Or, Faith versus the Culturally Reasonable
Scripture: Genesis 16:7-16
Date: May 29, 2016
Speaker: Sean Higgins
Trying to get to God’s promised end without faith is like driving home blindfolded; you may start off in the right direction but you’re likely to cause a lot of damage along the way.
Abram and Sarai were in a unique and hard position. The LORD promised Abram a multitude of descendants and they didn’t even have one; any number multiplied by zero is still zero. Neither husband or wife were getting any younger and the word of God seemed less probable (from their perspective) day by day. In Genesis 15 Abram asked if he needed to take legal steps to secure an heir and the LORD said No. Abram did not ask if he should take a second wife to jumpstart the family train. The LORD would have said No.
Sarai knew the LORD’S promise and His power. She recognized that the He had prevented her pregnancy. She considered her options, thinking through the reproductive ethics of her day. It was culturally reasonable to use the surrogacy of a maidservant to overcome the infertility of the mistress. Her desire for a child did not come because of baby-idolatry or pregnancy envy. She longed for the fulfillment of the LORD’s promise. So she used the fertility technology available to her and gave Hagar to her husband.
Because it wasn’t consistent with the word of the LORD, Abram shouldn’t have listened to the voice of his wife, just as Adam should not have listened to the voice of Eve. Even the verbs in Genesis 16:3, she took and gave, are the same as what Eve did in Genesis 3. If there was any doubt about the couples’ motivation, their reactions confirm a lack of faith. Damage is done.
Hagar despises Sarai. Sarai berates Abram. Abram shirks responsibility. Sarai abuses Hagar. Hagar takes off. Relationships break. A servant and a son are lost. These are fruits of the flesh not fruits of faith.
Of the three key characters in this episode, Hagar’s behavior is the least surprising or blameworthy. She’s a servant, far from home. She does what she’s told, perhaps even excited that she was chosen for this important task by her mistress. So she gets proud…had she ever had anything to be proud about before? She didn’t ask for this, scheme for this, seduce Abram or deceive Sarai. Someone should have talked to her, sure. But Abram should have protected her and Sarai should have backed off.
Hagar runs away, alone and pregnant and without status. But the LORD pursues her in her affliction and not only makes a great promise to her, He exalts her in a couple ways unlike anyone else in the Old Testament. In the last part of Genesis 16 we’ll see the Lord’s Pursuit , Hagar’s Response , and a final Summary .
All of grace, God goes and finds Hagar.
The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 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.” (Genesis 16:7–8)
I’ve been saying that the LORD found her, but the passage says that it was the angel of the LORD . That title is used four times in five verses, the last three times to start consecutive sentences. “Angel of Yahweh” is used almost sixty times in the OT and, while there may be some distinction between the angel of Yahweh and Yahweh Himself, the story itself reveals by the end that Hagar believed that the angel of the LORD was the LORD (verse 9). “The angel of Yahweh is more a representation of God than a representative of God” (Hamilton). He often arrives when the need is great.
He found her, not that she was off the LORD’s radar, but this means that He went after her. She was by a spring of water in the wilderness , a necessary pit stop for a traveller, and it was on the way to Shur . Shur was in southern Canaan, so Hagar was heading home (see verse 1) to Egypt.
He starts with a question to this woman at the well. “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” He’s not asking for information. He starts with her name and her position. How did He know that? It’s not a question of her identity or itinerary. The question gets her thinking about her motivation not her direction.
She answers honestly: I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai . Hagar doesn’t say why; she doesn’t add anything about Sarai’s maltreatment. She does acknowledge that she’s on the run from her owner.
Then come three statements from the angel of the LORD with no record of her response until the end. He instructs her and then makes a promise and gives a prophecy.
The angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” (Genesis 16:9)
Return and submit . Both of these commands could seem harsh. But when Hagar finally says something, she doesn’t argue. Though she was carrying Abram’s baby, being pregnant didn’t change her relationship with Sarai. For that matter, Sarai’s treatment didn’t change Hagar’s responsibility. The Hebrew emphasizes, “put yourself under her hand.” Sarai’s the authority. Hagar exalted herself over Sarai, now she needed to humble herself under Sarai.
Part of the reason for this instruction is that it’s right; a servant shouldn’t run away. Another part of it is the LORD’s intention to bless her and her child.
