An Exegetical Examination of Genesis 21:1-7

8/13/2019 An Exegetical Examination of Genesis 21:1-7

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James BrowningDr. CurtisExegesis in Genesis

An Exegetical Examination of Genesis 21:1-7The purpose of this paper is exegetically examine Genesis 21:1-7. The passage in

question contains the story of the birth of Isaac. This story is the culmination of Gods long

delayed promise to Abraham and Sarah of having a child. This is the shortest passage that we

have discussed in class but one of the most pregnant theologically (pun intended). And while this

paper will mainly focus on the inherent importance and purpose for this passage, the events of

Genesis 21 reverberate throughout the rest of the Bible with dramatic results in the New

Testament when the rite of circumcision effectively comes to an end physically but transforms to

a spiritual picture of Gods redemptive work through Jesus Christ, another miraculous birth.

I hope to show that the main idea of Genesis 21:1-7 is that God is control and his

faithfulness and love is worth trusting and obeying no matter how long or delayed they may seem

to be in coming. Abraham and Sarah were obedient from their first calling through until the

moment that Gods promise was finally born. The birth of Isaac is God beginning to initiate the

covenant that he had made with Abraham, beginning to initiate the kingdom that he had

promised, a kingdom through which the whole world would be blessed.

We will look at how Sarah reacted to the promise and the way that it is contrasted with

Abrahams ability to visualize Gods promise. While this promise is explicitly to Abraham it does

have repercussions for the world today including us. I believe that events such the birth of Isaac

are illustrative of the progressive way that God works; the seeming fulfillment of a promise that is

fundamentally a beginning rather than an ending, it is the inauguration of a much larger journey

rather than just the end.

Events Surrounding The Birth

Abraham is famous for his faith, for obediently following God and leaving his father and


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family in order to go to place that God would tell him. God commands Abram in Genesis 12:1-3

to go forth and that God would make a great nation of him. He promised to make Abram a

blessing and to bless those who bless him and to curse those who curse him. Abram obey God,

packed up his wife and nephew and left immediately for the land of Canaan where God showed

him the land that he would give him. This is the exciting beginning of Abrams journey of faith. It is

often easy and thrilling to obey in the beginning. A soldier may be excited about first going off to

battle, but the war is won over time and through hardships.

Abrams journey continued through Genesis 15 when, in receiving a vision from God,

Abram asked God when his son would be born. God reassured him again, promising that his

descendents would be like the stars in the heavens. Abram believed and it was counted to him

as righteousness. This reassurance and belief are crucial to the understanding of Genesis 21.

Abrams faith in God guides his thoughts, plans, and actions for the rest of his life. Gods vivid

description of the future enabled Abram to conceptualize the reality of Gods promise. But even

Abram, in all of his faith and intimacy with God did not comprehend or understand the fullness of

Gods long term plan. Abram being made of flesh was still more concerned about the physical

and practical implications of Gods promise. That is why in Genesis 15, God explains the details

of what is going to happen: Abrams unborn descendants would be slaves in Egypt for 400

years. Egypt would then be judged and the people of Abram would come back to retake the land

that was being promised to Abram.

God had to be very specific with Abram to assuage his doubts in the fulfillment of the

promise. This was Abrams Thomas moment when he needed some physical reassurance

that what God had promised would come to pass. But Abrams Jacob moment would come in

the very next chapter in Genesis 16. Sarai, unable to understand how God could keep his

promise through her elderly womb, offered her servant Hagar to Abram in order to father an heir.


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Her reasoning was not totally different at all from the way that I often reason as well. She

believed that since God had closed her womb, he had something else in mind. If God closes one

door he opens another, and in this case, Sarai thought that maybe that other door was Hagar.

This is an instance of something that seems like such a good idea before hand, but which is

immediately proved to be a very bad thing. Sarai and Abrams concern for how Gods promise

was going to come to pass led them to try to fulfill it themselves.

Genesis 17 is yet another reiteration of the covenant between Abram and God. But this

time, God provides a physical sign of the covenant, the rite of circumcision. Now God is also

changing their names and Abraham laughs at the thought of a 100 year old man fathering a child.

The rite of circumcision is immediately carried out by Abraham, his family, and each one of his

servants. This physical sign is given by God to help Abraham understand that God is going to

keep his promise. It has been nearly 25 years at this point and Abraham has left everything for

God and is still waiting. But Abraham immediately goes home to circumcise his entire

household.

