"And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him – whom Sarah bore to him – Isaac. Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said, 'God has made me laugh,and all who hear will laugh with me." She also said, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.' So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing. Therefore she said to Abraham, 'Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.' And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham's sight because of his son. But God said to Abraham, 'Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called. Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed.' So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and sent her away." (Genesis 21:1-14a)
The long-awaited promised child has arrived…a shadow or typology of the long-awaited birth of the savior of all mankind! It is a miraculous birth, though not a virgin birth as our Lord's was, nor conceived by the Holy Spirit as was our Lord's. Still, the Lord promised to bring forth a child from the womb of a woman whose body was long past the age of child-bearing, whose womb was no longer capable of bearing children. Even though Sarah laughed at the thought that she would bear a child in her old age, the Lord convinced her that she would indeed bear that child. And the Bible later tells us that "Sarah by faith received strength to conceive." (Hebrews 11:11) The Holy Spirit healed Sarah, not just her womb but her body in such a way that she was even able to breast-feed after the birth; but it was Sarah's faith that caused her to receive that healing, that 'strength to conceive.'
Abraham named the child Isaac just as the Lord had instructed him, and had him circumcised on the eighth day thereby giving honor to the One who brought the promise about. Isaac means "he laughs" – a reminder of the joy that Abraham had in hearing (and trusting in) God's promise that he would have an heir even in his old age.
At the age of around 3 perhaps (children were breastfed longer in those days), Isaac is weaned from the breast and his father puts on a large feast to celebrate. He could not celebrate at Isaac's birth without over-burdening Sarah; he could not take away from the solemnity of the circumcision ritual by celebrating at that time. So this is Abraham's first time to celebrate, with one and all, the birth of his son.
If Isaac is 3, then Ishmael is 17. Ishmael is old enough to know what he is doing and how he is dishonoring his own father when he decides to mock Isaac in some manner that Sarah witnesses. Sadly, jealousy has most likely set upon Ishmael, probably encouraged by his mother, Hagar, who herself mocked Sarah's inability to bear children. But Ishmael is destined to be that "wild man" that the Lord prophesied to Hagar, and perhaps this is the first appearance of that character trait.
Biblical scholars believe this is the beginning of another prophecy: the one in which the Lord tells Abraham that his seed will be persecuted by the Egyptians for 400 years. They actually are able to date that 400 years beginning here in the third year or so of Isaac's life, when he is mocked (persecuted) by the son of an Egyptian woman, Hagar. What is also sad is that Ishmael is the result of Abraham and Sarah's taking matters into their own hands; and the result of not waiting on God, or of second-guessing Him, is that they have created the very one who will persecute the rightful heir, their own son Isaac. They have brought this trouble to themselves and to Isaac. And we know that it is only the beginning of troubles for many generations to come.
And this is once more a shadow of what will come when the Jews (who are not the spiritual seed of Abraham) mock the early church (true spiritual seed of Abraham) in its infancy. (1 Thessalonians 2:16)
Abraham becomes grieved, the scripture says, "because of his son." While it is not extremely clear which son, I think it is safe to assume that it is Ishmael. He does love Ishmael, as of course a father would. He is caught between heeding his wife who has a very valid point concerning the safety and security of their young child and heir, and wanting to protect his other son Ishmael. The Lord delivers him from the dilemma by giving him clear instructions, and Abraham, displaying his greatest gift of obeying the Lord when He speaks, immediately does as the Lord directs him to do. I don't believe he is less sad about sending Ishmael away, but he WILL be obedient to the Lord no matter the cost.
Interestingly, the Lord tells Abraham that he is to listen to his wife Sarah's words. This is because they are in fact prophetic words. Paul teaches great truths from these words of Sarah in his letter to the Galatians (chapter 4). I think it will be worth spending some time on Sarah's words tomorrow.
But for today, Ishmael and Hagar are sent off to another town with sufficient food and water to get them there; only we will see in the scriptures that follow that they lose their way in the wilderness.
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