Barrenness
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Next week, you are going to begin to discover the Gentile plight! Paul uses poignant qualifiers in chapter two of Ephesians, where he used phrases like,
aliens from the commonwealth of Israel- ἀπαλλοτριόω (2:11-12)
strangers from the covenants of promise- ξένος
having no hope, without God in the world
Wow! It must have been awesome to be Jewish!
Think of these words of warning: Romans 10:7–8 “Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;”
But what I want to talk to you about today is barrenness. Emptiness. Fruitlessness. Poverty.
Desolation.
According to Ephesians 2, that’s a Gentile problem, right? I mean, God loved this people, Israel, so much that they never felt the cold embrace of need— they never knew the bitter of destitution. They never stared hopelessness in the face. Right??? That family of faith never had a need. Never had a problem. Always full. Always rich. Always abounding. Right???
Wrong.
Genesis 11:30: “But Sarai was barren; she had no child.”
Genesis 25:21: “And Isaac intreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren: and the Lord was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.”
Genesis 29:31: “And when the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren.”
Genesis 30:1: “And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.”
Now, do you remember the Abrahamic Covenant?
Genesis 22:17: “That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;”
Abraham was blown away by that! The ancients, we are told, had accounted for 12,000 stars, and at thought, Abraham must have said to himself, “Wow! Wouldn’t that be something! 12,000 descendents!” (In actuality, according to science reviews, "Our universe contains at least 70 septillion stars, 7 followed by 23 zeros. Astronomers estimate that there are roughly 10,000 stars for each grain of sand on Earth” In other words, it is immeasurable. However, the Scriptures inform us that Sarai, and Rebekah, and Rachel were barren. 7 followed by 23 zeros so far had....ZERO! (Some of us are thinking right now, “Zero…I’m pretty good at that!”
So, let’s put it all together:
God was going to do something great with Abraham’s family
He was going to do that through providing seed
The seed never came easily
All the matriarchs went through seasons of barrenness
Jews and Gentiles alike faced similar challenges
Maybe you are facing that, too. Financial barrenness. Relationship barrenness. Loneliness. Difficulty. A lack of fulfillment in your life and ministry.
ILL. David and Svea Flood
Isaiah 54:1: “Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord.”
Seeing the Lord Produce Fruit in Our Lives
Seeing the Lord Produce Fruit in Our Lives
If we wait on the Lord, we eventually see the hand of God’s blessing fall on us. How?
through prayer
Genesis 25:21: “And Isaac intreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren: and the Lord was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.”
through patience
As in the case of Sarah and Rachel, they would have to learn to wait on God! God’s blessings would not come into their lives on their time table. They would come on God’s! Allow God to be God in your life!
through persistence
-in the case of Abraham
Genesis 25:1–4“Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah. And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. And Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim. And the sons of Midian; Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah.”
Sorrowing in Areas that also Brought Joy
Sorrowing in Areas that also Brought Joy
Love hurts.
When our children our little they step on our feet; when they are grown they step on our hearts.
Every Hebrew Matriarch lived a life of sorrow through those children. That area in their life that would produce the greatest joys was also the area in their lives which produced the deepest pain.
Marriage— Ministry— Children
All these areas are wonderful…and we seek them…because we should…and we rejoice in them…and we should…and we invest in them…and we should. But there is no perfect arena in life in which the things that matter most cost little. Dr. Sexton used to often say, “There is no painless way to follow Jesus Christ!”
Sarah
-experienced the agony of spiritual enmity through Ishmael and Isaac
-experienced the agony of spiritual surrender through the event of Isaac’s sacrifice on Moriah
Rebekah
-faced the difficulty of sibling rivalry- Jacob and Esau
-mistakes in parenting- playing favorites
-Genesis 27:43–44“Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; and arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran; And tarry with him a few days, until thy brother’s fury turn away;”
Those are the last words he would ever hear his mother say, and that was the last time he would ever see her face.
Rachel
-Genesis 35:16–18: “And they journeyed from Beth-el; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour. And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also. And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Ben-oni: but his father called him Benjamin.”
Rachel, desperate to have children would die in child bearing. She would never know of the joys of her son, Joseph, and how God used Him to save much people alive!
Setting Our Hope in God
Setting Our Hope in God
In what should we joy? Jesus!
You know what I’ve seen in ministry? I’ve seen people desire to be married, and once they get married, their marriage becomes the first priority in their lives, even to the neglect of God’s work in their lives. I’ve seen people pray for children, and no sooner did God give them than that couple made little idols of those precious bundles of joy!
Ministry? I’ve seen people so excited to be in ministry who experience the blessing of God, to later forget who they were serving!
In what should we set our hopes? JESUS!
each of these women brought forward the promise of Messiah in this world
each of these couples were used of God to create a nation for God and His glory
each of these couples was needed- they were all steps— there could be no missing links!
each of them exercised faith in God
Matthew 1 describes the Lord Jesus as being the descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and by implication Jesus was of Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel!
In the midst of your barrenness, do not forget to set your hope in God!
ILL. story of Flood and the conclusion