The Fulfillment of the Promise

When we finally reach chapter 21 of Genesis, Isaac is finally born. The account of the

birth is surprisingly short, especially in comparison to the previous reiterations of the promise. It

almost seems anticlimactic compared to the amount of suspense that has been building over

the past 10 chapters. Even the pregnancy and birth of Ishmael is covered more extensively than

Isaacs nativity. I believe that this is done intentionally. The birth in and of itself isnt the

completion of Gods promise. It is the beginning, the inauguration. The birth of Christ is covered

in Luke 2 and hardly even mentioned elsewhere in the Gospels because it is Christ life and death

that are the most important part of his work. It is Isaacs life and descendents that are the

important part. Isaacs birth is really and fundamentally the true beginning of Abrahams journey,


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that they might remember what he had done, and what he had said. It is important for Abraham

to remember all of Gods promise, not just the first birth of his descendants, but all of Gods

promise. And a reminder to Moses readers that the land that they were journeying to, had been a

part of that very promise that led to Isaac. The existence of the Israelites is another part of that

promise. God had said that they would number as the stars, that they would serve as slaves for

400 years. Now, they are a large nation, exiting slavery to claim the land that had been promised,

every single one of them a child of Isaac and Abraham.

The Naming of Isaac

Isaacs name is both obedience to Gods command and another example of an

intentional reminder. There are three reasons for Isaacs name. The first of those reasons is

simple obedience. In Genesis 17:19 God clearly commands Abraham to name their son Isaac.

So often in parenting and other life endeavors, we wish that someone would just tell us what to

do. Here, the decision of what to name Isaac is easy, simply a matter of saying yes, Lord.

Abraham in his gratitude for a son would have been happy to name him anything that God had

asked. While the task of offering Isaac in the next chapter required a herculean effort of

obedience, naming him according to the wishes of the One who gave Isaac to Abraham was a

delight.

It is interesting to note that Isaac is the only of the patriarchs that didnt have his name

changed at a later time by God. He is also the only of the patriarchs to have his name given

before birth.

This brings up the second reason for Abraham to name his son Isaac, this obedience to

God in the naming of Isaac is itself a recognition of where Isaac came from. To obey God is to

recognize his authority. Abraham was very much convinced of Gods authority. Authority comes

from a persons ability to back up what they say. God had made several promises to Abraham


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and many times there was a correlating command. God promised a land to Abraham, and

commanded him to go. God promised a son to Abraham and commanded him to name him

Isaac. God clearly has the right to name what he has given. The fact that he has given Isaac,

especially when it was so seemingly impossible, proves Gods authority to give the name.

Abraham had tried to take matters into his own hand with Hagar. He did not have the power to

father the child of promise, or through his own wife. So he did not have the authority to name the

child except that authority be delegated to him by God. Genesis 21s account of the birth of Isaac

is the beginning of one end of the obedience spectrum and the command to sacrifice Isaac is at

the other end. Moses wants the reader to know that Abraham was obedient in both the big and

the little things, in the naming of his child and in the sacrifice of his child.

The birth of any child is universally recognized as a beginning. The birth of Isaac is not

just the beginning of the life of Isaac or the beginning of Abrahams new family, it is also the

beginning of a nation, and most importantly, it is really the beginning of the fulfillment of Gods

promise not the conclusion. Like so many of the other symbols and rituals given to Abraham to

follow in order to help him understand and make more concrete the spiritual implications of

Gods promise, the birth of Isaac, the seed of a nation, is the beginning of an earth shattering

promise. Louder than any first shot of a war, the birth of Isaac is the beginning of the end of all

wars, though implication of the promise is still in the coming. Being a forgetful and doubting

people we so often need that physical sign of the promise. For Abraham and Sarah that sign

was Isaac, he was the constant reminder that the promise had started happening.

Finally it is important to note that Isaacs hebrew name ( is a play on the word for (

laughter ( ). Both Abraham and Sarah laughed at the idea of giving birth to a child so late in

life. The naming was given in Genesis 17 when God promised the child to Abraham again and

Abraham fell on his face laughing, thinking to himself that it was funny that such an old man


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would have been a mark on his record and the blame would have been put on Sarah. It also

seems that this was certainly a point of insecurity for Sarah. What other reason could she give to

offer up her handmaid? It is also the most likely explanation for the animosity that occurs

between Sarah and Hagar, when Hagar conceives. And finally it is the explanation for the way

that Sarah reacted to the seeming innocent laughter of Ishmael. At least a portion of Sarahs

perceived self worth and value was wrapped up in the physical birth of Isaac and in this way the

birth of Isaac was also the birth of legalism. Sarah was the first to trust in the physical rites more

than the promise and the first to be distracted from the truth behind the sign. This isnt to

presume that Sarah was wholly given to legalism and completely without faith. She, like most of

us, probably struggled with faith and doubt. She isnt the first godly woman to struggle with

self-worth and insecurity and she was not the last.

This is also evidence of the different ways that Abraham and Sarah perceived Gods

promise. They had different degrees of being able to grasp the abstract nature of the blessing

contained in the promise. Abraham was able to immediately go on the promise of being shown

where to go, he was able to take his son to the mountain to offer him as sacrifice. But even

Abraham needed to be shown physical things such as the stars to understand the abstract

nature. Sarah had an even harder time visualizing what exactly it was that God was promising.

