Isaac (17:18-22)
The first baby in the Bible who was named before birth was Ishmael (Gen. 16:11), and the second was Isaac. As we shall see when we study Genesis 21, these two boys represent two different births: (1) Ishmael, our first birth after the flesh, and (2) Isaac, our second birth through the Spirit. (See John 3:1-8 and Gal. 4:21-31, especially vv. 28-29.)
From the human point of view, we can understand why Abraham interceded for Ishmael. Ishmael was his son, and the father loved him dearly. They had been together now for thirteen years, and Ishmael was entering adulthood. Was God going to waste all that Abraham had invested in Ishmael? Was there to be no future for the lad? After all, it wasn’t Ishmael’s fault that he was born! It was Abraham and Sarah who sinned, not the boy.
But from the spiritual point of view, Ishmael could not replace Isaac or even be equal to him in the covenant plan of God. God had already promised to bless Ishmael (Gen. 16:11), and He kept His promise (25:12-16), but the covenant blessings were not a part of Ishmael’s heritage. Isaac alone was to be the heir of all things (25:5-6; Rom. 9:6-13).
There is a practical lesson here for all who seek to live by faith: When God is preparing a bright future for you, don’t cling to the things of the past. Ishmael represented the past, Isaac the future. Ishmael symbolized man’s fleshly way of accomplishing something for God, but Isaac was a miracle baby, born by the power of God. Ishmael brought dissension into the home, but Isaac brought laughter. If you have an “Ishmael” in your life, yield it up to God. God has a perfect plan, and what He plans is the best. It may pain you to give up your cherished dreams, but God’s way is always the right way.
Amy Carmichael, missionary to India, wrote to a friend who was perplexed about a painful experience, “I will say what our Heavenly Father said to me long ago, and says to me still very often: ‘See in it a chance to die.’”
Perhaps we all need to pray, “Oh, that Ishmael might die within me!”
Ishmael did not get a new name, because he represents the flesh, and the flesh cannot be changed. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh” (John 3:6) and always will be flesh. “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing” (Rom. 7:18). “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing” (John 6:63 nkjv). The old nature can be disciplined, subdued, and even to some extent controlled, but it cannot be changed. Until we receive our glorified bodies in the presence of the Lord, the struggle between the flesh and the Spirit will continue (Gal. 5:16-26).
It was the beginning of a new day for Abraham and Sarah, for Sarah was going to have a baby boy!
“Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day,” said Jesus; “and he saw it, and was glad” (John 8:56).
Questions for Personal Reflection or Group Discussion
- Do you know the meaning of your name? If so, explain it.
- What is your response to God’s name “El Shaddai”?
- Why did God use this name with Abraham at this time?
- What was the significance of circumcision?
- What does the Holy Spirit have to do with our “spiritual circumcision” today?
- Why did God change Abraham’s and Sarah’s names?
- When God is preparing a bright future for you, don’t cling to the things of the past.” What does that mean to you?
- Why didn’t God give Ishmael a new name too?
- When a person becomes a Christian, does his old nature go away? Explain.
- Do you have an Ishmael that you need to yield to God? If so, explain.