Genesis 21:9-21

Good evening. Good to be back in charge of you. Be in the Old Testament this evening, way over in the book of Genesis.

! Chapter 21. I know it's only 21 chapters into the Bible, but there's been a lot going on in that 21 chapters.

God has spoken everything into existence by His sovereign decree. God has fashioned man in His own image and gave man one commandment as He put man in the garden.

And man failed. And the fall of man has happened. And when that happened, when Adam and Eve fell, all of mankind was plunged into darkness at that point.

And we see the flood just a couple of chapters after all that, beginning in Genesis chapter 6. We see the flood. God flooded the entire world, killed everything in it, saved eight people.

Because the thought of every man's heart was evil continually. And we see, coming around Genesis chapter 12, after the flood. Actually, let's back up just a little bit.

Even before that, we got the Tower of Babel account. And God dispersed the people into nations at that point when He confounded the languages. And the nations dispersed at that point.

They went their separate ways. Why was that? Because you couldn't really hang around with people if you couldn't understand what they were saying. So God confounded the languages. And why did He do that?

Because man had gotten so much pride in himself and thought that he could build this tower up into the heavens, up unto God. And God showed them otherwise. Then we get to Genesis 12.

God calls this man named Abram. An idolater out of a pagan land. He simply chooses Abram. And we have no scriptural account as to why that was.

But folks, He is God. And He can do whatever He well pleases. He chose Abram. Told him to get out of that land. And I'll give you a land. And I'll multiply your seed as the sand of the seashores, the stars of the heaven.

And from that point, all the way through chapter 19, we see Abram struggling to obey God.

Now he does, to an extent, just like all of us. But he struggles in the process. We see Abram obeying God.

We see Abram failing God many times. And in the midst of all this, God promises something. And He promises that there is going to be one come from Him. And folks, that wasn't the original promise.

The original promise was back in Genesis chapter 3. When God promised that the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent. A better rendering of that is actually crushing the head of the serpent.

But our King James Bible says He would bruise the head of the serpent. Either way, the serpent is going to be hurt. The serpent is going to be injured. And that seed was promised to come then.

And it will come through Abram. It will come through Isaac. It will come through Jacob. And ultimately, it's Jesus Christ that seed is. But we get to Genesis 20.

In the midst of all this, Abraham and Sarah got the cart before the horse. Got impatient. And Sarah says, I've got this handmaid, Hagar, the Egyptian.

Which is just further proof that when the famine hit and Abram took Sarah down into Egypt. And Pharaoh took Sarah into his house because he thought that was Abram's sister instead of his wife.

Because they lied. But then they come up out of there when the truth was found out. And they brought all their possessions with them. That is just further proof. When you get out of the will of God.

When you exit Canaan. And go somewhere you ain't supposed to be to begin with. You tend to bring things up that are going to hurt you. Just as Hagar, the Egyptian.

There is nothing in scripture that says Hagar came out of Egypt with Abram and Sarah. But we have no reason to believe that wasn't the case. Because we read nothing about her beforehand.

It's the same way with Lot and Abram. When the herdsmen, when they were fussing against each other. When they were bickering back and forth. Where did they get those herds?

And where did the herdsmen come from? From Egypt. It caused trouble and it caused turmoil. So in the midst of all this. A young man's. Or a young baby I should say.

Is born named Ishmael. When Abram is 86 years old. Ishmael is born. Now you keep that in mind as we go through what we're going to here in Genesis chapter 20. 86 years old was Abraham.

When Ishmael was born. How old was Abraham? When Isaac was born. He was 100. That puts 14 years. Between Ishmael.

The son of the flesh. If you want to know more about that. Read Galatians chapter 4. About the last half of that chapter. Paul explains it wonderfully. And the son of promise.

Which was Isaac. That is the seed of promise. Genesis chapter 20. Isaac has been born. Abraham does exactly as he should do. And circumcises him on the eighth day.

There is a. And there is a big feast. And Isaac is weaned. And all this other stuff. We don't know how old Isaac was when he was weaned. But common practice during this time.

