Genesis 16
It is 11:51 p.m. and I cannot sleep so I’m looking at Genesis 16. My first thought is, I should skip this chapter; it can only get me in trouble.
Someone wrote a book that was titled “Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus” and the jest of the book was we are very different, and that is a vast understatement. Abram has a promise from God that his son would be his heir and his children would be as numerous as the stars, he is about 84 at this time. There is no reservation in my mind that Abram loved his wife Sarai, and she also loved Abram, and it is because of that love, Sarai told Abram to marry her Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. This was what was in Sarai mind, “And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” I wonder what she really meant by “it may be,” one thing for sure old Abram had no clue about what was taking place, the dude thought he was going to please his wife, but he should have been smarter than that.
Now the Bible tells us that old Abram went into Hagar and she conceived, the Scriptures are not clear on this but it may have happened the first time and Sarai and Abram had been trying for years. The other thing we know is that a woman who could not give her husband a male child was not looked on with favor in that culture. The Egyptian servant Hagar when she found out she was with child was very sensitive about Sarai feelings, wrong, and the Bible states; “And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.” Folks this is not going well at all and guess who is going to get the blame for the whole mess?
I’m sure Abram is happy that his servant Eliezer of Damascus is not going to be his heir, that he has a son in the hopper. That is before he encounters Sarai, and this is the exchange that takes place; “And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me!” Do you think he saw that one coming? One moment he is excited he has an heir, the next moment his wife is calling down judgment from God on his head, and he really loves Sarai, and does not want her unhappy with him. So this is what the Bible tells us he did, “But Abram said to Sarai “Behold, your servant (not my wife) is in your power, do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her and she fled from her.”
No search party was sent out to find Hagar, not from Sarai or Abram, but God sent the angel of the Lord and he found her by a spring of water in the wilderness. The rest of the story is of great interest to each of us because Sarai act of trying to help God by giving Abram an heir, has caused much conflict, suffering, hate, destruction, and death.
“The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to you mistress and submit to her.” The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered of 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 will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.” God had a great plan for Abram, who was going to become Abraham, and Sarai will become Sarah and will give birth to Isaac, but the small act of trying to help God out has caused great conflict.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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