A Seriously Bad Idea - Genesis 16

©Copyright April 7, 2019 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche

There have been many really bad ideas over the course of time. Consider some of these

An in-car record-player

A sack you attached to the side of the car for your dog

A VW flower vase

The in-car Bar

Glass Hammer

A laptop with a built-in-flatbed scanner

Glow in the dark pillowcases

Sand crusted toilet paper

Diet Water

Few of us are surprised that these ideas did not catch on. We have all done things in our lives that seemed like a good idea at the time but looking back we realize it was a bad idea. Sometimes it was a REALLY bad idea. I could come up with a quick list of those kinds of things. For example (this is one of the tame foolish ideas), one Tuesday on my day off I was playing tennis on the Wii. Somehow, I twisted wrong and hurt my lower calf. The next morning, I limped into Bible Study and when the guys asked what happened without thinking I told them the true story. I regret that now.

Last week we saw the incredible vision Abraham had of a torch and a smoking firepot which accompanied God's dramatic promise that Abraham would bear a son. As we turn to chapter 16 we move from the sublime to the ridiculous. This is one of the all-time bad ideas. Abraham and Sarah decided they would help God fulfill his promise to them.

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. 2So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal. 3So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian servant and gave her to Abram as a wife. (This happened ten years after Abram had settled in the land of Canaan.)

As soon as we read this, we know this is a very bad idea. It shows a tremendous lack of faith. We talked a few weeks ago about seeing with the eyes of faith. Sarah did not believe there was any other way for Abraham to have a child. She was too old (she thought!) and he was older than she was! Rather than TRUST God, she decided to help God.

This practice as ridiculous as it seems, was not all that uncommon. One commentator wrote,

In the legal custom of the day, a barren woman could give her maidservant to her husband as a slave wife and the child that would be born to that union would be regarded as the first wife’s child. If the husband then declared in public that the child of the slave wife was his son, then that son would be adopted as the heir. So Sarai’s suggestion was unobjectionable according to the customs of the day, but God often repudiates social customs, especially if they interfere with his wonderful works.[1]

The next part of the text tells us the consequences of the plan.

4So Abram had sexual relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant. But when Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to treat her mistress, Sarai, with contempt. 5Then Sarai said to Abram, “This is all your fault! I put my servant into your arms, but now that she’s pregnant she treats me with contempt. The Lord will show who’s wrong—you or me!”

6Abram replied, “Look, she is your servant, so deal with her as you see fit.” Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she finally ran away.

7The angel of the Lord found Hagar beside a spring of water in the wilderness, along the road to Shur. 8The angel said to her, “Hagar, Sarai’s servant, where have you come from, and where are you going?”

“I’m running away from my mistress, Sarai,” she replied.

9The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her authority.” 10Then he added, “I will give you more descendants than you can count.”

11And the angel also said, “You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael (which means ‘God hears’), for the Lord has heard your cry of distress. 12This son of yours will be a wild man, as untamed as a wild donkey! He will raise his fist against everyone, and everyone will be against him. Yes, he will live in open hostility against all his relatives.”

13Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, “You are the God who sees me.” She also said, “Have I truly seen the One who sees me?” 14So that well was named Beer-lahai-roi (which means “well of the Living One who sees me”). It can still be found between Kadesh and Bered.

15So Hagar gave Abram a son, and Abram named him Ishmael. 16Abram was eighty-six years old when Ishmael was born.

As intended, Hagar became pregnant. It appears Hagar resented the fact that she was going to have a baby that was not going to be considered hers. Maybe she believed Abraham would grow to love her more than Sarah (because she was able to give him children) and would eventually take her as a wife in addition to Sarah.

It’s interesting that Sarah blames Abraham! Sarah convinced Abraham to father a child by Hagar and when he did . . . she was upset because Hagar treated her poorly. You can imagine the tone of Abraham’s response. I can see him putting up his hands (like a typical man trying to avoid a conflict) and saying, “Fine, you do what you want with her.”

