(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Amen. Okay, so Genesis chapter 16 now in our Genesis Bible study. Last week we were in Genesis 15, Abram was told, if you remember after being right with God the chapter before, to fear not that God is his shield and exceeding great reward. We looked in quite depth at that. He then asked what's going to happen as his heir is a servant because he had no children and God said that his heir will come from his own bowels and his seed will be innumerable. He had faith in God and what was a part prophecy of the eventual gospel as well, but he asked for God to show him how he's going to inherit the land of Canaan, which was obviously full of different tribes at this point wasn't it? So he's probably thinking how on earth am I going to take over all this lot? I mean there's tribes everywhere. There was then this interesting combination of sacrifices, divisions, protection from fowls and then it was followed by a dream which for me was where God was explaining the picture that he'd just kind of made of how Abram's seed will inherit the land with captivity, the the exodus and their return to claim it. He said it's in 400 years time because the the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full and we looked at that as well that obviously he'd kind of been confederate with some of them as well. They obviously weren't as bad as the rest of them, it wasn't yet full but eventually they're going to be as wicked as everyone surrounding them because that's what often happens isn't it? You get infected by those around you. The chapter ended with God making that covenant with Abram. It said in verse 18 of chapter 15, in the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram saying unto thy seed have I given this land from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates, the Kenites and the Kenizzites and the Kadmonites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Rephaims and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Gergashites and the Jebusites and then chapter 16 begins with verse 1 where it says now Sarah I, Abram's wife, bear him thy children as she had an handmaid and an Egyptian whose name was Hagar. I'd like to pray before we get started with this chapter. Father thank you for your word, thank you for this chapter of the Bible which I'm about to preach from now Lord. Help me to just preach fully your spirit please Lord, just strengthen me help me to just preach what you want me to preach now and help me to just preach boldly as well Lord and just clearly so everyone could just really take in what your word saying to them. So at this point Sarah has been barren a long time hasn't she? She has this Egyptian handmaid called Hagar and remember that they were in Egypt at the end of chapter 12 so if you're thinking how did that work out? Well they actually spent a long time in Egypt, they actually got very wealthy in Egypt it seemed and there was added unto them animals all these things and it I would imagine that's when they picked up Hagar as a servant. Now the thing with that is we looked before at how you know some might look at our goal look at all these blessings blessings of Abram but in fact he was lying through his teeth while he's in Egypt and the wealthy accrued actually ended up there was a lot of problems that came from that him and lot obviously had the separation well you could argue as well that this is a problem from that as well because what happens with Hagar now probably isn't well it definitely is an ideal and we see we see more issues from from his time in Egypt verse 2 it says and Sarah I said unto Abram behold now the Lord has restrained me from bearing I pray thee go in unto unto my maid it may be that I may obtain children by her and Abram hearken to the voice of Sarah I now this is on the back of the previous chapter in verses 2 to 4 so back in chapter 15 of verse 2 it said and Abram said and Abram said Lord God what will thou give me seeing I go childless and the steward of my house is Eliezer of Damascus and Abram said behold to me that I was given no seed and lo one born in my house is mine heir and behold the word of the Lord came unto him saying this shall not be thine heir but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir now Abram has been told by God that he will have an heir but eventually Sarah I has become impatient now before we go get too harsh with Sarah I here bear in mind that she's been without a child for a long time hasn't she okay she's never had a child and this wasn't you know like nowadays where it's all the rage okay so obviously you know it's not nowadays well you know we live in a different age where people are kind of you know living it up until they're about 40 and then you know then it's time for some drugs to help them conceive and stuff well that's not the case here okay here you know she's wanted a child that's kind of the natural instinct for most women isn't it and she's not been able to have a child and she's got to a pretty ripe age here already and it must be pretty heartbreaking for Sarah I have right because I think often we can kind of skim over this and think like you imagine what she must have gone through all that time this was a time when people were having multiple multiple children and they're still living long lives as well and she's unable to have children she doesn't understand why it's not I mean I don't know how accurate is nowadays but I don't you know that I'd doubt there was kind of they were going to doctors who was giving her so-called reasons as to why she's probably just thinking what's going on here look but I do believe that she was just aware of the promise to Abraham okay I don't think that he kept that a secret wasn't a secret promise from God she's she's the one that cracks first and starts