Lesson 01
April 02, 2023
When the Family Acts on Its Own

GOLDEN TEXT
“… Indeed, Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you
shall call his name Isaac, and with him I will establish my
covenant […]” (Genesis 17:19)

PRACTICAL TRUTH
When human beings rush into God's plans, the
consequences of this action are inevitable.

DAILY READING
Monday – Gen 12:4 The Promise of Great Descendants
Tuesday – Gen 15:2 Patriarch Abram's Doubt
Wednesday – Gen 15:4 The Promise of an Heir
Thursday – Gen 16.2-6 The precipitation of the couple
Friday – 1 Kings 8.56 God keeps his promise
Saturday – 1 Tm 3.5,6 Spiritual mentors from their own
home

BIBLE READING IN CLASS
Genesis 12.1-3; 16.1-5
Genesis 12
1 - Now the LORD said to Abram, Get thee out of thy
country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house,
unto a land which I will show thee
2-And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, I
will magnify your name, and you will be a blessing.
3- And I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those
who curse you; and in you shall all the families of the earth be
blessed.

1- Now, Sarai, Abram's wife, did not bear him children,
and he had an Egyptian servant, whose name was Agar.
2- And Sarai said to Abram, Behold, the Lord has
prevented me from begetting; come in therefore to my
handmaid; peradventure I shall have children by her. And
Abram heard the voice of Sarai.
3. So Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, his
handmaid, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife,
at the end of ten years that Abram had dwelt in the land
of Canaan.

4- And he went in to Agar, and she conceived; and
when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress
was despised in his eyes.
5-Then said Sarai to Abram, My offense be upon
you. My servant I put in your bosom; seeing her now
that she has conceived, I am despised in her eyes.
The Lord judge between me and you.

INTRODUCTION
Throughout this quarter, we will study matters
related to the family. In this opportunity, specifically,
we consider that, unlike other quarters, the subjects
refer to the problems of the family's daily life. We
will see what the Word of God has to teach us about
marital communication problems, jealousy, rebellion,
disputes, lies, hurts and raising children, among other
subjects.

In this lesson, in particular, we will focus
on the hasty attitudes of Sarai and
Abram, when they decided not to wait
for the fulfillment of God's promise and
to act on their own, "helping him" in
fulfilling the promise We will see the
consequences of when we stop listening
to the voice of the Lord to “listen” to the
voice of a deceitful heart.
KEYWORD: FAMILY

I- GOD MAKES PROMISES TO ABRAM
1- God's meeting with Abram. Abram came from a journey of
conquests and personal victories since he left Ur of the
Chaldeans and, later, Haran (Gen 11.31; 13.1-4). However, the
couple Abram and Sarai had no children. In chapter 12 of
Genesis, the patriarch was 75 years old when God promised him
a great offspring (Gen 12.4). In chapter 15 the Lord gives him a
specific promise of an heir. And finally, when Isaac, the son of
promise, was born, the patriarch was 100 years old (Gen. 21:5).
Thus, we can say that Abraham waited for 25 years for the
fulfillment of the divine promise.

2- Doubt in the face of waiting. After
the promise of offspring (G 12), Abram
had a concern: “Lord Jehovah, what will
you give me? For I go childless, and the
steward of my house is Eliezer of
Damascus” (Genesis 15:2). This
questioning reveals that his faith was in
crisis, Abram could not see the couple's
dream come true, since Sarai was barren.
It's no different with us either.
Sometimes we are blocked by doubts that
prevent us from, by faith, seeing the
operation of the supernatural.

3- God guarantees Abram the fulfillment of the
promise. As we have seen, Genesis 15:4 contains the
promise of a son. In verse 7, the Lord says "I am the Lord"
(Gen. 15:7). So He allayed the patriarch's concern,
specifying a promise: “This shall not be your heir [Ishmael];
but the one who will be generated from you, that will be
your heir Isaac” (Gn 15.4) Here, God is affirming to
Abram that his promises without basis in his own character,
for He is not a man to lie, nor a son of man to repent ,
“Perhaps he would say and not do it, or would he speak
and not confirm it?” (Nm 21.10). God faithfully fulfills His
Word (Psalm 89:34). Unfortunately, however, Abram would
waver in faith and would not convey confidence in the
promise to Sarai (Gen. 16:2,3).

SYNOPSIS I
God made the promise of a great offspring to
Abraham. The wait ended up generating doubt,
but the Lord guarantees what He promises.

II- INTERFERENCE IN GOD'S PLAN
1- Sarai's attempt to "help" God. By the natural
process, Sarai could not bear children because of her
barrenness, and in that context, she was still in her old age.
Therefore, Sarai persuaded Abram that the best way for
him to have an heir would be to take the Egyptian servant
Hagar and conceive a son with her (Genesis 16.2). At that
time it was permissible to do this so that a man could have
an heir, and this attempt to "help God" in fulfilling the
promise of a son was a hasty attitude on Abram's part.

