Daily Devotions
Genesis
"There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." Proverbs 16:25
Text: Genesis 16:1-16
ANOTHER TEST
God employs the principle of testing time and again. He seems to be giving “surprise tests” most of the time. The test may come in almost any form and in any guise! Adam was tested, and he failed. This time round, Abram was tested, and unfortunately he did not fare too well either.
HUMAN REASONING
Abram must have shared with Sarai all that God had promised. The Word of promise from God must have thrilled the soul, at least initially. However, with the passing of the years, Sarai began to wonder if there wasn’t an alternative route to receiving God’s promised blessing of offspring!
“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.”GENESIS 16:1-2
1. A common practice in the early days
It was not uncommon to have concubines in those days. The purpose of the concubine was just one. She was supposed to bear children for the master of the house! What was a common practise should not have been equated with what God intended!
2. A seemingly plausible argument
a) It was Sarai’s suggestion
Abram was not the one who came up with the idea! Sarai was the one who initiated this line of thinking. She was the one who offered her own personal maid to Abram!
b) It seemed to be a good suggestion
If Hagar were to bear children, they would technically be Sarah’s children! Hagar would have no right to them at all, except the maternal bond that would bind mother and children. Hagar had no say in this matter.
3. Abram’s acquiescence
Sarai was not totally to blame! For some unknown reason, Abram acquiesced to Sarai’s arguments! There was an obvious lapse of faith at this point of time!
THE CHALLENGE TO FIND A FULLY MATURE FAITH IN GOD
Was Abram’s faith genuine? There is no need to doubt that at all! Was His faith fully mature yet? The answer to the second question is a sad “NO!” The lack of a fully mature faith can hurt terribly, as Sarai and Abram were to find out before long!