Was around the age of 4 or 5 years old. When a child was weaned. But either way. The child was weaned. Isaac was. So we can rightfully put. Ishmael. Somewhere between the age of 14.

And 19 years old. At this point. You keep that in mind. As we're reading this. All that being said. Genesis chapter 21. Beginning at verse 9. Says.

And Sarah. Sarah. Saw the son of Hagar. The Egyptian. Which she had borne unto Abraham. Mocking. Wherefore she said unto Abraham. Cast out this bond woman.

And her son. For the son of this bond woman. Shall not be heir. With my son. Even with Isaac. And the thing was very grievous. In Abraham's sight.

Because of his son. And God said unto Abraham. Let it not be grievous in thy sight. Because of the lad. And because of thy bond woman. In all that Sarah hath said unto thee.

Hearken unto her voice. For in Isaac. Shall thy seed be called. And also the son of the bond woman. Will I make a nation. Because he is thy seed.

And 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 Beersheba. And the water was spent in the bottle. And she cast the child under one of the shrubs. And she went. And sat her down over against him.

A good way off. As it were a bow shot. 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 the angel of God. Called unto Hagar. Out of heaven. And said unto her. What aileth thee Hagar? Fear not.

For God hath heard the voice of the lad. Where he is. Arise. 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 to drink. I'm sorry. And gave the lad drink. And God was with the lad.

And he grew. And dwelt in the wilderness. And became an archer. And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran. And his mother took him. A wife. Out of the land of Egypt.

Back to verse 9. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar. The Egyptian. Which she had borne unto Abraham. Mocking. Now folks.

This is not just childish play. That we're talking about here. When it says that Sarah saw Ishmael. Mocking Isaac. We're not talking about childish teasing.

We're not talking about. You know. Just casually making fun. Of another child. Like some of us may have done. When we were younger. We're not talking about anything along those lines. We're talking about spiritual mockery here.

And Paul verifies that. Again. In the book of Galatians. In chapter 4. He says that the son that was born. After the flesh. Persecuted. The son that was born. After the spirit.

The seed that was promised. Was being mocked. He was being belittled. He was being ridiculed. And it was a spiritual. Spiritual mockery. That was taking place here.

It was not just one child. Making fun of another. But folks. Here in 2026. It is no different. That the child of the flesh. Will mock. Will ridicule.

Will belittle. Will cut down. Will think bad of. Will try to disprove. The child of the promise. They will try and disprove the church. They will try and disprove the word of God.

They will make fun of it. They will mock it. They will. They will. They will do anything. In their power. To make the child of God. Feel. About yay big. But I am thankful.

For the scripture that says. Greater is he that is in us. Than he that is in the world. My God is bigger. Than any kind. Than any kind. Of belittlement. That could come my way.

From anyone. In the world. Who wants to delve it out. But here. Is a spiritual warfare. That is going on. Between Ishmael. And Dazel. And we face the spiritual warfare.

Every day of our lives. In this world. In which we live. The flesh. Is constantly. At war. With the spirit. I am not just talking about. The outside world. I am talking about your flesh.

That you wear. It is constantly. At war. With the spirit. That is inside of you. That is why Paul said. I know. That what is in me. That is in my flesh. Dwelleth no good thing.

Paul said that. That in his flesh. Dwelleth no good thing. And I promise you. That in your flesh. And in my flesh. Dwelleth no good thing. But the spirit. That is inside of us.

The spirit. That bears witness with us. The spirit. Which is. Almighty God. Inside of us. Hey. He can take whatever ridicule. That the world. wants to throw our way.

If we. If our flesh. Does not want to bow down. To the spirit. The spirit of almighty God. Will show us. What we need to do. He will show us.

Our need to repent. He will show us. Our need to seek God. He will show us. Our need to pray. He will show us. Our need for God. Period. Amen. There is a constant warfare.

