
God’s covenant with Abraham was already in motion when Abraham tries to fulfill God’s promise by himself. Of course, he had some help. In the last issue, we discussed God’s covenant with Abraham and how God promised to give him an heir through Sarah and land for his descendants.
But many years pass before this will happen. Twenty-five years to be exact. No one would blame Abraham and Sarah for getting a little antsy, wondering if God would ever fulfill His promise. After all, when it finally happens Abraham is 100 and Sarah 90.
They hit a bump along the way, but even when we are unfaithful, God is always faithful. Their choices and actions bear consequences we can see the effects of even today. Let’s look at how Abraham tries to fulfill God’s promise and learn life lessons we can put into play in our lives.
Sarah Decides While Abraham Tries to Fulfill God’s Progress (Genesis 16:1-6)
Abraham tries to fulfill God’s promise to him on his own. But Sarah helped him a whole lot and he agreed with her. Hagar really had no choice because she was Sarah’s servant. She had to do what she was told. I’m not saying she was innocent of the whole affair, but in that culture, she could not have gone against the mistress’s will.
They had been living in the land of Canaan for ten years. This means Abraham was 85 and Sarah was 75 years old. They had been waiting on God’s promise for a male child who would be Abraham’s heir.
It was impossible because Sarah was barren all these years. It was impossible because they were getting older, not younger. Anyone who looked at their situation would not be surprised they tried to figure something else out.
It’s easy to become impatient in the waiting process. It starts with Sarah who thinks of a way around waiting on God’s promise. She wants to force the issue by giving Abraham her servant, Hagar, to produce an heir and then legally adopt the child as her own.
The culture of the land and times of the Bible had certain expectations of women. One of them was for them to produce children to their husbands. Biblical culture treats women better than the cultures they found themselves in for the most part. But this is why Sarah is eager to legally or otherwise provide an heir for Abraham.
When she hatches this plan to Abraham, she tells him what to do. We have already seen the men in Genesis not do so well with their wives. Adam did not stop Eve from eating the fruit and is just as much at fault because he ate with her. Paul has Adam at fault Instead of Eve (Romans 5:12-21).
The text says that Abraham listens to his wife (Genesis 16:2). It doesn’t say anything about him arguing with her, reminding her of the promise God gave them, or refusing to do what she demanded he do. Let’s face it. What man will tell his wife no when she tells him he can find someone else to Mary and have an air with?
Human nature is as it has always been. He bends to her will and I’m sure he didn’t feel too bad about it. All of this is legal in the culture of the time. There was no law against having multiple wives. Hagar was considered Sarah’s property and Sarah could do with her whatever she wished.
After ten years of living in Canaan, 10 years after God promised Abraham an air by Sarah, Sarah and Abraham tried to fulfill God’s promise on their own. They used the man-made laws of the land and customs to create an air legally instead of the way God promised.
Selector many reasons Sarah gave Abraham her maidservant Hagar as a second wife. Abraham consummated the marriage with Hagar and it was confirmation that Sarah was barren. Hagar gets pregnant immediately.
All of this is well and good according to the culture, except that is not what God promised or directed them to do. They did this of their own free will. It would not negate God’s promise. This perhaps is the most gracious part of this story.
Polygamy in the Bible is not something God condones. There are biblical reasons to not have more than one wife. First, it divides the affections of the husband. Abraham now has two wives. Like Jacob, I cannot see how he did not favor one over the other because Hagar could give him children.
This leads to a second difficulty with polygamy. It sets the wives against one another. Hagar sees that she can easily conceive, something her mistress could not do for 75 years so far (Sarah is 10 years younger than Abraham).
Look at her reaction to her fortune and Sarah’s misfortune. Genesis 16:4 gives the result of Sarah giving her servant Abraham as a wife. She immediately conceives and shows contempt for Sarah. She thinks even as a slave woman so it is not to say she is better than Sarah because she can give Abraham children.
We must understand the culture of the day. In biblical culture, childbearing is one of the chief responsibilities of the wife. She is expected to provide an air and children to her husband. I know it’s hard for us to see this type of culture in our day, but it still exists in some parts of the world.
This is not to say that biblical culture demands this of Christians. One glance at Proverbs 31 tells you that wives were so much more than child bearers. I cannot say from my mail perspective if this was the view of the people in the Bible.
I see it as a background cultural value you simply accept or practice without realizing it. I could be very wrong about how the cultural values found in the Bible reflect Israelites and Christians. Sorry if I offended any ladies reading this. I am simply trying to convey what the cultural values were in biblical times. There were different values for different nations and peoples.
