In our previous study of the book of Genesis, we watched God reconfirm his promises to Abram. As a reminder, God had originally given Abram a command and a promise:
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1–3, ESV).
As the years ticked by, Abram was without even a child, let alone a great nation. He had tried to be a blessing, and, in our last study together, had cut a covenant with Abram, promising his man he would do all he'd said. Still, though Abram had the promise of God in hand, and though he believed God (Genesis 15:6), he still need to hold on in faith that he'd have biological descendants.
Eventually, his faith was tested, and our man stumbled. The events of Genesis 16 show us the great father of faith struggling to walk by faith. In this next episode, we see a man who had been justified by faith battling to be sanctified by faith. It's one thing to believe, it's another to live by faith. And this passage shows us a man battling for the life of faith.
And Abram wasn't alone. In our passage, we will see two other figures behave poorly. Sarai, Abram's wife, and Hagar, their servant, will also waffle in ungodliness.
So what we have in this chapter is twofold. First, we will see the ugly ways of man. Second, we will see the beautiful ways of God. He is the hero of this chapter, as he is all the Bible. In this section we will see and learn more of who God is, and what we'll find is stunning.
1. The Ways Of Man (16:1-6)
1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. 2 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.”
The Lord Has Prevented Me
This whole episode hinges on a shocking and scandalous suggestion from Sarai that Abram take her Egyptian servant who name was Hagar as an additional wife (1, 4). This suggestion, of course, flowed out of their situation - Sarai felt it was the Lord who'd prevented her from bearing children (2). He was in his mid-80s, and she in her mid-70s at this point (of course, we must remember the longer life spans of the patriarchs). Since she thought God was involved in her infertility, Sarai felt justified in offering up such an idea.
I do not want to water down the folly of the proposal. It was a terrible idea. But I do want you to know it was not as shocking to Abraham and Sarai as it is to you. In the cultures all around them, it was the legal custom of the day for a barren woman to give her maid to her husband. The maid's child would be considered the first wife's child. It wasn't only considered an acceptable arrangement, but was often contractually dictated when entering into marriage. If the wife could not produce an heir, it was sometimes agreed that she would provide a surrogate to her husband.
But we already know where this is going. We know it's a terrible idea. Though the culture of their day embraced it, common sense and general revelation tells us this will end in disaster. Everyone involved is an adult, but the elements of sexual temptation, jealousies, divided loyalties, bitterness, regret, self-hatred, and anger are all too easy to predict. Though they are all trying to be very grown up about it, human beings cannot handle this type of situation well. Abram was meant for Sarah. Sarah was meant for Abram. And nothing the culture said about doing things any other way than a monogamous and covenantal sexual relationship could change reality.
a. Flesh vs. Spirit
And this suggestion brings us to our first contrast between the ways of God and the ways of man. Abram and Sarai tried to get the job done through human ingenuity, rather than wait on the promise of God. Paul highlights this in Galatians:
But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. (Galatians 4:23, ESV).
Sarai and Abram panicked, couldn't see what God was doing, and set out to get the job done in their own strength. And this wasn't their way of giving God their energies, laying down their lives for his purposes. Instead, it was a way for them to go outside God's methods in an attempt to fulfill God's promises in their own might.
The temptation to get God's work done by the power of human ingenuity and flesh is strong. But it never leads to lasting fruit, and often causes ripples of pain. Abram's decision will end up creating generations of pain which reverberate even to our modern era. But, in the moment, he thought he was simply helping God out. He could wait no longer; he felt it was time to act.
But the way of faith is often the way of waiting. To peacefully trust God to get his purposes accomplished, even when we think he needs our help. But human ingenuity and energy often only mucks up the beauty of God's work.
There is a passage in the Old Testament which wonderfully illustrates this truth. After years in foreign captivity, the people of Israel returned to the promised land. Jerusalem needed to be rebuilt, and God promised it would. The governor at the time was a man named Zerubbabel. I am sure he wondered how this massive project would be completed. How in the world would he lead the rebuilding effort? How would this job get done?
Enter the prophet Zechariah, and, with him, various visions and dreams. In one, he saw two olive trees with pipes connecting them to lampstands. The oil flowed from the trees to the candles, enabling them to perpetually burn. The angel who brought the vision asked the prophet if he knew what the olive trees represented. Then the angel announced:
“This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’ (Zechariah 4:6–7, ESV).
