ABRAHAM

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ABRAHAM: FRIEND OF GOD AND FATHER OF FAITH
CHAPTER 6 - THE BREAKDOWN IN ABRAM’S HOME
GENESIS 16
This time we get to know Sarai a little better, unfortunately we don’t get to see her in a very good
light from what we read here in Genesis. So let’s look at this lady from God’s perspective. Be
mindful that Chapter 16 of Genesis she has yet reached this point in her spiritual life.
Hebrews 11:11
“Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of
a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.”
It is interesting that God often sees things and people a lot differently than we do. At any rate, we
find in Genesis 16 the first biblical record of domestic strife within the home. This is a hard story
to report about one of your heros, but I thank God that He is honest about His children’s failures as
well as their victories.
We would like to believe that when the Lord saves us that the problems with the old man and his
ways are over. But the truth is we, and as we see in this chapter, Abram had trouble with self and
with rationalizing situations in spite of the promises of God concerning those situations.
I. THE STRIFE WITHIN ABRAM’S HOME. Verses 1-4.
Sarai despaired over her barrenness. We can assume that Abram has shared the amazing promises
that God had made to him concerning blessing him with a great posterity. This dear lady was
depressed over the fact that she had not been able to give Abram a single child.
A. SARAI’S PROTEST. Verses 1-2a.
1. THE WIFE IS BARREN.
Sara was about seventy years old at this time. So humanly speaking she was convinced that it was
not very likely that she would have a child. She is dealing the heartache of unfulfilled dreams of
motherhood.
2. THE PRESENCE OF HAGAR.
Hagar is the other woman in this odd triangle of relationships. She is introduced to us in the first
verse. She was probably acquired or given to Abram during his stay in Egypt. Remember that Egypt
is a picture and type of the world, including all of its temptations and snares for the child of God.
Please consider this biblical principle; when God’s people return to the world they will more than
likely get involved in things they ought not, and even when they get right and get back out of the
world and return to the Lord they will carry things with them that they would be better off without.
Remember that while Abram was in Egypt he found himself caught up in a life that brought shame
to himself and put his wife in a very bad situation. Now, even though he left Egypt years ago, he is