14. FULFILLMENT OF THE PROMISE |
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Has anyone ever made a promise to you and they didn't keep it? Older people tell us about a time when you could trust people more. If they shook hands over a deal then you knew that their word was good. They would keep their promise. But in our day, that type of agreement seems dead. Have you ever given money to a friend or relative only to have them not pay you back? Or maybe someone promised to buy something from you, but after finding a better price they never returned. There is so much lying, backstabbing, and thievery in this world that we wonder if we can trust anyone. And that brings us to the main point of this lesson. During our brief life on this planet, whom can we trust? Who keeps their promises without fail? Lets start by reading a story about a man who kept his promise even though he could have saved a lot of money.
There once was a factory owner named Sezgin Bey. His factory made furniture like hide-away sofas and chairs (cekyat). There was a lot of machinery in the factory that ran on electricity. One day there was a problem with the electrical system and some of the equipment shut down temporarily. Eventually it came back on, but after that day sometimes it would work and sometimes it wouldn’t. Sezgin Bey said,
“I will look into the problem myself, everyone else get back to work as they are able.”
So everyone went back to work and Sezgin called a friend of his in the construction business.
“I’ve got a problem at the factory and I need a good electrician, an honest man that won’t cheat me. I don’t know anything about electricity and the electrician could easily deceive me.”
His friend made a recommendation, Sezgin Bey called the electrician and he came to the factory. After the electrician made his inspection, he reported to Sezgin Bey.
“You’ve got some wires in the transformers that are burned and very thin. When the machines are working the hardest that point in the system gets very hot and the breakers trip. After the system cools down you can reset the breakers, but the same thing will continue to happen. I will need to shut down the whole system and replace those wires. It will take quite a bit of time. It would be best for me to do it on Sunday when the factory is closed or at night.”
Sezgin Bey believed that the electrician was telling the truth. They negotiated a price. “You’ve got the job,” Sezgin said. The electrician would begin that night after the factory closed down.
Sezgin Bey didn’t know it, but his factory manager Mustafa also called an electrician. He wanted to impress his boss with his ability to manage the situation and so he called someone he knew. This electrician also did an inspection and accompanied by Mustafa he came to Sezgin Bey with a report.
“Sezgin Bey, if you have a few minutes, I have made an arrangement with this electrician and we have located the problem. It will require rewiring in the transformer after work shuts down today. But this electrician can do the job and I have negotiated a price for it” Mustafa said.
Sezgin Bey wanted to be careful here. He knew he had a good employee in Mustafa and he didn’t want to crush his desire to be a proactive, problem solver.
“Mustafa, I am glad you took the effort to find a solution to this problem. I am sure that the electrician you have made arrangements with is a good man. Unfortunately I have already made an arrangement with another electrician.”
Mustafa said,
“Well, we could call the other electrician and tell him not to come, we could say that we didn’t need his help after all.”
Sezgin Bey looked thoughtfully at Mustafa and said,
“I am afraid that is not possible. I have given my word.”
Mustafa still was trying to make his efforts work out.
“Well I am sure that this electrician can do the job as well as the other one and he is here and the other electrician will have to make another trip. Let's compare prices."
They compared prices and Mustafa's electrician was 200 lira cheaper.
"Look, my electrician is even cheaper!"
“That is true Mustafa but there is one problem.”
“What is that?” Mustafa asked fearing what it was that he did not know about.
“I have promised the work to another and I will keep my promise. By using the electrician that I have hired I am not saying that the one you selected is inferior. He may be, he may not be inferior. But I have made a promise and I will keep my word.”
Those last words were stinging but it meant that the discussion was over. The boss had made his decision and that was the way it was going to be. Sezgin Bey had made a promise and he had every intention of keeping it. Even if it meant spending more money and turning another man away.
In previous lessons, we have looked at a very important promise that God made. And as we will see, he had every intention to keep it. He promised Abraham a child and through this child Abraham's descendants would not only become innumerable, but the whole world would be blessed. Do you remember what happened as Abraham grew older and the promise was not realized? Sarah convinced Abraham to have a child with her servant Hagar. But was that really what God meant when He promised to give Abraham a son? The obvious answer is no, because we saw in the last lesson that God wanted the child to come from Sarah. But what would happen to the son that Abraham already had and why would God not bless the world through him? Lets find out by reading the Bible starting in Genesis chapter 21 verses 1-11:
1 And the LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had spoken. 2 For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. 3 And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him -- whom Sarah bore to him -- Isaac. 4 Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5 Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 And Sarah said, "God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me." 7 She also said, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age." 8 So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned. 9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing. 10 Therefore she said to Abraham, "Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac." 11 And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham's sight because of his son.
