September 6 2026

Havasu Christian Church

September 6,2026

Character Studies in Genesis

Genesis 15:1-6, Genesis 16: 1-11, Genesis 16:12-21

“Third time’s the charm!”

INTRO: There are times when we mess up! It happens to all of us. Sometimes, we just make a mistake. We add our numbers wrong… Or, we mis-remember a time we are supposed to be somewhere. It’s really a small thing… I hit a wrong note on the bass when I’m playing. But sometimes, the blunders can be big. These can often have serious outcomes. Building a road from both ends and they don’t meet properly… Not paying attention when we are driving. Sometimes, the results of what we do are catastrophic! We can accidently do someone great bodily harm. Or we can cause them mental anguish because of what we said or did.

        It’s always a good idea to try to avoid doing the wrong thing. 

        As we continue to look at the life of Abram, and Sarai, we will see them make a small mistake and then a much larger one. Then, we’ll finally see them do it God’s way instead!

Genesis 15:1–6 (NASB95) After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.” Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.”

     4   Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.” 

     5   And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” 

     6   Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

1. Abram makes his “small mistake.”
2. God has already promised Abram that he and Sarai would have a son together.
3. Abram creates a “back up plan.”
4. His designated heir is Eliezer of Damascus.
5. Eliezer may be a great guy.
6. He may have been with Abram for many years.
7. He may be like “part of the family.”
8. But he isn’t what God has promised.
9. “I know God, that you have promised that Sarai and I will have a child, but “in the meantime…”
10. God doesn’t appear to be angry at this lack of faith on Abrams part.
11. But God does, without any doubt, set Abram straight about what will happen.
12. God gives Abram an object lesson.
13. He takes him out and shows him the sky! 
14. This will give you some idea of how many descendants you will have!
15. Abram believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.
16. Believed! Not simply head knowledge.
17. A willingness to trust God and to wait on His timetable.
18. This belief gets Abram through ten childless years.

1. Abram again, let’s his doubts get the better of him.
2. This leads to a big mistake, with big consequences!

Genesis 16:1–4 (NASB95) Now Sarai, Abram’s wife had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar. 

     2   So Sarai said to Abram, “Now behold, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Please go in to my maid; perhaps I will obtain children through her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 

     3   After Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife. 

     4   He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her sight.

1. Sarai begins the trouble.
2. She blames God for her troubles. “the LORD has prevented me from bearing children.”
3. There is truth in what she said.
4. God has been promising that they would have a child, but as of yet, no baby!
5. They are both getting old enough that even with the genetics of people closely descended from Noah and family, the likelihood of having children is getting less and less likely.
6. Sarai hatches a plan.
7. You can have a baby with my handmaid, and I’ll take the child to be my son.
8. This sounds like a plan born of desperation.
9. Abram goes along with the plan.
10. Perhaps he is simply giving in to please his wife.
11. Perhaps he gives in because Hagar is pretty.
12. Perhaps he gives in simply because he is tired of waiting for God to come through with His plan.
13. If I can “help things along,” what’s the harm?
14. Sarai’s plan backfires dramatically!
15. Hagar becomes pregnant, and “despises her mistress.”
16. Apparently, she is giving Sarai grief… “I got pregnant, why can’t you!”
17. Sarai begins blaming Abram.

Genesis 16:5-6 And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done me be upon you. I gave my maid into your arms, but when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her sight. May the LORD judge between you and me.” But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your maid is in your power; do to her what is good in your sight.” So Sarai treated her harshly, and she fled from her presence.

1. Abram caves in!
2. Abram lived in a time when men sometimes had two wives, but apparently he does not give that protection to Hagar.
3. “She’s yours, do what you want with her!”
4. He doesn’t remind Sarai that this was all her idea.
5. Maybe that was wise….?
6. He doesn’t tell Sarai to leave Hagar alone.
7. He does the exact opposite!
8. Sarai treats Hagar harshly.
9. What that means exactly, I’m not sure, but I’m sure there wasn’t any kindness being shown.
10. Things get so bad that Hagar prefers to make a run for it, into the wilderness, rather than stay.

