Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis.  Tonight is study #24 of Genesis, chapter 21.  I am going to read Genesis 21:17:

And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine 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 bottle with water, and gave the lad drink. And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.

I will stop reading there.  We have been discussing Hagar as a representative of mount Sinai, and Ishmael her child.  Historically, she was a bondwoman, so he was a child of the bondwoman, and he represented those that are born under the covenant of the Law.  And the Bible makes it very clear that this covenant cannot save anyone to bring them into the kingdom of God.  This is the reason that we noticed that it was a blessing on a spiritual level that God drove Hagar out, making it clearly understood that none can enter heaven by keeping the Law of God or by doing good works. 

It was a blessing when God let this be known at the time of the end, the time of the “weaning” when His people would transition from the “milk of the word” to the “meat of the word.”  This is what we refer to as progressive revelation, meaning there is a progressive growth in our spiritual understanding of the Bible.  God mercifully, graciously and kindly let it be known that salvation is of the Lord.  It was broadcast worldwide to anyone that would hear, even those in the churches that were called to come out of their churches because God had left the churches.  No work that the professed Christians within the corporate church were performing could overcome what God had done in ending the church age. 

He commanded His people to come out, and the character of the elect people of God is one of obedience, so all the elect came out.  Not everyone that came out was elect, but all the elect did obey God by coming out of the churches.  It was also God’s mercy to broadcast the pure Gospel of the Bible, which was that we are saved by the faith of Christ, not by man’s faith.  Faith is a work and we are not saved by any work.  It was an act of mercy to those out in the world that were caught up in other religions, especially the religion of Islam.  Those in that religion were taught a certain respect for God and the Bible, but it was not the true teaching of the Bible.  However, they were taught a certain respect for it, just like those in the churches had a certain respect, even though they had another gospel.

God worked through that understanding in some people involved in the Muslim religion or the religion of Islam.  Many were physical descendants of Ishmael.  Remember we are reading about Ishmael at the time after the weaning of Isaac when he had mocked Isaac.  Therefore, Sarah had said, “Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.”  God confirmed it, so Abraham consented and drove them out.  When we looked up what the Bible says about coming off the milk and being weaned, it can only identify with the time of the end in the Great Tribulation when God ended the church age.  So, here, Ishmael is not representing himself because he would not be alive at the time of the end of the world, but he is representing his later descendants that would have a certain respect for the Word of God, the Bible.  They would also have this relationship with mount Sinai where the Law was given; they, too, would think they could become right with God by keeping certain Laws. 

However, God was broadcasting this very pure form of the Gospel worldwide by means of the electronic medium.  Gospel “rest” was being declared throughout the time God was saving the great multitude outside of the churches and congregations.  Certainly, as God saved that great multitude, a good number of them would have been “sons of Ishmael.”  We are seeing this in this passage because it says in Genesis 21:17: “

And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.

In our last study, I mentioned how it was Christ’s voice being heard (on behalf of His people) that must occur first.  You know, God does not hear the voice of sinners and then decide, “I have heard this person pleading to me and crying to me for mercy and, therefore, I am going to save him based on hearing that voice.”  No – it is only because God heard the voice of Christ initially, as we read in Psalm 6:8-9:

Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for JEHOVAH hath heard the voice of my weeping. JEHOVAH hath heard my supplication; JEHOVAH will receive my prayer.

It is the prayer of Christ as He prays for His people.  We went to this verse last time, in John 17:9:

I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.

Jesus prayed specifically for His elect.  He prayed for them, but not the rest because the Bible says, “Jacob have I loved, but Esau I have hated.”  Christ prayed for those He loves and those that Jacob represented.  It is all the people chosen to become saved and those whose sins Christ bore and atoned for, satisfying the Law’s demand.  That is the voice of Him weeping on their behalf that they be saved.  It says of the people of the isles or the continents, which represent the nations, in Isaiah 49:1-2:

Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; JEHOVAH hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;

This is speaking of the Lord Jesus who was called from the “womb of hell” or the “belly of hell” at the point of the foundation of the world.  Christ’s mouth was made like a sharp sword because the Bible says, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword.” 

Then it says in Isaiah 49:3:

And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.

Here, Jesus is called “Israel” and Israel is Jacob, so Christ is being referred to as “Jacob.”  We do have to be careful when we see the name “Jacob” in the Bible.  The context will determine whether it is Jesus or the elect and, of course, it could be the man Jacob.  In this context, it is clearly Christ because it goes on to say in Isaiah 49:5-6:

JEHOVAH that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of JEHOVAH, and my God shall be my strength. And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.

God is speaking to Christ within the Godhead and He is saying that He will give Christ to the Gentiles or nations for a light.  It is very clear He is speaking to Christ who is Almighty God.  God says He is a light to the nations and He is salvation.

By the way, when it says, “unto the end of the earth,” it is not a time reference; it is a geographical reference that refers to the four points of the compass.  God’s salvation program was good for people in Asia, North America or wherever there are people in the world.  Then it goes on to say in Isaiah 49:7-9:

Thus saith JEHOVAH, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of JEHOVAH that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee. Thus saith JEHOVAH, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.

Notice verse 8: “Thus saith JEHOVAH, In an acceptable time have I heard thee…”  In the first instance, this is not the sinner – it is not you or me or anyone God has saved.  But in an acceptable time and in the day of salvation, God heard the voice of Christ that was lifted up on behalf of this sinner and that sinner, as the Word of God sought and found all the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  Through that Word, God applied the blood of Christ shed by the Lamb of God at the foundation of the world to an elect person and that person would become saved.

