YEAR 1, WEEK 47, Day 1, Monday, 18 November 2024

https://esv.literalword.com/?q=genesis+16

Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Monday, 18 November 2024:

Genesis 16:1-4 – Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.”

Rather than patiently trusting on God’s word and waiting on God’s perfect timing, Sarai and Abram took matters into their own hands and followed a very common worldly practice to accomplish their goals. Abram’s failure to wait on the Lord gave birth (literally and figuratively) to great global conflict which endures to this day between Islam and other people groups (Genesis 16, 17, 22). As we continue to read through the Bible this year, pay attention to how many times a failure to trust in the Lord and wait upon His timing caused people great, needless pain and suffering.

Obedience to God requires a willingness to wait on God rather than getting desired results the wrong way. Often, popular opinion or ‘common sense’ stands in direct contrast to God’s commands and often seems to produce practical, quick results. However, God will not bless disobedience, and there are always negative, destructive consequences for disobedience which far outweigh the apparent benefits of disobedience, some consequences which may affect generations. As someone once said, “Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.”

In times of trouble or uncertainty, sometimes it is hard to wait on the Lord, but just like being lost in the woods, when you don’t know where you are going, traveling aimlessly faster just makes the problem worse. In life, the world will tell you, “Don’t just stand there, do something!” The assumption is your fate is in your control, and your inactivity is indecisiveness and weakness. God often says, ‘Be still! Wait for my lead.’ Waiting is decisive, a choice that often takes a great deal of faith. Waiting is often obedience to God’s command to not be anxious – “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” (Philippians 4:6)

Passions, presumption and fear often incite us to take the lead from God, to be led by the flesh rather than the Spirit, and to make poor, sinful decisions. King Saul’s failure to wait upon the Lord cost him the kingdom and led to his demise. (1 Samuel 13) When in your life do you wish you had waited upon the Lord? Are you willing to wait upon the Lord now?

When you don’t know what God wants you to do next, be faithful to the word God has already given you, remain obedient in the moment, and pray. Trust Him.

What about when you have been patiently praying for clear direction from God on a matter, you haven’t heard clearly from God, and you must decide right now? If you absolutely must decide, ensure your decision is consistent with God’s word, remain in prayer, seek the counsel of other faithful Christians, and trust Him with what you don’t know and understand. God will honor your intent and obedient effort, and if later you wish you had made a different decision, you will recognize, wherever that decision took you, God has been with you along the way and has used the experience in some way to draw you closer to Him.

Waiting is active! It is actively seeking the Lord and His guidance and remaining obedient even when obedience seems unprofitable. Undoubtably, if you wait with your eyes and heart open, God will keep you plenty busy and fruitful as you make the most of the opportunities around you for His glory. “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matthew 6:31-34)

While we wait with patience, endurance, and perseverance upon Christ’s return, wait with a sense of urgency to share the Gospel with as many as you possibly can.

• Genesis 8:10, 12 — He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark…. Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore.
• Genesis 49:18 — I wait for your salvation, O Lord.
• Numbers 9:8 — And Moses said to them, “Wait, that I may hear what the Lord will command concerning you.
• Psalm 25:3 — Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
• Psalm 25:5 — Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.
• Psalm 25:21 — May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.
• Psalm 27:14 — Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!
• Psalm 31:24 — Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!
• Psalm 33:20 — Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.
• Psalm 37:7 — Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!
• Psalm 37:9 — For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.
• Psalm 37:34 — Wait for the Lord and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on when the wicked are cut off.
• Psalm 38:15 — But for you, O Lord, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.
• Psalm 39:7 — And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you.
• Psalm 40:1 — To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry.
• Psalm 62:1 — To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.
• Psalm 62:5 — For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.
• Psalm 106:13 — But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel.
• Proverbs 8:34 — Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors.
• Proverbs 20:22 — Do not say, “I will repay evil”; wait for the Lord, and he will deliver you.
• Isaiah 8:17 — I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him.
• Isaiah 25:9 — It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
• Isaiah 26:8 — In the path of your judgments, O Lord, we wait for you; your name and remembrance are the desire of our soul.
• Isaiah 30:18 — Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.
• Isaiah 33:2 — O Lord, be gracious to us; we wait for you. Be our arm every morning, our salvation in the time of trouble.
• Isaiah 40:31 — …but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
• Isaiah 42:4 — He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law.
• Isaiah 49:23 — Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you, and lick the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord; those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.
• Isaiah 51:5 — My righteousness draws near, my salvation has gone out, and my arms will judge the peoples; the coastlands hope for me, and for my arm they wait.
• Isaiah 64:4 — From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him.
• Lamentations 3:26 — It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
• Micah 7:7 — But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.
• Habakkuk 2:3 — For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.
• Luke 12:36 — …and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks.
• Acts 1:4 — And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me….”
• Romans 8:25 — But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
• 1 Corinthians 1:7 — …so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
• Hebrews 6:15 — And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise.
• Jude 1:21 — …keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.
• Psalm 37:7 — Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!
• Psalm 46:10 — “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

Genesis 16:7-8 — The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.”

The is the very first time the “Angel of the Lord” appears in the Bible. Subsequent appearances are as follows:

• The Angel of the LORD would later appear to Abraham (Genesis 22).
• The Angel of the LORD would later appear to Moses (Exodus 3).
• The Angel of the LORD would later appear to Balaam (Numbers 22).
• The Angel of the LORD would later appear to Israel collectively (Judges 2).
• The Angel of the LORD would later appear to Gideon (Judges 6).
• The Angel of the LORD would later appear to Samson’s parents (Judges 13).
• The Angel of the LORD would later appear to David (2 Samuel 24).
• The Angel of the LORD would later appear to Elijah (1 Kings 19).