Genesis 16:7-10 Now the angel of the LORD found (Hagar) her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. 

     8   He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from and where are you going?” And she said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.” 

     9   Then the angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority.” 

     10   Moreover, the angel of the LORD said to her, “I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count.”

1. Hagar receives her own visit from an angel.
2. Hagar is told to “return and submit.
3. No more “Ha Ha! I’m going to have a baby… too bad about you!”
4. But I’m sure things were still very tense.
5. I suspect that when she comes back, Sarai eases up, but we don’t know that for sure.
6. Perhaps Abram told Sarai to “back off.”
7. Hagar receives a promise.
8. You will have LOTS of descendants.
9. This promise will come with trouble.
10. Bad Family dynamics can come with bad family drama!

Genesis 16:11–12 (NASB95) The angel of the LORD said to her further, “Behold, you are with child, And you will bear a son; And you shall call his name Ishmael, Because the LORD has given heed to your affliction. “He will be a wild donkey of a man, His hand will be against everyone, And everyone’s hand will be against him; And he will live to the east of all his brothers.”

1. Ishmael won’t get along with anybody.
2. A “Wild donkey of a man.”
3. This isn’t causation, it’s recognition!

1. Finally, God says that it’s time for HIS plan to go into motion!

Genesis 17:15–21 (NASB95) Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 

     16   “I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” 

     17   Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” 

     18   And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before You!” 

     19   But God said, “No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 

     20   “As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. 

     21   “But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.”

1. Sarai gets a name change.
2. From Sarai, “My Princess” to Sarah, meaning "mother of nations."
3. Abraham (he already has gotten his name change) is promised a son, by Sarah!
4. He laughs.
5. Abraham asks God to let Ishmael be the “son of Promise.”
6. God makes an extravagant promise for Ishmael.
7. He will have lots of kids.
8. From him will come 12 princes, and they will be a great nation.
9. God makes sure that Abraham understands that Isaac will be the son of him and Sarah!
10. God says that it will be one year, and Sarah will have her baby… At 91 years of age!
11. Abraham will be a “new daddie” at 101!
12. Good thing these guys have lots of “help!”

What do we learn today from Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar that’s worth taking home with us?

• God, in His kindness, gives people a chance to grow in their faith!
• Abraham and Sarah really messed up!
• They make Eliezer of Damascus their heir!
• I’m sure he was a great guy and all, but this was NOT God’s plan.
• God didn’t give up on them.
• Abraham and Sarah REALLY mess up the next time with Hagar!
• Their family is a mess after this.
• Eventually, Hagar and her son Ishmael will be sent away to fend for themselves.
• I’m sure this guilt haunted Abraham and Sarah.
• Ishmail will be a father of 12 princes alright.
• They will be the beginnings of the 12 northern tribes of Arabs.
• I think it’s significant that there are 12 tribes that descend from Ishmael, just like there are 12 tribes that will come from Issac’s son Jacob.
• There is still no love lost between the descendants of Ishmael and the descendants of Issac!

• In spite of all this, God is still faithful to His promise to Abraham!
• As promised, 1 year later, when Abraham is 101 and Sarah is 91, they have a son, Isaac!

God’s faithfulness still remains, even when we fall WAY short of what He wants from and for us.

That is GREAT news!

        We all lack in our faithfulness!

                 God gives us a chance to grow our faith!

• When we aren’t faithful, there will be consequences in our lives.
• Those consequences are sometimes mild.
• But when we really mess up, God doesn’t usually protect us from the natural outcomes of our actions.
• We are forgiven, but not shielded from the effects of our wrongdoing.
• The flip side of that is that when we ARE faithful, we tend to have positive outcomes.
• God’s laws are there for our good!
• They are there to protect, not harm!

• God can and will do whatever He promises!
• God makes some pretty extravagant promises in His Word!
• He KEEPS them ALL!
• Even when we don’t see how it’s possible!
• Romans 8:28 (NASB95) And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.