“The Sign of the Son”
Genesis 17:1-20 NKJV
The Promise to Abraham
17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.
The Name Change
5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.
The Promise to Sarah
15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her.”
Abraham’s Reaction
17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”
The Assurance of Isaac
19 Then God said: “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him.
Sarai’s Role and Beauty
Sarah’s name means princess; she was Abraham’s princess.
Sarai was an exceedingly beautiful woman whom Abraham had loved for 99 years. Her beauty had caused him to do things he normally wouldn’t do. The Bible says that Abraham lied when they went to Egypt.
The Journey to Egypt
In Genesis 12, Abram and his wife Sarai traveled to Egypt due to a famine in Canaan. One may ask, are we sure this move is what God wants? Don’t allow the famine to move you; be ready and learn to live in the place God has put you. Abram instructed his wife to tell people in Egypt that she was his sister instead of his wife. His reason was to protect himself because Sarai was so beautiful, and Abram feared someone would kill him and take Sarai as his wife. The plan to pass her off as his sister would ensure that Abram would be well received by those he met.
Sarai’s Beauty Attracts Pharaoh
In Egypt, Sarai’s beauty attracted the attention of Pharaoh. In her 70s, she had caught the eye of the ruler of all Egypt.
“Are you kidding me?” She could have stayed with Pharaoh. Sarai was taken into Pharaoh’s house, and many gifts were given to Abram.
Pharaoh was about to marry a married woman. God intervened. How many remember when God intervened on your behalf?
Sarai was needed by God. If there was no Sarai, there would be no Isaac. Pharaoh gave Sarai Goshen as a perpetual inheritance.
When the children of Israel came to Egypt, the favor shown to Sarai proved beneficial. How many remember Hagar? She was the daughter of Pharaoh, and he gave her to Sarai.
And Eliezer he gave to Abram. After all the gifts, you would think it was a done deal, but God intervened (Genesis 12:16). Genesis 12:17 says, “But the LORD afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.”
This seems puzzling. After all, the king was the victim of Abram and Sarai’s deceit.
God’s Intervention and Purpose
The result of this punishment reveals the reason for it. When Pharaoh realized Sarai was Abram’s wife, he summoned Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?
Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go” (Genesis 12:18-19).
If God had not caused the plagues to come upon Pharaoh and his household, he may not have known anything was wrong. The affliction led to the discovery that Sarai was Abram’s wife. If Pharaoh had kept Sarai, Abram would not have had a son by Sarai in fulfillment of God’s promise to him (Genesis 12:2; 17:19).
Abram was wrong to lie, but God graciously intervened to keep His covenant with Abram.
Sarah’s Longing for a Son
Sarai wanted a son, but no matter how beautiful she was, she was unable to produce one. God had shut her womb to a child.
Sarah loved one man all her life, and God taught faith to Abraham through Sarah. Each month Sarah would head to the red tent; a woman was considered unclean and secluded themselves from the rest of the people because she was visited by mother nature.
When other women became pregnant, Sarah kept coming to the tent, year after year. It’s in this place you can make mistakes. One day, she made no more trips to the red tent, and that time of life passed by with no son.
Hagar’s Role and Mistake
Sarai made a horrible mistake and sent her husband into her handmaid, Hagar, adding to the grief of this princess.
The Sign of the Son
I want you to see something. Sarai never touched another man. She wanted a son, and she waited and waited, and waited, but there was no son. Church, we have been waiting for the Son, and we are about to see the sign of the Son.
“The sign of the Son” was going to come through a 90-year-old woman and a 100-year-old man.
Symbolism in the Story
“Know the players in this story told by the Holy Spirit”:
– Abraham is a type of God the Father.
– Sarai is a type of the Church, “a mother of nations.”
– Isaac is a type of Jesus Christ.
– Eliezer, Abraham’s servant, is a type of the Holy Spirit.
Name Changes Reflecting God’s Work
Genesis 17:5, life came into Abraham; God put His name into Abraham. His name was Abram, and when God added the breath, it became Abraham.
Genesis 17:15, Sarai got her name changed; God put His name in her as well. She went from Sarai to Sarah. The life of God came into Abraham and Sarah. Your promise may look dead, but allow God to breathe on you.
The Faith of Sarah and the Role of the Church
I wish the women of the church would get the faith Sarah had: “God, I must have sons and daughters.”
The Importance of Cherishing the Church
Men, love your wives as Christ loved the church. Men, I believe the beauty of the church is important, but what that woman carries is more precious than words can explain.
“The Comfort of Christ’s Coming”
1 Thessalonians 4
Hope Amidst Sorrow
13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow asothers who have no hope.
The Resurrection Belief
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.
The Order of the Resurrection
15 For this, we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.
The Second Coming of the Lord
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
Gathering with the Lord
17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus, we shall always be with the Lord.
Comforting Words
18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.