The God Who Keeps His Promises (II)

Read Genesis 21: 1-20

No doubt you would have heard that on the eve of 9/11 this year, a fundamentalist church in Florida decided to hold a public burning of Korans. The seminary president, in response to that, said that it was “utterly foolish” - and I agree. Burning others’ holy books is not showing others love. Christianity and Islam have never been comfortable friends, but in a world where Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world, we need to understand them outside of 9/11. 9/11 does NOT define Islam no more than did the Crusades define Christianity. So where do we begin? A great place to start is today’s passage. We will return to this topic at a future devotional.

Recall that Ishmael (ISH-ma-ELL) was the result of a plan by Sarai back in chapter 16. Since Ishmael is the elder son, he is the one who should receive most of Abraham’s inheritance. That’s the way cultures work back then (and in some cultures today). So, it should not surprise us that Ishmael puts down his brother Isaac often. Sarah, of course, didn’t like it, and wanted Hagar and Ishmael out of the house. But Abraham, of course, was deeply troubled - Ishamel was his son too.

Note verse 12 - 20. Hagar ran out of water and didn’t know what to do. Now, God could’ve left them alone. Why bother, right? The Bible, after all, concerns only God’s people, and since Ishmael is not one of them, why care? But God made a promise to Abraham before that applied to all his descendants. God, if you remember from last week, is the God who keeps his promises. He has promised Abram that his descendants will be “too numerous to count.” And that applied to all descendants, Ishmael and Isaac. Admittedly, Ishmael was not part of the original plan. But God does not go back on his promises. This should be reassuring to us! If God can keep his promises to those who are not in Israel, how much would he keep his promises to those of us who are his children!

As we read the Old Testament, keep in mind that God is not the God who bats you on the head for every mistake you make. He is the gracious God who does what He says, and when we screw things up royally, he remains in control without reneging on his word. Abraham and Sarai screwed up God’s plan and resulted in Ishmael, but since Ishmael is Abraham’s son, God’s promises to Abraham’s descendants still apply to him, just as it did to Isaac.

If God can uphold his promises to those outside of Israel, how much more would he uphold his promises to us! Spend a few moments thinking about what you know are God’s promises to us. Example: God promised to be our strength and defender. Then think about those promises. What does that mean? Strength to do what? Defend from what? And how can those promises encourage you as you face the difficulties of living as a Christian in this world?