sound very devout, and they have often been used by Christian parents yearning for the best interests of their children, and sometimes of their wayward and prodigal children. But consecrated as they are by that usage, I am afraid that their meaning, as they were uttered, was nothing so devout and good as that which is often attached to them.
1. Note the temper in which Abraham speaks here. The very existence of Ishmael was a memorial of Abraham’s failure in faith and patience. For he thought that the promised heir was long in coming, and so he thought that he would help God. For thirteen years the child had been living beside him, winding a son’s way into a father’s heart, with much in his character, as was afterwards seen, that would make a frank, daring boy his old father’s darling. Then all at once comes the divine message, ‘This is not the son of the Covenant; this is not the heir of the Promise. Sarah shall have a child, and from him shall come the blessings that have been foretold.’ And what does Abraham do? Fall down in thankfulness before God? leap up in heart at the conviction that now at last the long-looked-for fulfilment of the oath of God was impending? Not he. ‘O that Ishmael might live before Thee. Why cannot he do? Why may he not be the chosen child, the heir of the Promise? Take him, O God!’
That is to say, he thinks he knows better than God. He is petulant, he resists his blessing, he fancies that his own plan is quite as good as the divine plan. He does not want to draw away his heart from the child that it has twined round. So he loses the blessing of the revelation that is being made to him; because he does not bow his will, and accept God’s way instead of his own. Now, do you not think that that is what we do? When God sends us Isaac, do we not often say, ‘Take Ishmael; he is my own making. I have set all my hopes on him. Why should I have to wrench them all away?’ In our individual lives we want to prescribe to God, far too often, not only the ends, but the way in which we shall get to the ends; and we think to ourselves, ‘That road of my own engineering that I have got all staked out, that is the true way for God’s providence to take.’ And when His path does not coincide with ours, then we are discontented, and instead of submitting we go with our pet schemes to Him; and if not in so many words, at least in spirit and temper, we try to force our way upon God, and when He is speaking about Isaac insist on pressing Ishmael on His notice.
It is often so in regard to our individual lives; and it is so in regard to the united action of Christian people very often. A great deal of what calls itself earnest contending for ‘the faith once delivered to the saints’ is nothing more nor less than insisting that methods of men’s devising shall be continued, when God seems to be substituting for them methods of His own sending; and so fighting about externals and church polity, and determining that the world has got to be saved in my own special fashion, and in no other, though God Himself seems to be suggesting the new thing to me. That is a very frequent phenomenon in the experience of Christian communities and churches. Ishmael is so very dear. He is not the child of promise, but he is the child that we have thought it advisable to help God with. It is hard for us to part with him.
Dear brethren, sometimes, too, God comes to us in various providences, and not only reduces into chaos and a heap of confusion our nicely built-up little houses, but He sometimes comes to us, and lifts us out of some lower kind of good, which is perfectly satisfactory to us, or all but perfectly satisfactory, in order to give to us something nobler and higher. And we resist that too; and do not see why Ishmael should not serve God’s turn as he has served ours; or think that there is no need at all for Isaac to come into our lives. God never takes away from us a lower, unless for the purpose of bestowing upon us a higher blessing. Therefore not to submit is the foolishest thing that men can do.
But if that be anything like an account of the temper expressed by this saying, is it not strange that murmuring against God takes the shape of praying? Ah! there is a great deal of ‘prayer’ as it calls itself, which is just moulded upon this petulant word of Abraham’s momentarily failing faith and submission. How many people think that to pray means to bring their wishes to God, and try to coax Him to make them His wishes! Why, half the shallow sceptical talk of this generation about the worthlessness of prayer goes upon that fundamental fallacy that the notion of prayer is to dictate terms to God; and that unless a man gets his wishes answered he has no right to suppose that his prayers are answered. But it is not so. Prayer is not after the type of ‘O that Ishmael might live before Thee!’ That is a poor kind of prayer of which the inmost spirit is resistance to a clear dictate of the divine will; but the true prayer is, ‘O that I may be willing to take what Thou art willing, in Thy mercy and love, to send!’
I believe in importunate prayer, but I believe also that a great deal of what calls itself importunate prayer is nothing more than an obstinate determination not to be satisfied with what satisfies God. If a man has been bringing his wishes-and he cannot but have such-continuously to God, with regard to any outward things, and these have not been answered, he needs to look very carefully into his own temper and heart in order to make sure that what seems to be waiting upon God in importunate petition is not pestering Him with refused desires. To make a prayer out of my rebellion against His will is surely the greatest abuse of prayer that can be conceived. And when Abraham said, ‘O that Ishmael might live before Thee!’ if he said it in the spirit in which I think he did, he was not praying, but he was grumbling.
2. And then notice, still further, how such a temper and such a prayer have the effect of hiding joy and blessing from us.
This was the crisis of Abraham’s whole life. It was the moment at which his hundred years nearly of patient waiting were about to be rewarded. The message which he had just received was the most lovely and gracious word that ever had come to him from the heavens, although many such words had come. And what does he do with it? Instead of falling down before God, and letting his whole heart go out in jubilant gratitude, he has nothing to say but ‘I would rather that Thou didst it in another way. It is all very well to speak about sending this heir of promise. I have no pleasure in that, because it means that my Ishmael is to be passed by and shelved.’ So the proffered joy is turned to ashes, and Abraham gets no good, for the moment, out of God’s greatest blessing to him; but all the sky is darkened by mists that come up from his own heart.