God would get the work done. It would happen through Zerubbabel, but by the power of the Holy Spirit. God wanted to do the same through Abram. He wanted to fulfill his promises through Abram, but by the power of the Holy Spirit, not the arm of the flesh.
But all too often, we turn to our own abilities to get the job done, rather than wait on God. The flesh does its thing, and people find themselves in relationships they shouldn't have gotten into, ministries that aren't bearing genuine fruit, or careers they care little about. All because -- at some point -- the flesh took over, and waiting on God ceased.
But when God is marginalized and edged out of the way you do life, the results are disastrous. It is much better to go slow and allow him the space and time to fulfill his promises.
2b And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.
Abram heard Sarai's proposal, and he listened to her voice (2). Knowing what we already know in Genesis, this is a disastrous reversal of marital roles. In the first marriage, Eve had an idea that Adam went along with, and with terrible consequences. Here, a similar event occurs, and the consequences will again be terrible.
b. Follow vs. Lead
Now, we should not infer from this that any husband would be wise to become a dictatorial leader in his marriage and family. Nor should we get the idea that married couples shouldn't talk and discuss their life direction. No, when you marry, you become one flesh, a team of sorts. Any godly husband will discuss life with his bride, including major decisions. If you are a married man, you should work hard to hear where you wife is coming from and learn her perspective.
Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. (1 Peter 3:7, ESV).
Additionally, a husband should not think that just because he's leading that he's heading in the right direction. Not at all. Many times in Abram and Sarai's life, Abram took his wife in a sinful direction. Sarai is held out as godly because she followed her husband, even when not at his best (1 Peter 3:1-6). Still, just because a man is heading somewhere, doesn't make that somewhere the right direction.
But with all that said, we should see the danger of the reversal of the marital roles. Abram should have been leading his bride, but instead he followed. As Paul said:
But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. (1 Corinthians 11:3, ESV).
Again, I cannot state enough that this does not permit or encourage a domineering tone in any way. Jesus led his disciples, but it was as a servant who laid down his life. If anything, this servant-leadership, done correctly, should be the more difficult or roles. But it is the role God has given to believing husbands, and one Abram neglected in a moment of weakness, to perilous results.
As a pastor, I find many marital problems are caused by passive men who treat their wives more like a mother-figure, someone whose lead they are to follow. And, it is true that sometimes these wives are all too willing to take the lead. The results are disastrous. Children in homes like these rarely walk with God. The couple grows apart from one another. The man rarely ascends to the heights for which God made him, and the wife is often frustrated in life.
It would be good for the church to more frequently highlight the marital order. Recently, Christina and I were talking about friends we knew had struggled in their marriage, at least for a time. One of the couples got off to a backwards start. While engaged, they were in college, and he was an unmotivated man, so she did his homework for him. It should not have surprised her than his "man-switch" did not suddenly flip on at their wedding day. They struggled until he realized the leadership role he was called to embrace.
I asked Christina how she knew what kind of man she did not want to marry. She said, "It was the word submit. Once I read that in Ephesians, I knew, I could not marry someone who lacks character. I figured submission would be hard no matter what, but why make it harder by marrying someone hard to follow?"
3 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. 4 And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.
Everything went according to plan, and Hagar became pregnant. She is presented as a danger to the original readers when she is called "Hagar the Egyptian" (3). Israel had just come out of Egypt, and was not supposed to go back to Egypt, so the fact Hagar was Egyptian is meant to warn us that she is problematic.
She is presented as an enemy when she began to look with contempt on her mistress (4). She was elevated with pride, and began to look down on Sarai as a result.
c. Pride vs. Humility
Hagar was beginning to see herself as greater than Sarai. Her pregnancy had become her identity. Now, to be clear, it was unfair for Hagar to be in this position in the first place, and God will show her love and favor in this episode, but, for a moment, she caved to pride. She began thinking God had blessed her, and now the family heir was in her womb. She began seeing herself as privileged in status. And Abram had done nothing to stop her from this attitude.
Rather than respond to her pregnancy with humility, Hagar allowed a rivalry to develop, and grew prideful against Sarai. This is often the way of mankind. A little success, a little blessing, and a little success can go a long way in making us arrogant and proud. Rather than humbly rejoice in the favor shown to us, we strive for more. More status. More importance. And more esteem.
