GEN 16 “The God Who Sees and Hears”
INTRO: Becoming a Christian will not spare you from the pains, hardships, and perplexities of life.
-In our pain and perplexity, we can seek relief outside God: alcohol; drugs; distractions; screens; busyness
-But we can also turn God, and find comfort and hope in the midst of our darkness and sadness.
–God sees our pain and hears our cries, and because of this, we can have hope.
-This is what we see, as we look at today’s passage.
CONTEXT: The Life of Abram, the man of faith (ch 12-25)
-God’s promise to Abram at age of 75 (Gen 12:1-2), and mix response: sometimes trust, other times sins.
-God reassures and clarifies the promise to Abram: descendants from self, like dust of earth, stars of sky.
–Today, we see Abram and Sarai sin, and this sin brings great sadness and pain within their family and to others.
-But also see a comforting truth: God sees our pain and hears our cries.
I. Abram and Sarai’s Sin (16:1-6)
Sometimes, God calls us to do seems to go against what makes sense to us and or what seems to work in our world
-Ex.: God calls us to trust Him, to pray, to love our enemies, to give sacrificially, to evangelize the lost
–One way we sin: we rely on own wisdom, and choose to do what seems to work instead of what is right.
–SAUL: 1 Sam 13:8-12 “Saul forced himself”
–Single Christian waiting for spouse (relationship w/unbeliever); Sex before marriage
-Spouse is slow to respond to our request: hen-peck, or harsh words
–School: let ChatGPT do the work; Taxes: fudge the numbers;
**In ch 16: Abram and Sarai do what works instead of what is right.
-A Challenging Situation: 10 years in the land, and still no child for Abram (16:1,3)
-God has promised to provide Abram an heir from his own body, but Sarai still has not been able to conceive
-Abram and Sarai have waited 10 years in the land and heard God reconfirm and clarify the promise (3)
-They can continue to wait, or they can take matters into their own hands…
-Sarai’s Sin (1b-2a)
-Sarai is tired of waiting on God to allow her to conceive, so she puts forward Hagar, her servant, to have sex with Abram
–Calvin “Sarai, through impatience of long delay, resorted to a method obtaining seed by her husband at variance with the word of
God…God designed that the human race should be propagated by sacred marriage. Sarai perverts the law of marriage.”
–Sarai is doing what works (even culturally acceptable), instead of what is right!
–Commentators: Here, Sarai is repeating the mistake of EVE—taking what she should have left.
**Common Temptation for Women: Men called to lead appear to be passive, so they take things into their own hands
-Abram’s Sin (2b)
-Abram “listened to the voice of Sarai”=an echo of Genesis 3 when Adam listened to voice of Eve
–Commentators: Abram is repeating error of Adam in choosing a SINFUL passivity.
-Common Temptation for Men: Passive. Instead of leading with love, we neglect to lead.
**NOTE: Both Sarai and Abram sin and are to blame in this situation.
-Hagar Conceives but this Leads to Pain, Strife, and Division (3-6)
-Hagar does get pregnant (3-4), but afterward she “looked with contempt” on Sarai
-Perhaps she hoped to take the place of priority, since she conceived instead of Sarai
-Sarai is upset and blames Abram (5)
-Almost comical, but actually very sad: the sin of Sarai and Abram led to great pain in their marriage and Hagar.
-Abram is passive and does not defend Hagar, whom he impregnated (6a)
-Sarai is “harsh” with Hagar—a pregnant woman—who then flees the country (6b)
*SUMMARY: The sins of Abram and Sarai led to great pain and division within their family and Hagar
-Sin never pays off, especially the sin of doing what is convenient instead of doing what is right.
**OBSERVE: Abram and Sarai were a genuine believers, but they sinned and made a mess of things.
-This still happens today: sometimes Christians or church member SIN and make a mess of things
-Maybe this has happened to you, or someone you love.
-Where is God in all this pain? Where can we turn to find hope?
- In the Midst of our Trouble, We can Turn to God Who sees our Pain and Hears and our Cries (16:7-16)
There is one who see our pain and hears our prayers: It is GOD.
-Knowing the REAL Christ brings REAL hope in the midst of the pain and perplexities of life.
-Hagar is on the run, heading back to Egypt (6b-7)
-She is pregnant and heading back to Egypt (spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on way to Shur)
-Probably desperate and in great need of help
-Angel of the Lord Finds and Blesses Hagar (7-16)
-“Angel of the Lord” identity: an angel who speaks for and represents God, or preincarnate Christ
-My view: it probably an angel…
-Angel speaks with Hagar and instructs her to return to Sarai (7-9)
-Angel, proclaiming God’s Word, promises a blessing on Hagar’s child (10)
-Blessing on Ishmael (11-12)
–NOTE: “the LORD has listened to your affliction” (11b)
–God sees our pain and hears our cries
-Hagar’s return to Cannan (13-16)
-Hagar recognizes God’s care for her
-“You are a God of seeing”
-“I have seen him who looks after me.”
-Hagar returns back to Abram, and gives birth to Ishmael (15-16)
-Abram is now 86! (16)
**OBSERVE: Our God sees the pain and hardship of Hagar and responds to her affliction.
-This is who is God still—He is aware of our pain and attentive to the cries of our prayers.
**ALSO: God continues to protect the promise He made to Abram.
-Abram and Sarai sinned by not continuing to wait on God, but that is not the end of their story
-God will protect his promise to bless Abram and world, even after Abram’s sin.
GOSPEL CONNECTION:
-We have a Savior, JESUS, who always did what is right, not merely what worked
-Tempted in dessert, he chose what is right
-Tempted to forsake the cross, he went to the cross.
-Choosing what was right, we see His love for His people whom He came to save.
-In the work of Christ, we recognize that God sees our pain and deepest need
-God recognizes that sin in our great problem, and a problem that leads to great pain.
-Christ deals with our foolish decisions and sinful rebellion by dying on the cross.
-If you cry out to him in faith, you will be saved.
–GOSPEL: We all have sinned against God, but in Christ we might have our sins forgiven.
-Christ continues to care for us His people now in their pain.
-We will be hurt by Christians and non-Christians.
-In our pain, we can turn to God who hears our prayer and comforts us in our pain.
APPLICATION:
-In the midst of pain and perplexity, remember that God sees your pain and tears.
-Don’t turn to distractions, but look to Christ in your pain.
-See him as one who cares deeply for you, and this is evidenced at the cross.
-Cry out to Him for deliverance but also grace to do what is right as you wait.
-Flee the temptation to do what ‘works rather than what is right’ by God’s grace.
-In the midst of pain, remember that God hears your cries.
-You may need to act, but don’t overlook PRAYER and the call to WAIT PATIENTLY ON THE LORD
-Pray that God would deliver you and help you honor Him even as you suffer.
