Free Bible Commentary
“Genesis 21:1-7”
Categories: Genesis“Then the Lord took note of Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had promised. So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Sarah said, ‘God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.’ 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.’”
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“Then the Lord took note of Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had promised.” (verse 1) When the Lord says He is going to do something, He always does it. When the Lord makes a promise, He always keeps it. It had been 25 years since God’s initial promise to Sarah and Abraham to bless them with posterity (Genesis 12:2; 15:4), and one year since God had specifically told Sarah she would conceive and bear a child (Genesis 18:10, 14). But the Lord had not forgotten about Sarah, even though it must have seemed to her like He had. God “took note” of Sarah as He would Hannah much later (1 Samuel 2:21), and “did for” her “as He had promised.” Abraham and Sarah grew discouraged and impatient and made several missteps and poor decisions in the interim, but that did not deter the Lord from making good on His promises. “For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.” (2 Corinthians 1:20) “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:23) For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.” (Hebrews 10:36)
“For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, ‘I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.’ And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute. In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 6:13-20)
“Abraham called the name of his son… Isaac.” (verse 3) “‘Isaac ...’ means laughter, memorializing Sarah's laughing incredulity at the time of God's promise, and also, in a wider context, appropriately referring to the joy that would come to all people through that ‘Seed singular,’ who in the fullness of time would be delivered through the posterity of the same Isaac. (James Burton Coffman) “Sarah said, ‘God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.” (verse 6) Many hearts rejoice with the mother who, after long years of yearning for and discouragement over not having a child, finally announces, “I’m pregnant!” We weep with them when they weep and we rejoice when they rejoice (Romans 12:15). Many burst into joyous laughter with Sarah at the announcement and arrival of her son, and we all rejoice with her still today because of Isaac’s descendant, the Son of God, through whom He blessed “all the families of the earth” (Genesis 12:3)
“Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.” (verse 4) The Lord had commanded Abraham, “every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations” (Genesis 17:12), and so, Abraham obeyed the Lord at His word. Of course, in our covenant with God through Christ Jesus, “circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God.” (1 Corinthians 7:19) So, obviously, circumcision is not a covenant commandment for the Lord’s people today. Having said that, circumcision did not suddenly become a bad thing at the dawning of the current era in Christ, and it is still a tradition that has strong ties back to our spiritual moorings and, I believe, should not be easily abandoned.
“Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children?” (verse 7) “Sarah's speaking of Isaac here as ‘children’ is significant. Willis was doubtless correct in the observation that, ‘Passages such as this show that a man with one child is suitable to serve as an elder, if his spiritual qualities are on a high godly plane (1 Timothy 3:4; Titus 1:6).’” (James Burton Coffman)
“Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.” (verse 5) He was truly a man “in his old age” (verse 8). “By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised. Therefore there was born even of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendants as the stars of heaven in number, and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.” (Hebrews 11:11-12) From all human appearances, Abraham was about as likely to have a son that late in life as a dead man would have been. But, let the immortal words of Jesus never be forgotten: ““With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)
Please read Genesis 21:8-14 for tomorrow.
Have a great day!
- Louie Taylor