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you... (1 Peter 5:6, ESV).
5 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!”
This is not Sarai's best moment. Remember, this was all her idea. But she claims Abram had done wrong to her. She now sees she is looked on with contempt by her servant (5). And now she called on the Lord to judge between Abram and herself.
d. Anger vs. Repentance
This is so often the way of man. We want to do things our way, according to our plans, and then when things don't work out well, we become angry and call on God to fix things up. There is little repentance in this episode. Sarah is hardened. She is angry at Abram and Hagar, and maybe even at God. But she does not appear angry at herself. She does not humbly recognize the chaos she, at least in part, created.
As readers, we see how everyone is complicit. Sarai's idea was godless and terrible. Abram's willingness to go along with the plan was foolish, and perhaps even lustful. And Hagar's prideful reaction to her pregnancy only served to make things worse. But, through it all, no one repented.
6 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.
Abram continued on in his determined course of following Sarai's lead. Rather than step up, he said, "Do to her as you please" (6). Hagar was now defenseless against the onslaught of Sarai's wrath, so she fled into the wilderness (6).
e. Apathy vs. Intervention
Abram could have intervened and stopped Sarai's persecution of Hagar, but he didn't. His apathy made matters worse. Godly people are called to intercede and intervene, but Abram apathetically allowed Sarai to go on her rampage against Hagar. So sad.
It's not hard to see the problems in this whole episode. They operated in the flesh, rather than wait for the promise of God. Abram followed his wife, negating his leadership role. Hagar was lifted up with pride, which only furthered the problems. And Sarai responded with anger, not repentance, and lashed out against Sarai.
And it all started by departing from the way of faith. Rather than trust God, problem after problem was unfurled upon the Abram when the patriarch stopped believing God capable of fulfilling his word. A chain of causes and effects rolled out. The domino had tipped, and now they were all falling. And everyone is at fault.
So now that we've seen the ways of man, let's observe the ways of God.
2. The Ways Of God (16:7-16)
7 The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 8 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
Here we have the first Old Testament mention of "the angel of the Lord" (7). Later in this episode, this angel will be identified with God when Hagar calls him a "God of seeing" (13). The rest of Genesis will build on this connection between the angel of the Lord and God himself. Then, after the law, other Old Testament books continue to blur the lines between the angel of the Lord and Yahweh. In the Gideon episode of Judges 6, the angel of the Lord is considered God. In the Samson episode of Judges 13, the same comparison is made. All through the Old Testament, the angel of the Lord receives worship because he is considered divine.
The thing is, the angel of the Lord is also seen as distinct from God. For instance, later in Genesis, when Abraham tries to find a bride for Isaac, he tells his servant that the God of heaven would send his angel to help him on his quest (Genesis 24:7).
The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke to me and swore to me, ‘To your offspring I will give this land,’ he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. (Genesis 24:7, ESV).
Because this angel is often spoken of as divine, but is also distinct from God, many have concluded the Angel of the Lord is a theophany of the preincarnate Christ. In other words, though the second member of the triune God came to earth as a baby boy around the turn of the first century, he seems to have appeared in other forms throughout the Old Testament era.
a. Found vs. Lost
God Of The Wilderness
Notice what the angel of the Lord did -- he found Hager by a spring of water in the wilderness (7). Based on the geography mentioned (the spring back to Shur, wilderness) and because of her ancestry (she was Egyptian), it seems Hagar was fleeing back to Egypt. It's hard to say how long she's been on the run at this point, but while out there in the wilderness she found a spring of water (7).
It is a fascinating movement, and one filled with imagery ancient Israel would've understood. Hagar ran to Egypt, and they were on the run from Egypt. She was oppressed by her master, just as they had been oppressed by Pharaoh. She fled into the wilderness, and they had done the same. The Angel of the Lord defended her, and would also defend them, even by granting them the miraculous provision of water.
Hagar, it seems, is no longer lost, but found. God went into the wilderness and found his wandering sheep. He brought her back into the fold.
This is who God is; he finds those who are destitute, those who don't belong, and brings them home to himself. Even now, while many of you are alone and isolated, God sees you. He is the God of the wilderness. When we are lost, he seeks to find us, and rejoices when he does (see Luke 15).
