The Tale of Hagar - A Sermon on a Narrative

Abraham has always been one of my more favorite Bible characters, and so I have been enjoying this series on his life. Because my specialty is the Old Testament and I frequently give seminars on Old Testament Survey, I tend to spend a lot of time thinking about Abraham and his place in the great plan of salvation. However, since there is usually limited time in a survey seminar, it is not often possible to get into the details the way a sermon series does, and I often have to skim over Hagar’s story. That is a shame, because Hagar and Ishmael are important characters in the Bible and the relationships that they have to Abraham, Sarah, and Yahweh are fascinating to consider.

Hagar is one of the most badly treated characters in the Bible, both by her employers, as well as later on symbolically. Most of this is not even her fault, as we shall see. But in Hagar’s story we see one of the clearest examples of God’s care for the downtrodden and helpless. We realize that Yahweh is the God who sees the affliction of his people and cares for them.

[Click] One thing I would like to demonstrate today is how to exposit a narrative text in Scripture. Narratives are both the easiest and most difficult of literary genres to exegete correctly. [Click] That is because we are dealing with real-life events that happened once in history with their own cultural and historical context. [Click] Yet they are included in Scripture, as Paul writes, as examples and warnings to us (1Co 10:6,11).

[Click] Narratives explain how God progressively reveals himself and his plan throughout history. [Click] They also reveal truths about humans and about God. Not all of these truths are comfortable, and — if they are in the text — they will be repeated and reiterated in clear teaching passages in Scripture. [Click] Therefore, as one exposits a narrative, one must be certain to support any principles and practices gleaned from the narrative with other passages, giving preference to those that are not of the narrative genre. Failing to do so can and often does result in unbiblical and even heretical teaching.

[Click] Regardless of the literary genre of a text, the final goal of any teaching must be to see our thoughts being brought in line with revealed truth. This should result in a transformation that manifests itself in action in line with God’s will. The Christian faith is a faith of deeds, not of mere words. As Harold pointed out last week, it’s belief in God, not belief about God. Belief about God is held in the head and has no bearing on everyday action. Belief in God, however, will transform our mind, will and emotions, resulting in a living, acting faith; in our being doers of the Word as well as hearers. That, brothers and sisters is where we will hopefully go by the end of this sermon.

[Click] But before we begin, let us pray.

So, let’s read our narrative from Genesis 16. Please open your Bibles to follow along during the sermon, as I will read this narrative once today. I will be reading from the ESV, as it renders the original text very well in this instance. Please rise for the reading of the Word of God.

Genesis 16 ESV

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. 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. 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. And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. 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!” 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. 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.” 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 surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for 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.” 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.” Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered. 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.

This is the Word of the Lord. May it’s reading be blessed in this place.

The Narrative and its Interpretation

[Click] As we approach this narrative, we likely already have a bad taste in our mouths. There is a lot of nastiness in this passage; nastiness perpetrated by those we consider the most godly people of that day and age. There are things that rub us wrong culturally and we can naturally try to reject this and move on. It is not a pleasant passage to read.

However, when we look at this passage in its various contexts, it contains some very important and very amazing elements regarding the progress of redemption and the revelation about God.

[Click] Since we in this church believe that this book is God’s word from cover to cover, word for word, down to the littlest jot and tittle, we will assume that God specifically adds such narratives to make a point. But to understand that point we need to consider certain important background points.

[Click] First, God did not reveal everything about himself and his will at once. One of the things we see is how revelation in Scripture is progressive. Today we have the whole revelation from Genesis to Revelation, so we can see how things fit together in the big picture. This was not the case with Abram and Sarai.

[Click] We also must remember that Genesis was written by Moses about 650 years after the events recorded here for the express purpose of explaining the origins of Yahweh’s dealings with humanity. It is one vignette in a whole for a greater goal. So we need to look at it in that greater context.

