Genesis 16:15 Commentary and Bible Study

And verse 15, the historical record: ‘Hagar bare Abram a son, and Abram called his son's name which Hagar bear, Ishmael.’ And then the note in verse 16 that Abram was 86 when Hagar bear Ishmael to him. Did he think that the promise was fulfilled in Ishmael? Some people say he did. Some people say that Abram and Sarai would have complacently thought that the promise had been fulfilled. And then when later on, God renews his promise that Sarai shall have the child, they are astonished and surprised. But it's more likely that Abram knew from the very moment there was trouble between Hagar and Sarai; the from that moment he knew this was wrong, and certainly we have seen in this chapter, that Sarai herself described her act as my wrong. So I think they knew even then that this wasn't it, that this wasn't how it should have been, that there was something else and they'd wronged the Lord. But you can see the lesson that there are these different threads or cables going through the Bible record. I mentioned justification by faith, but we are not referring to it in this chapter; we do in chapter 17. But particularly the battle between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, the taking in of the wrong seed, the unbelieving seed, into the church, into Abram's family, and the tension that will arise between them. And that's a lesson that we learn it almost every chapter of the book of Genesis. That's why we believe in the regenerate church, the regenerate membership of the church. That's why we view the flesh and the wisdom of the world and the cultural the world with the grave suspicion, and distance ourselves from it. And we must otherwise a tremendously heavy price will be paid, and dear friends, you're going to see it. You see the boasts and the claims of many sections of evangelicalism, Bible believers, now, and what they claim they are accomplishing by adopting worldly methods. But we are already seeing things going radically wrong in any number of ways, and sadly we shall see that more and more in those circles and it’s tragic.