The Story of Abraham #2 - Hagar and Ishmael

The Story of Abraham

Part 2 Hagar and Ishmael

Genesis 16

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, still had no children, and she had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from having children. Please go in to my maid so that I may have children by her.” And Abram did as Sarai asked.

Apparently this was a somewhat common practice at the time. The wife would give her female slave to her husband, but any children born would be counted as children of the wife. While this may have seemed like a workable solution for Abram and Sarai, in actuality it caused more problems than it solved.

Sarai gave her maid Hagar to her husband to be his wife. And Hagar conceived, and when she saw that she was to have a child, she began to despise Sarai.

And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you. I gave my servant to you, and when she saw that she was to have a child, she began to hate me. May the LORD judge between you and me.”

But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, she is your servant, do to her as you please.” So Sarai punished Hagar harshly, and she ran away from her.

Then the angel of the LORD found Hagar by a spring of water in the wilderness. And he said to her, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?”  And she said, “I am running away from my mistress Sarai.”

Then the angel of the LORD said to her, “Go back to your mistress and do as she tells you. For I will also multiply your children so that they cannot be numbered for there will be so many.”

The angel of the LORD also said to her, “Behold you are with child, and you will have a son, and you will call him Ishmael, because the LORD has heard your sorrow. Your son will be a wild man, and his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him, and he will dwell in the presence of all his brethren.”

And so it was that Hagar had Abram’s son, and Abram called him Ishmael. And Abram was eighty-six years old when Ishmael was born.

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him, and said, “I am the Almighty God, walk before me, and be perfect. And I will make a covenant with you, and I will multiply you greatly.”

And the LORD said, “Your name shall not be Abram any longer, but you shall be called Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. And kings shall come from you.”

And God also said, “As for Sarai your wife, she shall not be called Sarai any longer, but her name shall be Sarah. And I will bless her, and give you a son by her also. Yes, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations, and kings shall come from her.”

Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man that is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, be able to have a child?” He laughed so hard he fell upon his face. It wasn’t he didn’t believe God, He did believe. It was just hard to imagine he and Sarah having a child at such an old age.

And out of love for his son, Abraham asked God if only he would fulfill his promise through Ishmael and bless him.

And God said, “No, Sarah your wife will indeed have you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac, and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and his children after him.”

“And as for Ishmael, I have heard you, Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him greatly, and I will make him a great nation.”

And God said, “But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah will have for you this time in the next year.”

It is clear from this story that God works despite misguided human effort. Sarah had no business offering her servant to Abraham, and Abraham had no business going along with her. And Sarah was wrong to mistreat her servant as she did. Yet God worked through these situations. Hagar was blessed, and Abraham and Sarah were still the recipients of the promise. God’s mercy is great, and His will is accomplished regardless of human frailty.

This unlikely family story is one readers would expect to end badly. Yet God kept His promise; Isaac became the son of promise through whom the tribes of Israel would arise. Hagar’s son, Ishmael, also became a great leader. Regardless of how a situation looks from a human perspective, God continues to work both to accomplish His will and to fulfill His promises.