[Click] These events also take place in a certain cultural and historical context, where certain cultural norms, privileges, responsibilities, and expectations existed. This text reflects those — interestingly without passing judgment overtly. Things are described as they were. It is the context of the narrative and some of the literary forms used that suggest God’s displeasure about what happens here.

So, let’s first consider where we are historically, beginning with the biblical events that we have already discussed. According to verse 3, Abram and Sarai have been sojourning in Canaan for ten years. [Click] All of the events recorded in Genesis 12–15 took place in this ten-year span. [Click] The Bible gives us the order of these events, but not when they take place in the timeline. This recounting of Ishmael’s conception and birth is different. Timing is important here, as it will reflect on the covenant of circumcision in chapter 17 that we will look at next week.

[Click] It isn’t clear how much time has passed between the events in chapter 15 and the events in chapter 16. Personally, I think that chapter 16 happens only a few months after chapter 15. [Click] My reasoning for this arrives from an observation of how Moses shapes the greater narrative about Abram and Sarai. If we look at Genesis 12, we have Abraham’s obedience in the first half of the chapter, followed by his failure. In Genesis 13, we have Abraham’s expression of faith compared to Lot, followed by his putting himself at risk on Lot’s behalf in Genesis 14. In Genesis 17 and 18 we have the promise of a son from Sarah’s womb, contrasted with Sarah’s unbelief. Genesis 18 contrasts Abraham’s righteousness and care for humanity with Lot’s selfishness and indifference in Genesis 19. In Genesis 20 we again see Abraham’s failure followed by God’s blessing in the first half of Genesis 21 and Abraham and Sarah’s cruelty to Hagar and Ishmael in the latter half of Genesis 21.

Moses consistently contrasts and compares Abraham’s righteousness with his sinfulness. So it is logical that Abraham’s weakness would be highlighted after his amazing display of faith in chapter 15. Though here, in chapter 16, Sarai is the instigator of Abram’s bad decision.

[Click] Sarai knows she’s barren. She is 75 years old at this time. Under normal circumstances she would have gone through menopause by now. And yet Abram received a promise that a child of his own body would be his heir. So Sarai decides to take things into her own hands and provide her husband with the heir that both of them long for.

[Click] One of the commentators I read pointed out that the language in the first six verses of Genesis 16 parallels the language used in Genesis 3:6, when Eve gives in to temptation. It seems Moses is making the point that, as Eve attempted to possess God’s glory by her own means, Sarai is trying to reach God’s goal by her own efforts.

[Click] What Sarai does is perfectly acceptable according to the cultural norms of the day. If she can’t have a baby, she’ll provide her husband with a surrogate wife who can. [Click] Hagar is called a “female Egyptian servant” in the ESV, though the word “slave” would be more appropriate. The Hebrew word used here specifically emphasizes Hagar being the possession of Sarai. Sarai most likely acquired Hagar when she and her husband were sojourning in Egypt (Genesis 12:16).

Slavery in the age of the patriarchs was a major form of employment. A person was bound to a benefactor, whether by their own choice or by that of another. The owner was responsible for the well-being of their slave. They had to provide for the slave’s needs and protect them. On the other hand, the slave was responsible to do the bidding of their owner. Payment could be given for services rendered, but more often food, board, clothing, protection and small gifts were all that were provided. The text specifically emphasizes how Sarai eventually “deals harshly” with Hagar. This suggests that Abram and Sarai were generally kind to and caring of their slaves.

[Click] Because Hagar belongs to Sarai, it is Sarai’s right to give her to her husband as a concubine. However, because Hagar belongs to Sarai, any child Hagar bears will automatically be counted as Sarai’s child, not Hagar’s. In Sarai’s eyes, Hagar is Sarai’s surrogate womb from which Sarai’s heir will come.