At a time when Abraham should have been celebrating and enjoying the birth of his second son, he found himself in terrible situation. He was dealing with two angry and jealous women. Do you remember how this happened? By trying to realize God’s promise without his blessing and through human effort. What seemed like a good idea at the time, turned out to be a source of stress for all involved. Abraham and Sarah's mistake of breaking the marriage bond to have a child with Hagar had brought bitterness and jealousy into the home. Now there home was anything but happy and Abraham had the unpleasant task of mediating between the two women. But even worse, Abraham was asked to cast out Hagar and his son Ishmael. A boy, who Abraham loved, had taught and invested everything in. He was a teenager now and if Abraham died, he would be in charge. Although there is no written record of this, it is easy to think that Abraham called out to God and said,
"What has come upon me? Surely You have a better solution than Sarah's to this problem that is plaguing my household. I know you told me that the covenant would continue with Isaac and that Ishmael would become a great nation. But must I cast out my son Ishmael to never see him again?"
As hard as it is to imagine, we can learn a great lesson from this story. We can never obtain by work what God says He will give by promise. Lets continue by reading verses 12 and 13:
12 But God said to Abraham, "Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called. 13 "Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed."
God comforted Abraham and reminded him that the covenant would be passed on to Isaac. But what did God mean when He said, "in Isaac your seed shall be called." Did that mean that God did not consider Ishmael Abraham’s son? Definitely not! God made it very clear that Ishmael was the son of Abraham and that he would also become a great nation. When Sezgin Bey didn't use Mustafa's electrician did it make him any less of an electrician? Of course not! Well the same thing is happening here. Ishmael would always be Abraham's son and God said that He would bless him. God is simply choosing to use Isaac just as he chose to use Noah and Abraham in their days.
So what did God mean when He said:
"In Isaac your seed shall be called" and "in your seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”
Abraham and Sarah received Isaac through faith by believing God's promise. God had promised a child to them when it was physically impossible for Sarah to have a child because she was old. Isaac came into the world by way of a miracle. It was nothing that Abraham and Sarah could boast about. Therefore Isaac can be considered a symbol of faith. Could it be that the ones who accept God's promises by faith just as Abraham did are considered the real children of Abraham? Perhaps, there is a message here that focuses more on a spiritual aspect of lineage instead of the physical. Is that what it means to be a child of Abraham and is that how the world can be blessed? Why would God choose to do it this way? Well, although there are answers to these questions, we won't find them in this story. But God is the boss and that is the way it is. He made a promise to Abraham and He will keep His word. Let's finish by reading verses 14-21:
14 So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and sent her away. Then she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba. 15 And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs. 16 Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot; for she said to herself, "Let me not see the death of the boy." So she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept. 17 And God heard the voice of the lad. Then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, "What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. 18 "Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation." 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 lad a drink. 20 So God was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. 21 He dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran; and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
God kept his promises! Abraham and Sarah had a son, God protected Ishmael, and now Abraham would be the father of two nations. One coming from Ishmael and the other from Isaac. In a world where promises are constantly broken, we can believe and know that God will keep His!
There once was a young man named Cemal who fell in love with an attractive girl named Nurhan. In time he won Nurhan’s love and she desired to marry him. She made her decision just before he was scheduled to go to his military service. There was no time to make wedding arrangements or anything. Cemal said to Nurhan,
“When I come back I want to marry you.”
“I will wait for you” Nurhan promised.
“But you are beautiful and you come from a good family. When I am gone, many attractive men will come and desire to marry you. Will you wait for me?” asked Cemal.
“I will wait,” she said.
For Cemal it seemed like an eternity waiting for his military service to be done. Would Nurhan keep her promise to wait for him? He knew what a special woman she was. Just as the young soldier predicted, many young men came around to try to win Nurhan’s heart.
But in each case she said,
“I have promised myself to another.”
While they did not have a formal engagement together, Nurhan kept her word to Cemal. At last he came and they were married. It took a long time for the promises to be fulfilled. But it was worth the wait.
The power of a kept promise is immeasurable. It is even more powerful when the promise comes from God. God made a promise to Abraham and Sarah that they would have a child in their old age. Even though it was scientifically impossible, God worked a miracle. But before God fulfilled the promise, they thought they could make it come true by their own efforts. But human effort will never accomplish what only God can and he will do it in His own time. If we can be patient and allow God to work, we can be sure that great blessings will come. Just as Cemal and Nurhan were blessed by waiting, Abraham and Sarah were blessed when God's promise was fulfilled. But the best part was still to come!
Questions for Discussion:
1) In an uncertain world where it seems no one keeps his or her word, do you think you can trust God to keep His word? Why?
