"After ten years of living in the land of Canaan, Abram and Sarai still have not had a child. So, they decide that Abram should take Hagar (an Egyptian slave they owned) as his wife. Hagar becomes pregnant and conflict breaks out between her and Sarai. Sarai mistreats Hagar so much, that she runs away. An angel comes to Hagar and tells her to return to Sarai and Abram. She returns, gives birth to Abram's son, and his name is Ishmael."
Reading from the Amplified Bible (AMP) version..
- "So Sarai said to Abram, “See here, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. I am asking you to go in to [the bed of] my maid [so that she may bear you a child]; perhaps I will obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to Sarai and did as she said." v.2
- "He went in to [the bed of] Hagar, and she conceived; and when she realized that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress [regarding Sarai as insignificant because of her infertility]."v.4
- "But the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, on the road to [Egypt by way of] Shur. And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where did you come from and where are you going?” And she said, “I am running away from my mistress Sarai.” The Angel of the Lord said to her, “Go back to your mistress, and submit humbly to her authority.” Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, “I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count.” v.7-10
- "Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are God Who Sees”; for she said, “Have I not even here [in the wilderness] remained alive after seeing Him [who sees me with understanding and compassion]?” Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi (Well of the Living One Who Sees Me); it is between Kadesh and Bered." v.13-14
My personal observations and reflections...
- EGYPTIAN SLAVE/SURROGATE MOTHER. We are suddenly introduced to Hagar-- Sarai's maidservant. This may be one of the influences Sarai brought with her, of the time wherein they had to temporary live at Egypt due to severe famine (Genesis 12). Or maybe this was a gift from Pharaoh. Anyhow, we read that Sarai had this terrible idea for Abram to go to bed with Hagar, because of her barrenness. Could we blame her? She must have felt frustrated for a long time.. Is this is a picture of settling for 2nd best, other options when we don't fully trust God? :(
- ABRAM LISTENED TO SARAI. Does it remind you of Adam listening to his wife Eve, when they ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? I'm trying to understand why Sarai suggested that. Maybe she is frustrated, impatient, or has some kind of unbelief? Unfortunately, Abram obeyed and followed Sarai. Hagar became pregnant, but it did not prove to be a great solution as it worsened Sarai's feelings of insecurity or worthlessness because of infertility.. we also read that Sarai experienced some kind of despise or disrespect from her maidservant because of this.
- A FORM OF ADULTERY. Abram and Sarai is one flesh before God. This sinful act will never work, I think. The household of Abram seems to experience a rocky road, until such time that Hagar finally fled because of the harshness and humiliation, broken relationship with Sarai..
- ANGEL OF THE LORD. Then an amazing thing happened! The Angel of the Lord came to the rescue for Hagar, and even named her son with Abram, Ishmael. Even if the baby is not the promised son, God is a loving and caring God, and He sees Hagar's affliction.. maybe it is because Abram is still the father of the child..
- THE GOD WHO SEES. What a wonderful thing to attribute to God! Hagar, who is pregnant, alone, hurt and broken, maybe hungry and thirsty already, not knowing what to do with her life anymore, was visited and spoken by God in the form an "Angel". God knows what to do when we mess up and when other people mess up in our lives. He is there not only to comfort us, but to also help us correct it.. It made Hagar call the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are God Who Sees”.
- RETURN, SUBMIT HUMBLY. It may be a hard thing to do, but this is the right thing to do.
Bible's footnotes:
Genesis 16:7 This is the first occurrence of “Angel of the Lord (YHWH)” in Scripture. The Hebrew word for “angel” means “messenger” (an angel of God is a special messenger from God who speaks for and is closely identified with Him) and context determines whether the messenger is an angel or a human. The same is true for Greek, and the word “angel” is an English form (transliteration) of the Gr aggelos. The Angel of the Lord can be a special case, however. Many Bible scholars believe that this Angel may be a theophany, that is, a physical manifestation of God, in which case the word Angel is capitalized. The Angel of the Lord may, based on context, be the pre-incarnate Christ, the Son of God.
Genesis 16:13 Heb El roi; God never sleeps, He sees, He is aware, He is the great Omnipresent God.
Genesis 16:15 Ishmael was the first person whom God named before his birth (Gen 16:11). Others were: Isaac (Gen 17:19); Josiah (1 Kin 13:2); Solomon (1 Chr 22:9); Jesus (Matt 1:21); and John the Baptist (Luke 1:13).
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