You see this especially with Jacob, Leah, and Rachel. The sisters compete to produce children for Jacob and he tends to turn to the one whose womb is open. This may not have been what Abraham was like, but after 85 years of not having children, he can be quite susceptible to such behavior.
As Abraham tries to fulfill God’s promise on his own, he finds himself one year later at 86 the father of Ishmael. Don’t think Abraham gets away Scott free. In fact, Sarah blames Abraham for Hagar’s attitude toward her.
But she was the one who gave Hagar to Abraham with the express purpose that Hagar produce and air for Abraham. When that happened, Hager thought she was better than Sarah and Sarah resented her conceited approach toward her mistress.
This is that second part of why polygamy biblically does not work. There is no relationship in the Bible grounded on having more than one wife that succeeds. Every time you see two or more wives, there is stress and contention in the home. It reminds us that God ordained marriage to be between one man and one woman. Any perversion of that formula produces problems.
The wives are in competition with one another for the husband’s affections. They fight with one another and often make serious emotional and relational issues for one another. They then appeal to the husband to reprimand the other wife or to solve relational problems.
This happens to Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar. Abraham doesn’t want to deal with Hagar as Sarah demands. Instead of stepping in and helping to mediate the circumstances, Abraham tells Sarah that Hagar is her property and Sarah can do whatever she wants with her.
None of this is biblical or healthy. Sarah blames Abraham for getting Hagar pregnant, which is why Sarah gave her to him. She wants God to judge between her and Abraham but she created this problem. Sarah blames Abraham for not being the reason why they can’t have children.
I can imagine she was already emotionally and relationally fragile before this whole incident. When you are expected by culture to produce children for the husband and you can’t do it, you can feel inadequate and shamed in an honor-shame culture. The fact that Hagar gets pregnant so fast accelerates the problem.
Even today with the scientific advancements we have made in reproductive health, there still couples who I really touched by the story because it is in some way their story. Rest assured, God is the one who opens the womb and gives life.
While we can appeal to our sciences, we should first appeal to God. Science can help us, but not always. There are still procedures that take multiple times and lots of money and they still can’t guarantee the outcome a couple desires.
If you are in this situation, instead of letting it drive a wedge between you and your spouse, cling to one another. That is God’s desire for you. He made marriage d husband and wife take on life’s challenges together.
Isolation only harms you. Pray for your spouse and for yourself. Ask the Lord to open the wife’s womb and grant life. Sadly, most of the accounts of women being there and do not mention the women crying out to God. They tend to use other means. Let us learn from such mistakes.
Sarah turns on Abraham and Abraham turns on Hagar. Abraham tries to fulfill God’s promise with disastrous effects and consequences. Sarah turns all her anger on Hagar. She “deals harshly” with her. Abraham does not defend Hagar even though he should because she is now his wife.
The way Sarah treats Hagar from this word “to deal harshly” in this context actually says that Sarah humiliated and abused her. Hagar must have seen no recourse in such humiliation other than to run away. And that’s exactly what she did.
The God Who Sees Hagar (Genesis 16:7-16)
We are seeing how things go when Abraham tries to fulfill God’s promise on his own. His wife, Sarah, is angry with him. This whole situation has created a rift between them. Abraham we asked defensively and gives Hagar, his other wife, into her hands to do with as she pleases.
Sarah humiliates Hagar and gives her no other recourse than to run away. And we see God intervene and Hagar’s life. No matter how Sarah treats her or Abraham neglects her, God cares for her. God cares for you.
Hagar is in the wilderness, but it is not a desert like what we think of today. The wilderness also has grass in areas and water in places. The angel of the Lord comes to Hagar. She is hanging out at a spring, probably refilling whatever water container she has.
He appears and calls to her. Please understand how much God cares for Hagar. An Angel does not go where God does not command and send them to go. The angel appearing to her shows God’s great care for her. God always knows exactly how He can get our attention.
The angel knows where she came from and where she’s going. I don’t think she knows where she’s going. She fled into the wilderness. But what was her plan after getting away from Sarah? I doubt she had a plan. She just had to get away from her.
She doesn’t say where she is going. She only says that she’s trying to get away from Sarah. Sometimes God asks us to do hard things. The angel of the Lord tells her to return to Sarah. He tells her to walk right back into that stressful and humiliating situation again.
I can imagine Hagar wanted nothing to do with it. But if you are standing in front of an Angel, you do what the angel says. The interesting thing is what the angel says. Not only does he say to return to her, but to submit to her. The word for submit here is the same word I just told you about.
The way Sarah humiliated Hagar, that same word is used here for “submit.” Except here, the word carries the meaning of submission no matter what the outcome. Hagar would have to walk back into Sarah’s house and submit to her even if Sarah continued to abuse her.