You know, sometimes God saved a person before the individual was aware of their sins or the fact that they needed to be saved.  In the case of John the Baptist, he was saved in his mother’s womb.  Intellectually, he knew nothing.  He was a baby forming within his mother’s womb and unable to know language or what words meant.  And God saved him, and God has saved other little children.  God has saved people through the hearing of His Word as adults, too.  Then after the fact, they found themselves interested in the Bible and drawn to the Word of God, more and more.  You might ask them when they became saved and they may give a time, but they may have been saved six months or a year earlier, but they did not know it.  God heard the voice of Christ and saved them.  Then later, they lifted up their voices, beseeching God, but the change had already occurred. 

This would be the case here, if it was referring to Ishmael himself.  God heard his voice because he had first heard the voice of Christ in the day of salvation.  By the way, the day of salvation has ended.  The time period in which God had determined to operate to save the elect through the hearing of the voice of His Son has been accomplished.  It has already been completed.

Yes – the word “lad” can be translated in various ways.  It is translated as “child,” and that word “child” is used of the Lord Jesus in Isaiah 7:14 and in Isaiah 11:6.  So, it is possible that the word “lad” points to Christ, when our verse says, “And God heard the voice of the lad.”  But it says later in Genesis 21:20, “And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.”  This is the same word “lad,” but there is no mistaking that it is referring to the man Ishmael.  It is not a problem if God heard the voice of the lad, but the only way He could possibly have heard the voice of Ishmael was if He had first heard the voice of Christ.

It is also significant that it says, “for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.”  Where was he?  He was outside of the kingdom of God.  He was out in the world.  Again, being driven out of the camp does not mean he was driven out of the corporate church, but it could have some relationship because some trusting in that covenant did come out of the churches into the world where God was saving during the second part of the Great Tribulation.  However, I think it simply indicates where Ishmael was, because we must remember that Hagar was “wandering” or going astray.  It is indicating that the Word of God went out into the world where mankind was going astray as they were in their sins.  There were no works of righteousness being counted to them, as no man is justified by works of any kind, so God went to where man was in his sins. 

Spiritually, there is no question that when it says God heard the voice of the lad, the Lord is making a point, as Ishmael can represent anyone that is a child of the covenant of works, but he is primarily representing the “sons of Ishmael” at the time when the church age ended, and God was saving a great multitude of people outside the churches and congregations in the world (where Ishmael was).  We know that it was God’s plan all along to save many descendants of Ishmael, based on what was said to Abraham.  I will read it again, in Genesis 17.  It says in Genesis 17:18:

  And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!  

Remember that the name “Ishmael” means “God has heard.”  Then it says in Genesis 17:20:

And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.

Here, we see the plea: “O that Ishmael might live before thee!”  God responded, “And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee.”  We know this from Isaiah 60, but we are going to look at some very strong evidence in addition to Isaiah 60, but Isaiah 60 is strong evidence as God speaks of His salvation program for the Gentiles or nations.  It says in Isaiah 60:3:

And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

Then it says in Isaiah 60:5:

 Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.

We know the sea can represent people, because it also says in Isaiah that “the wicked are like the troubled sea.”

It says in Isaiah 60:6-7:

The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of JEHOVAH. All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory.

We see it mentions the flocks of Kedar and the rams of Nebaioth.  In Genesis 25, we read of the sons of Ishmael, as it says in Genesis 25:13:

And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam,

We see the names “Kedar” and “Nabaioth.”  They are two of the sons of Ishmael.  I think there are 12 sons of Ishmael that are listed in Genesis 25, and that is interesting because there were also 12 sons of Jacob.  The number “12” points to fulness.  We do not read in Isaiah 60 that God listed all 12 sons, but only two sons, which would be a remnant of the whole, so the Bible is not saying that all the descendants of Ishmael would become saved in the last days.  It would be a remnant of the Gentiles, especially these descendants of Ishmael, that God would save, and they would be gathered like flocks and come up with acceptance on His altar. 

The word “Nabaioth” is a Hebrew word that means “to bring forth fruit,” so we can see why God chose that son of Ishmael to represent these later descendants that would be saved.

The name “Kedar” is an interesting word.  It comes from the Hebrew word that means “black” or “dark” or “to mourn.”  It is the word that is used in Joel where God says the moon shall be darkened in Joel 2 and in Joel 3.  It is a word that identifies with the darkened sun in another place in Ezekiel.  It is a word that has to do with “mourning,” so it would relate to the time of the end.  During the Great Tribulation, God did “darken the sun,” spiritually, in the churches and congregations, and it was a time of spiritual mourning.  So, it is interesting that “Kedar” means “black” or “dark” or “to mourn.”

We will see that God refers to Kedar in another place that refers to salvation.  Lord willing, when we get together in another study, we will look at that, but there is another proof that is very strong.  We will have to wait until our next study because we have run out of time.  But, Lord willing, we will see how God has confirmed the fact that He has saved many sons of Ishmael, because we are looking at this in a time where God has already completed His salvation.  So, God has saved many sons of Ishmael.  We learned about this years ago, but we have not focused on it much.  However, now that we are looking at this passage in Genesis 21, we see it is the focus in this passage, and the Bible is confirming it.  It is a wonderful truth that the Word of God teaches.