That is why she laughed to herself when she heard Abraham discussing the birth of Isaac with

the three strangers. It is also why she was so startled and afraid when they called her out for her

laughter. She had not understood what Abraham did, that these three strangers were more than

what they physically appeared to be.

The Seal of Circumcision

After the naming of Isaac, the second act of obedience that occurs in this passage is the

circumcision. Abraham had already initially performed the rite of circumcision on himself and the


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rest of his household when God first gave him the command. But this is the first instance since

that command that scripture records the birth of someone else in Abrahams family and the first

instance of someone being circumcised on the 8th day as God had commanded. This is

Abrahams own sign and acceptance of his side of the covenant and the first step in Abrahams

journey of faith and obedience now that this covenant had been initiated. Isaac was the first of

countless generations of Abrahams descendants who have been circumcised continuing on

through the birth of the messiah a millenium later.

Thus the faith of Abraham is so great that it continues on in his death and is passed on

until it is fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Christ. That is why Paul describes the believers

as those who have been circumcised in their hearts, cutting off the flesh. Just as Christ is the

new Adam, the gateway for righteousness to be passed on to all, Christ is also the last Isaac,

the completer of the rite of circumcision. Thus, Isaac is also a physical picture of the spiritual

circumcision that occurs in salvation.

Application

There is much to draw from this passage, it is rich on so many levels that it has been

revisited by Abrahams descendants and Christians alike for thousands of years. Fundamentally

it is a sign of Gods promise. And while God hasnt promised to make a nation of all of us, he

does keep all of his promises, those that were made to Abraham and those that were made to

me. That same faithful God who was big enough to keep the promise of allowing a couple so old

to give birth is able to keep his promises to me. He is faithful, but he is faithful in his own time. A

promise is given, but sometimes it may take 20 years, or longer, or less.

This passage is also a lesson of obedience. Abraham was a faithful servant, faithful in

trust and belief. And faithful in obeying the Lord in naming Isaac and circumcising him on the 8th

day. This is the same idea contained in Jesus sermon on the vine and the branches in John 15:


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If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Fathers

commands and remain in his love. This is an example of Abraham abiding in Gods commands

and remaining in his love. Isaac is the physical manifestation of Gods love.

But finally, this is a story of hope in the future. Abraham and Sarah had followed God for

twenty long years. Sarah had probably even given up hope of having a child. But God loved them

so much that he offered them hope. God offered them something so big and so wonderful it

could only come from God and it could only be named laughter for the sheer delight that it would

bring. God even used that baby to bring his plan of hope to the whole world.

My wife is pregnant with our first child. This past summer we had a miscarriage and so

my wife, Hannah, has been a little nervous during this pregnancy. This week she went in for an

ultrasound and the doctors found that the baby has anencephaly, a type of spina bifida. It means

that the baby has not developed a skull or even skin on the top of its head. While parts of the

brain may never develop there is enough there so that our baby will probably continue to develop

until birth. But our baby will die at birth. It has been a very sad week for us, knowing that our

unborn baby only has 6 months to live. We cant even hold our baby during these last months.

My wifes pregnancy will continue to go on, her belly will continue to get bigger, shell feel our

baby kicking, and everyone who sees her will ask her when the baby is due and whether it will be

a boy or a girl. Then, on the day of our childs birth, it will be born, undeveloped brain exposed,

and will only live anywhere from a matter of seconds to a couple of days.

It isnt my desire to add New Testament theology to this passage in Genesis. But I am

attempting to apply the principles and lessons that are common between the two.

The story of Isaac is not a promise from God that our child will be healed, or even that well ever

have a baby. But it is a lesson that God loves us, he loves our baby, and that he offers us the

hope of an eternal life. God gave Isaac to Abraham and Sarah, he gave them laughter, so that


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through Isaac and his descendants God might give us all his own son, his own child, who would

come as a baby, which we remember this time of the year. I know the joy and laughter that

Abraham and Sarah felt when she became pregnant. I also know what it felt like when God

asked Abraham to offer up his sons life. Abraham could do it because he had the hope of the

resurrection. The same hope in the promise that God would provide an heir and that heir would

be Isaac. I have a hope in Gods promise of resurrection, hope that God does love the world, and

I have the sign that Abraham had in a birth. Not in the birth of Isaac, but in the birth of Christ.

Bibliography

1. John Calvin, Calvins Commentaries (Complete) (trans. John King; Accordance

electronic ed. Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1847), n.p.

2. Derek Kidner, Genesis: An Introduction and Commentary (TOTC 1; IVP/Accordance

electronic ed. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1967), 150.

3. John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, eds., The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old

Testament (Accordance electronic ed. Wheaton: Victor Books, 1985), n.p.

4. New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition (ed. D. A Carson et al.; Accordance

electronic ed. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1994), 74.

5. Ross, Allen P.: Creation and Blessing: A Guide To The Study And Exposition Of Genesis,

Grand Rapids, MI, Baker Academic 1993

An Exegetical Examination of Genesis 21:1-7

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