Abraham 5

Beware of Detours!

Genesis 16 records a painful detour that Abraham and Sarah made in their pilgrim walk, a detour that brought conflict not only into their home but also into the world.

What today’s journalists call “the Arab-Israeli conflict” began right here.

But this account is much more than ancient history with modern consequences.

It’s a good lesson for God’s people about walking by faith and waiting for God to fulfill His promises in His way and in His time.

As you study the stages in the experience of Abraham and Sarah, you will see how dangerous it is to depend on your own wisdom.

1. Waiting

Genesis 16:1a AV

1 Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.

Abraham was now eighty-five years old.

He had been walking with the Lord for ten years and had learned some valuable lessons about faith.

God had promised Abraham and Sarah a child but had not told them when the child would be born.

It was a period of waiting, and most people don’t like to wait.

But it is through “faith and patience [that we] inherit the promises”

Hebrews 6:12 AV

12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

God has a perfect timetable for all that He wants to do.

After all, this event was not the birth of just another baby: It was part of God’s great plan of salvation for the whole world.

However, as Sarah waited for something to happen, she became impatient.

Why did God wait so long?

He wanted Abraham and Sarah to be physically “as good as dead”

Hebrews 11:12 AV

12 Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.

So that God alone would get the glory.

At age eighty-five, Abraham was still virile enough to father a child by Hagar; so the time for the miracle baby had not yet arrived.

Whatever is truly done by faith is done for the glory of God (Rom. 4:20) and not for the praise of man.

A willingness to wait on the Lord is evidence that you are walking by faith.

“He that believeth shall not make haste” (Isa. 28:16).

Paul quoted this verse in Romans 10:11 and amplified its meaning:

Whenever we stop trusting God, we start to “make haste” in the wrong direction and we end up being ashamed.

A evidence of faith is that you are acting on the authority of God’s Word.

Romans 10:17 AV

17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

You can act by faith, and know that God will bless, if you are obeying what He says in His Word.

Hebrews 11 records the mighty acts of ordinary men and women who dared to believe God’s promises and obey His commandments.

Finally, whenever you act by faith, God will give joy and peace in your life.

Romans 15:13 AV

13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Conflict may surround you, but you will have God’s peace and joy within you.

These, then, are the evidences of true biblical faith:

(1) you are willing to wait;

(2) you are concerned only for the glory of God;

(3) you are obeying God’s Word; and

(4) you have God’s joy and peace within.

While Abraham and Sarah were waiting, God was increasing their faith and patience and building character (James 1:1–4).

Then something happened that put Abraham and Sarah on a painful detour.

2. Scheming

Genesis 16:1b–4a AV

1 Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. 2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. 3 And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. 4 And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.

Sarah knew that she was incapable of bearing a child but that her husband was still capable of begetting a child.

God had specifically named Abraham as the father of the promised heir, but He had not yet identified the mother.

Logically, it would be Abraham’s wife; but perhaps God had other plans. Sarah was “second-guessing” God, and this is a dangerous thing to do.

Remember, true faith is based on the Word of God and not on the wisdom of man.

Sarah said, “It may be”; she did not say, “Thus saith the Lord!”

God had told Abraham, “Know of a surety” (Gen. 15:13); but Sarah had no such assurance on which to base her actions.

Furthermore, Sarah was not concerned about the glory of God; her only goal was “that I may obtain children by her” (16:2).

Perhaps there is a hint of disappointment with God and even blaming God when she says, “The Lord hath restrained me from bearing” (16:2).

It has often been said that God’s delays are not God’s denials, but Satan whispers to us, “God is holding out on you! If He loved you, things would be different! Blame Him!”

This leads us to the third stage in Abraham and Sarah’s “detour” experience.

3. Fighting

Genesis 16:4b–6 AV

4 And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. 5 And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the LORD judge between me and thee. 6 But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.

When you follow the wisdom of the world, you will end up warring like the world (James 3:13–18).