2) Do you think patiently waiting for God’s promises can play a role in changing your fate?
3) Why do you think God waited so long to keep His promise to give a child to Sarah and Abraham?
4) Why did God agree with Sarah that Hagar must leave?
5) Can you think of a time when your were chosen to do something that others were perfectly capable of doing? Why do you think you were chosen?
There once was a factory owner named Sezgin Bey. His factory made furniture like hide-away sofas and chairs (cekyat). There was a lot of machinery in the factory that ran on electricity. One day there was a problem with the electrical system and some of the equipment shut down temporarily. Eventually it came back on, but after that day sometimes it would work and sometimes it wouldn’t. Sezgin Bey said,
“I will look into the problem myself, everyone else get back to work as they are able.”
So everyone went back to work and Sezgin called a friend of his in the construction business.
“I’ve got a problem at the factory and I need a good electrician, an honest man that won’t cheat me. I don’t know anything about electricity and the electrician could easily deceive me.”
His friend made a recommendation, Sezgin Bey called the electrician and he came to the factory. After the electrician made his inspection, he reported to Sezgin Bey.
“You’ve got some wires in the transformers that are burned and very thin. When the machines are working the hardest that point in the system gets very hot and the breakers trip. After the system cools down you can reset the breakers, but the same thing will continue to happen. I will need to shut down the whole system and replace those wires. It will take quite a bit of time. It would be best for me to do it on Sunday when the factory is closed or at night.”
Sezgin Bey believed that the electrician was telling the truth. They negotiated a price. “You’ve got the job,” Sezgin said. The electrician would begin that night after the factory closed down.
Sezgin Bey didn’t know it, but his factory manager Mustafa also called an electrician. He wanted to impress his boss with his ability to manage the situation and so he called someone he knew. This electrician also did an inspection and accompanied by Mustafa he came to Sezgin Bey with a report.
“Sezgin Bey, if you have a few minutes, I have made an arrangement with this electrician and we have located the problem. It will require rewiring in the transformer after work shuts down today. But this electrician can do the job and I have negotiated a price for it” Mustafa said.
Sezgin Bey wanted to be careful here. He knew he had a good employee in Mustafa and he didn’t want to crush his desire to be a proactive, problem solver.
“Mustafa, I am glad you took the effort to find a solution to this problem. I am sure that the electrician you have made arrangements with is a good man. Unfortunately I have already made an arrangement with another electrician.”
Mustafa said,
“Well, we could call the other electrician and tell him not to come, we could say that we didn’t need his help after all.”
Sezgin Bey looked thoughtfully at Mustafa and said,
“I am afraid that is not possible. I have given my word.”
Mustafa still was trying to make his efforts work out.
“Well I am sure that this electrician can do the job as well as the other one and he is here and the other electrician will have to make another trip. Let's compare prices."
They compared prices and Mustafa's electrician was 200 lira cheaper.
"Look, my electrician is even cheaper!"
“That is true Mustafa but there is one problem.”
“What is that?” Mustafa asked fearing what it was that he did not know about.
“I have promised the work to another and I will keep my promise. By using the electrician that I have hired I am not saying that the one you selected is inferior. He may be, he may not be inferior. But I have made a promise and I will keep my word.”
Those last words were stinging but it meant that the discussion was over. The boss had made his decision and that was the way it was going to be. Sezgin Bey had made a promise and he had every intention of keeping it. Even if it meant spending more money and turning another man away.
In previous lessons, we have looked at a very important promise that God made. And as we will see, he had every intention to keep it. He promised Abraham a child and through this child Abraham's descendants would not only become innumerable, but the whole world would be blessed. Do you remember what happened as Abraham grew older and the promise was not realized? Sarah convinced Abraham to have a child with her servant Hagar. But was that really what God meant when He promised to give Abraham a son? The obvious answer is no, because we saw in the last lesson that God wanted the child to come from Sarah. But what would happen to the son that Abraham already had and why would God not bless the world through him? Lets find out by reading the Bible starting in Genesis chapter 21 verses 1-11:
1 And the LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had spoken. 2 For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. 3 And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him -- whom Sarah bore to him -- Isaac. 4 Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5 Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 And Sarah said, "God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me." 7 She also said, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age." 8 So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned. 9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing. 10 Therefore she said to Abraham, "Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac." 11 And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham's sight because of his son.