Hagar didn’t help her case by being so conceited. It’s amazing how many little things we do that we may not realize we are doing to worsen our situation. To be sure, Sarah was not in the right to abuse her servant. But Hagar could have handled the situation of becoming pregnant immediately better.
I’m sure Hagar knew about God’s promise to Abraham and Sarah. After all, that is why she is involved in the first place. She must have wondered what her destiny would be. As God through the angel told her to do a hard thing, He also showed her little of her future.
God blesses obedience, and Hagar was no different. God let her know that she would be. Just as God promised Abraham and Sarah many descendants despite Sarah’s barrenness, He promised Hagar that she would also have a multitude of descendants that could not be numbered.
The angel tells Hagar to name her son Ishmael. Usually the husband names the child. But here, Hagar names the child Ishmael and his name is found in on the fact that God hears her. Ishmael’s name means “he who hears God,” or “God hears.”
The rest of the prophecy over Ishmael characterizes the kind of person he will be. The angel says he will be a wild donkey of a man. Donkeys are known for their ornery nature. Ishmael will be contentious with everyone. Even though he will have contentious relationships, he will be a ruler over those he contends with. More on this below.
Abraham tried to fulfill God’s promise, but he could not do it by human means. Sarah tried to fulfill God’s promise but it only caused turmoil in her home. Hagar did what she was told by Abraham and Sarah, but she would have to return to that crazy situation. As a servant, she is obedient to Sarah, Abraham, and the angel.
Hagar did not expect the Lord to be in her corner. And yet, He sent an Angel to tell her about her future and how He would bless her. She names the well, and its name means “well of the Living One who sees me.”
When Hagar names God, “You are a God of seeing,” or “You’re the God who sees me,” the Hebrew text makes it even clearer that she is giving God a name. It literally says, “Then she called the name of the Lord, “El Rk’ah.”
If you’ve ever done a study of God’s names, you know there are two types of names God has. The first kind are names will give God based on the circumstances. You will see this throughout the Old Testament.
Often, these names have the shortened form of Elohim (El) combined with another word. An example of this is El Shadai. The other kind of name God has is the one He declares about Himself. An example of this is Yahweh. It is His covenant-keeping name.
Hagar is so blessed by God’s care for her even in the wilderness as a humiliated servant that she names God according to her experience of his loving care and that He sees her circumstances. He cares for you in your dire need. He will find you and show Himself faithful to you.
Ishmael’s and Hagar’s Life after Abraham Tries to Fulfill God’s Promise (Genesis 21:8-21)
I want to jump forward for just a moment as we discuss how Abraham tries to fulfill God’s promise on his own. I want to show the future of Hagar and Ishmael. Sadly, that broken home will never be mended. That is one of the consequences of trying to fulfill God’s promises on our own.
We will never be able to fulfill the promise as well as God does. We must have patience no matter how long we think God is taking. His timing is perfect. Genesis 21:8 lets us know that Hagar did not run away again. Her and Ishmael stayed with Abraham and Sarah.
This is after Isaac is born. There’s still a lot of animosity between Sarah and Hagar. It is the day Isaac has been weaned. It is sad to see that Hagar has not become more wise or changed. She is laughing at Sarah on this day of great joy.
It’s almost as if Hagar is trying to weave herself out of this story of God’s promise to Abraham and Sarah. It’s as if she is trying to make herself an enemy. What is she laughing at? The Bible doesn’t say, but it might be related to weaning Isaac.
The Bible doesn’t tell us how old Hagar is. Perhaps she is laughing at the much older Sarah. I don’t pretend to know about these things. Anytime you see laughter around Isaac, you need to know that laughter is what Isaac’s name means in Hebrew. There are often word plays associated with his name.
We will talk about Isaac’s name later but Hagar may be laughing at Isaac as much as she is laughing at Sarah. This rubs Sarah the wrong way. Sarah demands that Abraham take action. She wants him to cast out Hagar and Ishmael. She is now concerned about the inheritance.
With a child of her own, Sarah does not want to share the inheritance. If only she would have been more patient for God to fulfill His promise. None of this family drama would exist back then or today.
Abraham is not happy with Sarah’s wishes. While she is only concerned about Isaac, Abraham cares much for Ishmael also. Divided families are extremely hard to navigate. Abraham his father to both Ishmael and Isaac but Sarah is only mother to Isaac. She does not care about Ishmael the way Abraham does.
It is probably the same for Hagar. We already know she doesn’t like Sarah or the way Sarah treats her. She is probably not fond of Isaac either because she knows he will get the inheritance. The oldest male child should receive the father’s blessing and inheritance but she already knows Isaac will receive the inheritance because he is a natural air from Abraham’s original wife.
