Week 5

10/6/2024

Fall 2024

Central Passage: Genesis 15-22

Recall from last week the seriousness of the condition that God gave to Abram when He commanded Abram to leave his family and land to go into the land that God set aside for him as an inheritance. As the following chapters unfold, God’s grace takes center stage. in Genesis 15. God put Abram into a deep sleep so that God alone walked between the pieces of animal carcasses. The process normally involved two covenant partners walking through the split carcasses together, ritualistically committing the partakers to the covenant promises. Splitting animal carcasses and walking between them communicated the seriousness of the covenant. In other words, should either covenant partner break the stipulations, may what happened to those animal carcasses happen to the transgressor. However, in Genesis 15:17-18, God alone walked through the cut carcasses. He alone took responsibility for the covenantal promises. The rest of Abraham’s story demonstrates God’s gracious dealings with Abraham and Sarah. By Genesis 22, this covenantal promise becomes an oath by God’s own name (Genesis 22:16-18).

As the story progresses, revealing details of Abraham and Sarah’s shortcomings, God’s grace becomes more apparent. Many of us understand Abram and Sarai’s misguided methods of receiving their promised heir in Genesis 16. Culturally, Sarai had her own selfish reasons for advising Abram to father a child with Hagar. Since they had no child, their marriage would have been viewed as a failure. God’s promise to give them a son offered a solution to their shame. However, as time went on, they still had received no heir, so Sarai offered her servant Hagar as an alternate route out of shame. Sarai was not a strangely submissive wife in a patriarchal culture when she made this offer; instead, she saw Hagar as an opportunity to secure an heir for their family/inheritance.

Throughout these next few chapters, both Abram and Sarai have questionable character, motives, and actions. Abram simply followed Sarai’s command to take Hagar into their patriarchal household by having a child with him. He showed no leadership in that decision. Additionally, when Sarai grew bitter against Hagar, she blamed Abram. Abram’s solution was to avoid leadership again and hand over Hagar (someone belonging to their household whom he was expected to protect and defend) to Sarai’s vengeful mistreatment (Genesis 16:6). Likewise, Sarai appeared selfishly motivated by offering Hagar to Abram, failing to wait for God to fulfill His promises on His time. She then grew bitter toward Hagar and mistreated her. In Genesis 18, Sarah also failed to show hospitality to their guests, which would have been seen as extremely culturally offensive. She did not welcome their three guests (one of whom is God)¹ by baking bread for them as Abraham asked (18:6-8), and she did not honor the guests with her presence (18:9). Despite all of these shortcomings, God still said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son” (Gen 18:10). This story of Abraham and Sarah centers on God’s unrelenting grace. He graciously answered their need for an heir and grafted their lineage into His story of salvation. Never grow tired of reading the stories of God’s gracious dealings.

1. Some Christian commentators also interpret the three guest to be the three persons of the Trinity.