He Who Promised is Faithful

[Gen 25:12-34 NKJV] – 12 Now this is the genealogy of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maidservant, bore to Abraham. 13 And these were the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: The firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadar, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 16 These were the sons of Ishmael and these were their names, by their towns and their settlements, twelve princes according to their nations. 17 These were the years of the life of Ishmael: one hundred and thirty-seven years; and he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people. 18 (They dwelt from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt as you go toward Assyria.) He died in the presence of all his brethren. 19 This is the genealogy of Isaac, Abraham’s son. Abraham begot Isaac. 20 Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah as wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan Aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian. 21 Now Isaac pleaded with the LORD for his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” So she went to inquire of the LORD. 23 And the LORD said to her: “Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger.” 24 So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb. 25 And the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name Esau. 26 Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them. 27 So the boys grew. And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents. 28 And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob. 29 Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. 30 And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” Therefore his name was called Edom. 31 But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.” 32 And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?” 33 Then Jacob said, “Swear to me as of this day.” So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

At the beginning of this text we see the genealogy of Ishmael and a list of his sons who became twelve princes.

God made promises concerning Ishmael and this is the beginning of the fulfillment of those promises

[Gen 16:10-12 NKJV] – 10 Then the Angel of the LORD said to her, “I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.” 11 And the Angel of the LORD said to her: “Behold, you are with child, And you shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, Because the LORD has heard your affliction. 12 He shall be a wild man; His hand shall be against every man, And every man’s hand against him. And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.”

[Gen 17:20 NKJV] – 20 “And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.

[Gen 21:18 NKJV] – 18 “Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation.”

Again we see that Ishmael was blessed and also had a destiny to become a great nation

Much of the middle east today traces their lineage back to Ishmael and he has become a central figure in the Islamic religion

And to that point we see not only a fulfillment of Ishmael multiplying exceedingly but also the fulfillment of “His hand shall be against every man, And every man’s hand against him”

The muslims of history and today have been very warlike, waging jihad or holy war on much of the world, time and time again

Muslims teaching divides the world into two sections one is the House of Submission (Islam) and the other is the house of war

Within a century of Muhammad’s death the muslims had conquered the middle east, north africa, and spain all of which were Christian lands, and they were invading France while also besieging Constantinople so attacking both sides of europe

They also conquered Persia and northern India waging Jihad on Hindus and Zoroastrians

All within a hundred years of Muhammad’s death

All that is to say that this prophecy of “His hand shall be against every man, And every man’s hand against him” is clearly true

God’s promises concerning Ishmael were only part of a series of promises that He gave to Abraham

The first promise that God gave to Abraham is found in Gen 12:1-4

[Gen 12:1-4 NKJV] – 1 Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” 4 So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

So Abraham, when he was still called Abram, was 75 years old when he received the promise that he would become a great nation but God expanded on this promise later multiple times.

After separating from Lot, God told Abram to look north, south, east, and west promising that all the land he could see would be given to him and his descendants forever

and that his descendants would become as numerous as the dust of the earth

Later, when speaking to God, Abram voiced concern that he had no children and that his heir was his servant Eliezer.

Then God had Abram divide numerous animals of different kinds and passed in the midst of them promising to Abram that his heir would come from his own body,

his descendents would be as many as the stars in the sky and they would return to the land after 400 years of affliction

Then God reaffirms the promise with Abram by changing his name to Abraham (father of many) and promises that Sarai whose name he also changed to Sarah would bear a son named Isaac through whom the covenant would be established

[Gen 17:1-8, 15-16 NKJV] – 1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. 2 “And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: 4 “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. 5 “No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 “I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. 7 “And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. 8 “Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” … 15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 “And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her.”

After this we see Isaac and Rebekah conceive and a promise was given that two nations were in her womb

in both the line of Ishmael and the line of Isaac God is beginning to fulfill his promises to Abraham and Sarah, to Hagar, to Ishmael, and to Isaac and Rebekah

This brings me to my first point:

God keeps his promises!

Scripture is adamant that God keeps his promises. God does not lie and He follows through on every covenant made, every vow uttered, and every word spoken

[Num 23:19 NKJV] – 19 “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

[Psa 89:34 NKJV] – 34 My covenant I will not break, Nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips.