God tells Abraham to not be concerned (Genesis 21:11-13). He will also bless Ishmael. Abraham and Sarah changed the way things were supposed to work out. They jumped ship on God’s promise because they wanted something now and they waited for so long.
All this drama is created because Sarah wanted to have a son but could not naturally do it. It creates a rift between Abraham and Sarah, Sarah and Hagar, Isaac and Ishmael, and Abraham and both women.
When Abraham tried to fulfill God’s promise on his own and before God’s timing, all these situations have become a major problem. It is about to come to a head. It is not even a full day until Abraham will say goodbye so if he would have Hagar and Ishmael.
Abraham got a go back together for Hagar and Ishmael. He put some bread and ask him full of water on her shoulder. Her and her son exit stage left. She rides off into the wilderness, but this time is different.
She and her son are running out of water. It appears there’s not as much water in this part of the wilderness as there was the day she ran away. God told Abraham not to be concerned. If Abraham would have :known what was happening, he probably would have tried to intervene.
But this is the story of how God takes care of Hagar and Ishmael just as He had promised so many years ago. This time, the water runs out and there is no water in sight. Hagar puts the child under the Bush so she will not see him die. Her situation is dire. She needs a miracle.
I wonder if she thought, This is all Abraham’s fault. Why didn’t he stand up to Sarah? We don’t know what was going through her mind other than this was it. She is weeping and the boy is crying out.
Ishmael was born when Abraham was 86. Ishmael is circumcised along with every other male in Abraham’s camp when Abraham is 99. Isaac was born when Abraham was 100. Ishmael is 13 when everyone was circumcised and 14 when Isaac is born. Suggesting it took about two years for Isaac to be weaned, I surmise that Ishmael was not a young child. He was a teenager of perhaps 16 years.
Ishmael was probably so depleted of food and water that he was the weakest. The fact that it seems Hagar was still carrying Ishmael makes you think he is younger because he was too weak. Perhaps he had a small body build and was easier for her to carry him.
Just imagine this scene. Ishmael is in the bushes. He is crying out, probably from pain and hunger pangs. Hagar can’t take it anymore. She’s also bawling. Lo and behold, the angel of God begins to speak to her.
The angel tells her to hold the boy up because God has heard his cry. He had already promised her the boy would become a great nation. As soon as she obeys, God “opens her eyes” to suddenly see a well with water.
I don’t think I’m going too far to suggest that either the well was not there before or that it was hidden some way in the wilderness from her. It could be that this is language of revelation from God for her.
God always comes through for us. He will reveal what we need at the moment we need it, and thought a moment sooner. That is part of the miraculous nature of God’s provision. She could now give Ishmael a drink and he grew strong again, along with his mother.
Just a couple more things about this account. Moses finishes the account by telling us that what the angel of the Lord had said about Ishmael came true. He lived in the wilderness, which is probably where he got his attitude and reputation as a “wild donkey.” He became proficient in the bow as the angel had promised.
Another note I want to make is that Moses has repeatedly said Hagar was an Egyptian. The Israelites knew all about the Egyptians. Moses mentions it almost every time you see Hagar’s name.
That would make Ishmael half Egyptian. Hagar finds away from among the Egyptians for him. It is a fact that Ishmael becomes the father of the Arabs as much as Isaac becomes the father of the Israelites.
One more observation before we move on to the consequences for Abraham trying to fulfill God’s promise on his own. Who, or what, is the angel of the Lord? At times if you look closely at the text, it seems the angel of the Lord as God Himself.
There are many angels in heaven. Jewish rabbis have noticed a curious pattern throughout the Old Testament. The angel of the Lord sometimes speaks for God, accepts worship or receives it, carries out divine duties, and appears at times to be what they call a “Second Yahweh.”
The angel of the Lord does not always have to be a “Yahweh figure.” One of the factors I pay attention to is if the angel of the Lord speaks in God’s place, or if he represents God’s speech. Another factor I consider is if the angel of the Lord accepts or receives worship from people.
Not to get too far off the tracks here, but the angel of the Lord that appears to noses in the burning Bush is a perfect example of a Yahweh figure. I think more often than not in the Old Testament, the angel of the Lord could be a theophany, an appearance of God.
Scholars have made an excellent case for Jesus appearing in these theophanies as Yahweh, because He is Yahweh according to some of His sayings in the New Testament. Let me know if you want me to post about this specifically.
Consequences of Abraham Trying to Fulfill God’s Promise
I want to point out some consequences of Abraham trying to fulfill God’s promises. There are relational, historical, and biblical consequences. First, there are relational consequences.
