Genesis Chapter Sixteen
Read Genesis 16:1-6 – Sarai and Abram Helping God
v.1 “Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children:
and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.”
We remember from our study of
chapter 15 that Sarai was barren, unable to bear children. In her household she had a handmaiden, a
personal servant, an Egyptian whose name is Hagar and she is about to make a
major mistake in judgment.
v.2 “And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD
hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be
that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.”
First of all let us
observe two facts in this situation.
Sarai knew that her barrenness was due to the providence or plan of
God. She was in the same situation that
Hannah was but chose to approach a solution to her problem in a very different
way. Hannah took her problem to God:
I Samuel
Sarai, weary of
waiting for God to bring her and Abram a child in His own good time and through
his providence chose to take matters into her own hands. She decided that she needed to help God and
gave Abram direction to take her handmaiden, Hagar, and through her provide a
child.
v.3 “And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram
had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to
be his wife.”
Abram had been in
Jeremiah
v.4 “And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived:
and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.”
Hagar, now that she is Abram’s wife
and is bearing his child, becomes unmanageable as a servant. The scripture says that she despised her
mistress, Sarai, she thinks of herself as a better woman that Sarai. Trouble has come to the household of Abram, just as we’re told through the proverb of Agur usually happens in this kind of situation.
“For three things the earth is disquieted, and for four which it cannot bear: 22For a servant when he reigneth; and a
fool when he is filled with meat; 23For an odious woman when she is
married; and an handmaid that is heir to her mistress. Proverbs 30:21-23
v.5 “And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw
that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the LORD judge between me
and thee.”
Sarai has forgotten whose idea it
was that Abram should take Hagar as a second wife, hasn’t she? This is not an unusual situation when man’s
plans and actions bring about troubled times, is it? “MY WRONG BE UPON THEE”, the wrongs I’m
suffering, the trouble that has arisen is your fault. Her tongue is as sharp as that of Job’s wife
in Job 2:9 when she tells Job to
“CURSE GOD AND DIE.”
Those who understand their situation
and what brought it into being would say that she is being totally
unreasonable. But that is not uncommon
in situations such as this. A man has
written that when words are generated by pride and anger; “when passion is upon
the throne, reason is out of doors, and is neither heard nor spoken.” Sarai even, foolishly, appeals to God to
judge between her and Abram regarding the fault for her problems. Abram doesn’t help the problem,
in fact, he takes the coward’s way out.
v.6 “But Abram said unto
Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt
hardly with her, she fled from her face.”
Abram tells Sarai, she’s your maid,
you deal with the problem. He says
nothing about that’s recorded, nor does he take any responsibility upon himself
as Hagar’s husband. Hagar, who had been
so favored that she was given to her master as a wife, now becomes like those
who had to endure the wrath of God:
Psalms 106:41-42 “AND HE GAVE THEM INTO THE HAND OF THE
HEATHEN, AND THEY THAT HATED THEM RULED OVER THEM. THEIR ENEMIES ALSO OPPRESSED THEM, AND THEY
WERE BROUGHT INTO SUBJECTION UNDER THEIR HAND.”
Hagar doesn’t
tolerate this situation and runs away.
Read Genesis 16:7-14 – Hagar
v.7 “And the angel of the LORD
found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way
to Shur.”
Abram lived at Mamre. Using the times of
Exodus
The Angel of God finds
her at a spring or fountain of water.
v.8-9 “And he said, Hagar, Sarai’s maid, whence camest thou? and whither
wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my
mistress Sarai. 9And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself
under her hands.”
God’s instructions to Hagar are much
the same as given to Christians through the apostles:
Titus 2:9 “9Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to
please them well in all things; not answering again;”
I Peter
v.10 “And the angel of the LORD
said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be
numbered for multitude.”
God gives Hagar a
promise. Her seed, and consequently the
seed of Abram through her, would be multiplied greatly to the extent that they
could not be numbered. This promise is
repeated later to Abram:
Genesis
It is repeated to Hagar again in Genesis
v.11 “And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and
shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.”
God, through his messenger, now
tells Hagar that she will bear a son; a son that she should name Ishmael. The name Ishmael means “God has hearkened”
and would indicate a child born “as the fulfillment of a divine promise.” Both Jewish and Islamic traditions and
history regard Ishmael as the ancestor of the Arabic peoples. Islam considers Ishmael a prophet and his
name appears twelve times in the Quran. Also according to Muslim tradition, Muhammad
was a descendant of Ishmael through his son Kedar.
v.12 “And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man,
and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his
brethren.”
The scripture goes further to
describe Ishmael as a wild man, against every man and every man’s hand against
him. This does describe in many ways the
mindset of the Bedouin people, the desert dwellers that descended from Ishmael
and many of the people in this region today that we see on our TV news every
night.
v.13-14 “And she called the name of the LORD
that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked
after him that seeth me? 14Wherefore the well was called Beer-la-hai-roi;
behold, it is between Ka-desh and Be-red.”
Hagar both praises and honors
God. Like David after her:
Psalms 139:1-3 “O LORD,
THOU HAST SEARCHED ME, AND KNOWN me.
THOU KNOWEST MY DOWNSITTING AND MY UPRISING,
THOU UNDERSTANDETH MY THOUGHT AFAR OFF.
THOU COMPASSEST MY PATH AND MY LYING DOWN, AND ART ACQUAINTED with
ALL MY WAYS.”
The name Beer-la-hai-roi
literally means “the well of him that liveth and seeth
me.” It is located south of Kadesh-barnea and north of Bered,
which is further south still in the Wilderness of Shur.
Read Genesis 16:15-16 – Birth of Ishmael
v.15-16 “And Hagar bare
Abram a son: and Abram called his son’s name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael. 16And
Abram was fourscore and six
years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.”
So Hagar bears Abram’s
son and he is given the name that God had reserved. Then we’re told that Abram is now 86 years
old. Abram has now been in