We are often let down by unreliable people who do not keep their word. Fathers who fail to keep their commitments, spouses who break their vows, a friends you thought you could rely on who didn’t come through just when you needed them most.

People break their promises all the time, they shirk their commitments, and do not keep their word

But God is not like them. He will follow through. He has for generation after generation. He kept His word to Abraham

[Heb 6:13, 17-18 NKJV] – 13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, … 17 Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, 18 that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.

Did you know that there are thousands of promises in scripture some of which are, of course, for specific people or people groups but hundreds of them are for us, as christians

These are some of my favorite promises in scripture

Salvation

[Rom 10:9 NKJV] – 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Eternal Life

[Jhn 3:16 NKJV] – 16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Forgiveness

[1Jo 1:9 NKJV] – 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Acceptance

[Jhn 6:37 NKJV] – 37 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.

He won’t abandon us

[Heb 13:5b NKJV] – 5 … For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.“

Provision

[Phl 4:19 NKJV] – 19 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

George Muller example

Wisdom

[Jas 1:5 NKJV] – 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and ***it will be given to him**.*

Rest

[Mat 11:28-30 NKJV] – 28 “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Strength

[Isa 40:31 NKJV] – 31 But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

Refuge

[Psa 46:7 NKJV] – 7 The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

That is just 10 promises but they are so powerful and God will fulfill everyone of them just like he fulfilled His promise to Abraham

And i am sure that God has given many of you individually promises that he has kept

Baby Hope example

Hope in God church, trust in Him, have faith in his word, believing His promises, and trust in His proven character

Don’t be discouraged any longer but wait with expectation no matter how long it takes

This brings me to my second point:

We must wait in faith for the promise

A large part of the Christian experience and the walk of faith is waiting on the promise

If we look back to Genesis, God first gave the promise to Abraham when he was still called Abram at 75 years of age and he had to wait 11 years for Ishmael and 25 years for Isaac just to see the beginning of the promise fulfilled

Here is the interesting part, Abraham had Isaac at the age of 100 and he lived to be 175 years old.

Now Isaac got married at 40 years old (v.20) and he did not have Jacob and Esua until he was 60 years old (v.26)

That means that Abraham was still alive and 160 years old when his grandchildren from Isaac were born

he saw Isaac and Rebekah struggle with infertility for 20 years just like he and Sarah did

Think about the amount of faith that Abraham had to muster from day to day

He was 75 and his wife was 65 and barren which was likely past her natural child bearing years

They had undoubtedly been attempting to have children all the time time they were married but to no avail

It was essential in ancient cultures to have sons it was considered a reproach to any if they had no children

Furthermore we know from the narrative that Abraham desired an heir

So when God promises Him an heir from his own body and that he would be the father of many nations he had to wait decades for that to come to pass all the while getting older and older

It would have seemed, to the natural mind, that each year after the promise was given, the chance of the fulfillment of that promise grew less and less

And yet along came Isaaac and God fulfilled His promise

That must have been a source of encouragement to Isaac and Rebekah but it still would have tested their faith as well

20 years is a long time to wait for anything but especially a child

There are many other examples in Scripture of saints having to wait for a promise

Joseph waited 22 years from the time he received his dreams at age 17 until his brothers finally bowed down to him in Egypt at 39 years old

Hannah prayed fervently and waited through years of painful barrenness before God answered her prayer with the birth of the prophet Samuel

David had to wait close to 15 years from the time he was anointed King by Samuel till he was crowned king over Judah and he had to wait another 7 years until he was crowned King of all Israel

Simeon and Anna had to wait their whole lives just to see the messiah with their own eyes

The church has been waiting for the return of Jesus Christ to establish His visible kingdom on earth for nearly 2000 years

all of these accounts were recorded for our edification for the building up of our faith

[Rom 15:4 NKJV] – 4 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.

Not only do we have examples in scripture of saints who had to wait on the promises of God but we have directives from scripture to wait on God and His promises

[Lam 3:24-26 NKJV] – 24 “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!” 25 The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him. 26 It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

[Psa 27:13-14 NKJV] – 13 I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. 14 Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!