Abraham’s household is a contentious one for a long time after Sarah tells him to take Hagar as his wife. The events that stem from that command creates so many relational problems, unhealthy relationships, and situations. We must be careful about the decisions we make if they go against what God has promised or expects us to wait to receive.
Another consequence of Abraham trying to fulfill God’s promise on his own is historical. To this day, we watched the souring of relations between the nations of Israel and Arab/Muslim nations we are still watching the war between these half-brothers play out on the world stage.
We will not see peace in the middle east until Jesus returns. The antichrist will create a false peace, appeasing and aggravating both sides while he is in charge. But Jesus will be the only one who can bring peace to these warring factions.
Just be historically aware that when you see these Middle Eastern fights between Arab nations and Israel, Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, and others against Israel, this is all part of Bible history and prophecy. They will not get along because they both want the land, the inheritance promised to Isaac as the child of the promise.
Lastly, there is a biblical consequence of Abraham trying to fulfill God’s promise on his own. Even into the New Testament, Paul is using the example of Hagar and Sarah as the slave woman and the free woman, Sarah the free woman is a type of Jerusalem and freedom in Christ (Galatians 4).
It is unclear if he is using these types as a polemic against the false teachers and super apostles who tried to lead the Galatians astray or if he is using a rabbinic or Jewish form of interpretation. I believe he is using it as a polemic against false apostles.
Paul had a brilliant mind, and Abraham, Sarah and Isaac, even the Hagar and Ishmael, appear throughout the New Testament as examples of faith. The writers of the New Testament are Jews, if not having a Jewish background or being Gentile God fearers turned Christian. They are well aware that, as Paul says, the Old Testament people are examples to us (1 Corinthians 10). Be aware that they will repeatedly show up in the biblical record.
Life Lessons from Abraham Trying to Fulfill God’s Promise
As we have done many times throughout these character studies, I want to look at some life lessons we can learn and apply to our lives today. Abraham tried to fulfill God’s promise on his own and suffered serious consequences.
I see a number of principles and life lessons we can pick up from this section of Abraham’s story. First, we must not do things our own way and think God approves of them. When He promises something to us, only He can fulfill it.
God promises things because they are impossible. There is nothing we can do to fulfill them. Even if we think we are following biblical examples and that makes it okay, or we are making sure we follow the cultural norms and human laws to the letter, God is not fooled.
It does not change what God can and will do. All we will do is cause problems for ourselves and others in the process.
Another life lesson we can take with us from Abraham trying to fulfill God’s promise is that we must be patient and wait on God to fulfill His promises in His time His way. God is sovereign, and He alone decides when and how He will fulfill His promises.
Patience is one of the hardest lessons for us to learn. We hate waiting for things even if they are good things. We like to think we are in charge, but we are not. God is in charge, and it is easier to learn His will and do it to the best of our ability than to fight against it or think we are doing our own thing.
Another life lesson can pick up from Abraham trying to fulfill God’s promise himself is that God-ordained relationships have boundaries. While Abraham and Sarah did not violate the cultural or civic laws of their day, they did violate God’s law about marriage.
God has these laws and institutions in place for His reasons. When we violate them, we usually cause more harm than good. That’s why God set them up in the first place. He wants us to enjoy relationships in the proper ways that do not cause problems or harm people.
A lesson we can learn from Hagar is that God always hears us, knows where we are, and what is going on in our life. He cares deeply for us. Peter reminds us to cast our cares of the Lord because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7).
God knows all about your life and situation. He has you in the palm of His hand. He is watching over you and comes at just the right time. The more we realize how little in charge of our life and situation, the more we will rely on Him and trust Him to have His way.
We also learn from Hagar God will not leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). He will not allow us to experience anything He cannot handle or has not foreseen. Nothing surprises God even if it surprises us.
I’ve heard the saying that God will not allow you to go through anything you can’t handle. That’s not biblical. Everyone in the Bible phase insurmountable odds that cause them to rely on Jesus.
You will face things you cannot handle or bear. The very nature of trials is that they test us by introducing adversity into our lives to strengthen us. Hagar was dealing with end-of-life situations but God showed up just in time.
The last life lesson I can see as Abraham tried to fulfill God’s promise is that it never works out the way God intends when we try to fulfill His promises and prophecies. Try as we might, it is up to God to intervene how He wills. Your story is always better when God tells it.
The Saga Continues…
Abraham’s life story is far from over. We continue to walk this journey with him in issue 7 when we talk about Abraham meeting with God and receives confirmation of God’s covenant, intercedes for his nephew, and learns much about God’s character.