By: Obed Pineda
Twenty-five years. This was the number of years that had transpired from the day Abraham received the promise of a son to when it was fulfilled. Holy Writ indeed verifies this fact as it declares that Abraham “was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran” and “was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him” (Genesis 12:4, 21:5). There is a high probability that if this important detail had been missed by you, your initial reaction is one of shock and awe. Perhaps, upon learning this lesson, the question that immediately rushed to your mind is, “Why did God’s promise take ‘so long?’” It is worth noting that this question holds accusations aimed at the righteous character of the Almighty one must beware. First, it dangerously suggests that Jehovah God was deceptive with Abraham and Sarah because He never “declared” a specific time of when the promise would be fulfilled and secondly, this thought leads to the implication that He was unjust for making them wait twenty-five years. The greatest folly of this question is the audacity to believe that we, His creation, have the right to scoff at His decisions. Indeed, this travesty exposes the shortsightedness of an impatient and selfish mind. Regrettably, it is this shallow manner of thinking of which the apostle Peter spoke against, urging, “beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness” (2nd Peter 3:8-9a, emphasis added). Instead, the better question to be made is “Why did God make them wait twenty-five years for the promise?” It is undeniable that God made Abraham and Sarah wait twenty-five years for the arrival of Isaac, but it is imperative to grasp the Divine objective for that waiting period. The immediate, simple answer is that Abraham and Sarah were not yet ready for this task. Remember that with the blessing of a child, comes the responsibility of raising him in godliness. This instrumental lesson is promulgated by Scripture as Jehovah God declared, “for I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him” (Genesis 18:19, emphasis added). When the Lord spoke these words about His friend and servant, He was teaching Abraham the very lesson he was expected to impart. God was preparing to eradicate the wicked cities of the plain because of the unholy level sin had risen to within them. Thus, the Lord Almighty was exhibiting to Abraham the dire results of drifting far away from “the way of the Lord.” Abraham’s error of repeating his mistake of using misdirection to conceal the true nature of his relationship with Sarah to Abimelech proves that they were still not ready to receive heaven’s blessing (Genesis 20:1-13). His unrighteousness is revealed in his explanation to the king for he “thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place, and they will kill me on account of my wife” (Genesis 20:11, emphasis added). Abraham’s unfair judgment of Abimelech and his kingdom verifies God’s sage assessment that he was not yet ready to teach Isaac “to do righteousness and justice.” However, it was at this moment where Abraham gained a better understanding that a righteous man will “not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment” (John 7:24, emphasis added). Thus, the Father’s purpose for waiting twenty-five years before giving Abraham and Sarah their child of promise was to prepare them adequately so that “the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him” because “in Isaac your seed shall be called” (Genesis 18:19b, 21:12b emphasis added). Therefore, Abraham and Sarah were being transformed and improved during those twenty-five years through several different trials. The Lord was fortifying the faith of His friend by teaching him “that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1:3-4, emphasis added). It is unquestionable that God had protected Sarah from Abimelech’s bed to preserve the purity of His promised seed. The need for this Divine intervention further proves that they still had not fully comprehended the magnitude of God’s promise to them. It had not yet dawned on them what Jehovah God was speaking of when He heralded “in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3c, emphasis added). They were still unaware that the promise made at Eden would begin to unfold with them in their son, Isaac (Genesis 3:15, Galatians 3:16). Due to the precious value, Isaac’s arrival means to the world, it cannot (should not!) be disputed that God’s mercy, grace, and love are on full display in His choice to patiently wait twenty-five years for His chosen vessels to be fully prepared to receive His promise. The truth of this is reiterated by the Holy Spirit as He proclaims, “And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him” (Genesis 21:1-2, emphasis added). Thrice, Scripture illuminates that it was through God’s will that Isaac was born. Thrice, it emphatically echoes that “He has made everything beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11a, emphasis added). The excellency of these sacred words reveals the wisdom of fully relying on the Lord and allowing Him to be in control of our lives. It provides a brilliant visage of the value of learning to wait on the promises of God. His will is undeniably exhibited in the birth of Isaac. Displayed by Isaac’s mother, Sarah, God’s chosen vessel; not Hagar (Genesis 16). Revealed in His selection of Isaac to establish His covenant with; not Ishmael (Genesis 17:18-19). Proven by the time of Isaac’s birth as determined by Him; not when Abraham and Sarah preferred (Genesis 17:17, 18:1-15). Verily, these lessons were all patiently learned by Abraham and Sarah by way of trials. Yet, it is unwise to leave unmentioned that both of them willingly, by faith, never stopped waiting for His promise to arrive during that twenty-five-year process. To be continued…