22
Daughters of God
less a violation of the law of God, and was fatal to the sacredness and
peace of the family relation. Abraham’s marriage with Hagar resulted
in evil, not only to his own household, but to future generations....
When Abraham was nearly one hundred years old, the promise
of a son was repeated to him, with the assurance that the future heir
should be the child of Sarah. But Abraham did not yet understand the
promise. His mind at once turned to Ishmael, clinging to the belief
that through him God’s gracious purposes were to be accomplished.
In his affection for his son he exclaimed, “O that Ishmael might live
before thee!” Again the promise was given, in words that could not be
mistaken: “Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt
call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him”....
The birth of Isaac, bringing, after a lifelong waiting, the fulfillment
of their dearest hopes, filled the tents of Abraham and Sarah with
gladness....
[28]
The instruction given to Abraham touching the sacredness of the
marriage relation was to be a lesson for all ages. It declares that the
rights and happiness of this relation are to be carefully guarded, even
at a great sacrifice. Sarah was the only true wife of Abraham. Her
rights as a wife and mother no other person was entitled to share.
She reverenced her husband, and in this she is presented in the New
Testament as a worthy example. But she was unwilling that Abraham’s
affections should be given to another, and the Lord did not reprove
her for requiring the banishment of her rival. Both Abraham and
Sarah distrusted the power of God, and it was this error that led to the
marriage with Hagar.
God had called Abraham to be the father of the faithful, and his
life was to stand as an example of faith to succeeding generations.
But his faith had not been perfect. He had shown distrust of God in
concealing the fact that Sarah was his wife, and again in his marriage
with Hagar.—
Patriarchs and Prophets, 125-147 (1890)
.
The heritage that God has promised to His people is not in this
world. Abraham had no possession in the earth, “no, not so much as to
set his foot on.”
Acts 7:5
. He possessed great substance, and he used
it to the glory of God and the good of his fellow men; but he did not
look upon this world as his home. The Lord had called him to leave
his idolatrous countrymen, with the promise of the land of Canaan as
an everlasting possession; yet neither he nor his son nor his son’s son