trying to take it into her own hands basically okay and this is a pretty harebrained scheme let's just make that clear this isn't like a normal thing this is this is as kind of out there as you can get can't you this is harebrained having children by another woman to then claim children by her oh well it's my maid so it'll kind of be like my child that's just this it's weird isn't it but like I said in Sarah eyes defense she's likely been desperate for children think about the heart the heartbreak and heartache every month that she's probably given up with now the sadness the feelings of lack of worth all that stuff so that I you know you've got to have sympathy for Sarah I here however Abraham or Abram at this point shouldn't have hearkened to her should he okay he should not have hearkened to her this was a bad move make no mistake about it this is a bad move now I don't think it was quite on the level of pretending that they weren't married and then having his wife taken off by Pharaoh the king of Egypt having claimed that it's just his sister but it's probably it's not a long way off either because this was just bound to cause loads of trouble and here's the thing about the Bible everyone barring the Lord Jesus Christ is sinful aren't they everyone's sinful and and one of the reasons it is just so real isn't it the Bible because when you look at other holy books they're like these perfect people but I don't know if you ever spoken to Muslims you try and claim that Jesus just like all the other prophets they're all sinless they're all kind of perfect to some degree they didn't sin and everything else well I don't know since everyone's sinful and Abraham does some pretty whopping great sins here as well doesn't it I mean massive sins I mean there's stuff with his wife before and in this one as well because he the buck stops at him doesn't it okay he should have said no this is a bad idea Sarah I you know I'm waiting for God's will to be done here yet Abraham the sinful Abraham Abraham as we you know as eventually he's called was called God's friend in the Bible he's faithful Abraham he's known as but he still made mistakes and so will we okay and you know obviously I've preached on this sort of stuff before and it needs preach a lot because I think sometimes people can find it really hard to come back from mistakes and we will often make errors and make mistakes and obviously we talked about it a bit as well as that you know if people have genuine repentance for genuine mistakes and they're not you know kind of ridiculous where it's just clear as day what they are we you know we want to also be able to forgive people as well don't we but um but you've got to be able to forgive yourself to some degree as well don't you okay and understand that look we're all gonna make mistakes in life we're gonna make errors the questions how you how will you respond when you make the mistakes and no one's beyond making gaffes and errors and everything else the the great Abraham the friend of God you know the the faithful Abraham made some pretty whopping great mistakes didn't he now I'm not trying to encourage people to make mistakes however when you do it's how you respond he shouldn't have harken to his wife as the stronger vessel the buck stops at him okay for me look she's got she's has all the pressure and issues and everything that someone who's been barren for that many years would have Abraham look don't get me wrong I'm sure he had some heartache and some issues with it as well but let's be honest it isn't the same is it it's not the same and he should have been stronger here and he should have said no he should have said look we're not doing this this sounds crazy this is gonna cause trouble this is gonna cause problems down the line and ultimately as well we're going out of God's we're not waiting for God we're not being patient here but there is also a lesson I want to show you here as well for the ladies because this was a harebrained scheme but don't miss how she asked her husband now we've seen that that she was very she she was she obeyed her husband calling him Lord we we see spoken about don't we I think it is in in first Peter isn't it well here it says it says and Sarah I said unto Abram behold now the Lord has restrained me from bearing no notice what she says here I pray thee I pray thee go in unto my maid it may be that that I may obtain children by her and Abram hearken to the voice of Sarah I there was no bossing around was there she didn't tell him what to do there were no threats now this was a wrong thing but I just just a point here because I think you know if I think if women understood this more they might find them more success when they're requesting things you start trying to try to boss your husband around he ain't gonna do it yeah most men are gonna be like foot go straight down right however when it's I pray thee and it's requested and things like that men are much more likely to respond even when it's as harebrained as this now he shouldn't have done that okay I'm not trying to say right come up with a really crazy idea and then you know as long as you say I pray thee but notice it is a request isn't it because we see later in about for example you could see Jezebel the wicked Jezebel just commanding a hab what to do to go and basically set up you know to get the vineyard and he sets up the two false witnesses she just gives him this list of commands now he does still respond because they're just wicked reprobates right however look for for normal men they don't respond to being bossed around okay by their wives here she didn't she said I pray thee and it did she did get the result although it was sadly a bad result now the thing is however when they do do it the right way okay as men we still have to put our feet down sometimes right and look and