Hagar and Ishmael

Genesis 16:1–16
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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 (Gen. 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. 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.

Genesis 16:1-16 (English Standard Version)

Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said to Abram, "Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her." And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. And Sarai said to Abram, "May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me!" But Abram said to Sarai, "Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please." Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her. The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. And he said, "Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?" She said, "I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai." The angel of the LORD said to her, "Return to your mistress and submit to her." The angel of the LORD also said to her, "I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude." And the angel of the LORD said to her, "Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the LORD has listened to your affliction. He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen." So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, "You are a God of seeing," for she said, "Truly here I have seen him who looks after me." Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered. And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

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