[Click] Interestingly, Abram agrees to this scheme. It certainly is a very clear, practical solution to obtaining a child from his own loins and thus seeing the fulfillment of Yahweh’s covenant with him. We must remember here that Yahweh had not yet revealed that the promised son was to come from Sarai. So, Abram takes Hagar as a second wife most likely because of his faith in God’s promise, not despite it.

[Click] It is here that we first see the negative side of Hagar’s character. Look at verse 4:

Genesis 16:4 ESV

And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.

Hagar naturally looks down on her aged mistress, because the text suggests that Hagar succeeded in getting pregnant in her first try, accomplishing what was denied Sarai in decades of marriage: she is giving Abram a child. This suggests to me that Hagar is probably still quite young, perhaps in her late teens or early twenties. She does not seem to understand the import of what her attitude exhibits.

Sarai is obviously ashamed that she is unable to produce children, which was a primary function that a woman in that day and age was expected to fulfill. These factors make the slave girl’s contempt even worse, especially considering it was Sarai who enabled Hagar to conceive in the first place by allowing her husband to take Hagar as a second wife.

[Click] In response to Hagar’s contempt, Sarai blames Abram for this misfortune! Yes, Abram is partially to blame, after all he took Hagar as a second wife and impregnated her; but Sarai is ultimately responsible for this debacle since it was her idea. Abram behaves badly in that he does not want to get involved in this spat between his two wives and lets Sarai have her way with Hagar, which was Sarai’s legal right according to law and custom at that time.

[Click] The Bible does not tell us what Sarai’s harsh treatment entails, but it probably entailed both psychological and physical nastiness that was so bad that Hagar decided to run away. And here is where the story gets interesting.

[Click] According to Genesis 14, Abram was living Hebron. Hagar headed south-west from Hebron along “the way to Shur”. This was the main road to Egypt, signifying that Hagar was likely on her way back home. And it is here — nearly 170 km and at least five days of travel later — that God does the most amazing thing: he reveals himself to a slave girl of no account who was being persecuted by her mistress for her mistress’s mistake.

[Click] This is the first appearance of the “Angel of the Lord” in Scripture. There is a lot of debate as to who this person is. A lot of the problem lies in the fact that the word translated “angel” here simply means “messenger” in Hebrew and could refer to either God’s spiritual servants or to a human messenger. The Hebrew does not have a technical term for these spirit beings. It is the context that determines whether a human or an angel is meant. However, when we look at this passage, Hagar’s response in verse 13, “You are a God of seeing. Truly I have seen him who looks after me”, makes it clear that in this instance the Angel of Yahweh was a manifestation of Yahweh himself. Today we would identify him as the second Person of the Trinity in temporary human form.

[Click] Yahweh confirms the promise of Abram’s offspring to Hagar, the first time that this promise is given to a woman! It takes another 14 years before Yahweh confirms the promise to Sarai. Yahweh thus honors Hagar for her suffering. [Click] God himself names her son Ishmael, “God hears”, because God heard Hagar’s cry of affliction and cares about Hagar as person.

Verse 12 is rather hard to interpret by itself, but in the greater context of Genesis and of history, it becomes clear what God means by his words.

[Click] The wild donkey is a powerful, stubborn beast full of endurance that is impossible to tamed. [Click] By calling Ismael “a wild donkey of a man”, God is emphasizing Ishmael’s strength, the fact he cannot be bound or tamed, and that he will be a nomad. The word for wild donkey, paired with the statement “he shall dwell over and against all his kinsmen” is a foreshadowing of his dwelling to the south of Canaan in the Wilderness of Paran (see Ge 21:21).

[Click] However, Ishmael’s contentious nature is also emphasized. There is an interesting parallel here, as one of the meanings of the name Sarai is “contentious”. Sarai acts contentiously against Hagar and the son that Sarai attempted to obtain by her own cunning turns out to be contentious as well. Ishmael would stand strong and alone, living as a nomad, but blessed by Yahweh to become a great nation.

