Hagar, Sarai and Ishmael

Bible Study Lessons .... Genesis 16:1-16

Faith. An easy word to say but a tough one to live out. We find this in the life of Sarai and in our own lives. Sarai gave Hagar to Abram because she was unwilling to wait for God to fulfill His promise to her. The promise of a son. So spawns the saga of Hagar and Ishmael - read on ...

16:1 Now Sarai, Abram's wife had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar.

2 So Sarai said to Abram, "Now behold, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Please go in to my maid; perhaps I will obtain children through her." And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

3 After Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram's wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife.

4 He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her sight.

5 And Sarai said to Abram, "May the wrong done me be upon you I gave my maid into your arms, but when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her sight May the LORD judge between you and me."

6 But Abram said to Sarai, "Behold, your maid is in your power; do to her what is good in your sight." So Sarai treated her harshly, and she fled from her presence.

7 Now the angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur.

8 He said, "Hagar, Sarai's maid, where have you come from and where are you going?" And she said, "I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai."

9 Then the angel of the LORD said to her, "Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority."

10 Moreover, the angel of the LORD said to her, "I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count."

11 The angel of the LORD said to her further,

"Behold, you are with child,

And you will bear a son;

And you shall call his name Ishmael,

Because the LORD has given heed to your affliction.

12 "He will be a wild donkey of a man,

His hand will be against everyone,

And everyone's hand will be against him;

And he will live to the east of all his brothers."

13 Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, "You are a God who sees"; for she said, "Have I even remained alive here after seeing Him?"

14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.

15 So 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 him.

Hagar and Ishmael

It would seem strange to most people today for a woman to give another wife to her husband. But, looking at the customs of the people of Abram's time, a woman without heirs (especially male heirs) was left to begging or prostitution to support herself if the husband died. She was forced to produce a male heir in any way she could. Hence, Hagar, the maidservant.

The story here is one of faith, or the lack of it. Sarai did not truly believe God's promise to give a child to her and to Abram. She became impatient, or scared and took matters into her own hands as they were both growing old.

Our living lesson

How often do we ask God for something and then not truly believe He can deliver? Do we grow impatient as Sarai did? When this happens, problems arise because we take over God's responsibility. Instead of letting Him work in our lives, we decide we can do a better job ourselves.

As I am writing this, I just returned from a funeral of a man who was a pillar of our church for decades. His name is Roy Barnes. He was always a minister of Christ everywhere he went though his singing talents and the way he lived his life. I can hear Roy say to us now; "God is in control." I can't add to that statement.

Love in Christ

- Bob

Genesis 12:10-20 - Abram Goes to Egypt