That you and I are in. And it is not just with. The outside world. You are your own worst enemy. And I. Am my own worst enemy. Not Satan. And not the demons of this world.

Your flesh. Is your worst enemy. And my flesh. Is my worst enemy. Verse 10. Says wherefore she said unto Abraham. Cast out this bond woman.

Cast out this bond woman. And her son. For the son of this bond woman. Shall not be heir. With my son. Even. With Isaac. These are strong words. That Sarah is using.

And some people read this scripture. And say. What is Abraham doing? Even listening to him. Is he not supposed to be. The head of his household. Is he not supposed to be. The one in charge.

Folks. As weighty. As the words that Sarah was using. Are. And as heavy. As they are. And as strong. A speech. As she is using here.

She spoke much truth. When she said this. When she said. The son of that bond woman. The son that is not. The son of promise. The son that is not Isaac. Shall not.

Inherit. Or shall not. End up. With the inheritance. Those are true words. That she was speaking. Her motives were completely wrong. Her motives. Were wrong.

They were all about self. And they were all about. Self. And her son. That she had had Isaac. But the words. That she spoke. Were completely true. The son.

Of the flesh. The son. That was conceived. With an outside woman. The son. That was not. Of the covenant. That almighty God. Had made with Abraham. Could not.

Inherit. What God had promised. It could not. And folks. It is no different now. It cannot. Inherit. What God has promised. To those. Who repent of their ways.

And believe. In the gospel. If we continue on. In our flesh. If we continue on. In our ways. If we continue on. In our self-righteousness. If we continue on. In our own.

Self-salvation. We. Cannot. Inherit. What God. Has promised. But. When we consider. The greater Isaac. When we consider.

The greater Isaac. Who is Jesus Christ. And we believe. On him. And we believe. On his gospel. We believe. In his. Good news. And. Put ourselves.

To the side. Then. We stand. To inherit it all. We are heirs. To God. And join. Heirs. With Jesus Christ. As Paul writes. In the book of Romans. In chapter 8. Verse 11.

And the thing. Was very grievous. To Abraham. To Abraham's side. Because. Of his son. Folks. Don't sanitize this. And don't just. Skip over this. In the scripture.

It grieved. Abraham. That Sarah. Had said this. It grieved. Abraham. That his son. It may not have been. Sarah's son. But this was Abraham's.

Flesh and blood. And it grieved him. That he may be going out the door. It grieved him. That his wife. Sarah. Wanted rid of him.

It grieved him. That his own flesh and blood. May well be leaving. Don't. Don't skip over that part. Of the scripture.

It's not like Abraham said. Okay. Kick him on out the door. You and your mama both. Get on down the road. We're done. The Bible says. It grieved him.

But the precious part. Of this whole thing. Is that God knew. That it grieved Abraham. And he knew why. It grieved Abraham. The scripture. Actually plainly says it.

And the thing was very grievous. In Abraham's side. Because of his son. Not necessarily because of Hagar. But because of his son.

Because of the child. That he had conceived. At a minimum. Of 14 years before this. Because of that. He was grieved.

Verse 12. And God said unto Abraham. Let it not be grievous in thy sight. Because of the lad. And because of thy bond woman. And all that Sarah hath said.

Unto thee. Hearken unto her voice. For in Isaac. Shall thy seed. Be called. This is God. Coming to a man. Who is grieving. Grieving.

Because of his son. And God comes. And says. Don't let it be grievous. In thy sight. Hey folks. I will tell you right now. If you're going to follow God. It will cost you something.

It might cost you status. It might cost you friends. It might cost you relationships. It might cost your job. It can cost a whole slew of things. But if you truly follow after God.

It will cost. But that obedience. That obedience. And the blessings which follow. Far outweigh. Whatever it costs you in this world.

You follow God. Now. Listen. We're talking about Abraham. We're talking about somebody that God had already made a covenant with. We're not talking about some lost person out here. We're talking about someone who was already in relationship with almighty God.

And he was grieving over his son. And God came to him. And said. Don't let it be grievous. In your sight. Don't let this thing be grievous again.