Sarah, we are told, treated her harshly, making it unbearable for Hagar. She finally ran away. Because she was a servant, she may not have had much. As a pregnant servant girl it was likely going to be difficult to find a job. But the Angel of the Lord found her and told her to return to Sarah and submit to her.

That phrase, “The Angel of the Lord” is used over 50 times in the Old Testament. Most of the references are confined to a few stories. That particular phrase “THE Angel of the Lord” is not used in the New Testament. People have speculated on who this angel is. Some suggest it was Christ before His birth. Some say it was the archangels Gabriel or Michael. There is no way of knowing for sure. Hagar interpreted the angel as the Lord Himself.

The angel told Hagar about this son of hers. Listen to what she is told and decide how you would respond.

12This son of yours will be a wild man, as untamed as a wild donkey! He will raise his fist against everyone, and everyone will be against him. Yes, he will live in open hostility against all his relatives.”

I think I would begin reading every child-rearing book and watch every video that I could get my hands on! It sounds like this child is going to take his mom on one wild ride.

Hagar however, doesn’t seem upset. She is grateful that God has seen her and cared enough to come and care for her. She had a son, named him Ishmael and the Ishmaelites were a thorn in the flesh of the Hebrews from then on . . . into today.

Let’s look at what we can learn from this account.

God Does Not Need Our Help

God is all-sufficient (which means He is competent to handle anything). He has any resource He should need to accomplish His purpose. God does not need our help to bring His promises to pass. He doesn’t need our manipulative tactics, improvements or tweaks, or our use of intimidation or force. God does not need an advertising team or market research. He sees all things, knows all things, and knows the best way to accomplish His purpose.

Sometimes we try to “help God and advance the Kingdom” with our gossip, criticism, and slander of others. We seem to feel God needs us to abandon love to help Him out. Sometimes we are like Sarah and engage in sinful activity in order to obtain what we think God wants us to have.

Fudge the numbers to be more successful (so we can give more to the church)

Give in sexually so we can have the person we think God wants us to have.

Try to get people from other churches to attend our church so our church can grow and make a bigger impact for the gospel.

Blast away at someone because we don’t like what they are doing.

God does not ask us to “help Him,” He asks us to follow His instructions. Here's a principle to remember: God NEVER needs us to sin to accomplish His purpose.

Trying to Help God Often Leads to Heartache

There are lingering consequences from the decision Sarah and Abraham made to help God by having a child through Hagar. The conflict between Christians and Muslims and Muslims and Jews can be traced all the way back to that bad idea. Let me read you what one commentator says,

Ishmael figures prominently in Islamic thought today because he was the firstborn son; and even though most of the Arab population derives from different ancestors, Ishmael has become the focal point of their heritage. According to their tradition, Abraham and Ishmael established the holy shrine in Mecca, and Ishmael was to be the heir of the promise of the land. Interestingly, the prophecy in Genesis 16 predicted that he and his descendants would lift their hand against everyone, and that everyone would lift their hand against them, and that they would live in hostility to all their brothers (16:12). Under the customs of the day, Ishmael could have been the heir if Sarai remained barren and if Abram declared him to be the heir. But that never happened, according to the Bible (which Islam rejects). God told Abram that Isaac would be the heir, and so Abram was instructed to send Ishmael away (21:11–13). God promised to make Ishmael into a great nation as well—but the line for the covenant and the Messiah would come through Isaac.[2]

Hopefully our bad decisions will not have such long lasting and world-altering consequences. However, sometimes there are significant consequences,

An unplanned pregnancy

A jail sentence

A split in a congregation

A severely damaged testimony

The death of an innocent victim

A failed relationship

A ruptured friendship

Decisions have consequences. Jesus encouraged his followers to "count the cost." That means we have to stop and ask the question: "At what price?" In other words, we need to recognize that every decision has consequences. These are not only consequences for you. Our decisions impact those around us.

Let me add one more thing here:

A Bad Idea on Your Part Doesn't Make It Acceptable to Strike Out at Others. Sarah made a horrible mistake and only compounded it by blaming Abraham and then treating Hagar with harshness.