obviously you talk about as married men here and you know and obviously we talk about that sometimes and not everyone here is a married man or you know or at least a lady married to a man however you know it's not always let's put it this way it's not always it's not always the grass isn't always greener okay so for some of those ladies out there sometimes have found this hard because of the brainwash and the conditioning and well or because that women have we seen a Bible sometimes we would find it hard yeah it's always good luck but having to put your foot down with things can be a bit of a pain sometimes got it you know having to say no actually no this is my will this is what we're doing can be difficult and it's easier to just go along to get along Abraham here went along to get along I think and you know who knows other reasons for it as well but that was a bad move and then they both suffer because of that and by the way with that as well there is a good measure measure for submissiveness I hear our pastor talk about this quite a bit where he says just because you'll do the things that you agree with that doesn't mean you're submissive submissiveness is when you do the things you don't agree with is doing the things that you don't want to do is when you submit to something which you're not already agreeing with right there's a big difference there however here we see that that he gets it wrong Abram he hearkens to her verse three says it's Sarah I Abrams wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife now back in chapter 12 verse 4 we were told that Abram was 75 when he left Haran to go into Canaan so here he's now 85 with Sarah I 75 don't forget that Abrams fathered Tyra just if you're looking at that going what on earth yeah I mean poor old Hagar poor you know Sarah I no wonder you know she's given up well Abrams father Tyra died at 205 years old okay so we're talking sort of over double the kind of ages here and Abraham dies at 175 Sarah because that's what they're eventually called lived until 127 so it's not the same as now okay yeah they're clearly in the latter years of childbearing and everything else right another ten years later by the way after the promises and is where we're at now and you can see why she's doubting and trying to do things her own way can't you she got they got these promises originally ten years ago it's ten years down the line she's 75 thinking what on earth is gonna go on and and you could even if you halved it and I don't you know I don't want to just I don't really know how it worked yeah but I do know that people were bearing children well into their hundreds and hundreds and hundreds pre-flood and even after that Noah lived a long time and people the the ages started getting less and less but say you just halved it and you were like okay well she's kind of 37 38 years old she's never had a child you can understand I think it's not gonna happen yeah okay however she's 75 years so it's a long time of that as well so she's doubting and we often try to do things our way don't we but here's the thing is how do we know when it's God's way or our way then so how do we know because you could argue that she was thinking well look God promised a seed from Abraham he didn't say from Sarah I maybe this is God's will maybe this is what we need to do because it's just not working out perhaps we're doing God's will here well the way we judge because often many people have questions in life and wonder is it God's will or not it's by the word of God isn't it okay are we contradicting clear scripture because when we are it's definitely not God's will okay if many Christians around the world would understand that it would probably save them a lot of heartache wouldn't it however much we try and tell ourselves it is God's will and many people try and do that don't know turn to Genesis chapter 2 now with Abram and Sarah I hear although Psalm 119 of verse 89 tells us forever o Lord thy word is settled in heaven your turn to Genesis 2 but Psalm 119 89 forever o Lord thy word is settled in heaven legit the book of Genesis hadn't been physically written at this point on earth right however they did have direct access to God don't forget that who said in Genesis 2 24 therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh so God made that clear now I don't know exactly how it worked whether things were passed down orally until Moses wrote them or it was full just obviously he was inspired I don't know how far that went you know but we do know that Jesus quotes it in the Gospels when asked about divorce and many of these men married multiple wives okay the the the twelve tribes of Israel came from four different wives by the way but you won't see God command it once in the Bible he never commands it once in the Bible it always causes trouble and here it causes trouble because some people like to go oh well you know so do you believe that you should have multiple why you believe the Old Testament do you what about polygamy and things like that well did God ever did God ever command that no we've just seen he commanded the exact opposite in Genesis chapter 2 of verse 24 that they too should be one flesh one flesh so it does cause trouble here it causes trouble the the first example of polygamy is actually in Genesis 4 and again if I'm wrong on this let me know but this is what I believe the first polygamous lamech who happens to be a murderer too so the first example of someone taking an extra wife is lamech right at the end of chapter 4 and he ends up being being at least a single if not depending on how you read it a multiple murderer and then he's boasting about the fact that God's gonna you know if anyone tries to take him out God will avenge him you know multiple times you know 70 times seven or whatever he says or 70 times so really look