Hagar
Notes
Transcript
The Problem
The Problem
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.
Sarai and Abram have a problem
There’s supposed to be a son
Abram has been wondering since Genesis 15:3 “3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.””
This story tells us it’s been 10 years of waiting
Sarai has a solution
Take my maidservant and I’ll have children through her
We see this later with Leah and Rachel giving Jacob their maidservants and getting children through them
The Morality
The Morality
Is this a good solution?
It was a completely normal and respectable one in the ancient world
Multiple similar laws throughout the ANE in the time of Abram
NICOT Gen: Hamilton, 1990 1. Strife in the Family (16:1–6)
A Nuzi text: “If Gilimninu (the bride) will not bear children, Gilimninu shall take a woman of N/Lullu land (whence the choicest slaves were obtained) as a wife for Shennima (the bridegroom).”
NICOT Gen: Hamilton, 1990 1. Strife in the Family (16:1–6)
An Old Assyrian marriage contract: “Laqipum took (in marriage) Ḫatala, the daughter of Enišrû. In the country Laqipum shall not take (in marriage) another (woman), (but) in the city (of Ashshur) he may take (in marriage) a priestess. If within two years she has not procured offspring for him, only she may buy a maid-servant and even later on, after she procures somehow an infant for him, she may sell her wherever she pleases.”
NICOT Gen: Hamilton, 1990 1. Strife in the Family (16:1–6)
A Neo-Assyrian text: (41) “If Ṣubetu does not conceive (and) (42) does not give birth, she may take a maidservant (and) (43) as a substitute in her position she may place (her). (44) She [Ṣubetu] will (thereby) bring sons into being (and) the sons will be her [Ṣubetu’s] sons. (45) If she loves (the maidservant) she may keep (her). (46) If she hates her she may sell her.”
You ask any other person that day if they’ve got a good plan and they’ll give the thumbs up
But maybe that’s the problem itself
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.
Sarai admits that it was the Lord who prevented her
He was going to give them a child his way - not the way everyone else did
It doesn’t show God’s glory and faithfulness when you overcome a problem the same way everyone else does
Sarai wanted to have God’s way her way
It’s a repeat of what happened in the garden
A man silently “listens to the voice” of his wife, while the woman “takes” and “gives”
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
Just as Eve “took” the fruit and “gave it” to her husband
Who is judged by God for “listening to the voice of his wife”
17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
The Egyptian
The Egyptian
But there’s a third indication of how bad an idea this all is - Hagar is an Egyptian
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.
It’s stressed every time we meet her (Gen 21; 25)
The second time is emphatic
Hagar - (The Egyptian, just in case you forgot!)
Egypt is never associated with anything good in the bible
God had promised Caanan to Abram - but he left it for Egypt
Lot, his nephew, left Abram
10 And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)
Egypt looks good to the eyes, is full of life and vitality, while the promised land looks dry and barren - just like Hagar and Sarai
Egypt is promising but always ends in disaster
Abram fears for his life and almost loses his wife in Egypt
Lot does lose his wife and nearly everything else
So let’s walk like an Egyptian and it will turn out good, right?
Connect
Connect
This is the challenge we all face - We hate waiting
Everything is instant these days
Our kids get confused when we can’t have something
Alexa gets us our music on demand
Netflix gets us our shows immediately - live TV is unbearable!
If Amazon takes more than two days to ship our stuff we’re beside ourselves!
We’re trained not to wait - to get what we want when we want it. If God is going too slow for us we look at what Egypt has to offer
Why wait for marriage when you can find satisfaction in pre-marital sex or porn?
Why wait for a promotion when you can spread rumors about your boss to get them fired?
Get instant answers about God from the internet instead of spending the time to meditate and reflect on his word
And so we pray, “Lord, your will be done - just do it my way!”
But as promising as the world looks
12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.
Don’t Walk Like an Egyptian
Don’t Walk Like an Egyptian
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.
Sarai regrets her decision
Hagar’s status is stressed as servant until verse 3 when she is given as wife
Now Hagar looks with contempt in her eyes
Sarai wanted to claim the child for herself but 15-16 say otherwise
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.
Sarai was the one in control of the plan, but now that things have backfired all she can do is appeal to her husband and to God
God might let you take the wheel to remind you how bad you are at steering your own life
We think we’re in control when we do what we want - I get to do all of these things!
I can satisfy!
I can have!
I can avoid!
We’re left at the mercy of things beyond our power who shape and mold us into their image
Desires turn into addictions
Wants turn into needs
Avoidance turns into fear and anxiety
Give the world an inch, and it will take a mile
Sarai looked to an Egyptian to solve her problems, and soon walked like an Egyptian in all the worst ways
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.
She dealt harshly with her - same word we find in these verses as well
13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years.
The Egyptian Pharaoh was in dread of the Israelites usurping their position with all the babies they were having
11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses.
It might get even darker - Part of that affliction is the murder of the Israelite babies
Speculative: Hagar is content to go back to Sarai after God promises her that she will bear a son
Walk Like an Israelite
Walk Like an Israelite
It’s a strange twist in the story - Sarai ends up being more Egyptian than her Egyptian handmaid, and Hagar ends up being more like Israel than Israel’s matriarch
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.
The story switches to Hagar’s perspective as she flees
An oppressed slave flees from her oppressive master to find someone special at a well
Shur - near Egypt
Just like Moses fled from Egypt to find his wife at a well (Exo 2:15-22)
God speaks to her
This is the only time in all the ancient literature that a god speaks to a woman
Sarai and Abram never speak to Hagar
Underscored by three repetitions - The angel of the Lord said to her…
He calls her by name
Sarai and Abram never do
Sarai does to Hagar what is good in her eyes
The Lord sees Hagar and looks on her with pity
And the Lord makes her a promise - that sounds like his promise to Abram (Gen 16:10)
God would bless all nations through Abram - Hagar is a demonstration of that
God is concerned about all people - not just Israel
He will find his people - he sees you and he hears you
If you abandon the ways of the world you can learn to walk like God
Conclusion
Conclusion
Is life backfiring on you?
Do you find that you have a vision for the ways things ought to be, but have no control on making things the way they ought to be?
God can - but he’s going to do it his way and in his time.
If you’re ready to start walking right with God…
