Category: Genesis Chapter 21
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Planting Something for the Lord – Genesis 21:33-34
Genesis 21:33-34 And Abraham planted a grove in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God. And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines’ land many days. I love this because Abraham does not just settle a dispute and move on. He plants something. He marks that place with worship. The word…
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A Well Marked by Maturity – Genesis 21:28-32
Genesis 21:28-32 And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves? And he said, For these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me, that I have…
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Charity and Wisdom – Genesis 21:26-27
Genesis 21:26, 27And Abimelech said, I wot not who hath done this thing: neither didst thou tell me, neither yet heard I of it, but to day.And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant. I like the balance here. When Abimelech answers Abraham, Abraham does…
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Humility Is Not Silence – Genesis 21:25
Genesis 21:25And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water, which Abimelech’s servants had violently taken away. I like this because it shows balance. Abraham had just been humble. He did not argue or defend himself. But when it came to the well, he spoke up. He did not stay quiet just to keep…
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Only What Is Real Can Wait – Genesis 21:24
Genesis 21:24And Abraham said, I will swear. I love how simple that is. Abraham does not argue. He does not defend himself. He does not try to clean up the past or explain why Abimelech should trust him now. He just says, “I will swear.” There is a quiet humility in that response that says…
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God Is With You Even in Ordinary Things – Genesis 21:22-23
Genesis 21:22, 23And it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech and Phichol the chief captain of his host spake unto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest: Now therefore swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with…
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A Picture of Israel in the Wilderness – Genesis 21:18-21
Genesis 21:18-21Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation. And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink. And God was with the lad; and he grew,…
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What Aileth Thee – Genesis 21:16-17
Genesis 21:16, 17And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept. And God heard the voice of the lad; and…
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A Shrub in the Wilderness – Genesis 21:15
Genesis 21:15And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. This is where the story gets painfully real. Up to this point, there was still bread in the bag and water in the bottle. There was still something to manage, something to measure, something to stretch…
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Sent into the Wilderness – Genesis 21:14
Genesis 21:14And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. At first, this scene can be hard to understand. Abraham was…
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God Still Had Mercy on Ishmael – Genesis 21:13
Genesis 21:13And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed. This verse shows the tenderness of God. Isaac was the son of promise, but Ishmael was still Abraham’s son. And because he mattered to Abraham, he mattered to the Lord in this situation. God was not…
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Listen to Your Wife – Genesis 21:12
Genesis 21:12And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. This is one of those verses that can make a man smile…
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Two Sons Cannot Share the Inheritance – Genesis 21:9-11
Genesis 21:9-11And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking.Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. And the thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight because of…
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From Milk to Meat – Genesis 21:8
Genesis 21:8And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned. That might seem like a simple little verse, but it carries more weight than you might think. Isaac reached the point where he no longer depended on his mother’s milk, and Abraham celebrated it…
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Laughter at Last – Genesis 21:3-7
Genesis 21:3-7And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him. And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him. And Sarah said, God hath…
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Right on Time – Genesis 21:1-2
Genesis 21:1, 2And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. At last. That is the feeling in these verses. After all…