Faithfulness to a Faithful God

Photo by Jared Erondu on Unsplash

There is a fascinating parallelism between Genesis 12, when Abram is called by God, and Genesis 16, where Abram procreates with Hagar. In Genesis 12, Abram first hears the voice of God calling him out of his homeland and into the unknown. Up to Genesis 16, we see Abram wrestle with God against his own human doubts. Abram is faithful to the voice of God in the beginning of Genesis 12, but by verse 10, we see him attempt to devise a feeble plan to save his own life upon the threat of his wife’s beauty causing Pharaoh’s jealousy in Egypt. Yet in Genesis 15, Abram’s faith is credited to him as righteousness (15:6). 

Upon reaching chapter 16, Abram again hears a voice: the voice of his wife, Sarai. Now, God had proven Himself faithful to Abram up to this point. Whenever Abram heard the voice of the Lord, he responded in faith, and his faith was a catalyst for action. Back tracking to Genesis 15, we see the Lord make a covenant with Abram to make him the father of nations. In the last verse of Genesis 16, we learn that Abram is 86 years old with Hagar gives birth to Ishmael, whom she conceived with Abram just nine months prior. 

I can imagine that by the beginning of Genesis 16 Abram’s faith is wavering. Surely God has forgotten to His covenant with Abram. Abram is in his late 80s, and Sarai is long past the childbearing age. Isn’t it like God to set the stage so that His promises seem impossible? It is through this realization that we are completely helpless to help ourselves that God’s glory and ability to fulfill His promises to us may be most powerfully revealed.  

Knowing the faithfulness of God leads me to wonder why Abram (and even more so of myself) cannot seem to fully grasp the concept that God is faithful to His promises and is able to do the impossible. When Abram comes on scene in Genesis 12, we see him immediately respond faithfully to the voice of God. Decades pass, and we reach Genesis 16, where Abram now hears the voice of his wife. She says to him, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” We know that in Genesis 15 the Lord’s voice said, “Look toward the heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them. So shall your offspring be.” 

To which voice does Abram listen? Take a look at Genesis 16:2. “And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.” Thirteen years later, in Genesis 17, God appears to Abram, reminding him of the covenant to which He had committed so long ago. God reaffirms this covenant with two signs of remembrance, first by the changing of Abram’s name to Abraham. The second sign of God’s covenant was the call to circumcision, which would serve as a reminder of God’s covenant in the flesh. In Genesis 21, God fulfills His promise to Abraham, giving him a son, Isaac. As God was faithful to His promise to Abraham, He is also faithful to us. God would not have called Abram out to faith if He, Himself was not faithful. On the contrary, God expects us to have faith because He, Himself is faithful.