For as long as I can remember, something inside of me wants to immediately prove people wrong when I they tell me no.
Especially if it is about something I deeply want or believe I can accomplish.
I have observed that a no response challenges most people.
Humans are not alone in this response.
Our eldest cat is quite brazen that no is an unacceptable response for her desires. Hissing, growling, meowing, and pouting in addition to repeated attempts to get what she wants are the normal response from her when told no. Giggling.
And our current dog comes toward us with a bewildered “why not?” expression on her face when told no. We realize it is not because she is stubborn or brazen like the cat though. She genuinely does not understand why usually. Giggling again.
But what about when God says no?
Compare the ESV and NIV versions:
ESV Genesis 17:19 God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.
NIV Genesis 17:19 Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
In the verse above God is responding to Abraham’s request that his son Ishmael from his wife’s maidservant receive blessings by God. (See Genesis 16:1-15 and Genesis 17:18).
The ESV translation has God respond with “No, but” while the NIV uses “Yes, but.”
The NIV is a thought for thought translation that takes into consideration that God does promise to bless Ishmael as Abraham requests In Genesis 17:20.
Being a word for word, literal translation, the ESV adheres to the grammatical function of the particle in the original Hebrew language to communicate a negative response to a statement just made.
Both translations reveal God’s insistence that the everlasting covenantal promise given to Abraham would follow through Isaac, the son born by Sarah, not Ishmael, Abraham’s firstborn.
Genesis 17:20 reveals God’s grace towards Abraham’s concern about Ishmael also receiving blessings yet, again, God insists that the everlasting covenant is specifically through Isaac.
Ordinarily, custom would be that the firstborn son should be the one to receive the greatest blessings and inheritance.
Technically, Ishmael was Abraham’s firstborn son.
- Why is God saying no to Ismael being the one to inherit the everlasting covenant from God?
- Why is God saying no to a normal custom?
Consider the following select verses and questions:
ESV Genesis 12:1-3 Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
- Who is making the promises to act in Genesis 12:1-3?
ESV Genesis 16:1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar.
ESV Genesis 16:3-4 So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. 4 And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.
- Who is acting in Genesis 16:1, 3-4?
ESV Genesis 16:16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
- How many years have passed since Genesis 12:1-3?
17:1-8 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, 2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.
5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you.
7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”
- How many more years have passed since Genesis 16:16?
- Who is making the promises to act in Genesis 17:1-8?
ESV Genesis 17:15-17 And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” 17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”
- How old are Abraham and Sarah now?
- Who is making the promises to act in Genesis 17:15-17?
ESV Genesis 17:18-19 And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” 19 God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.
- Why does God insist that Sarah is to be the mother through whom the everlasting covenant will extend with the bearing of Isaac?
- Could it be that when God says no to us it is because we attempted to fulfill His promises to us through our own actions instead of trusting His timing?
- Could be that when God says no to us that it is because He has a specific plan in mind to reveal His glory and amazing power?
- Could it be that when God says no to us that it is because He wants there to be no question in our minds or those around us that it is He who desires to bless us in a unique way?
- What other reasons do these verses bring to your mind for the times when God says no?
A prayer for us:
May we acknowledge our heavenly Father today as we listen for His will in our lives. When God says no to us may we readily accept that His ways are better than our ways of doing things.
Blessings,
Barbara Lynn