In married life, it is important for a believing
couple to consult God in everything. In this
sense, Abram should convince his wife to wait
in God, for he fulfills his words (1 Kings 8.56).

2-The two waver in faith. In chapter 15, Abram is a
man of faith. However, in chapter 16, the situation
changes completely because he prefers to listen to the
voice of his wife, according to Genesis 16.2 “And Abram
heard the voice of Sarai”. The truth is that, faced with his
wife's complaint, Abraham calmed down and preferred to
accept her argument and not believe in the miracle of
both begetting a son according to the promise. The two
left the logic of faith and clung to merely human logic.
We must be careful not to interfere with God's designs, as
this could mean a deviation from the divine will. We
cannot, because of a hasty decision, want to intervene in
the original divine plan.

3- The problem of precipitation. Sarai abandoned and
despised trust in God, preferring to solve the problem
her way, in addition to inducing her husband to the same
mistaken attitude of unbelief. By moving away from
dependence on God, the couple could not avoid the
disastrous consequences for their lives (Gen 16.5-9).
Agar became pregnant and had the son that Abram
dreamed of having, but it caused a historic family
conflict between Abram and Sarai, between Sarai and
Agar, later, between their children, Ishmael and Isaac.

Many conflicts are generated
in homes because of hasty
attitudes on the part of
spouses. The essence of this
precipitation of Abram
remains today, with the seeds
of Ishmael and Isaac, that is,
Jews and Arabs.

SYNOPSIS II
Sarai's precipitation
generated
consequences in the
family that
reverberate until the
present day between
the two nations.

III- THE CONSEQUENCES OF A RUSHED
DECISION
1- The conflict in Abram's family. The couple's
precipitation ended up creating conflict between Abram
and Sarai, caused by the new situation to which Hagar
submitted. Discord and disharmony created an
unsustainable situation within that home. Hagar, feeling
privileged within Abram's house, since he was paying
special attention to her because of the child in her womb,
provoked jealousy in Sarai. You are then began to harass
your servant (Gen 16.4-6). This situation was very difficult
inside the patriarch's house.

2- Abram's weakness. After all the experience with
God and listening to his divine promises for personal
and family life, Abram opted for weakness and
carnality. He did not have the firmness to persuade
Sarai, in the face of the advice to have this child with
Hagar, to trust in God and in his promises (Gen
16.6). This story teaches us that we cannot just look
to human solutions. There are moments in our life
that only the hand of God can operate. Let us have
spiritual sensitivity to discern what is under our
responsibility and what only depends solely and
exclusively on God (cf. Ex 14.15-18).

3- A mistaken opinion about God. When
Sarai tells Abram that the Lord has prevented
me from bearing” she seemed to be asserting
that God had failed her to bear children (Gen.
16:2). She moved away from the place of
absolute dependence on God and preferred to
decide for herself, using Hagar as a means to
fulfill the divine promise. Her carnal heart
caused her to despise the faith.

In this sense, Abram's weakness was not so much in
not acting wisely with Sarai as in convincing her to
believe in God's miracle in her life. His wife needed
an experience with God capable of giving her
enough knowledge to understand that her husband
was right in what he said. Therefore, it is necessary
to pay attention to a precious lesson: men of God
have the role of spiritual mentors in their homes
and, therefore, cannot fail to govern them wisely (cf.
1Tm 3.5,6).

SYNOPSIS III
A hasty decision generates consequences ranging
from conflicts in the family to misunderstandings
about God.

CONCLUSION
This lesson teaches us about God's promises for the
believer's life. However, she warns of the danger of
rushing in with interference in the fulfillment of these
promises. We have seen that this type of attitude had
serious consequences for Abram's family. May God free us
from trying to interfere with his plans, for we know that his
will is good, pleasant and perfect (Rm 12.2).

REVIEWING THE CONTENT
1- How long did Abraham wait for the divine promise to be
fulfilled?
Abraham waited for 25 years for the divine promise to be fulfilled.
2- In chapter 15 of Genesis, Abram is a man of faith; why in
chapter 16 does the situation change completely?
The situation completely changed because he preferred to listen to his
wife's voice.

3- Why did Sarai persuade Abram that the best way for
him to have an heir would be to make the Egyptian
servant, Hagar, his wife?
Because Sarai could not bear children because of her
barrenness and, in that context, she was advanced in age.
4- What elements were raised that left Abram's house
in an unsustainable situation?
Discord and disharmony.
5- What precious lesson do we need to pay attention
to?
Men of God have the role of spiritual mentors in their
homes and, therefore, we cannot fail to govern it wisely (cf.
1 Tm 3.5,6)

SBS | 2nd Quarter 2023 | CPAD – Adults –
TOPIC: FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS – Overcoming
Challenges and Problems with Examples from the
Word of God | Sunday Bible School | Lesson 01: When
the Family Acts on Its Own.
Slides prepared by Celso Napoleon