that's not a good example of a polygamist is it okay the first guy for me is a reprobate Abram and Sarah I go out of God's will and could have asked him though couldn't they so you're thinking well well they didn't know Genesis to can they have just asked God I mean he seems to be able to have conversations with God he's calling out to him he's talking to him he's asked him when God said this so they could you go well you know maybe it's only when God's talk to him why did he wait for God to talk to him and then ask him he could have just asked him and here's the thing if you apply it to us here's some application here how often do we go out of God's will when we could have just asked him when we could have just asked him and we go outside of his will because we don't ask him and when I say ask him what am I referred to opening up our Bibles so many big decisions in life and people it's like what I prayed about you heard people say that a lot we will love that one I've prayed about it yeah okay what was the answer you got because if you didn't read the Bible you didn't get an answer oh no I didn't get a small still voice saying no this sort of stuff people believe don't they now God will talk to you through the Word of God you're gonna whisper in your ear the answer you by all means pray yeah pray about it and then see what he says by reading the Bible and sometimes you might have to search right something you might have to look it up but God wants you to know the answers doesn't it but so many people go well I prayed about it however they haven't actually waited to hear what God's got to say so they're doing all the talking apart and he's not and on this subject that we're looking at how many try and justify divorce so many people try and justify divorce don't know and again look you know I always want to say this because again what's happened before is what's happened before but so many Christians so many Christians who are saved who who are saved and you know and claim to believe the Bible and everything else will then try and justify an actual divorce coming up we'll try and give reasons for why divorce is okay Matthew 532 says but I say unto you that whosoever shall put away his wife saving for the cause of fornication causes her to commit adultery whosoever shall marry her that his divorce committeth adultery I mean the Bible's clear about that isn't it clear as day how many are justifying the new job a hundreds and miles from a decent church with rotted on Sundays and Wednesdays these people are everywhere aren't they well yeah but I think it is it God's will God I just don't know if it's your will for me to move to the other side of the country and take this job even though Matthew 6 33 says but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you put him first and you'll get the right job put the job first and it ain't gonna work out in fact Hebrews 10 24 again you have turned to these a famous scriptures says and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as a manner of summies but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching yet again how many people try and find ways well I think it's God's I don't know if it's God's will that I take this extra job on a Wednesday night or I take this so I do it's not God's will me yeah and you don't really need me to tell you that or you don't need whoever else you just need to open your Bible because he does want he does talk to us doesn't he here they could have asked him but so often we could ask him as well here's another one how many are justifying the latest sinful Netflix series you know I had a guy on the door trying to convince me I have to watch what was it it's some biblical Netflix series what's it anyone know the name the chosen or there's something is it chosen something like this this guy's going you gotta watch it it's really it's made me think more about you know it's doing a good thing it's made me think more about God okay can I show you the gospel now I don't have time it's not better but I'm definitely thinking about God isn't that a good thing look at the fruits of it yeah but you're still unsaved if you still believe it works salvation you know and and but again how many will try and justify all sorts of stuff the Netflix series the latest synagogue of Satan movie how many single and maybe not not just see I'm trying to bigger see how many people try and justify pornography to some degree and all this sort of stuff well you know well you know it's not fornication or it's not whatever yet some hundred one of us fee says I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes I hate the work of them that turn aside it shall not cleave to me and again they're just easy they're obvious ones aren't they yeah they're probably some of the most common stuff aren't they and they're just clear obvious verses that people will hear preach you could probably Google these verses if you really needed to Google will even give you the answer yet they seriously but yeah so many won't ask God will they and here they should have asked God shouldn't they they should have asked God all you have to do is ask and you know why people don't ask because they've already made their mind up okay and how often will people under if you ever had this where people come to you for so-called counsel however they've already made their mind up and really they just want you to affirm their decision and if you don't do it it makes no difference cuz they never really want to counsel they just wanted you to agree with them and then if you don't I'm not interested even if shown clearly from the Word of God and but we do just have to ask them when we ask we've got to make sure therefore that we're open to the response you know from the Word of God you know well Abram Sarah I didn't ask in verse 3 says in Sarah I Abrams wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife so there was some sort of official giving in marriage by the way here it didn't say he just lay with her did it okay she gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife she was given to be his wife that's not saying it's okay it was still a disaster but just to make that clear cuz there are those out there try and basically say that there's no such thing as marriage you know in the Bible no there's a difference between being given to be their wife or going in until whatever else the euphemisms in the Bible okay verse 4 says that he went in unto Hagar but he's just been given to be his wife she's just been given to be his wife and she conceived and when she saw that she had conceived her mistress was despised in her eyes so this is how I see this is as soon as she now has a child the motherly instinct kicks in now okay she now sees Sarah I as competition for her husband for the father of a child she probably envies her position as Abrams first choice as well the fact that she's in charge that she's had made yet she has a baby of the boss and it's just created this massive issue now hasn't it she's straight away as soon as she knows she has this baby she's basically despising the competition in her life for Abrams affection everything else and that was kind of for me that was pretty obvious that was gonna happen wasn't it that's what I believe I I know you get these weird situations out there with people I get surrogate mums and things like that we ever heard the stories where they do this and then you know then it comes to the birth time and then they kind of they cut out of the deal whatever deal it is we're like these rich people pay someone to like have a baby carry a baby for them and then when it comes to the crunch that I don't want to give my baby up and that's pretty obvious isn't it a weird thing to do but people do this stuff here they've done that she now her mistress was despised the mistress being because remember she's had made and not a mistress so the mistress being Sarah I is despised in the eyes of Hagar here and Sarah I said unto Abram my wrong be upon thee I've given my maid into thy bosom and when she saw that she had conceived I was despised in her eyes this is what she's saying to Abram here the Lord judge between me and Lee no I think she's saying I've messed up here for both of us she now hates me it kind of feels like she's giving up to like she's going to leave Abram to it she's got a lot of judge between me and me type thing like you know whoever he wants to kind of be with here because that the whole thing's just a mess now I can't really live this sort of life now with this second wife here that's why for me that we see a but in the next verse verse six it says but having she's just said that I've given my maid in thy bosom when she saw that she conceived I was despised in her eyes the Lord judge between me and thee but Abram said unto Sarah I behold my maid is in thy hand so you say look even I've married her she's still your maid you're still the boss you're still my wife you're still my number one wife basically do to her as it pleases thee and when Sarah I dealt hardly with her she fled from her face so that's for me what he's just saying look she's still your maid I'm not going to leave you now because I've got this woman and this and and this baby you deal with her as you fulfill the need to deal with her right so Sarah I seem shows her who's boss and she likes it okay she likes it after that I mean again you can imagine all the emotions going on all the issues all the problems you can imagine how she feels how you gonna you can imagine how Sarah I feels what an absolute mess and it says in verse 7 so she's she's like it says and the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness by the fountain in the way to Shur she's really liked it okay well now sure is on the way to Egypt it's sure itself is well over 100 miles from Canaan okay but according to or at least from central Canaan okay if you were like and before we saw they weren't a long way from Jerusalem obviously Melchizedek came who was a king of Salem etc but called a versatile team we don't know where they've traveled in between that it did say wherefore the world was called be a la hey Roy behold it is between Kadesh and Birad so she's basically right in the kind of south of Israel going into the desert between Israel and Egypt at this point and and the you know she's clearly gone a long distance she's really meaning it and she's just I mean where's she going she's she's pregnant she's off into the wilderness on foot I'd imagine and and now this is a first time though in the Bible that we come across an angel as well no the sons of God weren't angels in case anyone's kind of miss that and they've still kind of got images of you know strange giant creatures with wings or something else okay so an angel is a messenger and can vary in scripture as to what sort of messenger it's referring to okay so it can refer to to a regular person now if you turn to us turn a second Samuel 19 see an example of this so it varies okay and it's kind of one of those one of those situations like many things in the Bible where the translators it's not their job to tell us what they think it is it's something that we work out what sort of messenger it is right what sort of angel it is it could refer to a regular person second Samuel 19 and verse 27 so 2nd Samuel 1927 Mephibosheth refers to David as an angel when explaining how he's deceived by servants this is on the return after you know the whole Absalom affair and Mephibosheth he says this in verse 27 and he have slandered thy servant unto my Lord the King but my Lord the King is an angel of God do therefore what is good in thine eyes so here he's describing he's