Gen. 21 vss. 4-8 Post # 109 -- Friends Sharing Scripture

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Subject: Gen. 21 vss. 4-8 Post # 109

Author:
Hillbilly

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Date Posted: 21:07:01 07/08/09 Wed

Genesis 21:4-8 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5 And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him. 6 And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me. 7 And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have born him a son in his old age. 8 And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned. 9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking. 10 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.

Sarah's skepticism has turned to joyous laughing and merriment. For 90 long years she has longed for a child of her own. God has graciously given to her the desire of her heart and her cup is full.

Thus begins the line of Patriarchs. Issac is born and on the eighth day is circumcised according to the commandment of God. The eighth day is very significant as is the rite of circumcision itself. The number 8 points a "new beginning". 7 is the number of completion and number 8 following is a "start over" number. It is significant that Jesus arose on "the morrow after the sabbath" or the first day of the week. . The "age of grace" or the church age started on the day of the resurrection. The normal sabbath was the 7th day of rest and the 1st day of the week started it all over again. We worship on the "8th" day or 1st day of the week because, not only is it the day of the resurrection but also because it was on the 1st day of the week that Jesus met with the Apostles after his resurrection (John 20:19, 26). The first day of the week was also when the disciples met with the church. (Acts 20:7, 1Cor. 16:2). In the discussion on Genesis 17 it was pointed out that circumcision (commanded on the 8th day) was a foreshadowing of the "putting off filth of the flesh" or the "new birth".

The birth of Isaac was miraculous in that God brought again the virility of Abraham at 99 and refreshed the womb and breasts of Sarah at 89 in order for the birth of Isaac to be accomplished. As stated It is a joyous occasion and there is much "laughter" at the birth of this special son. At the time of Isaac's weaning a great feast is held and from the wording you would get the idea that the weaning time was a set time. We are not told how old Isaac was but it would probably fall to around 1 1/2 to 2 years old. Certainly it is possible it could have been as much as 3 yrs or more but I would suspect in the neighborhood of a couple of years. The only significance to this would be to date the age of Ishmael.

We see in verse 9 that Sarah catches Ishmael mocking Isaac. Jealousy has reared it's ugly head in more than one. Ishmael probably feels slighted because of the attention Isaac is getting and the realization that Isaac will be the heir. In her anger Sarah demands that Ishmael and Hagar be cast out of the tribe.

When thinking on the plight of Ishmael and Hagar most people think of Ishmael as a young boy but in reality he would have been in his late teens. In Chapter 17 we find that Ishmael was 13 when he was circumcised and this was at least a year before the birth of Isaac. Give a minimum of 9 months although it was probably at least a year and you have Ishmael being around 14 at Isaac's birth. If the weaning of Isaac was 2 years you have Ishmael at 16 and if Isaac was 3 then Ishmael would have been 17. Ishmael was nearly grown when he and his mother were banished.

The reaction from Sarah seems harsh but as we shall see this is in God's providential will. God had intended all along for the son of Abraham and Sarah to be the intended seed through which the Messiah would one day come. The attempts of Satan to stop the prophesied seed (Gen. 3:15) are evident in the birth of Ishmael.

As we study further we shall see there are several events in Isaac's life that will foreshadow and prophesy the coming Saviour of the world. We will also see other attempts to stop the Genesis prophesy by getting the descendants of Abraham to mess up so that God will see them as unfit to carry the coming seed that will give birth to the Messiah.

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[> Subject: Oh boy! You got one in before I had to leave!
Author: dori [ Edit \| View ]	Date Posted: 23:23:40 07/08/09 Wed I will be watching from Kathy's house to see the next installment. This story is so fascinating to me. Thank you, Hillbilly. xoxo