창세기 Chapter 21

Translation: ESV

1

The LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as he had promised.

Key Message

God's promises are fulfilled exactly as He has spoken; the birth of Isaac is the evidence of God's faithfulness.

▸'As he had said' is repeated twice, emphasizing the perfect correspondence between God's promise and its fulfillment.

'As he had said' is repeated twice, emphasizing the perfect correspondence between God's promise and its fulfillment. What was promised in Genesis 17:21 and 18:14 is now accomplished. The first declaration of Isaac's birth is that God's word does not change and will certainly be fulfilled.

Related Verses

God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
2

And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him.

Key Message

God's promises are fulfilled at God's precise timing; a person's age and limitations are no obstacle to God's promise.

▸'At the time of which God had spoken' emphasizes that Isaac's birth occurred at precisely God's appointed moment.

3

Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac.

Key Message

The name Isaac commemorates the joyful fulfillment of God's promise and remembers how laughter of disbelief was transformed into laughter of joy.

▸The name 'Isaac' (Yitzhaq, 'he laughs'), already given by God in Genesis 17:19, is now formally bestowed by Abraham.

4

And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.

Key Message

Even the child of promise must receive the sign of the covenant; exact obedience to God's command is the expression of faith.

▸Isaac is circumcised on the eighth day.

5

Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

Key Message

The age of 100 emphasizes God's miracle that completely transcended human limits; faith does not waver even in impossible reality.

▸The chronological record that Abraham was exactly 100 years old when Isaac was born simultaneously emphasizes both the historicity and the miraculous nature of this event.

6

And Sarah said, 'God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.'

Key Message

God transforms our laughter of disbelief into laughter of joy; the joy God gives must be shared with the world.

▸This is Sarah's song of joy.

7

And she said, 'Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.'

Key Message

God's miracles are complete; when they occur in ways no one could anticipate, the glory of God is revealed all the more.

▸Sarah's wonder continues.

8

And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.

Key Message

The growth of a child God has given should be commemorated with a feast; offering every milestone of life to God in gratitude is faith.

▸A great feast is held on the day Isaac is weaned.

9

But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing.

Key Message

The child of promise experiences persecution from those like Ishmael who are born according to the flesh; this is a foreshadowing of spiritual conflict.

▸The word 'laughing (metzacheq)' used for Ishmael shares the same root as Isaac's name (Yitzhaq).

10

So she said to Abraham, 'Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.'

Key Message

The child of promise and the child of the flesh cannot together inherit; grace and law do not coexist.

▸Sarah's demand is resolute.

11

And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son.

Key Message

People of faith also experience human suffering; God knows that suffering and comforts them.

▸Abraham is greatly distressed because of Ishmael.

12

But God said to Abraham, 'Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for through Isaac shall your offspring be named.'

Key Message

God's covenant purpose is clear; sometimes God's will is delivered through another person's words.

▸God responds to Abraham's distress.

13

And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring.

Key Message

God's concern and promise extend even to those outside the covenant lineage; all people are within God's care.

▸God confirms that Ishmael is also Abraham's offspring and promises to make him into a nation.

14

So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.

Key Message

Even when obedience is painful, Abraham obeyed in the early morning; God does not ignore those who are in that suffering.

▸Abraham rises early in the morning and sends Hagar and Ishmael away.

17

And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, 'What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.'

Key Message

God hears even the voice of the one abandoned in the wilderness; Ishmael's name becomes reality. God hears our cries.

▸Ishmael's name means 'God hears,' and God actually hears Ishmael's voice — the meaning of the name becomes reality in his life.

19

Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

Key Message

God's provision is also about opening eyes to see what is already there, not only creating new things.

▸The expression 'God opened her eyes' means that God enabled her to see what she could not see before.

20

And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow.

Key Message

God is with even those outside the covenant; when God is present, a person grows strong even in a difficult environment.

▸'God was with the boy' is the secret of Ishmael's growth.

33

Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God.

Key Message

Worshiping the Everlasting God is central to the journey of faith; God's eternality is the foundation of our changing lives.

▸Abraham plants a tree in Beersheba and worships 'the Everlasting God (El Olam).

34

And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines.

Key Message

The journey of faith includes times of waiting and dwelling; God is with us even in peaceful times.

▸Chapter 21 concludes with the record that Abraham spent a long time in Philistine territory.