Scriptures Reading: Genesis Chapter 21
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And Jehovah visited Sarah as he had said, and Jehovah did to Sarah as He had promised.
And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him.
And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.
And Abraham circumcised Isaac his son when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.
And Abraham was a hundred years old when Isaac his son was born to him.
And Sarah said, God has made me laugh; everyone who hears will laugh with me.
And she said, Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his
old age.
And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.
And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking.
So she said to Abraham, Cast out this maidservant and her son, for the son of this maidservant shall not inherit with
my son Isaac.
And the matter displeased Abraham greatly on account of his son.
And God said to Abraham, Do not be displeased on account of the boy and on account of your maidservant.
Whatever Sarah says to you, listen to her voice, for in Isaac shall your seed be called.
And of the son of the maidservant I will also make a nation, because he is your seed.
And Abraham rose up early in the morning and took bread and a waterskin full of water and gave them to Hagar,
putting them on her shoulder, and gave her the child and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the
wilderness of Beer-sheba.
When the water in the waterskin was finished, she cast the child under one of the bushes.
And she went and sat herself down opposite him, a fair distance away, about a bowshot away, for she said, Do not
let me look upon the death of the child. And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept.
And God heard the voice of the boy. And the Angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven and said to her, What
troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.
Rise up; lift up the boy, and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation.
And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the waterskin with water and gave
the boy a drink.
And God was with the boy, and he grew. And he dwelt in the wilderness and became an archer.
And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran. And his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
And at that time Abimelech and Phicol the captain of his army spoke to Abraham, saying, God is with you in all that
you do.
Now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my offspring or with my
posterity. According to the kindness that I have shown to you, you shall do to me and to the land in which you have
sojourned.
And Abraham said, I swear it.
And Abraham confronted Abimelech concerning the well of water which Abimelech's servants had taken by force.
And Abimelech said, I do not know who has done this thing; and you did not tell me about it, nor have I even heard
of it until today.
And Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech. And the two of them made a covenant.
And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.
And Abimelech said to Abraham, What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs which you have set by themselves?
And he said, These seven ewe lambs you shall take from my hand, that it may be a witness for me that I dug this well.
Therefore he called that place Beer-sheba, because there the two of them swore an oath.
So they made a covenant at Beer-sheba; and Abimelech rose up with Phicol the captain of his host, and they
returned into the land of the Philistines.
And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba, and there he called on the name of Jehovah, the Eternal God.
And Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days.
LIFE-STUDY OF GENESIS MESSAGE FIFTY-SIX: THE BIRTH AND GROWTH OF ISAAC
The goal of God's calling of Abraham was to bring forth a seed. Why was it so difficult for Abraham to have a seed? He
was called, at the latest, at the age of seventy-five, but twenty-five years later he still did not have the seed, although
God had called him for that very purpose. Because he had difficulty producing the seed, Abraham first relied upon
Eliezer, whom God rejected. Then, hearkening to his wife's proposal, Abraham produced Ishmael by Hagar. However,
God also rejected Ishmael, saying that He did not want a seed out of an Egyptian maid but out of Sarah. After the birth
of Ishmael, God came in to tell Abraham that he had to be circumcised. At that time, God also strengthened and
confirmed His promise to Abraham. After his circumcision, Abraham had intimate fellowship with God, enjoying the
highest experience with God of anyone in history up to that time.
Isaac Born—Christ Brought Forth through Us In God's calling us there is a goal, the same goal as there was with His
calling Abraham—to bring forth the seed. God has called us to bring forth Christ. We have not been called to produce
good behavior. God's goal is that we bring forth Christ. All the difficulties Abraham encountered in bringing forth Isaac
were on his side, not on Isaac's. In like manner, it is easy for Christ to come through and out of us, but we have many
problems. We simply are not the right persons to bring forth Christ. Although we can produce many things and have
done so ever since we were saved, it is very difficult for us to bring forth Christ. I was a Christian for many years and still
did not know how to bring forth Christ. I did not even know what it meant to bring Him forth. I am concerned that so
many of us do not have the thought of bringing forth Christ. Yes, Christ has been brought forth, but every saved person
must still bring Him forth.
In order to bring Christ forth, we must be circumcised. Our natural life and strength and our self must be terminated.
This termination opens the way for the very El-Shaddai, the all-sufficient One, to come into our being as the all-sufficient
grace to bring forth Christ. In Genesis 21, Abraham reached his goal and Isaac was born, having been brought forth
through Abraham. Today Christ, the real Isaac, needs us to bring Him forth. Both the Christian life and the church life are
simply the bringing forth of Christ. We must bring Christ forth in our meetings, daily life, home life, and on our jobs.
Isaac's birth was not by Abraham's natural strength nor according to Abraham's time. It was by God's work of grace and
it was according to God's time, the time of life appointed by God. Our natural strength always causes God to wait. God's
grace will never do anything to help our natural life to bring forth Christ. He must wait until our natural life has been
dealt with and terminated. Then, according to His timing, He will come in as the strength of grace to bring forth through
us what He desires to have. If we would fulfill the divine purpose of God's calling, we all must learn this basic lesson.
Isaac Grown Up—Christ Formed in Us After the birth, there is the need of growth, "the child grew, and was weaned:
and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned." It is not sufficient simply to bring Christ forth.
The very Christ whom we have brought forth must grow. In the past few years, many of us have brought forth Christ, but
I wonder whether this Christ has grown up. Has there been the time of weaning? It is not easy to have Christ brought
forth, nor to have Him grown up. In the church life we need to have both the bringing forth and the growth of Christ. I
thank God that Christ has been brought forth among us, but I hesitate to say that we have had much of the growth of
Christ. It is wonderful to see that Christ has been brought forth in a particular young brother, but we are still waiting to
see in him the growth of Christ. We want to see that the Christ in him has been weaned and is no longer a baby. Christ
must be formed not only in us but also among us. In both our daily life and the church life we need the expression of a
formed Christ.