describing David as an angel of God now you could also argue because David is a picture of the coming Christ but however it's still talking to a person as the angel of God okay that's how he's describing him a messenger of God basically turn to Galatians chapter 4 now it most often refers to a supernatural spirit okay and I don't think we need to go to many verses to show that the angel Gabriel being one of many obvious examples you know there are many many in in scripture but but here in Galatians 4 where you're turning we also see the word used to refer to the Lord Jesus Christ Galatians 4 Paul says to the Galatians from verse 12 Galatians 4 and verse 12 brethren I beseech you be as I am for I am as you are you have not injured me at all you know how through infirmity of the flesh I preach the gospel unto you at the first and my temptation which was in my flesh you despise not nor rejected but received me as an angel of God even as Christ Jesus so for me he's saying as an angel of God even as Christ Jesus kind of being an example of an angel of God a messenger of God obviously Jesus Christ is God but he is also a hundred percent man as well and he's a messenger of God at the same time and in scripture an angel being a messenger of God could also be referring to the Lord as we see right and we're gonna see this in a minute and you could say some would say perhaps any of the Trinity and I you know I heard an opinion the other day which you know is an interesting one you turn to Exodus 13 by the way well you turn to Exodus 13 I'm gonna just read to you from Exodus chapter 3 and verse 2 where there's the opinion that the burning bush could possibly be an example of God the Father with a Exodus 3 2 says and the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush and he looked to behold the bush burned with fire and the bush was not consumed you could see why that would be the case right and I know he looked at the bush but I don't know if he looked at his face or how that worked Exodus 13 where you turn says this is another example verse 20 Exodus 13 20 says and they took their journey from Sukkoth and encamped in Eitham in the edge of the wilderness and verse 21 says and the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud to lead them the way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light to go by day and night so who went before them the Lord yeah in a pillar of a cloud and in a pillar of fire he took not away the pillar of the cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night from before the people but now turn over to chapter 14 of Exodus in verse 19 where it says and the angel of God which went before the camp of Israel removed and went behind them and the pillar of the cloud went from before their faces stood behind them and it came between the camp of the Egyptians and a camp of Israel and it was a cloud of darkness then but it gave light by night to these so that one came not near the other all the night so it seems like it's been referred to as the angel of God now so again it's the Lord but it's an angel of God so in Exodus 13 21 it was the Lord Exodus 14 19 an angel of God you could say it's because now you could say some would say well it's because the angel of God represents God in a kind of thus saith the Lord sort of way but I don't think so I think we're gonna see more examples as we go forward in in Genesis as well I think because the angel of God sometimes is God okay often in the person of a pre-incarnate Jesus Christ and back in Genesis 16 we're gonna see the first mention of an angel and first mentions are important aren't they to get an idea of this Genesis 16 of verse 7 says and the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness by the fountain in the way to sure and he said Hagar Sarah eyes made whence came a sow with a wilt thou go and she said I flee from the face of my mistress Sarah I and the angel of the Lord said unto her return to thy mistress and submit thyself under her hands and the angel of the Lord said unto her I I will multiply thy seed exceedingly that it shall not be number for multitude in the angel Lord said unto her behold thou art with child and shall bear a son shall call his name Ishmael because the Lord hath heard thy affliction Ishmael by the way means God hears verse 12 says and he will be a wild man his hand will be against every man and every man's hand against him and he should dwell in the presence of all his brethren and she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her thou God seest me for she said have I also here looked after him that seeth me wherefore the world was called bear lay hey Roy behold it is between Kadesh and be read now beer beer la hey Roy means the well of him that liveth and seeth me so for me this is Jesus Christ in the Old Testament how do I know it's Jesus Christ she said that she looked after him and in Exodus 33 20 where Moses asked see God's glory said thou canst not see my face for there shall no man see me and live I think she's just seen a pre incarnate Jesus Christ here now what else happened here other than Hagar seen Jesus Christ okay that for me is the first mention of the angel of the Lord here and we see that it actually seems to be the Lord Jesus Christ coming as a messenger of God in verse 7 says and the angel of the Lord so back to verse 7 the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness by the fountain in the way to sure so we've just seen that the angel of the Lord for me is a pre-incarnate Jesus Christ and this for me is a picture of salvation okay where's he see her the angel of the Lord founded by a fountain of water in the wilderness by the fountain in the way to sure now turn there John 4 14 says but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never first but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life