Sarah was completely right. With what she said. She was theologically correct. With what she said. But her motives were all off. But God says to Abraham.

Says. Don't let it be grievous. In your sight. Because the lad. Because the bond woman. Don't let any of these things. Grieve you. In other words. I'm going to take care of this. Because this is your seed.

Hey. It wasn't because. Hagar deserved it. It wasn't because Ishmael deserved it. It wasn't even because Abraham deserved it. God showed mercy. Because that's what God does. God is merciful.

To the downtrodden. He is merciful. To the ones who were cast out. He is merciful. To the ones that have no hope. Hallelujah. Amen. That's what's amazing about this.

That's what's amazing about this whole scripture. Now listen. I understand. I understand who Ishmael is. I understand who Isaac is. I understand who the Jews are.

And I understand who the Arabs are. I get all of that. And this is pretty much. You can actually take it back to Shem. But this is pretty much where all of that started.

And it's still going on today. But I will tell you now. I will tell you now. Not all Arabs are Muslim. And I will tell you now.

Not all Westerners are Christian. And I will tell you now. There are many non-Arabs who are Muslim. There are many non-Arabs who are not Jews.

They are not Muslims. But they are Christians. And the same goes. Vice versa. They are all over. Folks. Islam wasn't even a thing. Wasn't even a thing.

Until 700 years after Christ. That's when it was really founded. About 610 A.D. Is when Islam was founded. That's when this man started hearing all the voices.

And having all the revelations supposedly. And all these other things that were going on. 700 years after Christ. We're talking here. In this narrative.

About. Between 1800 and 2000 years. So we'll say about 1900 years. Before Christ. It all started here though. But. God.

God does not cast out. Or God does not. Let me rephrase that. God does not. Erase mercy. For those who are outside of the covenant.

God does not. Discard them as trash. Here. In this narrative. What we read tonight. Verses 9. Through 21.

What we see here. Is that. The promised seed had come. Isaac. Who was. To bring on. Later. The better.

Promised seed. Jesus Christ. Yes. He had come. But there was another one here. Ishmael. Who was cast out. By Abraham. But was not forgotten. By God.

The gospel of Jesus Christ. Does not delete. Nor does it obliterate. Nor does it. Nor does it erase. By any means. Those who are outside.

Of the covenant. The promised seed. Had come. And that promised seed. Gives hope to those. Who are outside. Of the covenant. The promised seed. Gives hope to those.

Who are cast out. Gives hope to those. Who need rescue. And it rescues them. He rescues them. Jesus Christ. Himself. Rescues them.

Who was. A descendant of Abraham. And Isaac was a descendant of his. Jacob was a descendant of his. And so on. That's what we see here. In this whole narrative.

Verse 13. And also. Of the son of the bond woman. Will I make a nation. Because he is. Thy seed. This is a promise from God. I will make him.

A nation. Why is that? Because God. Had already promised Abraham. Chapters before this. That from your seed. All nations of the world.

Shall. Be. Blessed. And God. Had to get some nations together. To be blessed. By the seed. Of Abraham. Right. And you read just a few chapters.

Over from this. Forward. Genesis 26. That Ishmael went on. To produce 12 sons. His mother took a.

Wife for him. Out of Egypt. We read that. At the end of this account. And he produced 12 sons. You know how many children. That's going to produce. You know how many grandchildren. That's going to produce. Great grandchildren. Great great grandchildren.

And all those nations. Are blessed. By the seed of Abraham. Which ultimately. Again. Is Jesus Christ. But Isaac.

Had to come first. Folks. This is God's divine plan. It is God's sovereign design. This had to be. The way. That it came. Again.

Abraham. And Sarah. Got the cart. Before the horse. Tried to speed things up. Tried to help God out. God does not need. Our help. He didn't need. Abraham and Sarah's help.

He needs. No one's help. He is the only. Self-sufficient being. In the entire. Universe. Right. But we need his help. Right. We need his help.

