From Get Smart to Genesis Agent 86 & 99 Sarai and Hagar

Genesis 16:16 to 17:1

16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram. 17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. Genesis 16:16–17:1 (NKJV)

In Genesis 16:16 we find the number eighty-six and in the very next verse, Genesis 17:1 we find the number ninety-nine. In Genesis, these numbers tell us Abram’s age while in the sitcom, they are the agent numbers of the stars of the show agent 86 Maxwell Smart, and his lovely girlfriend, later fiancée and later wife, in the show 99.

Maxwell Smart Agent 86 seems comparable to 86-year-old Abram in Genesis 16, sadly messing up by going into Hager, a slave girl who becomes Abram's second wife. Yet, at the beginning of chapter 17, God’s call to Abram is “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless….” Genesis 17:1

Now, here in chapter 17, Abram (called to be blameless) is 99, and the character Agent "99" in “Get Smart” played by Barbara Feldon, is pretty perfect as a woman, as an agent, and as a companion and wife to Max. If there is any woman on TV that embodies perfection and blamelessness, it is the character 99. In Genesis 17, God promises to make Abraham's son Ishmael a great nation. Maxwell Smart, a great leader for Control, fights for a great nation.

Abraham & Maxwell Smart have a lot in common:

I. Maxwell Smart and Abraham are both fighters for what is good –

1. Abram had his own mini army –

14 Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15 He divided his forces against them by night, and he and his servants attacked them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. 16 So he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the people.

Genesis 14:14–16 (NKJV)

2. Maxwell Smart was the top agent for Control (the good guys) –

“Smart is also resourceful, skilled in hand-to-hand combat, a proficient marksman” Wikipedia Description of Maxwell Smart

As agents 86 & 99 fought KAOS, so Abram, becoming Abraham, fought lack of faith and sin.

3. We are also called to battle sin & Satan –

12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.

Romans 6:12 (NKJV)

II. Yet, while both Abram / Abraham and Maxwell Smart are heroes, both were bunglers as well. –

16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram. Genesis 16:16 Was just one of Abram’s faithless mistakes concerning Sara, his wife –

1. Twice he made his wife Sarah lie saying she was his sister –

Once as Abram, married to then Sarai -

13 Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you.” Genesis 12:13 (NKJV)

2. Later as Abraham –

2 Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. Genesis 20:2 (NKJV)

This is also something Abraham and Maxwell Smart had in common, both had beautiful wives.

Sarah & 99 were both ridiculously beautiful women …. both find themselves in difficult situations due to having beautiful wives.

3. Maxwell Smart was also a regular bungler –

Wikipedia’s fuller description of Maxwell Smart - “Maxwell "Max" Smart, Agent 86, (Don Adams) is the central character of the series. Despite being a top-secret government agent, he is absurdly clumsy. Yet Smart is also resourceful, skilled in hand-to-hand combat, a proficient marksman, and—most importantly—incredibly lucky; all of this makes him one of CONTROL's top agents.” But luck was not really luck.

Being blameless or perfect is not something Abram, or Max or any of us have in and of ourselves. We are dependent upon Almighty God as He is described in Genesis 17:1. Despite bungling the authors of the Get Smart TV show made sure he was invincible.

4. We are blameless, perfect even beyond the character 99 by Jesus Christ’s righteousness imputed to us, yet we are called despite our weaknesses -

1 Corinthians 1:26–29 (NKJV)

Our victory is because of Jesus!

III. Get Smart and Abraham both bring Laughter –

6 And Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me.” 7 She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.” Genesis 21:6–7 (NKJV)

As the TV show was a brilliant comedy, Abraham would have a son named Laughter. Isaac means laughter.

Recently, I have seen a meme on the internet that said, “God does not want us to be happy, He wants us to be holy.” I hate memes like this. Why? Because they pit two good things against one another, and this one makes God out to be a Cosmic Killjoy. He is not a Cosmic Killjoy! God wants us to be both holy and happy.

The person who requires we take the swing out of the parakeet cage on the sabbath / Lord’s Day is going overboard.

I have enjoyed watching 86 & 99 battle evil Kaos and seeing their numbers in consecutive Bible verses, FOR ME, ties them to the joy Abraham and Sarah had when they finally had their son Isaac (whose name means Laughter).

Abraham ultimately found his “joy” in Jesus Christ. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” John 8:56 (NKJV)

IV. Maxwell Smart & Abraham have similar reasons for always winning –

1. God was on Abraham’s side -

12 Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Genesis 12:1–3 (NKJV)

2. Abraham could not lose because God was with him –

One of the people Abraham lied to was Abimelech, who could have killed Abraham if it were not for God’s interceding but instead of killing Abraham he rewards him -

14 Then Abimelech took sheep, oxen, and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham; and he restored Sarah his wife to him. Genesis 20:14 (NKJV)

3. Because God was with Abraham, no one could be against him –

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31

4. This is not true for Abraham only but for all of us who love God and Jesus Christ –

28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. Romans 8:28–30 (NKJV)

5. Maxwell Smart was destined to Win, to conquer evil despite his silly, even hilarious mistakes because the authors of the TV show made him such a winner….

6. For us, Jesus is the Author & Finisher of our faith –

2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2 (NKJV)

7. Following Jesus, walking by faith, not by sight, trusting and obeying means we will win –

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” 19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense. Hebrews 11:17–19 (NKJV)

Chief: “You’ll be risking your life every moment.”

Max: “and loving it!”

41 So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. Acts 5:41 (NKJV)

11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Revelation 12:11 (NKJV)

The angel of the LORD also took care of Hagar -

7 Now the Angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. Genesis 16:7 (NKJV)