**[Mic 7:7 NKJV] **– 7 Therefore I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; My God will hear me.

Nearly all of what God has promised us will require us to wait and while we are waiting, our faith will be tested

but if we remember what the scripture has promised and how nearly every saint has had to wait in faith for the promise

If we keep this in our minds and in our hearts then we will not falter

When I am preaching about waiting for the promise, I can’t help but think of my friends James and Robyn O’Neil

They also had to wait for 20 years for John James

Another point to consider is that the fulfillment of God’s promise will not always look the way we expect

God has given us promises but He is not subject to our directives or demands on how to bring that promise to pass

In this text God declared that the older shall serve the younger but it is clear that Isaac favored Esau

And it makes a kind of sense, Esau was the firstborn and in the traditions of many cultures especially those of the middle east the firstborn son was the primary inheritor of the father’s wealth and position

But on top of that Esau was a manly man, he typified masculinity

He was hairy and a hunter, an outdoorsman, I like to imagine Gaston from Beauty and the Beast only hairier and with Red hair

Jacob not so much, he wasn’t effeminate, but he wasn’t the ideal specimen either

The scripture says he was a mild man dwelling in tents, kind of a moma’s boy if we’re being honest

Yet this was the man that God had chosen for the covenant promise not Esau.

There was another man in scripture who was an unexpected and unlikely choice

**[1Sa 16:1-13 NKJV] **– 1 Now the LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons.” 2 And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” But the LORD said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ 3 “Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; you shall anoint for Me the one I name to you.” 4 So Samuel did what the LORD said, and went to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, “Do you come peaceably?” 5 And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice. 6 So it was, when they came, that he looked at Eliab and said, “Surely the LORD’s anointed is before Him!” 7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” 8 So Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.” 9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.” 10 Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen these.” 11 And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all the young men here?” Then he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him. For we will not sit down till he comes here.” 12 So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with bright eyes, and good-looking. And the LORD said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah.

Just like the deliverance for Israel came in an unexpected way through a shepherd boy who thereafter slew Goliath

So the promise of the messiah came in an unexpected way.

Every time the Jews were oppressed by a foreign power in the past God would raise up a deliver who would fight the oppressors and put them to flight

But when the ultimate Messiah came, He came to deliver them in a completely different way than they expected

He came to deliver them from their sins, not the Romans

So the promise doesn’t always look the way we think or expect it should

Finally there is a sober warning in the text

Esau is an example here of a man who would not wait for the promise but rather profaned the promise by prioritizing immediate satisfaction over the greater fulfillment which would’ve come later

The birthright in this case was more than just a double inheritance he was abdicating his position as the recipient of the covenant promises

He failed to see the value of anything beyond the natural

Therefore he became an archetype of the carnal man, the natural man

He demonstrated a willingness to sacrifice something enduring for something immediately satisfying

The spiritual for the carnal, he profaned the promise

To profane something is to treat it like it is common and not holy

[Heb 12:14-17 NKJV] – 14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: 15 looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; 16 lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. 17 For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.

This is a warning for us because if we lose sight of the promise and cast longing eyes on this world and covet the things of this world we are at risk of emulating Esau

And really all of us have behaved like Esau at one time or another

We have deliberately chosen sin in a moment to satisfy the flesh at the risk and jeopardy of drastic spiritual damage

This was a problem even in the early church Paul writes in Phillipians

[Phl 3:18-19 NKJV] – 18 For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame–who set their mind on earthly things.

If our loyalty is to this world and to satisfying our earthly, sinful cravings to appease the flesh, to let it rule unopposed, then we might end up unrepentant apostates

abandoning the promise altogether and isolating ourselves from the grace of God and His covenant people

So don’t be like Esau. This world, these temporary pleasures, are not worth selling our birthright and inheritance for

So remain in Christ, in expectant faith, repenting and believing and you will be part of God’s covenant people and all these promises will apply to you

And just as God was faithful with Abraham and Isaac he will be with you also

**[Heb 10:23 NKJV] **– 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

Let’s pray