Genesis 21:1-8 - Exposition

The son of promise, or a young child's biography.

I. THE BIRTH OF ISAAC

1. A surprising phenomenon . "Who would have said that Sarah should have suckled sons?" " Motherhood at ninety was certainly unusual, especially when conjoined with paternity at a hundred. In a world presided over by a personal Deity there must always be room for surprises.

2. A miraculous production . That the conception and birth of Isaac were due to Divine interposition—that in fact, the child of promise was a special supernatural creation—is asserted by Paul as well as Moses ( Romans 4:17 ).

3. An accomplished prediction . Not only the fact of Isaac's birth, but the exact time was specified beforehand. And now the long-looked-for child had arrived. A signal proof of the Divine veracity, it was another pledge to God's people in every age of the Divine fidelity in implementing his gracious word of promise.

4. A joyous inspiration . Isaac's birth not simply wok o laughing echoes in Sarah's tent, but opened founts of song in Sarah's breast; which was not wonderful, considering that the tender infant over which she exulted was the child of her own and Abraham's old age, the child of promise, the fruit of faith and the gift of grace, and the Heaven-appointed heir of the covenant blessing.

5. A prophetic intimation . Sarah's anthem contained a higher note of melody than that occasioned by a mother's joy; there was in it too the gladness of a faith that saw in Isaac the harbinger and pledge of another and greater Seed. Like the birth of Isaac, that of Christ was fore announced by God, waited for in faith, accomplished through Divine power, and welcomed with bursts of joy.

II. THE CIRCUMCISION OF ISAAC .

1. The import of the rite (see on Genesis 17:10 ). It implied the formal reception of the party upon whom it was imposed within the prime of the Old Testament Church; it signified the putting away of the filth of the flesh; it took the subject of it bound to a holy life. Of a like import is the Christian sacrament of baptism, which, however, differs from the Hebrew rite in looking back upon a Christ already manifested, instead of forward to a Christ that was still to come.

2. The authority for the rite. This was exclusively the Divine commandment the sole reason that can be assigned for the observance of the Christian sacraments, which in themselves are only symbols of spiritual transactions, and have no validity apart from the appointment of Christ.

3. The index to the rite. This was contained in the name generally given on the occasion of its observance: cf. Abraham ( Genesis 17:5 ), John the Baptist ( Luke 1:60 ), Jesus ( Luke 2:21 ). With this ancient custom must be connected the Christian practice of naming children at baptism.

III. THE WEANING OF ISAAC .

1. A mother ' s duty fulfilled . The first duty of a mother is to her babe, and to withhold the sustenance God has provided for her babe's necessities is both to violate Divine law and to perpetrate a fraud upon her helpless offspring. Sarah, though a princess, was not above discharging the duties of a nurse—an example which Sarah's daughters should diligently follow.

2. A child ' s independence begun . From the moment of weaning a child may be said to enter on a separate and as it were independent existence, attaining then for the first time to a distinct individuality of being.

3. A father ' s joy expressed . The interesting event was celebrated by a festal entertainment, at which, if not Shem, Melchisedeck, and Selah, according to the Rabbis, the inmates of Abraham's household were doubtless present. "God's blessing upon the nursing of children, and his preservation of them during the perils of infant age, are signal instances of the care and tenderness of Divine providence, which ought to be acknowledged to its praise" (Henry).

Lessons : —

1. The right of parents to rejoice in their children.

2. The duty of parents to introduce their children to the Church of God.

3. The propriety of parents recognizing the separate individualities of children.