This is Spoken Gospel.

We’re dedicated to seeing
Jesus in all of scripture.

In each episode, we see
what’s happening in a Biblical text

and how it sheds light
on Jesus and his gospel.

Let’s jump in.

God provides.

In the most strange, unbelievable,
and dire circumstances, God provides.

The stories in this
passage are bookended

with Abraham’s dealings
with a king called Abimelech.

Abraham tells the people of Abimelech’s
land that his wife Sarah is actually his sister.

And he does this in hopes that they will
treat him well on account of Sarah’s beauty.

So, God does not allow the king to
touch Sarah for one simple reason:

God was protecting
Abraham’s family line.

His nation would not be great
because it came from a king.

His nation would be great
because God was with them.

In the next story, Abraham’s long-
expected son, Isaac, is finally born.

Even in their old age, God provided
in the most unbelievable circumstances.

At a feast celebrating Isaac,
Sarah sees Hagar, the slave

with whom Abraham bore
Ishmael, and she’s laughing.

In another fit of jealousy,
Sarah kicks her out of their estate.

Banished in the wilderness
and on the verge of

watching her young child, Ishmael,
die, Hagar cries out in desperation.

God hears her and responds.

He provides them with water and sees to it
that Ishmael grows up, gets married, and multiplies

into a great nation just
as God had promised her.

In the most dire circumstances, because of
God’s love for Abraham, he provides a way

to turn a slave woman
into the matriarch of a nation.

As Abraham was protected
by claiming Sarah as his sister,

we are protected by
claiming Jesus as our brother.

God kept king Abimelech from sinning to
protect Sarah, Abraham, and his descendants.

Conversely, God did not
keep the rulers of Jesus’ day

from carrying out their sin
upon him in his crucifixion.

God’s chosen people were
preserved in Abraham’s protection

but were purchased
in Jesus’ crucifixion.

God came through on
his promise at Isaac’s birth.

In Jesus, he also came through on his
promise of a final descendant of Abraham.

The birth of Jesus proves that
God is faithful to his promises.

When Jesus was born, not only were
Abraham and Sarah’s hopes finally met, but

the pregnant hopes of the entire Old
Testament were satisfied as well.

God saved and provided for Hagar and Ishmael
on account of his commitment to Abraham,

even though they were
outside his covenant people.

God also saves and provides for us on
account of his commitment to Jesus.

Even if we are outside
of his covenant people,

God brings us in because
Jesus has made away.

I pray that the Holy Spirit would open your
eyes to see the God who provides everything

needed to accomplish his plans and promises,
and that you would see Jesus as the one who

ultimately provides for all of
those hopes and promises as well.