Hagar and Ishmael

G.K. Chesterton once said, “It is often supposed that when people stop believing in God, they believe in nothing. Alas, it is worse than that. When they stop believing in God, they believe in anything.” Without God the only standard of TRUST - of right and wrong - is wh … More

Morality

In this passage, we find a couple who refuse to take God at His word and decide they need to help Him out (vv. 1-3). The result was tragic, and we are still reaping the consequences today. Human efforts to assist in the fulfilling of divine promises always complicate matters. Under the strict laws of monogamy (2:4), the conduct of Abraham and Sarah was forbidden; but according to the legal custom of the day, a barren woman could give her maid to her husband as a wife. The bottom line is that this solution to their barrenness was an effort of the flesh and not of God.

Hagar, in all probability, was one of the legacies that Abraham carried with him from Egypt. It was far easier for God to get Abraham out of Egypt than it was to get Egypt out of Abraham. This is a byproduct of worldliness; it often affects our decisions down the road. Sarah’s plan, with Abraham’s approval turned sour once the Egyptian slave girl, Hagar, became pregnant (v. 4). It is sad to see how Abraham surrendered his headship to Sarah both in taking Hagar as his wife and then in her treatment of Hagar (vv. 5-6). Abraham failed as the head of his home-the harmony of his home was gone. Hagar ran away and talked to an angel of the Lord who told her  to return to her mistress where her son would be born (vv. 7-11).

Because of this union, Ishmael, who is the ancestor of the Arabs, was born. God prophesied that he would become “a wild man (vv. 12-14) .” Today, the Arabs control the oil reserves of the world and threaten global peace. Their hostility toward Israel keeps the world in turmoil, even on the brink of another world war. Abraham was 86 when Ishmael was born (vv. 15-16).

Application

As God’s servant, I must trust His Word and wait for its fulfillment. It is dangerous to take things into my own hands.

Genesis 16:1-16 (English Standard Version)


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