[Click] Hagar accepts this prophecy and does something that no other woman does in Scripture: she gives a name to God. She calls him, El-Ro’i, the “God of seeing”. [Click] So the well where she sees God receives a name that is a pun: Be’er-Laḥai-Ro’i. This can be translated as “the well of the living one who sees me” or as “the well of the one who has seen and lived”. For the living God saw Hagar and cared for her; and Hagar saw God and lived to tell the tale!

God revealed himself to Hagar in a supernatural way, blessing her and protecting her. [Click] Hagar obeyed him and returned to Sarai and submitted to her. The Bible does not tell us how Sarai treated Hagar after this. I would like to think that Hagar’s submission to Sarai would have calmed her mistress into being kinder to her. Regardless, note in verse 15 that Abram names the boy Ishmael. I wonder if Hagar told him about her visitation or not? The Bible doesn’t say.

We do, however, have an age marker here as to how old Abram was when Ishmael was born, so we can do some math for a timeline in which we can see how much time has passed since Abram left Haran and how much time will pass before God reiterates his promise of Abram’s offspring in chapter 17, which we’ll discuss next week.

So, this then is the explanation of the narrative itself. Once we have reached this point, laying out all of the information and bringing in the supporting content, we can move on to what we see about God’s nature and actions and human nature and actions and find an application.

Application

[Click] There are two main points that this narrative raises that I would like us to consider briefly.

[Click] First, trying to bring about the will of God by human cunning and human means leads to disaster.

There are two sub-points here:

People who are good believers are also attempt to bring God’s will about by their own means.

In order to bring about God’s will by our own cunning and means, we will misuse humans as objects to achieve our desired results.

[Click] The second main point is, God sees and cares for the downtrodden. He will take their part and protect them.

1. Do not try to bring about the will of God by human cunning or human means.

[Click] So let us consider the first point. As we mentioned above, both the events in the narrative and the literary form of the narrative make it very clear that Sarai’s goal was to obtain an heir for Abram using her own cunning and plans. She believes God’s promise; so much so that she wants to make it work. In doing so, she uses a young woman to achieve her goals and then abuses said young woman when she doesn’t act as Sarai wants.

[Click] God has given us very great promises as well. Sometimes he even gives a clear vision of a ministry or an action to bring about the growth of his Church. Sometimes he lifts us to a position of influence and effectiveness both in the Christian realm and in this world’s realm. He has placed us Christians, both collectively and individually, as ambassadors for his kingdom and as heralds to the salvation that he has provided. [Click] But how often do we end up using our own cunning and skills to attempt to bring about God’s grand plan? How often do we have more faith in our own works than in God’s ability to make things come to pass? It won’t work if I am not involved. It’s all my responsibility. God needs me to make this ministry succeed! I’ve just got to find that person of peace. I’ve just got to write this perfect sermon. I’ve just got to… I’m pretty sure Sarai was thinking something similar.

So we launch our ministry, ostensibly for God’s glory, but deep down inside it’s all about us. But because we think it’s for God, we find ourselves tempted to use any and every means and method to make the ministry run, including using and abusing other humans that are created in the image of God. When these people turn on us, we feel justified, like Sarai, in treating them badly, because they aren’t getting with the program of the anointed messenger that God has chosen to build this church or run this refugee ministry or teach this Bible course or fast and pray or provide a meal or ... insert your favorite ministry here.

Brothers and sisters, this narrative is only one example of this attitude in Scripture. [Click] God is very clear that the end never justifies the means. For narrative examples, see Leviticus 10, when Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu attempt to worship God in their own way. They end up dead. In 2 Samuel 6, David uses an incorrect method of moving the Ark of the covenant to Jerusalem, resulting the death of one of the Ark’s tenders.

[Click] But God also condemns using the right means for the wrong goal. A narrative example of this is the story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5. They do a good thing—giving money to the church—for the wrong reason—the praise of men. Paul picks up this concept in Galatians 4 as the Galatians are attempting to use the Law, which God gave, to achieve their own salvation. Paul specifically uses Hagar as an example of this wrong thinking when it comes to subjecting ourselves to the Law to be saved rather than accepting the amazing salvation offered us by Jesus Christ himself.