It is a common practice to look for someone to blame for the really dumb things we do. It was always the other guy who caused the accident; or there was someone who distracted us and that led to a mistake; or someone didn't put something away and that is why it was broken. We are so quick to protect our own pride that we blame other people.

In abusive situations, it is always the abused that is blamed. The child is too noisy, the spouse is too selfish, or the other person is incompetent.

We will never be spiritually and emotionally healthy until we take responsibility for our own behavior. There is something about a person who sincerely says, "I am sorry, that was all my fault. Please forgive me" that is refreshing.

God in His Mercy Can Redeem Even Big Mistakes

There is one more thing in this story we don't want to miss because it is such wonderfully good news: God in His mercy, can redeem even big mistakes. Or, to state it another way: God does not turn away from us because we acted on a bad idea.

Hagar ran away from home as a pregnant servant girl. In some respect her running away solved the problem. But God is not in the business of casting people aside. He found Hagar (and will find her again later) and He cared for her.

This seems to have surprised Hagar. She didn't realize that God loved her just like He loved Abraham and Sari. God's grace is seen most clearly in the times of most profound brokenness. He does not turn away because we have acted foolishly. Instead, He opens His arms wide to restore us to Himself and help us heal.

When we make mistakes, we feel like God turns away from us just like many of our so-called friends do. It is true, you can tell how good your friends are by how they respond in a time of crisis or failure. God's love, mercy, and grace is more profound than that of our most loyal friend.

God has a remarkable ability to bring positive blessing out of the rubble of failure. He deepens us and teaches us some of our most enduring lessons during these times . . . if we allow Him to do so.

Response

What Conclusions Do We draw from all of this? First, we are reminded to trust God's Word over our impulses or prevailing social opinion. The fact that "everyone else is doing it" does not give something a stamp of approval. The majority does NOT rule! God's Word should rule our hearts and lives not the latest poll numbers. Choosing to do something because it is popular is a foolish thing to do.

Think about how many people choose a church because it is the cool place to be, or it is fun, or it is where all my friends go to church. Most of those people don't even give a little thought to whether or not it is a church that has sound doctrine which is the number one thing the Bible tells us to look for! What the church believes is secondary to how it makes me feel. That kind of reasoning is what leads some people to drift away from the faith.

Second, we should question all our assumptions. I am sure Abraham and Sarah assumed they knew what they were doing. But, they did not.

The best way to question assumptions is to ask, "Am I sure this is what is true?" It is valuable to ask,

Did I really understand what the other person was saying? Could I have misread them?

Do I really have the facts straight?

Am I taking the easy way out?

Have I checked with God on this decision?

Is there some other "out-of-the-box" way God may work?

These are the kinds of questions that can save us untold heartache. Finally, let me quote me,

Remind yourself to be patient. Remember art class? We were always told we needed to be patient. We needed to let one area of paint dry before we tried to paint over it. We could not rush the process. And if we tried to rush things we ended up with a big mess.

We get into trouble when we try to rush God. God is able to deliver what He promised. But God has His own timing. Sometimes we need to be still. We need to learn to slow down in life. We make so many decisions in our lives that we forget that sometimes the best decision is no decision. Sometimes it is best to wait until God's will becomes clear.

Try something this week: Put a clock in a prominent position in your home or office. And on the clock write "A Time for Everything." Use this as a reminder that it is always wise to wait on the Lord.

Develop the practice of praying before you make a decision. Do you remember the advice children are given if their clothes catch on fire? "Stop! Drop! Roll!" Let me give you a similar jingle for making decisions in life: Stop! Think! Pray!

(Faith Lessons: Lessons in Faith in Genesis (pp. 85-86))

Practices such as these can save you a whole bunch of heartache.

[1] Allen Ross and John N. Oswalt, Cornerstone Biblical Commentary: Genesis, Exodus, vol. 1 (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2008), 116.

[2] Allen Ross and John N. Oswalt, Cornerstone Biblical Commentary: Genesis, Exodus, vol. 1 (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2008), 115–116.