Screwtape Letter #15 – Discussion Guide

That present moment is the only time in which we can actually experience God – as opposed to a memory of a past experience that is over – or an expectation of a future one that hasn’t happened. Tortured fear is of a time in the future, which may or may not ever actually come to pass.

Ge 15:1 After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”

Ge 15:2 But Abram said, “O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?”  3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

Ge 15:4 Then the word of the LORD came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.” 

This is after Abram while Abram still had no children of his own. Even though God tells Abram do not be afraid – it’s not because God will protect him in the future – it’s because God “is” his shield.

The next one is to Hagar, after Ishmael is born – after Sarah gets upset and Abraham send Hagar and Ishmael away.

Hagar and Ishmael Sent Away

Ge 21:8 The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. 9 But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, 10 and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”

Ge 21:11 The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. 12 But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. 13 I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also, because he is your offspring.”

Ge 21:14 Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the desert of Beersheba.

Ge 21:15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there nearby, she began to sob.

Ge 21:17 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. 18 Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”

Ge 21:19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

Ge 21:20 God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. 21 While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.

Here – it is in the future, but it’s not something that may or may not happen. God said it will happen – and it did.