Genesis 16: 1-16
God had promised Abram that He would sire his own heir, and that his descendants would be as uncountable as the stars (Genesis 15: 4-5).
(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.
Since Sarai was barren, the custom and culture was that she could have children by a surrogate, so she wanted to help God by letting Abram impregnate her slave.
(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.
Sarai's plan worked, the slave was pregnant, but then she stopped being a good, submissive slave. Abram didn't take possession of the slave, but left her in Sarai ownership, so she had every right to treat her in whatever way she wanted, to try to shape her up into the obedient slave she used to be. So Hagar ran away instead.
(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) The the angel of the Lord said to her, "Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority."
The angel of the Lord could have been the Lord Himself appearing in a pre-incarnate form, as He orders her to go back to Sarai and obey her as her owner. Hagar is not free to decide to leave, she is Sarai's property, and the Lord is recognizing this relationship.
(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."
Here we see what kind of man this son of Hagar will be. His name Ishmael gives witness that God has seen the affliction that she has suffered, and he will be a wild donkey of a man, untamable; and unable to get along with others, always fighting.
This fits a description I heard once from a woman who had escaped Islam, who described her society as, "brother against brother, sons against the father, the family against the clan, the clan against the nation, the nation against the world. No peace anywhere, always fighting."
And Ishmael will give Hagar so many descendants they will be too many to count.
(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.
The name she called the Lord was, "You See Me, God!" And she was surprised that she was still alive after this close encounter with her Deity. And the location of the well showed that she was on her way back to Egypt.
The God who saw her affliction sent her back to the same affliction. She was to change her attitude to be treated better.
(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.
He was still Abram when Ishmael was born of the slave-woman. It would be another thirteen years when God would again speak to him.
O my Father, You are so good to us, and Your program for Abram (Abraham) was so much more than he would have ever imagined. So I know Your plan for me is no less wonderful.
My Father, please help me to do the things each day that You planned for me to accomplish, to further Your Kingdom by growing Your family, and growing a little more mature each day.
O Father, send us out into all the world to gather together all of Your family, to bring all the embryos to the birth; and grow up Your children to the full stature of the Son of God as His body.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is our Lord God Almighty, our Redeemer and Messiah, sovereign King of the World and all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, forever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
