Read Through the Bible in a Year 2018 Day 5: Waiting and Entreating

Good morning, friends!

Today I am reading Genesis chapters 16-18.

In these chapters, Abram and Sarai (soon to be named Abraham and Sarah) are told they will have a son. Both are nearing 100 years old, and Sarah is skeptical. So is Abraham.

So, Sarai gives her maid Hagar to Abram and she gets pregnant.

Hagar gets uppity with Sarai, so Sarai retaliates, and Hagar runs away only to encounter God, who tells her to go back and submit to Sarai's authority, but that He will bless her son by multiplying him as a great nation, but that he will cause a lot of trouble.

Then, God tells Abraham that Sarah will bear him a son, and Abraham literally falls down laughing.
Genesis 17:17 - Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, 'Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?'

So, to me this is a little confusing, because it doesn't say how many years passed between Ishmael's birth and God talking to Abraham here. I did some research, and I found that 25 years passed since God's first promise. But only 13 years passed between chapters 16 & 17. [source]  Actually, later in the chapter, it does say that Ishmael is 13 (Genesis 17:25).

That's what I get for talking about what I'm reading while I'm reading it...

And that's a long time to wait, as doubt can creep in after only a year, six months, three months, a week.

I know from experience that it can be hard to wait on God's promise when we don't see anything happening. But the beauty of faith is that we don't have to see anything happening. We know that God can and will take care of whatever we have asked, and that He will do what He has promised. But sometimes that doesn't stop our fleshly selves from doubting.

So, Abraham is doubtful. Understandably, at least to human minds.

But what I really found interesting about this was that Abraham wasn't really that old.

Let me explain. Sure, he's approaching 100. And to us, that's old.

But remember the other chapters we read? Adam and his sons? Noah? They were all well over 500 when they fathered children.

So, after the Flood, it wasn't common for men to live so long, and so Abraham is doubtful about God's promise of a son. But in the beginning, it wouldn't have been unusual for a man to have children well after 100 years old.

Think about that for a minute. Think about how much has changed in only about 10 chapters. That's amazing!

So, moving on. God corrects Abraham and tells him that He will bless both of his children, but He will only establish His covenant with Isaac, born to Sarah, Abraham's wife, because Isaac is the promised child.

Now, Abraham actually caused a lot of trouble by not waiting on God's promise. God still sends the promised son, but Abraham messed up. We'll get into that more later, when we see Ishmael and Isaac together, but I just wanted to go ahead and mention it here, while I'm thinking about it.

Because waiting for God's promise, and not trying to rush it, is important. I'm speaking to myself here, but if you're learning with me, great! It's important not to try to do God's job for Him. God's promise will come in His time. Not a minute too early. Not a second too late. And trying to rush things can have disastrous consequences.

So, moving on in the chapters, Abraham is visited by the Lord and he immediately rushes to greet Him and to wash His feet.

Now, just to mention it: this is Sarah's chapter for doubt (she even laughs) and when the Lord calls her on it, she denies it because she's afraid.

Sarah denied it, however, saying 'I did not laugh,' because she was afraid. And He said 'No, but you did laugh.' (Genesis 18:15).

I get it. When God calls me on something, I'm much more likely to say "No. I didn't do that." Or "I didn't mean it like that." And then I get the feeling that He's disappointed in me. Don't wait for the disappointment to admit when you do wrong. Just fess up and apologize.

Okay. I'll stop preaching at myself now.


The last thing I found interesting in these chapters is the conversation that takes place between Abraham and the Lord at the end of chapter 18. 

At first, I thought there were three angels. But the Bible says "the Lord appeared to him" (Genesis 18:1). So, God visited Abraham in person, along with two other "men." (Probably 2 angels). I'm thinking this was Jesus, although He was just called the Lord.

So, the Lord and the angels tell Abraham that they are going down to Sodom to see if their sin is as bad as He's heard. The Bible literally calls it an "outcry."

So, when he hears this, Abraham, very respectfully, discusses God's plan with God, with the intention of changing His mind.

Abraham asks if the city will be spared for the sake of 50 righteous. The Lord says yes. 45? Yes. And so on until Abraham finally asks if it will be spared if only 10 righteous are found in the sinful city. And the Lord says yes. If only 10 people are found righteous, the city will not be destroyed.

But how amazing is that? Abraham entreated with God for the sake of the salvation (physical, not just spiritual) of an entire city, for the sake of only a few righteous.

Did you know we can do the same? Respectfully. Earnestly. We can petition God, implore Him, for the salvation of people. God never changes. He is the same always. But we can change His mind, if we ask with the right heart.

What did I just say?

We can change God's mind. Because He is merciful, and doesn't want any to perish (2 Peter 3:9). So, we can, and should, entreat with God for the salvation of people. Our family. Our friends. Our colleagues. People we meet in the grocery store. Strangers we see on the street.

As you can see from Abraham's example, we don't always have to know the person's name. We can ask for the salvation of a whole city.

And, referencing what I talked about earlier, waiting doesn't just refer to God's promises. Sometimes we have to wait for things God has been silent about, too. But that doesn't mean we should stop asking. Especially when it's for someone's salvation.

Of course, the ultimate choice of whether or not to follow God is up to them. God can touch hearts, but He doesn't force us to follow Him.

Can you think of people in your life who don't know God? Or who aren't living their lives like they know Him? What can you pray for them today?

I just thought of a couple new people to add to my prayer list.

And remember. Pray specific prayers. Don't just be general about it. What do you want to ask God for, specifically? Fervently?

Okay. This is getting into a whole new topic, so I'll stop there for today. Thank you for taking this journey with me today.

I hope you'll join me tomorrow, too. I'll be reading Genesis chapters 19-21.