[Click] So, now I want to challenge you; and I want to challenge myself:

[Click] First, am I truly living my Christian life for God’s glory? Or am I living it primarily for my own glory?

Let me warn you, brothers and sisters, your motivation for this will be found out one day. As it was for Billy Graham because for him all was for God’s glory and as it was for Ravi Zacharias, for whom it was all about Ravi and his ministry. Be honest with yourself and if you are here for your own glory, repent! Repent today and turn to the ever-merciful God so he doesn’t destroy you and the ministry with you.

If in your ministry you are using people for your own exaltation, repent! Ask God’s forgiveness and the forgiveness of those you are using. The only way that you’ll get glory is if God gives it to you. And the only way God will give you glory is if you give it to him first. What does Jesus say in Matthew 6:33?

Matthew 6:33 ESV

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

[Click] Second, am I waiting for God’s timing in moving forward? Or am I trying to force the issue?

Humans have a tendency to do that, as Jesus remarks in John 7:6 about his own ministry.

God will not act until the time is right, but as described in Psalm 46, the nations rage and war to get their own way in their own time. What does God say to them?

Psalm 46:10 ESV

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

In his time. Psalm 37:5-6 says, “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.” Ecclesiastes 3 tells us that God does everything at the perfect time. Our task is to observe and wait. Our task is to be faithful to him.

So, are you running ahead of what God is doing? If so, where and how? Is he telling you to wait? Is he telling you to act?

If you’re not sure, talk to other believers, both local and foreign. Solomon says that “with many counselors there is deliverance” (Pr. 11:14). We don’t have to go this alone. We’re all in this together. Pray and wait upon God and he’ll make it clear how and when to act. And when he makes it clear, do not hold back, because when God moves, things move.

2. God Sees Me

[Click] I would like to end this sermon with a word of encouragement. Hagar experienced something amazing. She experienced God seeing her. He heard her cry of affliction. He blessed her and she obeyed him.

[Click] God sees his people’s suffering and provides for them. This is so often repeated in Scripture. In the Mosaic Law God repeatedly makes provision for the poor and downtrodden, promising punishment and retribution on those who use and abuse them. Psalm 102 is titled “A prayer of an afflicted person who is weak and pours out his lament before the LORD” and calls upon God for salvation. David, who suffered a lot as an innocent man, says in Psalm 22:23-24, “You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.” In Psalm 68:5 it says, “Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.”

Our Lord Jesus tells his disciples in Luke 12:6-7 “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

The living God sees you. He sees you when you are suffering. He hears your cry of affliction. [Click] He knows what you’re going through. The writer of Hebrews tells us that, “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15). He knows. He hears when you cry out; he is in the storm with you; and he will make it all better—at the very latest when he returns in glory. We hope this, we believe this. As God saw Hagar, so he sees you. And as Hagar saw God, so one day we will see him face-to-face; and we will live.

[Click] Lord, I praise you that you are El-Ro’i, the seeing God, the one who sees me. As we go into this week, may we be clearly cognizant of this fact. Show yourself to us. Forgive us for our sins of trying to establish our own little kingdoms and our own glory in the name of your kingdom. Forgive us for using and abusing our brothers and sisters in our attempts to get our way. Forgive us for not trusting you enough to wait for your perfect timing and then holding back when it comes, because we are afraid or do not want to see it. Thank you that your Son’s death on the cross covers over all these sins. Thank you that when we confess them to you, you forgive them. Now, as we go into this week, please mitigate the consequences of our evil choices. Please heal the broken relationships due to our actions. Please shine through each of us, so people see your glory, the glory of the only begotten Son, the glory of the Triune God, and so worship you to the praise of your glory, both now and into eternity. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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