SARAH’S EVIL INTELLECT TEXT: GEN 16 I. BLAME GEN 16:2 II. BARGAIN GEN 16:3 III. BITTERNESS GEN 16:4 IV. BERATE GEN 16:5 CONCLUSION GEN 16:6

1. Gen 16
S a r a h ’ s E v i l I n t e l l e c t
Sarah’s Evil Intellect
Text: Gen 16
Job 32:9
9) Great men are not always wise:
neither do the aged understand judgment.
Rom 4:20 (Abraham)
He staggered not at the promise of God
through unbelief; but was strong in faith,
giving glory to God;
2Pet 2:7-8 (Lot)

2. 7 And delivered just Lot, vexed with the
filthy conversation of the wicked:
8 (For that righteous man dwelling among
them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his
righteous soul from day to day with their
unlawful deeds;)
1Pet 3:4-6 (Sarah)
4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart,
in that which is not corruptible, even the
ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which
is in the sight of God of great price.
5 For after this manner in the old time the
holy women also, who trusted in God,
adorned themselves, being in subjection
unto their own husbands:
6 Even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling
him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long
as ye do well, and are not afraid with any
amazement.

3. Sarah’s sin like Eve’s will reach out to
inflict tragedy on countless people for
generations to come.
Gen 16
1) Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no
children:
and she had an handmaid,
an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
2) And Sarai said unto Abram,
Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from
bearing:
I pray thee, go in unto my maid;
it may be that I may obtain children by her.
And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.
3) And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid
the Egyptian,
after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of
Canaan,

4. and gave her to her husband Abram to be his
wife.
4) And he went in unto Hagar,
and she conceived:
and when she saw that she had conceived,
her mistress was despised in her eyes.
5) And Sarai said unto Abram,
My wrong be upon thee:
I have given my maid into thy bosom;
and when she saw that she had conceived,
I was despised in her eyes:
the LORD judge between me and thee.

5. …the LORD hath restrained
me from bearing…:
I. Blame
I. Blame
Blame is the first step we take to justify
our taking control
to justify our own self-righteousness.
Gen 16:2
2) And Sarai said unto Abram,
Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me
from bearing:
I pray thee, go in unto my maid;
it may be that I may obtain children by her.

6. There was nothing new about Sarah being
barren (at 75yrs old);
The statement is given to justify her evil
reasoning.
Job 21:14-15
14 Therefore they say unto God, Depart from
us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy
ways.
15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve
him? and what profit should we have, if we pray
unto him?
Gen 3:12
And the man said, The woman whom thou
gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree,
and I did eat.
Ruth 1:20

7. And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call
me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very
bitterly with me.
It is interesting that Naomi blames the tragedy
on God.
"The Lord has dealt bitterly with me."
There seems to be a natural inclination for us to
blame God for our tragedies,
especially for death.
God didn't ask her to run to Moab (Ruth1:1)
Until you see you are in this with God for better
or worse,
every time you run off for the green grass on
the other side of the fence
it will wither about the time you get there.
Naomi is the responding in the wrong way.
"Don't call me Pleasant, call me Bitter!“

8. She never blamed herself,
never blamed her husband,
never confessed that sin was at the root of her
bitterness
or that God had impoverished her not in
judgment but in love.
God knew this was the only way to bring her
back to himself.
For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth,
and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth
(Hebrews 12:6).
Exod 21:3-4
3 If he came in by himself, he shall go out by
himself:
if he were married, then his wife shall go out
with him.
4 If his master have given him a wife, and she
have born him sons or daughters;

9. the wife and her children shall be her master's,
and he shall go out by himself.
And Sarai Abram's wife took
H agar her maid…
and gave her to…Abram to be
his wife.
II. Bargain
II. Bargain
And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid…
and gave her to…Abram to be his wife.
Gen 16:3
3) And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her
maid the Egyptian,
after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land
of Canaan,

10. and gave her to her husband Abram to be his
wife.
Abram escaped Egypt after being caught
in a lie; now it is an Egyptian
That is part of Sarah’s plan to overrule
God.
Prov 1:14-16
14 Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one
purse:
15 My son, walk not thou in the way with them;
refrain thy foot from their path:
16 For their feet run to evil, and make haste to
shed blood.
Prov 14:12
There is a way which seemeth right unto a man,
but the end thereof are the ways of death.
Gal 6:3

11. For if a man think himself to be something,
when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.
Eph 5:6
Let no man deceive you with vain words: for
because of these things cometh the wrath of
God upon the children of disobedience.
Jas 1:22
But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers
only, deceiving your own selves.
…and when she saw that she
had conceived,
her mistress was despised in
her eyes.
III. Bitterness

12. III. Bitterness
Gen 16:4
4) And he went in unto Hagar,
and she conceived:
and when she saw that she had conceived,
her mistress was despised in her eyes.
Refusing to forgive and retaining a
grudge allows Satan an advantage to
attack the unforgiving party.
Matt 18:32-35
32 Then his lord, after that he had called him,
said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave
thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:
33 Shouldest not thou also have had
compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had
pity on thee?
34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to
the tormentors, till he should pay all that was
due unto him.

13. 35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also
unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not
every one his brother their trespasses.
Acts 8:21-23
21 Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter:
for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.
22 Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and
pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart
may be forgiven thee.
23 For I perceive that thou art in the gall of
bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.
Heb 12:15
Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace
of God; lest any root of bitternessspringing up
trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
Jas 5:9
Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest
ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth
before the door.

14. …M y wrong be upon thee…
the LORD judge between
me and thee.
IV. Berate
IV. Berate
…My wrong be upon thee…
the LORD judge between me and thee.
Gen 16:5
5) And Sarai said unto Abram,
My wrong be upon thee:
I have given my maid into thy bosom;
and when she saw that she had conceived,
I was despised in her eyes:
the LORD judge between me and thee.

15. I made the offer, but the act was yours;
let God assign the blame between us.
Now Sarah is not prepared for her plan’s
“success”.
Instead of condemning her own conduct,
and confessing that her folly had ensnared
herself,
Sarah turns the edge of her resentment
against her husband.
Conclusion

16. The answer for all parties involved is
humility.
Sarah had no humility to accept God’s timing.
Hagar had no humility in receiving the one
treasure Abram and Sarah had been seeking.
Abram does show humility in a soft response to
Sarah’s attempt to shift all blame from herself.
Gen 16:6
6) But Abram said unto Sarai,
Behold, thy maid is in thy hand;
do to her as it pleaseth thee.
And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled
from her face.
Gen 16:2
And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the
LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I
pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be
that I may obtain children by her.

17. And Abram hearkened to the voice of
Sarai.
Gen 3:17
And unto Adam he said,
Because thou hast hearkened unto the
voice of thy wife,
and hast eaten of the tree, of which I
commanded thee, saying,
Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the
ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou
eat of it all the days of thy life;
Ps 106:32-33
32 They angered him also at the waters of
strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their
sakes:
33 Because they provoked his spirit, so
that he spake unadvisedly with his lips.

18. SARAH’S EVIL INTELLECT
TEXT: GEN 16
I. BLAME
GEN 16:2
II. BARGAIN
GEN 16:3
III. BITTERNESS
GEN 16:4
IV. BERATE
GEN 16:5
CONCLUSION
GEN 16:6