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Outline:

In Genesis 15 God addressed two fears plaguing Abram: First, God dispelled his fear that the promise he’d have a son might fail to materialize. Before then addressing his fear that he would somehow fail God - that he’d fail “to inherit the land” God had given him.

As we noted last Sunday, while God would never fail and Abram always would, Abram’s failures mattered not because God’s promises were never predicated upon his performance. It’s radical, but the reason God’s grace will never fail is that you always will! Paul would write in Romans 5:20, “Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more!”

That said… While it’s important you understand God’s grace is the only thing that can save and sustain you in the place of your failures, you should also remember a failure to obey God’s commands will still yield very natural consequences in and through your life. God’s grace saves and sustains His plan, but it does not insulate you from consequences.

This morning we’re going to see that instead of trusting and waiting for God to accomplish His work of providing them a son, His way and in His timing, Abram and Sarai make a tragic decision when they attempt to accomplish God’s work apart from His direct involvement. And yet, though God’s grace would remain sufficient and His promise sure in spite of their failure, we’ll see the consequences of this poor choice will be severe and far-reaching.

Genesis 16:1-3, “Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, ‘See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.’ And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai. Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan.”

The context for our scene is simple… For starters, Abram and Sarai are old. Consider that in Genesis 12:4 we’re told they leave Haran at the ages of 75 and 65 (in Genesis 17 we’ll discover Sarai is 10 years Abram’s junior). Now we’re informed in verse 3 that they’ve “dwelt ten years in the land” meaning it’s safe to reason at this juncture Abram is 85 and Sarai 75.

Aside from the fact this places Sarai at the tale end of her childbearing years (according to Genesis 23 she’ll die at the age of 127 which indicates women were likely able to conceive much longer because of the increased life-expectancy), we also understand they have been sitting on this promise that they’ll have a son for 10 long years!

Can you imagine that? Even with God’s reassurances that His promise was still intact, like we saw in the previous chapter, 10 years is still a long time to wait, especially when you believe time is running out! How many more years could Sarai realistically get pregnant?

Aside from this… You also have to keep in mind barrenness came with a nasty stigma. In ancient times because they lacked the medical understanding as to why some women have a difficult time conceiving, most saw the inability for a women to be fruitful as being evidence God was punishing them for some hidden sin. It was the only logical way they could explain why some women had no problems conceiving while others struggled mightily.

Since this was her plight, Sarai faced all kinds of ridicule. People talked bad about her behind her back. They gossiped about what sin she may have committed to draw the ire of the gods. For all points and purposes, Sarai was seen to be a failure as both a women and more specifically a wife. Note: Culturally speaking, this fundamental inability to have a child would provided the husband with justifiable grounds for divorce.

Read the Rest at: http://www.c316.tv/sermons/220