Introduction
‘Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; so, she said to Abram, ‘The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.’ Abram agreed to what Sarai said. So, after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. Then Sarai said to Abram, ‘You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me.’ ‘Your slave is in your hands,’ Abram said. ‘Do with her whatever you think best.’ Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so, she fled from her.’ Genesis 16:1-6
HAGAR AND ISHMAEL
It’s now been ten years since the first promise, Genesis 16:1 / Genesis 16:3, and so it’s not surprising that Sarai thought she needed to help God out with the child promise, Genesis 12:16. Sarai because she’s getting older, and Abram who is now 86 years old, proposes to give Hagar, a slave from Egypt to Abram as his wife, Genesis 16:1-2, why? Possibly because she thought it was her fault, maybe she simply had given up hope that the promise of an heir would come through her childbearing.
The custom was that if a wife couldn’t bear children, then she could select and present to her husband a servant girl who would be a surrogate mother for an heir to the husband. And so, she, with Abram’s consent, Genesis 16:2.
They were acting in accordance with the flesh rather than in accordance with God, Genesis 2:24 / Matthew 19:4-5, and Abram agrees to Saria’s request, Genesis 16:2, wanted to work out the fulfilment of the promise through their own inventiveness, Romans 9:6-13 / Galatians 4:21-31.
After Abram had been living in Canaan for ten years, Sarai took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife, Genesis 16:3. Hagar sat on Sarai’s lap while Hagar and Abram had intercourse, Genesis 16:4-5. The way this was done as to the custom of the day was the slave woman would sit on the lap of the other woman.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘There was a difference, and Hagar certainly enjoyed the status of Abram’s wife, however subordinate to Sarai. It was a situation certain to produce friction, hatred, and tragedy.’
Abram isn’t being a spiritual leader because he passes the responsibility to his wife. As someone once said, ‘It’s better to receive God’s help, rather than help God out’. When Saria knew Hagar was pregnant, she began to despise her, Genesis 16:4.
Sarah then blames Abram for all her suffering, and blames him for Hagar despises her, Genesis 16:5. She asks that the LORD judge between them both, Genesis 16:5. It’s clear that because she couldn’t have children, she felt even worse, so jealousy came in. She complained to Abram, and he said, ‘do whatever you want with her,’ Genesis 16:6.
Resentment grew between the two of them, and as a result Sarai mistreated Hagar, Genesis 16:6. The same law that said a wife could give her servant to her husband, also said that the wife couldn’t send the pregnant servant away. As time goes by Hagar shows contempt for Sarai and so, out of sin comes another situation, Hagar flees from Sarai, Genesis 16:6.
Leupold, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Polygamy is always bound to be the fruitful mother of envy, jealousy, and strife.’
‘The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. And he said, ‘Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?’ I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,’ she answered. Then the angel of the LORD told her, ‘Go back to your mistress and submit to her.’ The angel added, ‘I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.’ The angel of the LORD also said to her: ‘You are now pregnant, and you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD, has heard of your misery. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.’ She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me,’ for she said, ‘I have now seen the One who sees me.’ That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered’. Genesis 16:7-14
Notice that the angel of the Lord found Hagar, Genesis 16:7. Who is this angel of the LORD? This is a Christophany, which suggests that this is a preincarnate appearance of Christ, Genesis 12:7. He is identified as the angel of God and He will speak to Hagar from heaven later when she if thrown out of Abraham’s home, Genesis 21:17-16. Remember the word ‘angel’ in Hebrew is ‘malak’ and it simply means messenger. Christ is God not an angel which become clearer in Genesis 16:13.
Haynes Jr, in his commentary, says the following.
‘A study of these passages reveals that the Angel of the Lord appeared in human form, Genesis 18:2 / Genesis 22:1-18 / Hebrews 13:2, and performed normal human functions, Genesis 32:24 / Numbers 22:23 / Numbers 22:31, yet he was an awe-inspiring figure, Genesis 32:30 / Judges 6:22 / Judges 13:22, exhibiting divine attributes and prerogatives including predicting the future, Genesis 16:10-12, forgiving sin, Exodus 23:21, and receiving worship, Exodus 3:5 / Judges 13:9-20.’
He finds Hagar near a spring in the desert, it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur, Genesis 16:7. This indicates it must have been a well-known place. Notice He calls Hagar by her name, He identifies her status with Sarai as a slave and then He asks her where she came from and where is she going, Genesis 16:8.
He asked these questions not because He didn’t know but because He wanted Hagar to acknowledge her circumstances, hence why she as truthful in her reply, Genesis 16:8. Hagar’s problem was her arrogance, hence why she wouldn’t submit to Sarai, I personally believe if she wasn’t so arrogant then things may have worked out between her and Saria.
He then tells Hagar to go back and submit to Saria, Genesis 16:9, but a promise is also added, Genesis 16:10. If she obeyed the Lord to return, God said a great nation will come from her, Genesis 16:10. He then goes on to tell her that she is now pregnant and will give birth to a son, Genesis 16:11. She is to give him the name Ishmael, which means God hears, Genesis 16:11.
Ishmael is going to be blessed but will be sustained, Genesis 16:12, also notice that Ishmael isn’t going to fit into the peaceful social structure of Abram’s family, he wouldn’t socially adapt to the social structures of every man.
It’s not said that he would be a social outcast, but because of his nature, he would produce a nomadic culture of people who would be native to themselves in the deserts of the south, Genesis 16:12. Later in Genesis 21:11-20, we find Hagar and Ishmael fighting, we also find that Isaac and Ishmael are always fighting, this is basically nation against nation, Galatians 4:24-29. This is the consequence of sin, lack of trust, sin leads to worse sin.
Davis, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The prophetic description of Ishmael as a ’wild ass of a man’, Genesis 16:12, (RSV) is rather intriguing. The animal referred to is the wild and untameable onager, which roams the desert at will. This figure of speech depicts very accurately the freedom-loving Bedouin moving across vast stretches of land.’
Notice she calls the one speaking to her LORD and she says, ‘You are the God who sees me,’ ‘I have now seen the One who sees me,’ Genesis 16:13. This is one of the reason we know that the angel of the Lord, Genesis 12:7, is a preincarnate appearance of Christ.
Here she is in the middle of nowhere, homeless, pregnant, a soon to be a single mum with no hope of a future but God gives her one, hence why she says that God is ‘the God who sees’, Genesis 16:13. The well was called Beer Lahai Roi, meaning the well of the living one who sees me, Genesis 16:14 / Genesis 16:7.
The writer tells us it is still there at the time of writing between Kadesh and Bered. We often think that God doesn’t see us in our moments of despair, but He does, and He cares about His children, He cares about single mums. He hears, Genesis 16:11, and He sees, Genesis 16:13.
‘So, Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.’ Genesis 16:15-16
This is the first time a child is named before its birth, Genesis 16:15. Hagar returned which must have taken a lot of courage and faith and told her story because the son is born, and they called him Ishmael, Genesis 16:15.
Abraham was eighty-six years old when Ishmael was born, Genesis 16:16. He had no children with Sarai when he was ninety-nine, Genesis 17:1, that’s why we know that Ishmael was thirteen years old when the events of Genesis 17 begin.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The age of Abram is given here as 86, and it was not until 13 years later when he was 99 that God appeared to him again. During that long period, Abram would have to live with the situation that he and Sarai had brought upon themselves.’