Also. The son of the bond woman. Will I make a nation. Because he is thy seed. Verse 14. 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 Beersheba. Abraham rose up early in the morning.

No delay in this. No delay in this. He rose up early the next morning. Or early in the morning. And he immediately does. What God.

What God has told him to do. He said. Take heed to what Sarah said. You listen to what Sarah said. Cast out the bond woman. Cast out her son. But he also gave him promise.

I will take care of them. And I will make a nation of him. And when you read this though. And it says. Abraham rose up early in the morning. And took bread. And a bottle of water. What kind of provision is that.

To give a woman. And a child. That's going to be wandering around. In a desert region. Not much at all. That is not much at all. Some bread.

We don't know how much bread. Some water. The way it's phrased here. It sounds like each of them. Had a skin of water on them. On their shoulder. And he sent them out.

But praise God. Where man's provision ends. Where man's effort ends. God steps in. God steps in.

You think. You think about the Israelites. When they were being delivered out of Egypt. And they come to the edge of the Red Sea. They had an entire body of water before them.

They had Pharaoh's army coming behind them. They couldn't go up. They couldn't go down. They couldn't go back. And they could not go forward. Hey. Their own means. Had come to an end.

But God stepped in. And God parted the water. By His mediator Moses. And the Israelites passed through. Hallelujah. You think about Gideon.

Gideon getting ready to go to war. Got 32,000 men together. God said no. No, no, no. No. You don't need but 300. God reduced His army to 300.

And said just in case these people, they vaunt that they did this. I want them to know that I am the one that did it. 300 men against an entire army.

But who came out on top? God did. Amen. He and His provision was enough. When man's wasn't enough. God's was. And salvation is no different.

Salvation is no different. You will never. You will never buy your way to heaven. You will never earn your way to heaven. You will never do good. Do good enough to get your way into heaven.

Your righteousnesses are as filthy rags according to the Scriptures as well as mine. All of our righteousnesses are like that. But folks, when our righteousness is no good.

And it's not. It's not self-righteousness ain't worth a plugged nickel. When it's no good, the righteousness of Jesus Christ. The righteousness of Jesus Christ is acceptable in the sight of Almighty God.

It is His righteousness and His righteousness alone that I will be able to stand before God one day. It will not be in my own works. It will not be in my own deeds. It will not be of my own will even.

But it will be because of the will and the righteousness of Jesus Christ. His will to do the Father's will. His righteousness imparted to me because I repented and believed the Gospel.

No other reason. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Amen. What a plan. What a plan our Savior has. He took bread and a bottle of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder and the child, and sent her away.

And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Hereshiba. And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. Verse 16.

And she went and sat her down over against Him a good way off. We'll come back to verse 15 in just a minute. And she went and sat her down over against Him a good way off, as they were a bow shot.

For she said, let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against Him. And she sat over against Him and lifted up her voice and wept. Folks, this is despair.

This is human despair. This is a great picture of how you and I look before salvation.

This is a wonderful picture of the despair that we had. Of the hopelessness that we had. Here they were, out in a desert region. No one else around.

Probably didn't even know how far they had wandered from the camp of Abraham. How far they had wandered from the house. Don't know which direction they were going. Nothing along those lines is stated in the Scripture.

All we know from the Scriptural account is that the provision that was given by man when Abram gave bread and water, that provision was gone. It had ceased.

It was expired. And here was this woman, Hagar. Her and her son. Keep in mind, a teenager. So many times we want to picture her carrying this baby around the desert.

No, he was a teenager. And it says that she cast him under a shrub. And she went a ways off, as it were a bow shot, which is a pretty good distance.

And said, I don't want to see my child die. But she knew it was going to happen. She was out of means to help her own.

She was out of means to help herself. There was nothing left for them but to die. She knew she was going to die. She knew her son was going to die.

She didn't know who was going to die first. But if it was her son, she did not want to see it. Let's read on. Verse 17. And God heard the voice of the lad. Notice that, folks.