Brethren, if you want to be miserable, perk up your own will against God’s. If you want to be blessed, acquiesce in all that He does send, in all that He has sent, and, by anticipation, in all that He will send. For, depend upon it, the secret of finding sunbeams in everything is simply letting God have His own way, and making your will the sounding-board and echo of His. If Abraham had done as he ought to have done, that would have been the gladdest moment of his life. You and I can make out of our deepest sorrows the occasions of pure, though it is quiet, gladness, if only we have learned to say, ‘Not my will, but Thy will be done.’ That is the talisman that turns everything into gold, and makes sorrow forget its nature, and almost approximate to solemn joy.
3. My last word is this: God loves us all too well to listen to such a prayer.
Abraham’s passionate cry was so much empty wind, and was like a straw laid across the course of an express train, in so far as its power to modify the gracious purpose of God already declared was concerned. And would it not be a miserable thing if we could deflect the solemn, loving march of the divine Providence by these hot, foolish, purblind wishes of ours, that see only the nearer end of things, and have no notion of where their further end may go, or what it may be?
Is it not better that we should fall back upon this thought, though, at first sight, it seems so to limit the power of petition, ‘We know that if we ask anything according to His will He heareth us’? There is nothing that would more wreck our lives than if what some people want were to be the case-that God should let us have our own way, and give us serpents because we asked for them and fancied they were eggs; or let us break our teeth upon bestowed stones because, like whimpering children crying for the moon, we had asked for them under the delusion that they were bread.
Leave all that in His hands; and be sure of this, that the true way to peace, to rest, to gladness, and to wringing the last drop of possible sweetness out of gifts and losses, disappointments and fruitions, is to have no will but God’s will enthroned above and in our own wills. If Abraham had acquiesced and submitted, Ishmael and Isaac would have been a pair to bless his life, as they stood together over his grave. And if you and I will leave God to order all our ways, and not try to interfere with His purposes by our short-sighted dictation, ‘all things will work together for good to us, because we love God,’ and lovingly accept His will and His law.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v15 A Child Promised to Sarah
A Child Promised to Sarah
v. 15. And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai, thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. This change of names is significant, for the wife of Abraham, heretofore known as Sarai, "the princely," "heroine," was hereafter to be called Sarah, "princess," as the ancestress of princes and kings. Thus the promise of God narrowed down, first from a member of Abraham’s household to a son of his own body, and now to his own son by Sarah, his wife, not by some slave woman.
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v. 16. And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her; yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her. The emphasis is expressly laid upon the fact that the happy event of the birth of a son to Sarah is a result of the blessing of God. For whereas this is true in the case of every wife, it was particularly true in the case of Sarah, upon whom the Lord had laid the cross of barrenness.
v. 17. Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? And shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? The marvel of such a promise in the circumstances as Abraham knew them, himself a man of a hundred years and Sarah ninety years old, and yet they should become parents, this filled him with such awe that he sank to the ground, and with such joy that he was constrained to laugh. He was filled with adoration and praise of the power and mercy of God.
v. 18. And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before Thee! This was not spoken in the fear that the Lord would now cause Ishmael to die, but as a prayer that Ishmael might have part in the blessings of the covenant.
v. 19. And God said, Sarah, thy wife, shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant and with his seed after him. The Lord emphasizes that the son of Sarah should be the bearer of the covenant, he whom Abraham should name Isaac (he that laughs); he was to transmit the Messianic promise to his children after him, a promise which would not concern their temporal welfare so much as their spiritual blessings, and would therefore be of interest also to the spiritual descendants of Isaac.
v. 20. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee; behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. Twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. Ishmael had been begotten after the flesh, and could therefore not be the bearer of the promise, Gal 4:30. He was to be blessed most richly with blessings of this life: twelve princes were to be his descendants, and the number of his offspring would be exceedingly great.
v. 21. But My covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year. God had, even now, appointed the time when Isaac should be born. And this child of promise should be the bearer of the Messianic promise. For since it stands to reason and clearly follows from the Scriptural account that Abraham taught all his children the fear of the true God, we must conclude that the special progeny of Abraham and Isaac to which the Lord here refers must be the sum total of that spiritual offspring, all men who by the faith of Abraham become the children of Abraham, Rom 4:11-17.
v. 22. And he left off talking with him. And God went up from Abraham. After God had given all the necessary commands to Abraham, the vision came to a close.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv15, 17, 19 As for Sarai
As for Sarai
The words "As for" introduce the next person God talks about.
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I will give you a son by her
"I will make her bear a son for you"
she will become the mother of nations
"she will be the ancestor of many nations" or "her descendants will become nations"
Kings of peoples will come from her
"Kings of peoples will descend from her" or "Some of her descendants will be kings of peoples"
translationWords
Sarah
bless
nation
king
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv15, 17, 19, 20 17:15-16 Sarah: The new name, fitting for one who…
17:15-16 Sarah: The new name, fitting for one who would be the mother of kings, was a milestone in Sarah’s calling and brought attention to the promise.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.