you go what's your point here well the Old Testament is full of little pictures and glimpses of Jesus Christ the gospel and many other things okay in Genesis 3 if you remember we made them coats of skins a picture of the sacrifice yeah in Genesis 4 he required an animal sacrifice instead of the work of men's hands yeah when it came to Abel as opposed to Cain's work of men's hands in Genesis 7 he said to Noah come into the ark a picture of salvation in Genesis 11 we saw a picture of the end times if you remember as well with with what happened at Babel in Genesis 12 and 13 there's a gospel being preached to Abraham in sort of slightly pretty cryptic ways in Genesis 14 Melchizedek turns up with bread and wine which is represented the body and blood of Jesus Christ and then in Genesis 15 we saw the prophecy of the Exodus with the picture and the divisions of all the animal sacrifice and then it explained in the dream and then here you've got Hagar fleeing and ending up at a well that's called a fountain for a reason it's a well and it's making a point of being called a fountain verse 7 says the angel Lord founded by a fountain of water in the wilderness by the fountain the way to show revelation 21 6 says that he said unto me it is done I am alpha and Omega the beginning and the end I will give unto him that is a thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely look he comes the first time we see him clear as day explained as the angel of the Lord and we see with a little bit of study that it's Jesus Christ he comes and he's basically at a fountain of water with her okay just a small picture glimpse for me of salvation verse 8 says and he said Hagar Sarah is made whence came a sow and whither wilt thou go and she said I flee from the face of my mistress Sarah I remember that she's under the employ of Abram and Sarah I so if we're looking at this little small picture glimpse here of the gospel she is a picture of a sinner isn't she look she's she's just fled from her from her mistress that's that's a sin okay that's that's a crime really as well I mean they look when they had like these kind of servants and things like that a lot of time they pay a large amount of money at the beginning they're basically like buying them to be in service for them they put they're training them up they put time and effort into them it's not like oh yeah well yeah I've given my notice in I was only on a week's notice that's not how it works you know these people are basically employed and live with them and here that's what that's what she is she's basically running away from that she's basically the pic you know for me a picture of a sinner sinner here but he does forgive her doesn't he now like I said she's he meets her at the fountain of water in the wilderness now Jesus Christ is talking to her he's saying well where'd you come from where are you gonna go and I think he's just saying like what are you doing you know what are you doing but he then tells her to return and now that for me obviously here now and I like I said this is a picture it's a glimpse of the gospel we got clear salvation verses which are very clear but however after that and you could argue after you get saved after you meet the Lord Jesus Christ I'll put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ look he does want you to live right doesn't he he wants you to live it's not gonna get you say but he wants you to live right and here he tells her to return now he says okay right it's time to return he said in verse 9 it says in verse 9 the angel Lord said unto her return to thy mistress and submit thyself under her hands and look we're all to submit to the authorities in our lives aren't we okay that that's a clear teaching in the Bible you don't have to send their first Peter to 18 says servants be subject to your masters with all fear not only to the good and gentle but also to the forward so even if she's dealt harshly with her and by the way Jesus Christ doesn't change okay that was our well that's a New Testament now now in the Old Testament as well God expects people to work as unto the Lord okay God people expected people to work hard to be good employees etc many laws we see for that don't we in the Old Testament as well and and here we see in the New Testament him saying basically look you should be working hard even if it's for a dodgy boss and maybe you know that was a dodgy situation poor Hagar got into there however she should be going back and still doing the right thing and the honest thing and working hard and and being subject to her master and the angel of the Lord said unto I will multiply thy seed exceedingly that it shall not be numbered for multitude so this is Ishmael going on to multiply and the angel of the Lord said unto her behold thou art with child and shalt bear a son and shall call his name Ishmael because the Lord hath heard thy flexion now Ishmael means God hears and he will be a wild man his hand will be against every man and every man's hand against him and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren which seems to be referring to all of his sons and their and their families Genesis 25 if you flick forward speaks of his sons and eventual death so in Genesis chapter 25 we're going to look from verse 13 where it says and these are the names of the sons of Ishmael by their names according to their generations the firstborn of Ishmael Nebuchadnezzar and Kedar and Adbil and Mipsam and Mishma and Duma and Mesa, Hadar and Timur, Jeter and Naphish and Kedemah these are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names by their towns and by their castles twelve princes according to their nations and these are the years of the life of Ishmael and hundred and thirty and seven years and he gave up the ghost who died who was gathered unto his people