It doesn't say he heard the voice of Hagar. It doesn't say he saw the tears of Hagar. I'm sure that God saw those things. But that is not what is emphasized in the scriptural account.

It says that God heard the voice of the lad. The lad that she had put underneath the shrub. And she had gone off her own way so that she wouldn't see him die.

He heard that voice. He heard that voice. I've said many times, if God hears no other voices in prayer, He hears the voice of a crying mother.

And He hears the voice of a child. I'm convinced of that. And I'm persuaded that if He hears no other prayers, He hears those. But that is not what is emphasized here.

Not Hagar's prayer. Keep in mind where Hagar had come from. She had come from Egypt, yes. I'm talking about where she had come from more immediately. From Abraham's household.

Don't you think she had heard Abraham talk about his God? Don't you think she had heard Abraham testify of the goodness of Jehovah God? Don't you think she had heard the story?

Had heard the tale? Had heard the account of what God had promised Abraham? And here she was in this wilderness. And she cast her son under a shrub.

And it says, And God heard the voice of the lad. And the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not, for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.

An angel of the Lord. This is called a theophany in the Scripture. This would have been Jesus Christ Himself calling to Hagar. Calling to Hagar saying, Why are you ailing about this?

Why are you worried about this? Hey, God heard the voice of the lad. God heard your son screaming out, crying out, whatever it was that he was doing.

Maybe he couldn't cry out at all. Maybe he had no voice because he was so parched with thirst. I don't know. But either way, God heard him. How many times have you been in the same situation?

How many times have your tears so dried out your eyes and so dried out your throat that you couldn't make a noise? But God still heard you. Hallelujah.

I've been there. Praise God. I've been there. I've been in the despair that Hagar was in here. Hopeless. Feeling like there was nothing left for me in the entire world.

And I felt like no one would hear my cry. But praise God one morning, February 10, 2009. I will never forget it. God heard my voice and He lifted me up out of the state that I was in.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. And He saved my soul. All because He heard my cry. God heard the voice of this lad.

Maybe He couldn't call out. Maybe He couldn't pray with eloquence. Maybe He couldn't make a noise. But maybe He was laying there under that shrub. Thinking.

God. I need help. God. I need deliverance. Abraham had sent them out knowing what God had said.

But I read nothing in this account where Abraham had relayed that to Hagar. That's why she was hopeless. That's why she was hopeless.

Verse 18. Arise. This is the angel of God. The theophany. Speaking to Hagar. Arise. Lift up the lad and hold him in thine hand. For I will make him a great nation.

Verse 19. And God opened her eyes. God opened her eyes. Just like God had to open your eyes one day. To show you the state that you were in.

To show you what a filthy, rotten sinner that you were. To show you that you were a rebel against Him. God had to open your eyes. To the scripture here says.

And God opened her eyes. And she saw a well of water. Folks. God did not create water here. You know how we know that? Because we have nothing in the scriptural account.

From where God spoke something into existence. Beginning in Genesis chapter 1. Up to this point. God did not create anything new. Right. He did not put that well of water there.

Right then. He opened her eyes. That she would see the well of water. How do we know water was there? Amen. Back up to verse 15. I'm sorry.

Back up. Yeah. Verse 15. The water was spent in the bottle. And she cast the child under one of the shrubs. Shrubs can't grow without water, folks. Maybe.

No plant life will survive without water. There had to be water in the proximity there. Maybe not in that immediate place where Hagar was.

Maybe not in the immediate place where Ishmael was. But the water was there. But it took God opening her eyes out of depression. Out of despair.

Out of hopelessness. For her to see the water. And God does the exact same thing for you and for I. Even as born again Christians. Sometimes we get so dragged down in the darkness.

So down in the mire. It takes God to open our eyes to see His goodness once again. But praise God He does it for us. Praise God.

He shows us just who He is. Over and over and over again. Praise God. Arise. Arise. Lift up the lad. Hold him in thy 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 to drink. God opened her eyes.

