Genesis 21
"Yeah, right." to "Wow, right?"
Previous post: Genesis 20
Before we get started, I have to add this preface: the ridiculous AI rap summary this week might be my favorite one yet. Don’t miss it. Ok, let’s jump into Genesis 21…
In Genesis 21, we have the birth of Isaac and the protection of Hagar and Ishmael. The meaning of the name Isaac strikes me, so that’s where we begin this week.
“He laughs.” There’s quite a story wrapped up in that name.
You may remember these verses from Genesis 18:
10 The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” 13 The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” 15 But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.” (Genesis 18:10-15, ESV)
Now, in chapter 21, vs. 6, we read this: “And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” 7 And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” (Genesis 21:6, ESV)
God turned Sarah’s laughter of disbelief into laughter of resolve and joy. In fact, her personal laughter of disbelief turned into corporate laughter of resolve and joy. Her [laughter] “Yeah, right.” Turned into everyone’s [laughter] “Wow, right?” That’s a powerful story. And, that is pretty good name for a patriarch of the Israelites.
The same could be said for us. God is really good at turning our laughing “Yeah, right.” into resolved laughter of “Wow, right?” To the point that everyone around us joins in the laughter “wow, right?” I can think of a few examples. I’ve known people battling addiction who, if God himself had shown up and said, “The desire to inject this substance will be gone from your life. You’ll have a job you love, a family who loves you, and people who want to be like you,” their response would have been [laughter] “Yeah, right.” Then, when it happens, they can’t respond any other way than [laughter] “Wow, right?” The response is the same for everyone who knows their story. [laughter] “Wow, right?” I’ve known parents who, if you’d told them their wayward child would someday be a remarkable leader, they would’ve responded exactly like Sarah. The [laughter] “yeah right.” Then, Jesus moves. And everyone surrounding that kid who knows his or her story joins the parents in the [laughter] “wow, right?”
Ok, there’s a lot going on in this chapter, so let’s look at another theological concept here. It’s the concept of the least will become the greatest. Older will serve the younger. This is a pattern that will be repeated throughout the Bible.
Moses. A stutterer leads the negotiation talks with Pharoah.
David. The youngest son becomes the king.
Gideon. The weakest member of the weakest tribe leads God’s army.
Jacob. The younger deceiver brother becomes the patriarch of the nation of Israel.
Joseph. The younger brother becomes the savior.
Ehud. A left-handed Benjamite (son of the right) saves the nation.
A prostitute saves the spies of God.
Paul. A mass-murder of Christians becomes the author of much of the New Testament.
Most importantly, the son of a teenage mom and carpenter dad from podunkville, Israel proves himself to be the savior of the world.
I can’t leave this chapter without talking about verse 13 because that’s where I (and most of you, I imagine) feel as though I enter the story of the Bible. I’m not a Jew. I’m a gentile. “And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring.” As much as I want to fashion myself as one of the heroes of the Bible sometimes, Ishmael is closer to my heritage. To be fair, I haven’t ever done the deep dive into genealogy to know for sure whether I’m ultimately from the line of Isaac or the line of Ishmael or the line of some pagan nation or something. Probably the latter. Anyhow, I more closely relate to the outcast son of a slave woman than the chosen line of Isaac.
As God has a pattern of doing throughout the Bible, God meets Hagar at a well. In fact, it appears before her eyes. Fast forward. Keeping with the Bible’s trend of the Old Testament being physical representations of spiritual realities, we again see God meet a woman at the well in the New Testament. She is also a slave woman, though she is slave to the sin of adultery rather than a person. No doubt Jesus, as he met this slave woman at a well in the New Testament, recounted this moment, this encounter with Hagar thousands of years prior in the Old Testament. His words are the same. Instead of a physical well manifesting, Jesus completes the picture that has waited thousands of years. It’s almost as if he’s saying, “that water that I showed Hagar…that drink I gave Ishmael? I am that drink. I am that water. I am the way, the truth, and the life for you personally and for any other people living a life in bondage. There is hope. And hope is here.”
And, that’s the story of Genesis 21. Hope? A future? [laughter] Yeah, right. I’m doomed to die in slavery. There’s no path forward for me. There’s no hope. There’s no life. A way out? [laughter] Yeah, right.
Enter Jesus. [laughter]. I am the way, the truth, and the life. I have water. I have hope. I have freedom. Wow, right?
Here's my takeaway this week. Think about a seemingly impossible, unresolvable frustration in your life right now. We all have them. Perhaps it’s a broken relationship. Perhaps it’s an addiction. Perhaps it’s a job situation. Perhaps it’s a budget situation. What is something in your life for which, if someone told you it could be resolved, you would laugh, “Yeah, right!” Take time this week to pray through that thing. Pray specifically that God turns the “Yeah, right!” into a testimony of “Wow, right?”
This week’s AI rap summary: