Life gets complicated when we do things our way rather than trusting God to do things His way.
Genesis 16 (NLT)
The Birth of Ishmael
1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. 2 So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal. 3 So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian servant and gave her to Abram as a wife. (This happened ten years after Abram had settled in the land of Canaan.)
4 So Abram had sexual relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant. But when Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to treat her mistress, Sarai, with contempt. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “This is all your fault! I put my servant into your arms, but now that she’s pregnant she treats me with contempt. The Lord will show who’s wrong—you or me!” 6 Abram replied, “Look, she is your servant, so deal with her as you see fit.” Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she finally ran away.
7 The angel of the Lord found Hagar beside a spring of water in the wilderness, along the road to Shur. 8 The angel said to her, “Hagar, Sarai’s servant, where have you come from, and where are you going?” “I’m running away from my mistress, Sarai,” she replied. 9 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her authority.” 10 Then he added, “I will give you more descendants than you can count.” 11 And the angel also said, “You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael (which means ‘God hears’), for the Lord has heard your cry of distress. 12 This son of yours will be a wild man, as untamed as a wild donkey! He will raise his fist against everyone, and everyone will be against him. Yes, he will live in open hostility against all his relatives.”
13 Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, “You are the God who sees me.” She also said, “Have I truly seen the One who sees me?” 14 So that well was named Beer-lahai-roi (which means “well of the Living One who sees me”). It can still be found between Kadesh and Bered.
15 So Hagar gave Abram a son, and Abram named him Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Ishmael was born.
Examine the Scriptures
Genesis 16 (NLT)
The Birth of Ishmael
1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him.
More than 20 years
But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. 2 So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.”
Man’s way vs. God’s way.
***Galatians 4:22-23 (NLT)
22 The Scriptures say that Abraham had two sons, one from his slave wife and one from his freeborn wife. 23 The son of the slave wife was born in a human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promise. But the son of the freeborn wife was born as God’s own fulfillment of his promise.
Sarai was impatient.
A custom of the day. (Man’s way) May appear to be a good solution.
This behavior was not wrong in the eyes of the secular world.
A barren women could give her maid to her husband as a wife. The child would be regarded as the first wife’s child.
If the husband said to the slave-wife’s son, “You are my son” then he was the adopted son and heir.
- Man’s efforts to resolve problems may appear to be good solutions.
God’s way
Genesis 15:2-5 (NLT)
2 But Abram replied, “O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son? Since you’ve given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. 3 You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir.”
4 Then the Lord said to him, “No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.” 5 Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!”
Isaiah 55:8-9 (NLT)
8 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
Throughout the scriptures multiple wives caused problems.
Jacob married Leah and Rachel
El-ka-nah married Hannah and Pen-in-nah
(and many others)
And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal.
Reminds me of Adam and Eve.
3 So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian servant and gave her to Abram as a wife. (This happened ten years after Abram had settled in the land of Canaan.) 4 So Abram had sexual relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant.
Hagar’s status changes from servant to wife.
Genesis 2:24 (NLT)
This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.
- Life gets complicated when we do things our way rather than trusting God to do things His way.
But when Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to treat her mistress, Sarai, with contempt.
Conflict between Hagar and Sarai.
Sarai’s proposal brought about conflict.
5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “This is all your fault! I put my servant into your arms, but now that she’s pregnant she treats me with contempt. The Lord will show who’s wrong—you or me!”
Conflict between Sarai and Abram.
6 Abram replied, “Look, she is your servant, so deal with her as you see fit.”
Abram transferred his responsibility to Sarai.
Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she finally ran away.
Hagar may have been heading back to her homeland of Egypt.
7 The angel of the Lord
Messenger of the Lord
Preincarnate manifestation of Christ
The Lord Himself. (Verse 10)
found Hagar beside a spring of water in the wilderness, along the road to Shur.
An angel (God) found Hagar.
But she had obviously become a believer in the God of Abram, and she has a place in God’s Holy Word.
2 Chronicles 16:9 (NLT),
The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.
8 The angel said to her, “Hagar, Sarai’s servant, where have you come from, and where are you going?” “I’m running away from my mistress, Sarai,” she replied. 9 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her authority.”
Submit to authority.
In Genesis chapter 21, after Isaac was born, Hagar was sent away.
10 Then he added, “I will give you more descendants than you can count.”
Genesis 17:20 (NLT)
As for Ishmael, I will bless him also, just as you have asked. I will make him extremely fruitful and multiply his descendants. He will become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.
Arabs (hostile to the Jews)
Genesis 25:13-16 (NLT)
13 Here is a list, by their names and clans, of Ishmael’s descendants: The oldest was Nebaioth, followed by Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 16 These twelve sons of Ishmael became the founders of twelve tribes named after them, listed according to the places they settled and camped.
11 And the angel also said, “You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael (which means ‘God hears’), for the Lord has heard your cry of distress.
- God heard Hagar’s cry of distress.
12 This son of yours will be a wild man, as untamed as a wild donkey! He will raise his fist against everyone, and everyone will be against him. Yes, he will live in open hostility against all his relatives.”
Arabs (hostile to the Jews)
- There are negative consequences for doing things outside of God’s will.
13 Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, “You are the God who sees me.” She also said, “Have I truly seen the One who sees me?”
Hagar recognized God as the one who hears the afflicted and recognizes their needs.
Hagar renames God.
- The living God sees and hears.
14 So that well was named Beer-lahai-roi (which means “well of the Living One who sees me”). It can still be found between Kadesh and Bered.
15 So Hagar gave Abram a son, and Abram named him Ishmael.
Abraham named Ishmael, acknowledging him as his son and heir.
- The son of the slave wife was born in a human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promise.
16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Ishmael was born.
11 years after Abram settled in Canaan.
- God’s servants are to trust His Word and wait patiently for its fulfillment.
- Human efforts will not help.