At a time when Abraham should have been celebrating and enjoying the birth of his second son, he found himself in terrible situation. He was dealing with two angry and jealous women. Do you remember how this happened? By trying to realize God’s promise without his blessing and through human effort. What seemed like a good idea at the time, turned out to be a source of stress for all involved. Abraham and Sarah's mistake of breaking the marriage bond to have a child with Hagar had brought bitterness and jealousy into the home. Now there home was anything but happy and Abraham had the unpleasant task of mediating between the two women. But even worse, Abraham was asked to cast out Hagar and his son Ishmael. A boy, who Abraham loved, had taught and invested everything in. He was a teenager now and if Abraham died, he would be in charge. Although there is no written record of this, it is easy to think that Abraham called out to God and said,
"What has come upon me? Surely You have a better solution than Sarah's to this problem that is plaguing my household. I know you told me that the covenant would continue with Isaac and that Ishmael would become a great nation. But must I cast out my son Ishmael to never see him again?"
As hard as it is to imagine, we can learn a great lesson from this story. We can never obtain by work what God says He will give by promise. Lets continue by reading verses 12 and 13:
12 But God said to Abraham, "Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called. 13 "Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed."
God comforted Abraham and reminded him that the covenant would be passed on to Isaac. But what did God mean when He said, "in Isaac your seed shall be called." Did that mean that God did not consider Ishmael Abraham’s son? Definitely not! God made it very clear that Ishmael was the son of Abraham and that he would also become a great nation. When Sezgin Bey didn't use Mustafa's electrician did it make him any less of an electrician? Of course not! Well the same thing is happening here. Ishmael would always be Abraham's son and God said that He would bless him. God is simply choosing to use Isaac just as he chose to use Noah and Abraham in their days.
So what did God mean when He said:
"In Isaac your seed shall be called" and "in your seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”
Abraham and Sarah received Isaac through faith by believing God's promise. God had promised a child to them when it was physically impossible for Sarah to have a child because she was old. Isaac came into the world by way of a miracle. It was nothing that Abraham and Sarah could boast about. Therefore Isaac can be considered a symbol of faith. Could it be that the ones who accept God's promises by faith just as Abraham did are considered the real children of Abraham? Perhaps, there is a message here that focuses more on a spiritual aspect of lineage instead of the physical. Is that what it means to be a child of Abraham and is that how the world can be blessed? Why would God choose to do it this way? Well, although there are answers to these questions, we won't find them in this story. But God is the boss and that is the way it is. He made a promise to Abraham and He will keep His word. Let's finish by reading verses 14-21:
14 So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and sent her away. Then she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba. 15 And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs. 16 Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot; for she said to herself, "Let me not see the death of the boy." So she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept. 17 And God heard the voice of the lad. Then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, "What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. 18 "Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation." 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 lad a drink. 20 So God was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. 21 He dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran; and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
God kept his promises! Abraham and Sarah had a son, God protected Ishmael, and now Abraham would be the father of two nations. One coming from Ishmael and the other from Isaac. In a world where promises are constantly broken, we can believe and know that God will keep His!
There once was a young man named Cemal who fell in love with an attractive girl named Nurhan. In time he won Nurhan’s love and she desired to marry him. She made her decision just before he was scheduled to go to his military service. There was no time to make wedding arrangements or anything. Cemal said to Nurhan,
“When I come back I want to marry you.”
“I will wait for you” Nurhan promised.
“But you are beautiful and you come from a good family. When I am gone, many attractive men will come and desire to marry you. Will you wait for me?” asked Cemal.
“I will wait,” she said.
For Cemal it seemed like an eternity waiting for his military service to be done. Would Nurhan keep her promise to wait for him? He knew what a special woman she was. Just as the young soldier predicted, many young men came around to try to win Nurhan’s heart.
But in each case she said,
“I have promised myself to another.”
While they did not have a formal engagement together, Nurhan kept her word to Cemal. At last he came and they were married. It took a long time for the promises to be fulfilled. But it was worth the wait.
The power of a kept promise is immeasurable. It is even more powerful when the promise comes from God. God made a promise to Abraham and Sarah that they would have a child in their old age. Even though it was scientifically impossible, God worked a miracle. But before God fulfilled the promise, they thought they could make it come true by their own efforts. But human effort will never accomplish what only God can and he will do it in His own time. If we can be patient and allow God to work, we can be sure that great blessings will come. Just as Cemal and Nurhan were blessed by waiting, Abraham and Sarah were blessed when God's promise was fulfilled. But the best part was still to come!
Questions for Discussion:
1) In an uncertain world where it seems no one keeps his or her word, do you think you can trust God to keep His word? Why?
2) Do you think patiently waiting for God’s promises can play a role in changing your fate?
3) Why do you think God waited so long to keep His promise to give a child to Sarah and Abraham?
4) Why did God agree with Sarah that Hagar must leave?
5) Can you think of a time when your were chosen to do something that others were perfectly capable of doing? Why do you think you were chosen?