“The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast.”       Genesis 21:8 NIV

Very simply, sin caused the conflict within Abraham’s family, and sin is usually the cause of conflict among most of us. It began with the birth of Ishmael, arising from Abraham and Sarah being impatient with the Lord. Abraham threw a great feast for Isaac when he was weaned from his mother’s breast. It was a great feast! This was apparently a Near East custom of that day when a child reached 2-3 years old. During the feast, Sarah saw Ishmael mocking Isaac. Ridiculing, poking fun, being mean-spirited and bitter toward him. Remember, Isaac was just a baby, two or three years old, and Ishmael was sixteen or seventeen years old. Just imagine a young man that old mocking and ridiculing a baby. Ishmael always displayed bitterness and anger toward Isaac; he was always mocking and being mean-spirited to the baby. What would cause Ishmael to be so mean to Isaac? Because Abraham was always heaping attention upon Isaac, the attention that Ishmael had once received before Isaac’s birth. Abraham’s attention was now split two ways, and he was more focused upon the baby, Isaac, than upon Ishmael. Ishmael should have understood, he was old enough to know that the baby was bound to become the focus of attention. He was old enough to understand that the baby needed more attention, that the baby was bound to be a special joy to Abraham because he was born in Abraham’s old age, that the baby was the promised child, miraculously given by God. But Ishmael refused to accept the baby’s presence within the family, refused to accept Isaac as the promised child.

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord, may we never forget the seeds of sin bring a harvest.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, help us to learn that impatience with You, and taking matters into our own hands, leads to the seeds of sin being sown which brings a harvest of their own. AMEN

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Leviticus 25:39-55

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