and they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur that is before Egypt that we've just spoken about as our goest toward Assyria and he died in the presence of all his brethren so basically what I see from that is that they were a pretty tight-knit group that were quite concentrated at that time although they seemed to spread out later and that's what he's saying here in verse 12 back in verse 12 there we just saw in verse 18 it said and he died in the presence of all his brethren that mean that they everyone was there while he died I don't think that's necessarily what it's saying I think it's saying that they were pretty close together all of his kind of the tribes that came from him it said in verse 12 and he'll be a wild man his hand will be against every man every man sound against him he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren I think it's just saying that they'll all be kind of pretty close to together at this point they didn't make leagues or mix with others now I think they go on to what people think is they're going to be like many Arabic tribes and Bedouin I think they call them came from Ishmael you know and the Muslims think that they've all come from Ishmael and Muhammad came from Ishmael which isn't a very good advertisement for poor old Ishmael is it can you imagine that one of the like most famous nonces in all of history however here you know for me it just seems like they're quite like a close-knit group these kind of Arabs that went out from from there as we know him today so there's a verse 13 and she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her back where we are verse verse 13 of chapter 16 of Genesis thou God sears me for she said have I also here looked after him that seared me so like I said for me this is the Lord Jesus Christ isn't it she's looked upon him he's come and spoken to her we've seen that picture for me of salvation as well we you know the end he's described as the angel of the Lord and you know that's one of those things when you go through the Bible you could try to work out well is that an angel as we kind of would traditionally call it is that Jesus Christ is it a person for example you know to the to the angels of the seven churches in Revelation which are most likely actual probably pastors they're messengers of God yeah preaching the Word of God and yeah it's one of those things you kind of work out as you go through it anyway it then says in verse 14 wherefore the world was called be la hey Roy behold it is between Kadesh and beer ed now I think I told you what what that's apparently mean means a well of him that liveth and seeeth me and then verse 15 says in Hagar bear Abram a son now look at this bit and Abram called his son's name which Hagar bear Ishmael so he named him didn't he but she said sorry the angel of the Lord said to her to name him Ishmael and Abram called his son's name Ishmael so I'm guessing that she relayed what had happened to Abram and for whatever reason maybe because she said look I saw the Lord yeah and the Lord said this and at least Abrams kind of getting things right again here like I said at the beginning of the sermon we're all gonna make mistakes right but now he could have gone right I'm gonna know go ahead I'll call him what I want it's mine now mine and Sarah's now and you can do one you know but instead no you know Abram at least kind of harken to what God had relayed through her it seems like he's trying to get things right again after this point and it's all about how we respond right you're gonna make mistakes you're gonna make errors you're gonna kind of mess up now and again hopefully never as bad as maybe you will right in hopefully in different ways into that you know because that's a pretty messed up situation however what are you gonna do after that you're gonna get right here he Abram called his son's name which Hagar bear Ishmael and Abram was four score and six years old when Hagar bear Ishmael to Abraham now that's 86 years old and you can understand what they were getting a bit you know wondering what was going on there and yeah that's that's Genesis chapter 16 that's what my take on that it's a bit of a shorter chapter we're finishing a little bit earlier tonight but yeah you know we'll have a long one I'm sure next week or the week after so on that we're gonna finish up in the word of prayer only father thank you for your word thank you for well you know the just a clear teacher give us out of out of your word that the clearer things such as a gospel such as salvation I mean that they're just clear as day Lord but help us help us also to you know to be able to study and get to the bottom of those you know more complicated passages the pictures in the Old Testament and some of the other harder passages help us to kind of want to want to just learn those things help us to be able to learn those things it all comes from the Holy Spirit Lord and where we get things wrong Lord help us to just be put right by you to not be too stubborn to accept those things especially self as a preacher and and just others others in the church as well going forward Lord help help just help us now to think about the message you've given us and probably the main message for us to take home is to you know is to not go against your will Lord against your clear teachings your word and to ask you when we need to know what your will is in our life and something that Abram and Sarah I didn't do and and sadly reaped the repercussions of that but they should be an example to us Lord to help us not make the same mistakes help us to remember those things help us to have a great second half of the week and to be able to all just just be well and healthy and able to return on Sunday for for another day and a full day there in your house in Jesus' name I pray all this Amen