9 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.”
b. Submit vs. Flee
God's command to Hagar was to return to her mistress and submit to her (9). This would have been a difficult thing for Hager to do. Sarai had not behaved righteously. She had even been vengeful and angry. But God wanted Hagar to surrender herself to Sarai's leadership. If she did, great blessings would flow into her life.
This is often the way of God. He calls for citizens to submit to difficult governments, wives to submit to difficult husbands, and people to submit to difficult trials. In the midst of the difficulty, we are to trust him. As we surrender to the Lord in the midst of the pain, we will discover his great blessing upon our lives.
I can recall a time I struggled to submit to a pastor who was over me in the Lord. I didn't think I could last long on his staff, and was making plans to respectfully and maturely depart. But, one morning, the Spirit caused this proverb to jump out at me:
Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who guards his master will be honored. (Proverbs 27:18, ESV).
11 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. 12 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.”
c. Blessed vs. Barren
Here we see how God would bless Hagar for her submission to Sarai. She was not barren. He would involve himself with her and her offspring (10). They would not be able to be numbered for multitude (10). Her baby would turn into a massive amount of descendants.
God is promising Hagar that she will be a major matriarch in her own right. Though not the mother of the child of promise -- that role would be left with Sarai -- Hagar would have many descendants of her own. She would have a son named Ishmael, and he would have a bit of an unruly spirit of independence, which is why God described him as a wild donkey of a man (12).
All this should have shown Sarai, Abraham, and Israel, how God is perfectly capable of multiplying descendants. He did not need their help. If he could take a beaten down, persecuted, single mother and make a great people from her, then he could create a great nation from Abram and Sarai.
Now, much has been made of the generational problems the Ishmaelites caused for Israel. Even today, distant descendants of Ishmael cause trouble for the distant relatives of Isaac, Abram and Sarai's eventual son. Later in Genesis, Joseph, Sarai's great-grandson, will be taken to Egypt by a band of Ishmaelite traders (Genesis 37:28).
d. Hear vs. Ignore
The name Ishmael means "God hears." This explains why God told Hagar, "You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has listened to your affliction" (11). This is another of the ways of God. He found Hagar. He blessed her for her submission to Sarai. But he'd also heard Hagar's plea. She had apparently been crying out to God while in her pain.
God is not one to ignore pleas for his mercy. This was a message for Hagar, but also for Abram and Sarai. God heard their pleas for a son. He had made a promise. He was going to work on their behalf.
And God hears you. It is important to recall this, especially in times of pain. I wonder how many individuals in our world are currently enduring their own Hagar-moment. They feel alone, in the wilderness, and without hope. In their destitution and despair, God hears their humble cries for his mercy. His ear is open. He listens.
And this would have greatly encouraged ancient Israel as well. They were suppressed by Pharaoh and had cried out to God. They waited for a long time between their cry and God's answer, but eventually Moses came and they were set free. God hears.
13 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.”
Hagar was amazed at God and his promise. And, in here amazement, she did something incredible. She named God. She called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing" (13). She called him such because she was overwhelmed that he had looked after her (13).
e. See vs. Ignore
Not only does God hear, but God sees. So she called God "the One who sees." This would have been shocking to Israel. Hagar -- the mother of the Ishmaelites! -- named God. This is the only example in the Old Testament of someone giving God a name. She wants to invoke God's name in the future, so she names him "the God of seeing." Amazing.
So Hagar new God heard and saw her. She envisioned God as the great provider to whom she could turn.
And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19, ESV).
The Wilderness
It is important to notice how Hagar came by this incredible revelation. It was in the wilderness, on the run, while beaten down and persecuted, that God revealed himself to her. She saw great things while in the trial of her life.
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. (James 1:2–3, ESV).
14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi [God sees and provides for our needs]; it lies between Kadesh and Bered. 15 And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
f. Grace vs. Law
The final contrast we should consider is this: grace vs. law. Though hard to gather from this passage, Paul used this episode as an illustration in the book of Galatians. He was dealing with a group of people who thought they could be justified or sanctified by their works. Lawkeeping was the way to God, they thought.
So Paul showed them how the law was originally written many centuries after the promise was given to Abraham. Promise first. Law second. In an interesting allegorizing of the Genesis passage, Paul said:
Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written, “Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband.” Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman. (Galatians 4:21–31, ESV).
So the promise would not be helped along by the works of Abram and Sarai. God would do the work. God would fulfill his promise. God's ways are not man's ways, and his ways are best. Let's trust him all the way.