We understand that this was a physical presence, not just a voice of some sort; and we understand from the subsequent text that this is God Himself. Since we know that no one can see God as Father and live (Exodus 33:20; John 1:18; 1 Timothy 6:16), we can surmise that this was an appearance of the eternal Son, Jesus, the Second Person of the Trinity, before His incarnation in Bethlehem.

Though this may not be the first time Jesus appears in the Bible (for example, it may have been Jesus who walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden), it is significant that the first reference to the Angel of the Lord occurs with an unmarried, pregnant, Egyptian slave woman on the run, perhaps the most unlikely person from the world’s perspective. In fact, this is God’s motus operandi (M.O.), revealing Himself to the pitiful, humble, and broken, showing mercy and grace to them, and working mightily through them to do what only He could do. Look for this pattern as you read through the entire Bible. For example, in the Gospel of Luke, an angel appears to shepherds, rather than religious or political leaders, to proclaim the birth of Jesus, and they are the first to worship Him, though in the humblest of conditions. (Luke 2:8-20) In the Gospel of John, Jesus first reveals Himself as the Messiah “I am” to a divorced and adulterous woman of rejected people, the Samaritans (John 4:26); and the resurrected Jesus first appears to “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary,” before any of the apostles. (Matthew 28:1-10)

God chose Moses, the “slow of speech” murderer, to lead His people out of slavery (Exodus 3:1-22); Gideon, a fearful farmer, to be God’s “mighty man of valor,” to defeat the Midianites (Judges 6-16); Esther, a young Jewish girl, to become Queen of Persia and to save God’s people from annihilation (Esther 2:1-18); David, a shepherd boy, to become king of Israel (1 Samuel 16:1-13); Mary, a young, poor virgin, to become mother of the Christ Child (Luke 1:26-38); fishermen, tax collectors, peasants, and zealots to be Jesus’ first disciples; Paul/Saul, a persecutor of Christians, to take the Gospel to the Gentiles and to author 13 of the 27 books of the New Testament (a little less than 25% of the NT); and the list goes on…. God works mightily through the blessed “poor in Spirit,” the meek and persecuted who hunger and thirst for righteousness, seeking mercy, purity, and peace. (Matthew 5:2-12) Nothing makes an ordinary person more extraordinary than a laid down life and the Holy Spirit working through them to accomplish the Lord’s will. What might God do with your fully submitted life?

The Angel of the Lord asks Hagar, “Where have you come from and where are you going?” Of course, God knows the answer, but this is a Socratic question, intended for Hagar’s benefit to encourage her to step outside of her current crisis and consider her life more deeply with God in view – look what God has already done in your life, and consider what God will do with your future if you humbly trust and obey Him. Wait upon the Lord!

We don’t know much about Hagar’s life, but we can surmise that she was acquired as a slave (servant) by Abram in Egypt; so, presumably, life had been less than ideal for her. Since we know that Abram was wealthy and Hagar was favored by Sarai, we can assume that Hagar had considered herself as fortunate as a slave/servant girl could up to her conflict with Sarai. So, God had provided for her through difficult circumstances. Problems started though when Hagar started looking down on Saria after conceiving rather than Saria (v. 4). Pride and presumption always hinder God’s blessings in our lives (Proverbs 11:2, 16:18, 29:31). Now Hagar is seeking escape from her current situation, taking matters into her own hands, and God, in His mercy and grace, intervenes. He tells her, go back and humble yourself, even though you have been mistreated, I am going bless you and your child greatly, in due time.

“Where have you come from and where are you going?” God asks us to consider the same question. Look back on your life, through all your life challenges, some completely out of your control, and some caused by your own hand; hasn’t God blessed you beyond what you deserve? And where are you going? Isn’t that in God’s hands? Despite your best efforts to control the future, do you really have any control? Can’t the God who is Sovereign and who has given you His One and Only Son be trusted with your current situation and your future? Trust Him and obey Him in whatever you are going through right now; wait for Him and watch Him do miraculously what you could never do on your own. Don’t just seek to escape your current situation; rather, seek to honor God in it until God leads you out of it.

Genesis 16:11 — You shall call his name Ishmael….

Ishmael means, “God will hear.” God hears prayers. God heard Hagar in her affliction and responded mightily, revealing a plan for the Arabic people. God will hear our prayers as we pray for their salvation today. Pray now for the Gospel to be received within the Arabic nations.

Genesis 16:13 — You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.

Our relationship with Jesus is very personal and transforming. The more we “see” Him, the more we are transformed by Him. We need to practice “seeing” Him, particularly since we have grown up being taught that spiritual vision doesn’t matter much practically.

• 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 — Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
• 1 Corinthians 13:12 — For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
• 1 John 3:2-3 — Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 18 November 2024: Today, wait upon the Lord, seeking His guidance in decisions and remaining faithful to His word in all that you do. However, wait actively! Make the most of the opportunities God places in front of you today, and see where God takes you in your fidelity towards His plan rather than your plan. Share the Gospel with your family by birth, and pray that God will give you closer relationships with your brothers and sisters in Christ. Prioritize your whole family today.