Ishmael's Mocking of Isaac, and Hagar and Ishmael Cast Out It was not the birth of Isaac that stirred up trouble; it
was his growth. When Isaac was born, Hagar and her son Ishmael were not bothered very much. But after Isaac had
grown up, Ishmael began to mock him. This means that Ishmael was persecuting Isaac. As Paul says in Galatians 4, "But
as then he that was born according to flesh persecuted him that was born according to Spirit, so also it is now." The
growth of Isaac stirred up that persecution. Sarah, the one who represented grace, would not tolerate Ishmael's
mocking of Isaac and said, "Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with
my son, even with Isaac". When I read this verse as a youth, I did not agree with Sarah, thinking that she was jealous and
unfair. Rather, God came in and told Abraham, "Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy
bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called". The
heavenly Judge made the final decision, telling him to do what Sarah requested. Only Isaac, not Ishmael, was to be
counted as the seed.
We need to see the spiritual significance of the casting out of Hagar and Ishmael. Although we may hate our natural life
and all that it produces, we do not hate it absolutely. Deep within, we still appreciate it and say, "This Ishmael whom I
have produced is quite good. He was born of me." Such a concept always delays Isaac's birth. Christ has been born in our
Christian life, but we still keep our Ishmael, hesitating to give up our good behavior. Many of us still boast in our natural
goodness, saying, "I am not as proud as some of the brothers and sisters are. I thank God that I was born humble. When
the Christ who has been born in our Christian life has begun to grow up, our natural goodness will mock Him. Then the
grace within us will say, "Cast out the law! Cast out the bondwoman and what you have produced with her by your
fleshly effort." Will you do this? I loved Ishmael in the past, but now I give him up.
Two Wells—Two Sources of Living
In the first section, we have two seeds, two kinds of persons, and two lives.
Without the second section, we can see neither the source nor the result of their living. We have two wells, one for
Ishmael and one for Isaac. This record of two wells for two kinds of lives must be meaningful and full of significance.
The Well for Ishmael - In the Wilderness Close to Egypt Ishmael's well, the source of his living, was in the wilderness
close to Egypt. In the Bible, the wilderness always represents a place rejected by God. The best illustration of this is the
wandering in the wilderness by the children of Israel. In figure, the wilderness also signifies our soul. If we live in our
soul, we are straying in the wilderness that is rejected by God. The wilderness where Ishmael's well was located was
close to Egypt. He could easily drift from there into Egypt. This means that when we are in our soul, in our natural being,
we are wandering in the wilderness and can easily drift into the world.
Ishmael's source of living made him an archer. The difference between an archer and a planter is that a planter grows
life and an archer kills it. Thus, in this portion of the Word, it is revealed that if we stay in the wilderness of our soul and
drink water out of the well for Ishmael, the source of his living, we shall be made an archer using the bow to kill life for
building up our own kingdom, not a planter growing life for the building up of God's kingdom. Ishmael's source of living
eventually joined him to Egypt. When Hagar took a wife for Ishmael, she took a wife from Egypt, from her own source.
We see from all this that there is a well, a source of living, which can make us a wild hunter who kills life and can join us
to the world.
The Well for Isaac - a redeemed well, by a covenant, and for planting
Praise the Lord that there is another well; the
well for Isaac. Many verses in the Bible speak of this positive well. Psalm 36, "Thou shalt make them drink of the river of
thy pleasures." The Lord likes to make us drink of His river of pleasures. In John 4 the Lord Jesus said, "Whoever drinks of
the water that I shall give him shall by no means thirst forever; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a
spring of water welling up into eternal life." In John 7, the Lord spoke of drinking "If anyone thirst, let him come to Me
and drink. He who believes in Me, … out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water." This divine well must be
the source of our living.
Although Christ has been brought forth and has grown up, in the church life we still must learn that there are two
sources or two kinds of living. What kind of living do you have—the living of Ishmael or the living of Isaac? You must
examine the kind of water you are drinking day by day. Are you drinking of the well for Ishmael? If you are, that well will
make you an Ishmael and will cause you to drift into the world. Are you drinking of the well for Isaac, the well which
signifies the divine well, the well of Christ, the well of the Spirit?
The well for Isaac was a redeemed well. This well, which Abraham had dug, was lost. Then Abraham redeemed it at the
cost of seven ewe lambs. In typology, these lambs signify the full redemption of Christ, indicating that the divine living
water has been redeemed, bought back, by Christ's full redemption. The living water which we are drinking today is not
natural; it has been redeemed at the cost of Christ's complete redemption. The well for Isaac also needed a covenant.
Our living water today is not only redeemed water but also covenanted water. Ishmael drank of wild water without
redemption and covenant. But all the water which Isaac drank was redeemed water, the water of the covenant.
In Beer-sheba Abraham planted a tamarisk tree. A tamarisk, a type of willow tree, has very fine leaves, often grows near
water, and gives the impression of the flowing of the riches of life. That Abraham planted a tamarisk for the well at Beersheba indicates that the water of which he drank was flowing in a rich way. The church life today is by the well in Beersheba. When you drink of this well and live by it, you will be like a tamarisk flowing with the riches of life. Whenever
people come to you, they will never sense dryness but will be refreshed by the water of life. Beer-sheba, which means
"the well of an oath," is the place where the church should be. We all need to be a flowing tamarisk. At Beer-sheba,
Abraham was contending for the well which had been so violently taken away. Today we also need to fight for the divine
well that we may have it for both the Christian life and the proper church life.