To show what He. To show the provision. That He already had in place for her. She couldn't see it beforehand. But she sees it now. God not only provides though.

He commissions her to do something. He says hold the lad in your hand. You go help him. Go give him what he needs. Hallelujah. And God does the same thing with you and I.

When we are saved. When we are grafted in. To the family of God. When we are bought in with the blood of Jesus Christ. God gives us a commission. The entire church has a commission.

To go into the world. And preach the gospel. To every living creature. Hey folks. We can feed them. Till we're blue in the face. We can clothe them. Till we're blue in the face. But it does no good.

If they don't know what the gospel is. We must tell them the gospel. Amen. We must tell them the good news. That Jesus saves.

That Jesus came to seek and to save. That which was lost. God opened her eyes. When she saw a well of water. She went and filled the bottle with water. And gave the lad to drink.

Verse 20. And God was with the lad. Do not skip over this. God was with the lad. With what lad? With the child that was outside of the covenant.

But folks. This is covenant language. That is being used here. When it says. God was with the lad. That is covenant language. Being spoken about someone.

Who was outside of the covenant. With God. But praise be unto God. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. There is a whole world. Of people out there right now.

That are outside. Of the covenant. That is now. Readily available. In Jesus Christ. And it is our job. To go tell them about that. It is our job.

To go into the world. And to preach the gospel. But this is covenant language. That was being used. And God was with the lad. He did not.

Just toss him into the trash heap. God was with the lad. Why? Because he done told Abraham. And we will make him a great nation.

He told Abraham. Even further back than that. Through your seed. All the nations of the world. Will be blessed. And this will be. Part of those nations. Part of the nations.

That will be blessed. And God was with the lad. And he grew. And dwelt in the wilderness. And became an archer. Verse 21. And he dwelt in the wilderness. In Paran.

And his mother took him. A wife. Out of the land. Of Egypt. Not really a whole lot. To get into. With those last two verses. But I want you to notice.

It does not end. With a bunch of thundering. It does not end. With a bunch of lightning. It does not end. With a booming voice. From on high.

But it ends with God. Quietly. Quietly. Practicing his providential plan. And putting it into play.

His plan. Included. And involved. This boy Ishmael. Whether we like it or not. His plan. Included.

This boy. Ishmael. Therefore. His plan. Included. Hagar. Yes. Abraham and Sarah. Messed up. Yes. They should have never.

Went that route. But folks. It did not catch God. Off guard. He knew what was going to happen. He knew what Abraham and Sarah. Would do. And he still had a plan. In place.

That all the nations. Of the world. Including those nations. Which would come from Ishmael. Would be blessed. By the seed. Of Abraham. And again. I cannot stress it enough. That seed.

Was not. Isaac. That we're talking about. The ultimate seed. That came about. Two thousand years ago. In Jesus Christ. Who was descended from.

Isaac. That seed. Paul even. Brings that up. Again. In the book of Galatians. Talking about. He didn't say nothing about seeds. He said seed. Seed.

Singular. That had to have been. Jesus Christ. So. My question to you tonight. Are you.

Of the seed. Of the flesh. Are you born. Of the bond woman. Or are you born. Of the free woman.

And again. If you all want to go home. Read that account yourselves. From Genesis 21. Read it. Parallel. To Galatians chapter 4.

Paul. Does a wonderful job. Of explaining it. Are you. Of the bond woman. Or are you. Of the free woman. If you're.

Of the bond woman. There's command. Given. In scripture. Sarah gave the command. In Genesis 21. Cast her out. And Paul. Gives that same command.

In Galatians chapter 4. In the new testament. Cast her out. Cast her off. Do away with her. Do away with the flesh. Crucify the flesh.

Mortify the deeds of the flesh. And believe. On the only begotten son. Of the father. Jesus Christ. This is the way. Unto salvation.

And it is the only way. Unto salvation. Not your righteousness. And not your works. But the work. Of Jesus Christ. On the cross at Calvary.

God bless you all. That's this evening's message. I appreciate your attention. Thank you.