The account in Genesis 16 is, according to Victor Hamilton, “Another illustration of how a child of God, with his or her back to the wall, feels pressed to take the initiative in order to bring God’s promises to pass.”
One of the values of studying Genesis is to explore what happens when humans try to fulfill God’s promises with human initiative and self-effort.
God promises Abram and Sarai children, but the couple was unable to conceive. Previously, Abram listened to God and followed His directions. In this instance, Abram listened to his wife and follower what she recommended.
Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children. She had an Egyptian slave whose name was Hagar, and Sarai said to Abram,
“You see that the Lord has prevented me from bearing children; go in to my slave; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai (Genesis 16:1-2).
I remember driving with a friend who was struggling with addiction when he said, “My best thinking it out to kill me.”
This man was expressing the reality of listening to our best thinking or that of others instead of the voice of God.
The best gift we can give ourselves and others is a willingness to delay action until we fully understand God’s will.
Good Intentions – Bad Actions
Sarai possibly wondered,”What good are the promises of God if I am dead or if my womb is dead?” She may have seen her options as limited. She thought that she must resign herself to being childless, or take an alternative path.
She chose the path of her own “best thinking.”
- Sarai gave her slave, Hagar, to her husband Abram as a wife.
- Hagar conceived and viewed that as an advantage over Sarai.
- Sarai was offended and complained to Abram, asking him to rectify the problem.
- Abram told Sarai it was up to her to fix the problem. She dealt harshly with Hagar and the slave ran away from her (Genesis 16:3-6).
Sarai didn’t care for Hagar, but God did. The angel of the Lord met Sarai’s slave in the wilderness.
The angel of the Lord appears 58 times in the Old Testament and references the visible presence of God. Rudy Ross believes that the angel of the Lord is none other than Jesus in a pre-incarnate form.
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, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am running away from my mistress Sarai” (Genesis 16:7-8)
Rather than the harsh treatment of her mistress, the angel of the Lord gave Hagar a promise.
The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her.” The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will so greatly multiply your offspring that they cannot be counted for multitude.”
And the angel of the Lord said to her,
“Now you have conceived and shall bear a son;
you shall call him Ishmael,
for the Lord has given heed to your affliction.
He shall be a wild ass of a man,
with his hand against everyone,
and everyone’s hand against him,
and he shall live at odds with all his kin.” (Genesis 16:9-12)
Hagar may be nothing more than a slave to Sarai, but she met by God in the wilderness, as He did Moses, Elijah, and John the Baptist. Like Abram, she received a promise to be the mother of a nation of people.
God tells her that her son is destined to live a nomadic lifestyle for both himself and his descendants. Her child will also be involved with belligerent forces and neighbors.
I wonder how many of my best intentions God has had to clean up? How many people have I overlooked, but God saw and blessed?
A good exercise for all of us is to page through the events of our lives and ask God to show us the times when we attempted to achieve God’s promises to us with human effort.
God Sees
Hagar is the only person in the Old Testament to confer on God a name. Her words may have been, “Have I really looked on the one who sees me and lived?”
So she named the Lord who spoke to her, “You are El-roi,” for she said, “Have I really seen God and remained alive after seeing him?”
Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi [well of the living one who sees me]; it lies between Kadesh and Bered (Genesis 16:13-14).
Reflections
There is much we can learn from this account. We can determine to seek God’s direction, instead of settling for our “best thinking” or that of another person.
We also can remember that God is the One who sees and cares for you. No matter how you view yourself, God knows your name, your hopes, dreams, desires, longings, and so much more.
He is active in your life and desires to have an intimate and personal relationship with you.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross and I discussed this passage on YouTube today.
Real Voices 