In our study of Genesis chapter sixteen, we look at Avram's stumble in his faith and its lasting impact on our world today. We will see how going along with the ways of the world can have severe and lasting consequences.
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Now Sarai Avram's wife had not borne him a child. But she had an Egyptian slave-girl named Hagar; so Sarai said to Avram, "Here now, ADONAI has kept me from having children; so go in and sleep with my slave-girl. Maybe I'll be able to have children through her." Avram listened to what Sarai said.
Sarai did not have any children for Avram and so, as the normal thing of that day was to present your maidservant as sort of a surrogate, she did the same. Although it was the accepted way of the day, the practice was against the will of God. We see that Sarai is even unsure about this as she says that "maybe" she would be able to have children in this manner and we are told that Avram listened to her instead of applying what he already knew about the will of God. A simple lesson from this is the fact that, if we are unsure of something, we need to stop and pray to seek God's will in the matter. That also includes actively searching through the word of God to see if the answer has already been given to us. In this case, even though Avram did not have the written word of God he would have been aware of the story of Adam & Havah and the pattern for marriage that was established by God.
It was after Avram had lived ten years in the land of Kena'an that Sarai Avram's wife took Hagar the Egyptian, her slave-girl, and gave her to Avram her husband to be his wife. Avram had sexual relations with Hagar, and she conceived. But when she became aware that she was pregnant, she looked on her mistress with contempt.
Avram had the promise of God that he was going to have a legitimate son but he went along with the popular custom and so begins his lapse in faith. When faced with similar choices, do we seek the will of God through prayer and His word? When faced with the customs and accepted norms of our day, do we go along or do we stand on the word and promises of God? We notice that Avram did not take this matter to God in prayer so that he could be reminded of God's plan and His will. They had been in Canaan for ten years and did not see God coming through on His promise so they took matters into their own hands. Hagar became pregnant and this led to a sense of pride and looking down on Sarai. We also see that Sarai understood the biblical marriage and that by giving Hagar to Avram they would, in fact, be married. In our world today, it is common to sleep with any number of different people as if it doesn't mean anything but, according to God's word, it is in fact getting married. As we shall see, Avram's wrong marriage will have consequences for all of mankind. Likewise, the explosion of "wrong marriages" that we see today has had and will continue to have profound consequences on our society.
Sarai said to Avram, "This outrage being done to me is your fault! True, I gave my slave-girl to you to sleep with; but when she saw that she was pregnant, she began holding me in contempt. May ADONAI decide who is right - I or you!" However, Avram answered Sarai, "Look, she's your slave-girl. Deal with her as you think fit." Then Sarai treated her so harshly that she ran away from her.
Sarai acknowledges that God has made man the head of the family as she puts the blame for the current situation squarely on Avram's shoulders and we begin to see the consequences of Avram's lapse in faith. Hagar despises Sarai and Sarai mistreats Hagar. It is this very thing that is at the heart of many of the problems our world faces today. This hatred will flow through their children and even grow worse as we get to our world today.
The angel of ADONAI found her by a spring in the desert, the spring on the road to Shur, and said, "Hagar! Sarai's slave-girl! Where have you come from, and where are you going?" She answered, "I'm running away from my mistress Sarai." The angel of ADONAI said to her, "Go back to your mistress, and submit to her authority."
The Lord found Hagar as she was running away and told her to go back to her mistress. We might ask ourselves why God would have her go back into such a bad situation. The answer, as we will see, is that God is not done with her and the son that she is carrying and, in fact, it is better for them to be there. We may face some equally difficult times in our lives and wonder why God has us to remain in our situation. The answer, like that for Hagar, is that God has more to do with us where we are and it is for our own good.
The angel of ADONAI said to her, "I will greatly increase your descendants; there will be so many that it will be impossible to count them." The angel of ADONAI said to her, "Look, you are pregnant, and you will give birth to a son. You are to call him Yishma'el because ADONAI has paid attention to your misery. He will be a wild donkey of a man, with his hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him, living his life at odds with all his kinsmen."
The Lord promised her that, through the son she was carrying, she would be blessed with many descendants. This promise has been fulfilled today as the Muslim people trace their heritage back to Ishmael. The Lord went on to predict the fact that Ishmael would be wild and this speaks of the fact that he would do what he thought was right instead of following the will of God. This is what Sarai, Hagar, & Avram had done in bringing about his birth and it would become a lasting legacy in the line of Ishmael. The last prediction is that Ishmael's descendants would live in hostility to the Jews which is what we see in our world today.
So she named ADONAI who had spoken with her El Ro'i [God of seeing], because she said, "Have I really seen the One who sees me?" This is why the well has been called Be'er-Lachai-Ro'i; it lies between Kadesh and Bered. Hagar bore Avram a son, and Avram called the son whom Hagar had borne Yishma'el. Avram was 86 years old when Hagar bore Yishma'el to Avram.
Hagar met the One true God and she knew it. Out of obedience to Him, she went back and bore Abram a son which was named Ishmael. She must have told Avram what had happened out in the desert because, at that time, it was up to the man to pick the name for their children.
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