Scripture: 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.
Genesis 16:1-16 ESV [Click here to read the entire chapter.]
Observation: Recapping Yesterday’s Daily Focus, the Lord tells Abram to gaze upon the stars, assuring him that his offspring will be innumerable. Because Abram believes him, the Lord credits his faith as righteousness and reminds Abram how he brought him to this land to possess it. Still, Abram is unsure. So the Lord commands Abram to retrieve a heifer, goat, ram, turtledove, and pigeon. Abram halves the land animals and places all the animals before God. At nightfall, when Abram falls into a deep sleep, the Lord speaks to Abram and promises that his heirs will sojourn to a foreign land, where they will suffer for four hundred years. But the Lord will lead them back to this land where they will dispossess the Amorites. As for Abram, he will live to an old age and die peacefully. Finally, God ratifies the covenant, sending a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch between the halved carcasses and declaring the boundaries of this Promised Land extending from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates River.
Today’s reading chronicles an ill-conceived plan between Sarai and Abram to take matters into their own hands regarding producing an heir, which results in a conflict between Sarai and her maidservant, Hagar. Ten years have passed since they arrived in Canaan, and Sarai, still barren, grew impatient. So, she told Abram to conceive an heir through her made servant, the Egyptian Hagar, which he did. But when Hagar realized she was pregnant, she held Sarai in contempt, sparking Sarai to confront Abram and blame him for Hagar’s attitude. Abram defends his position, telling Sarai to do as she pleases with Hagar since she is under Sarai’s power.
Consequently, Sarai treats Hagar harshly, causing her to flee to a wilderness spring en route to Shur. Yahweh’s angel visits her there and questions why she’s on the run. Hagar divulges that she is fleeing from her mistress, Sarai. The angel then commands Hagar to return to Sarai and submit to her, assuring Hagar that he will multiply her offspring beyond numbering. The angel further instructs her to name her son Ishmael (Hebrew name means “God will hear”) because God has listened to her affliction. Finally, he prophecies that Ishmael will be a wild and stubborn man in conflict with everyone, but he will rule over his kin.
As an epilogue, Moses tells his audience that Hagar beheld the one who looked after her and named this angel of the Lord: “You are a God of seeing.” For this reason, Moses notes, the well (which lies between Kadesh and Bered) is called “Beer-lahai-roi” (Hebrew “the well of the Living One who sees me”). And Moses concludes that Hagar returned and bore Abram (now eighty-six) a son, whom she named Ishmael.
Theological note: In the Old Testament, the name “the angel of the Lord” most likely refers to the prefigure of Christ. Lending to this assumption, Moses interchanges the identification of this celestial being with the Lord (Yahweh) in verse 13.
Takeaway: In this story, Moses cleverly uses parallel Hebraic words and phraseology to that of God confronting Eve and Adam in the Garden (Genesis 3):
- 16:2a (Sarai said to Abram); 3:2 (the woman said to the serpent)
- 16:2b (Abram listened to the voice of Sarai); 3:17 (you [Adam] have listened to the voice of your wife)
- 16:3a (Sarai, Abram’s wife, took [of the fruit of the womb of] Hagar); 3:6a (she [Eve] took of its fruit)
- 16:3b (gave her to Abram her husband); 3:6b (she [Eve] also gave some to her husband)
The Hebrew words mirror each other more closely than the above translation would indicate. Hence, Moses’ audience would immediately pick up on the parallels and see how the Fall continues to impact God’s people—even their revered patriarch and his wife. Indeed, like Eve, Sarai wants autonomy to pursue what she deems to be the best course of action and deflects responsibility when the desired outcome disappoints her. Lastly, like Eve, Sarai gives forbidden fruit (her maidservant) to Abram, violating the covenant. And, like Adam, Abram listens to his wife rather than providing godly leadership.
Still, Adam and Abram’s covenant-keeping God continues to redeem their missteps and provide a covenant heir, whether Seth or Isaac. And for Hagar, who suffers unsolicited hardship, her good God, who sees her and does not look beyond her, will restore her to her mistress for a season, providing a safe harbor for her and her child when they most need it.
Our takeaway? There are three. First, like Adam and Eve and Abram and Sarai, it will not go well if we impatiently take action rather than wait on God’s divine timing. Second, when God’s children take matters into their own hands, God, who is always faithful to his covenant people, will redeem us and the messes we make if we stop running and listen. Indeed, Hagar rested at an oasis where she gained much-needed restoration. While resting, the angel of the Lord approached her to speak words that healed her heavy heart. Hence, Hagar earnestly listened (vv.8-12), trusted in the integrity of the pronouncements (v.13), and acted accordingly (v.15). Lastly, when we feel like others look past us and take little notice, let’s remind ourselves that our God, who delighted in creating us, “sees us” through the blood of his Son and “looks after us” (v.13) as his redeemed.
Prayer: Father God, we thank you for your Son, who, with you, compassionately sees us to the depths of our hearts and invites us to yoke with him and find rest. And we thank you for your Holy Spirit, who speaks comforting words to us and directs us so that we might act according to your will in your appointed time. Still, we sometimes act like Abram and Sarai, demonstrating a lack of trust in your goodness and following our will over yours. When we do, please help us resist running and rest in you with the assurance that you see and look after us. Amen.
Rev. Gordon Green, M.Div., M.A. Counseling
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