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Genesis 16:1-16
1 Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. 2 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.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3 So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. 4 And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. 5 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!” 6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.
7 The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 8 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.” 9 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” 11 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.
12 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.”
13 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.” 14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered.
15 And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
Watch the Sermon
Summary: For the past two chapters, Abram has been at the heights, walking with God. He’s nobly and sacrificially rescued Lot in an epic battle, and the word of the Lord has come to him in dramatic fashion. God vows to uphold the covenant with Abram, to give him a land and a people, that in him all the families of the earth would be blessed, and this promise would continue through his very own son. But, there’s a delay. Sadly, Abram and Sarai do not respond to their continued childlessness with continued faith in the promises of God. They take things into their own hands and opt for a shortcut that brings consequences, for generations to come.
Abram and Sarai are a comfort to us in that we can relate to the struggle of wavering faith in this fallen world, but they also serve as a warning. Still, beyond all hope, we see the Lord’s mercy over their lives and in the life of one obscure young woman named Hagar, whose life is suddenly swept up in theirs.
We see that the Lord sees us. He looks over us. Even in our sin and brokenness, we find him to be merciful, faithful to his promises, and able to accomplish his sovereign will despite our faltering faith.
Review and Apply
What do you think you over-desire that you’d be willing to do just about anything in order to get it? What, if you lost it, would you then consider life no longer worth living?
Why do you think God permits a delay in the fulfillment of his promises?
When the providence of God goes one way but his promises seem to go another, what do you do with the tension?
"The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness” (16:7). Where did the Lord find you? In what circumstances?
What do we learn about the character of God in how he responds to Hagar?
It will take another 15 years before Sarai gives birth to Isaac. Despite their faltering faith, God will remain faithful to his promise. How does this encourage you?
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