{"id":15737,"date":"2021-05-13T22:00:26","date_gmt":"2021-05-14T05:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/genesis_15-copy\/"},"modified":"2021-05-13T22:17:23","modified_gmt":"2021-05-14T05:17:23","slug":"genesis_16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/genesis_16\/","title":{"rendered":"God Hears and God Sees"},"content":{"rendered":"

Genesis 16\u00a0\u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Genesis 16.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Genesis 16:1-4 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar;
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0so she said to Abram, “The\u00a0LORD\u00a0has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed to what Sarai said.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife.
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-4:\u00a0\u00a0Tired of waiting for God to bless her with a child, Sarai proposes that Abram sleep with their Egyptian maidservant Hagar so that Sarai can have children through Hagar.\u00a0 Perhaps Sarai thought, “Well, did God ever say the offspring had to come from my body?” (Not until the next chapter in Genesis 17:15-16 would God expressly say that Sarai will be the one to bear Abram’s offspring, although one could argue that this idea was already implied in God’s prior promises.)\u00a0 According to scholars, it was a customary ancient Middle Eastern practice for a slave to bear children for the wife if the wife could not bear children.\u00a0\u00a0So Abram agrees, Hagar conceives, but the relief that Sarai thought she would experience by executing her plan soon turns into regret.\u00a0 The fact that Sarai’s plan resulted in such pain and the fact that so many polygamous situations described in the Bible resulted in much pain and strife in the family might suggest that God does not approve of polygamy.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0Just because society says it’s okay doesn’t mean that God says it’s okay.\u00a0 When we stray from God’s best and settle for a shortcut, often we will end up regretting it, being hurt, and hurting others. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Genesis 16:5 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my servant in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the\u00a0LORD\u00a0judge between you and me.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 5:\u00a0\u00a0Sarai blames Abram for her suffering, even though it was Sarai\u2019s idea that Abram sleep with Hagar in the first place.\u00a0\u00a0Was Abram responsible? Yes, in part.\u00a0\u00a0Though it wasn\u2019t his idea, Abram went with along his wife\u2019s ill-advised plan, similar to how Adam went along with Eve’s proposal in Genesis 3. What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0Take responsibility for your part in the problem.\u00a0\u00a0Don\u2019t just blame others.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Genesis 16:6-7 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Your servant is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The angel of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 6-7:\u00a0\u00a0Hurt, alone and scared, Hagar runs away looking for comfort wherever she could find it.\u00a0\u00a0Physically she found it by a spring in the desert (v7).\u00a0\u00a0Soon, God would come and, like a spring in the desert, provide relief to her wounded heart.\u00a0\u00a0Likewise,\u00a0you might feel like you are alone in your pain right now, but you are not alone.\u00a0\u00a0God is there and He cares.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0If you let Him, He will bring relief to your hurting heart.<\/p>\n

Genesis 16:8 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 8:\u00a0\u00a0Why did God ask Hagar the question, \u201cwhere have you come from and where are you going\u201d?\u00a0\u00a0Doesn\u2019t God already know?\u00a0\u00a0Of course He does.\u00a0\u00a0God didn\u2019t ask Hagar the question because He didn\u2019t know the answer.\u00a0\u00a0God asked Hagar the question because He wanted Hagar to know that He is concerned for her.\u00a0\u00a0Sometimes the best way to care for a person is simply to ask them about where they are at.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Genesis 16:9-12 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then the angel of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.”
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The angel added, “I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count.”
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The angel of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0also said to her: “You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the\u00a0LORD\u00a0has heard of your misery.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 9-12:\u00a0\u00a0Hagar was able to go back to her boss Sarai and submit to her as God commanded (v9), not because Sarai had changed for the better, but because Hagar had received and believed God\u2019s Word for her life.\u00a0\u00a0God\u2019s Word had given Hagar a vision for her life and her son\u2019s life that was greater than her current circumstances.<\/p>\n

That is why it\u2019s so important to spend time in God\u2019s Word and God\u2019s presence.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s in God\u2019s Word and God\u2019s presence that you will hear God speaking to you.\u00a0\u00a0It is through God\u2019s Word and God\u2019s presence that God gives you a vision for your future.\u00a0\u00a0God\u2019s Word and God\u2019s presence will give you courage to face scary circumstances, to persevere through hardship and to deal with difficult people.\u00a0\u00a0Hang onto God\u2019s Word and God\u2019s presence and the vision you get as a result of spending time there.<\/strong><\/p>\n

While it must have been encouraging for Hagar to hear that God would greatly multiply her son\u2019s descendants (v10), it must have been hard for Hagar to also hear that he would be \u201ca wild donkey of a man\u201d; in other words, he would get into many conflicts with others.\u00a0\u00a0It is incredible to think that Muslims see Ishmael as the ancestor of Muhammad.\u00a0\u00a0If that is the case, then it means that Islam came through the line of Ishmael while Judaism and Christianity came through the line of Isaac.\u00a0\u00a0Consider all the centuries of conflict that have since happened between Muslims and the Judeo-Christian world.\u00a0\u00a0All of this because Abram and Sarai did not wait for God\u2019s plan.\u00a0\u00a0What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0When we don\u2019t wait for God\u2019s best and do something different from what God originally intended, it can have dire consequences for many people who come after us.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Genesis 16:13-14 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0She gave this name to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 13-14:\u00a0\u00a0Whatever your situation,<\/strong>\u00a0God sees us \u2013 always has and always will.\u00a0\u00a0But life change happens when\u00a0we realize<\/em>\u00a0that God sees us.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Knowing that God sees us can change everything.\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s what happened for Hagar.\u00a0\u00a0Later on a well would be built by the spring where Hagar met God.\u00a0\u00a0The well is called \u201cBeer Lahai Roi\u201d meaning \u201cwell of the Living One who sees me\u201d.<\/p>\n

Genesis 16:15-16 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne.
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 15-16:\u00a0\u00a0In obedience to God\u2019s command in verse 11, Hagar courageously gives birth and names her son Ishmael, meaning \u201cGod hears\u201d.<\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, thank You that even when I think I\u2019m all alone and that no one understands what I go through, You are the God who hears me and sees me.\u00a0\u00a0Thank You for Your Word which gives me comfort and hope in my hardship.\u00a0\u00a0Thank You for Your vision for my life.\u00a0\u00a0Thank You that whatever I am facing today is a stepping stone to that vision becoming a reality.\u00a0\u00a0Instead of going for a wrong shortcut, please help me to trust in Your timing and Your plan.\u00a0\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Genesis 16.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Genesis 16:1-4 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar;
\n2\u00a0\u00a0so she said to Abram, “The\u00a0LORD\u00a0has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed to what Sarai said.
\n3\u00a0\u00a0So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife.
\n4\u00a0\u00a0He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.<\/p>\n

On verses 1-4:\u00a0\u00a0Tired of waiting for God to bless her with a child, Sarai proposes that Abram sleep with their Egyptian maidservant Hagar so that Sarai can have children through Hagar.\u00a0 Perhaps Sarai thought, “Well, did God ever say the offspring had to come from my body?” (Not until the next chapter in Genesis 17:15-16 would God expressly say that Sarai will be the one to bear Abram’s offspring, although one could argue that this idea was already implied in God’s prior promises.)\u00a0 According to scholars, it was a customary ancient Middle Eastern practice for a slave to bear children for the wife if the wife could not bear children.\u00a0\u00a0So Abram agrees, Hagar conceives, but the relief that Sarai thought she would experience by executing her plan soon turns into regret.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15739,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15737"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15737\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15738,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15737\/revisions\/15738"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}