I want you to notice that He says, “at the set time.” I think it is a very interesting concept to study, “at the set time.” Is it possible that God is working within a timeframe for each one of the lessons or exercises or drills or tests or trials, whatever one might want to call them, that He puts us through? Does that sound reasonable that God would do something like that? Do they not do that in school? Sure, they do. You have timed tests. In addition to that, each grade that you go through lasts approximately nine months. It is a nine-month trial young people go through, and then they find out whether they passed or failed. They get a break for six weeks, and then another timed trial. It is set for an appointed time.
So Abraham sees that quite a number of years have gone by, by this time, maybe somewhere in the twenties.
We find then that it came at the set time. Now, did God set the time? Certainly He did. God does everything on time. But that trial lasted twenty-five years for Abraham and Sarah. Did God set it at the very beginning?
There is a deadline—"at this set time." Now maybe Abraham and Sarah did not know exactly when that would be, but God did. Maybe He did reveal it to them, but I do not think He did. But it was set in God's mind when that time would be.
Right on time! I would not be afraid to bet that it was right on the day that God had in His mind that this would occur.
The same principle is true in relation to Abraham's and Sarah's 25-year wait for Isaac. God set the time. He did not let them know exactly when it would be, until finally He said "next year," so they knew it was getting close. They probably did not know the day and they had to use their trust in Him until that time came that God had set.