Of all fights, family fights are the most painful and the most difficult to settle.

The first thing they should have done was build an altar, worship the Lord, and tell Him their problems.

They should have confessed their sins and received His gracious forgiveness.

Once you stop fighting with God and with yourself, you will have an easier time not fighting with others.

The first step toward reconciliation with others is getting right with God.

However, instead of facing their sins honestly, each of the persons involved took a different course; and this only made things worse.

1: Sarah’s solution was to blame her husband and mistreat her servant as she gave vent to her anger.

She seems to have forgotten that she was the one who had made the marriage suggestion in the first place.

2: Abraham’s solution was to give in to his wife and abdicate spiritual headship in the home.

He should have had pity for a helpless servant who was pregnant, but he allowed Sarah to mistreat her.

He should have summoned them all to the altar, but he did not.

3: Hagar’s solution was to run away from the problem, a tactic we all learned from Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:8).

However, you soon discover that you cannot solve problems by running away.

4. Submitting

Genesis 16:7–16 AV

7 And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur. 8 And he said, Hagar, Sarai’s maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai. 9 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands. 10 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude. 11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction. 12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren. 13 And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me? 14 Wherefore the well was called Beerlahairoi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered. 15 And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son’s name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael. 16 And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.

James 4:1–10 explains why Christians fight and how Christians can be at peace.

Our battles among ourselves are caused because we obey our three enemies: the world (James 4:4), the flesh (4:1), and the devil (4:7).

How can we expect to be at peace with God and each other if we are living for the enemy!

Hagar had to submit to God (Gen. 16:7–14).

This is the first appearance in Scripture of the Angel of the Lord, who is generally identified as our Lord Jesus Christ.

The angel called her “Sarah’s maid,” which suggests that God did not accept her marriage to Abraham.

Apparently Hagar was on her way back to Egypt when she met the angel, but God told her to return to Abraham’s camp and submit herself to her mistress.

That would take a great deal of faith, because Sarah had mistreated Hagar before and might do it again.

God then told her that she was pregnant with a son whom she should name Ishmael (“God hears”).

While he would not be Abraham’s heir in the blessings of the covenant, Ishmael would still enjoy blessings from God since he was Abraham’s son.

Ishmael would be a “wild donkey of a man” (16:12, NIV), which is not a very flattering description.

It identified him with the wilderness where he lived by his skill as an archer (Gen. 21:20–21; Job 24:5).

It also revealed his independent and pugnacious nature.

He would be a hated man, living “in hostility toward all his brothers” (Gen. 16:12, NIV).

While we must not apply these traits to every descendant of Ishmael, the centuries-long hostility between the Jews and the Arabs is too well known to be ignored.

The Arab nations are independent peoples, dwelling in the desert lands and resisting the encroachments of other nations, especially Israel and her allies.

Sarah had to submit to God.

How did Sarah feel when Hagar came back to the camp and reported that God had talked with her?

Did God have time for a poor servant?

Was God concerned about a slave-girl’s baby?

Did the God of Israel care for an Egyptian?

Yes, because that Egyptian’s baby had Abraham as a father; and God had a covenant with Abraham.

The record does not tell us how Sarah responded, but it would appear that she accepted both Hagar and her report and took her back as her servant. Sarah did not mistreat her again; for, after all, God was watching!

Conclusion

Both Abraham and Sarah had to learn to live with their mistakes.

Certainly Abraham enjoyed watching the boy grow up, and the old man’s heart was full of love for him (17:18).

But Abraham knew that Ishmael would not be a permanent part of the covenant family.

God’s solution to the “Ishmael problem” was not to blame Abraham, Sarah, or Hagar, but to send another baby into the home—Isaac.

Ishmael did not give Abraham and Sarah any trouble until Isaac came along; then he started to create problems (21:1–11). As we shall see in later chapters, all of these things have profound theological significance for the Christian believer today.