The angel of the LORD also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” (Genesis 16:10)
This is astounding. She gets the same promise that Abram did about a multitude of offspring, but this is for her. In fact, Hagar is the only woman in the Old Testament to be addressed by name by God and the only woman in Genesis to get a promise like this from the LORD. And she’s an Egyptian. And she’s a servant. And she’s a sinner—having become proud over Sarai and having run from her mistress. This is grace. Even if the LORD is blessing her because of Abram, He’s still blessing her with favor she has not earned.
The LORD adds some specificity about the first child of the coming multitude.
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.
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.”
(Genesis 16:11–12)
No ultrasound was necessary, and hopefully she wasn’t big into being surprised: she’s having a son . And if she’d started a mental list of possibilities, maybe after her dad or a brother, she won’t get to name him. You shall call his name Ishmael and the reason is because the LORD has listened to your affliction . Ishmael means “God hears.” It was wrong how Sarai treated her. It was hard. Whether Hagar prayed or not, the LORD sees and hears the troubled. She was headed back into the strife, but now in the knowledge that the LORD knew.
As for her son, he would be a blessing (to her) and a bane to pretty much everyone else. He’s the sort of son only a mother can stomach. He’ll be an untamed ass, a wild donkey , not even a domesticated sort of stubborn. He’ll wander the wilderness, and some of that is because no one can handle being his neighbor: his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him . He’s a piece of work—and it’s not artwork. Even his own family will grow tired of him: he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen . “His restless existence [is] no pilgrimage but an end in itself; his nonconformism a habit of mind, not a light to the nations” (Kidner). The strife among Ishmael and his kin continues even today in the conflict between many Middle Eastern descendants, let alone between his descendants and Isaac’s offspring.
Based on what she says, maybe Hagar didn’t hear the last part of what the angel of the LORD said, though, if she hadn’t, we might ask how Moses knew it. No matter, Hagar believes and praises the LORD.
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.” (Genesis 16:13)
The Hebrew name, El-Roi = You are a God of seeing , and her explanation behind it, I have seen him who looks after me , have been and still are debated by translators. The two main possibilities are 1) God sees Hagar or 2) Hagar sees God. Is God the subject of the object? If she see’s Him, she’s rejoicing in the revelation, and perhaps rejoicing that she’s not dead. There is significant difficulty translating this last phrase. In fact, the ESV is the only major English translation that does not translate it as a question. For example, the NAS, “Have I even remained alive here after seeing Him?” Or the NKJV, “Have I also here seen Him who sees me?” Or YLT, “Even here have I looked behind my beholder?”
I think it’s better, though, to understand it as He sees her. Just as He “heard” her, He sees and cares for her. She is not alone. She responds in praise.
God reveals specific names for Himself to other persons; He names Himself, but no one names Him. Hagar is the only person in the Old Testament, woman or man, to give God a name. No patriarch, no prophet, not Adam or Abram, not David or Daniel.
In order to preserve the honor, she named the well.
Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered. (Genesis 16:14)
The translation of the name of the well, ** Beer-lahai-roi** meaning “the well belonging to the Living One who has seen me,” corroborates the emphasis of God watching.
Three names are repeated in the final scene and not one of them is Sarai.
And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram. (Genesis 16:15–16)
Sarai’s plan was to get a child for herself through Hagar’s surrogacy (verse 3). It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Hagar wasn’t supposed to get uppity. The son was supposed to be theirs, to be hers. Abram called the name of his son…Ishmael ; he acknowledged his part. Sarai had no part.
Things often don’t end up like we thought they would, even when we make our decisions by faith. But at least when we live by faith we don’t have the regret of knowing that we made the mess.
Abram was eighty-six now and it would be thirteen years before the start of the next chapter (17:1).
For Hagar, though she sinned in despising and fleeing from Sarai, God heard and saw her affliction and blessed her by His grace.
For Abram and Sarai, God also heard and saw their affliction, but they did not trust Him.
Was this the will of God? In one way, No. Sarai and Abram did not live by faith. Their sin brought about damaging consequences. In another way, Yes. God is sovereign, and God does plan to fulfill some of His promise to Abram about a multitude of nations through him via Ishmael. God’s grace worked for good even in their unbelief, though there are also some consequences of sowing unbelief that cannot be undone.
He is a God of seeing. The righteous live by faith, including faith that God sees and will fulfill His promises without our help, however culturally reasonable our decision seems.