Genesis 16.9-12-The Lord's Compassion and Promises to Hagar
Thursday January 12, 2006
Genesis: Genesis 16:9-12-The Lord’s Compassion and Promise to Hagar
Lesson # 81
Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 16:1.
On Tuesday we studied Genesis 16:1-6, which records that against the will of the Lord, Abram agreed to his wife, Sarai’s scheme to have him sleep with her Egyptian maid, Hagar in order to have a child since Sarai was barren and now in menopause.
In this passage, we see Hagar fleeing from the presence of Sarai.
Genesis 16:1, “Now Sarai, Abram's wife had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar.”
Genesis 16:2, “So Sarai said to Abram, ‘Now behold, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Please go in to my maid; perhaps I will obtain children through her.’ And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.”
Genesis 16:3, “After Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram's wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife.”
Genesis 16:4, “He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she (Hagar) saw that she had conceived, her mistress (Sarai) was despised in her (Hagar’s) sight.”
Genesis 16:5, “And Sarai said to Abram, ‘May the wrong done me be upon you. I gave my maid into your arms, but when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her sight. May the LORD judge between you and me.’”
Genesis 16:6, “But Abram said to Sarai, ‘Behold, your maid is in your power; do to her what is good in your sight.’ So Sarai treated her (Hagar) harshly, and she fled from her presence.”
On Wednesday evening we studied Genesis 16:7-8, which records Hagar’s encounter with the preincarnate Christ.
Genesis 16:7, “Now the angel of the LORD found her (Hagar) by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur.”
Genesis 16:8, “He said, ‘Hagar, Sarai's maid, where have you come from and where are you going?’ And she said, ‘I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.’”
This evening we will study Genesis 16:9-12, which records the Lord’s gracious promises to Hagar.
Genesis 16:9, “Then the angel of the LORD said to her, ‘Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority.’”
The fact that “the angel of the Lord” is not an angel but rather the preincarnate Christ is confirmed in Genesis 16:9 since no angel but only the Lord Jesus Christ who is sovereign has the authority to command Hagar to go back to Sarai.
In response to Hagar’s answer to His first question, the preincarnate Christ commands Hagar to return and submit to the authority of Sarai.
Notice the Lord commands Hagar to go back to Sarai and perform her duties as a personal servant and property of Hagar and does “not” tell her to seek her freedom and to not fear Sarai since the Lord will deal with Sarai Himself.
Authority has been designed by the Lord to protect the human race whether it is the husband over the wife or the parents over the children or the government over its citizens or the employer over his employee.
The Lord is commanding Hagar to submit to her employer and master in order that she might receive protection from harm.
Ephesians 6:5, “Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ.”
Ephesians 6:6, “not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.”
Colossians 3:22, “Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.”
Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men.”
Colossians 3:24, “knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”
1 Timothy 6:1, “All who are under the yoke as slaves are to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor so that the name of God and our doctrine will not be spoken against.”
1 Timothy 6:2, “Those who have believers as their masters must not be disrespectful to them because they are brethren, but must serve them all the more, because those who partake of the benefit are believers and beloved. Teach and preach these principles.”
1 Peter 2:18, “Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable.”
1 Peter 2:19, “For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly.”
1 Peter 2:20, “For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.”
The apostle Paul taught the slaves in the churches to not worry about their lack of freedom in natural realm but rather they must be aware that they are in reality slaves of the Lord Jesus Christ.
If they can’t achieve freedom in the natural realm that is fine, their lack of freedom will not hinder them from executing the Father’s will.
1 Corinthians 7:20, “Each man must remain in that condition in which he was called.”
1 Corinthians 7:21, “Were you called while a slave? Do not worry about it; but if you are able also to become free, rather do that.”
1 Corinthians 7:22, “For he who was called in the Lord while a slave, is the Lord's freedman; likewise he who was called while free, is Christ's slave.”
1 Corinthians 7:23, “You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men.”
Genesis 16:10, “Moreover, the angel of the LORD said to her, ‘I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count.’”
The fact that “the angel of the Lord” is not an angel but rather the preincarnate Christ is confirmed in Genesis 16:10 since only the Lord Jesus Christ who is omnipotent has the power to multiply Hagar’s descendants so that they are innumerable.
In response to Hagar’s answer to His first question, the preincarnate Christ promises Hagar that He will multiply her descendants so that they are innumerable, which would give her encouragement and comfort in her distress.
2 Corinthians 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.”
2 Corinthians 1:4, “who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”
Genesis 16:10, “Moreover, the angel of the LORD said to her, ‘I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count.’”
“I will greatly multiply”: (1) Hiphil (causative) infinitive absolute complement form of the verb ravah, “multiplying.” (2) 1st person common (neither masculine nor feminine) singular hiphil (causative) imperfect form of the verb ravah.
The infinitive absolute stands before the finite verb of the same root in Genesis 16:10 in order to intensify the certainty or force of the verbal idea.
So to the English speaking person this construction literally means, “multiplying, I will multiply” but to the Hebrew mind, it simply means, “I will greatly multiply.”
Thus indicating that the Lord is promising Hagar that her descendants would greatly multiply so that they would be innumerable.
Genesis 16:11, “The angel of the LORD said to her further, ‘Behold, you are with child, and you will bear a son; And you shall call his name Ishmael, because the LORD has given heed to your affliction.’”
The fact that “the angel of the Lord” is not an angel but rather the preincarnate Christ is confirmed in Genesis 16:11 since no angel but only the Lord Jesus Christ is omniscient could know every detail concerning the child who was in her womb and his descendants.
Psalm 139:13, “For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb.”
Psalm 139:14, “I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well.”
Psalm 139:15, “My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth.”
Psalm 139:16, “Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.”
Genesis 16:11, “The angel of the LORD said to her further, ‘Behold, you are with child, and you will bear a son; And you shall call his name Ishmael, because the LORD has given heed to your affliction.’”
The name “Ishmael” means, “God hears” and alludes to the fact that God heard or took notice of Hagar’s suffering.
The Lord informs Hagar that she will name her son “God hears” (Ishmael) since by her son’s name, she would always be reminded as to how the God of Abram had met her needs and delivered her and not the gods of Egypt, to which she attempted to return to.
“Ishmael” became the progenitor of the Arabs, who have traditionally been the enemies of Israel and also from the line of “Ishmael” came Muhammad and Islam, one of the most demonic of religions and a foe of not only Israel but also Christianity.
In Genesis 16:12, the Lord describes the character of her son and his descendants and that he unlike Hagar, he would roam free.
Genesis 16:12, “He will be a wild donkey of a man, his hand will be against everyone, and everyone's hand will be against him; And he will live to the east of all his brothers.”
According to Genesis 25:12-18, “Ishmael” and his descendants settled in the region from Havilah to Shur in the Arabian Desert and were hostile to their neighbors.
Genesis 25:12, “Now these are the records of the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's maid, bore to Abraham.”
Genesis 25:13, “and these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael, and Kedar and Adbeel and Mibsam.”
Genesis 25:14, “and Mishma and Dumah and Massa.”
Genesis 25:15, “Hadad and Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah.”
Genesis 25:16, “These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their villages, and by their camps; twelve princes according to their tribes.”
Genesis 25:17, “These are the years of the life of Ishmael, one hundred and thirty-seven years; and he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people.”
Genesis 25:18, “They settled from Havilah to Shur which is east of Egypt as one goes toward Assyria; he settled in defiance of all his relatives.”
Even though “Ishmael” was Abram’s firstborn son, he was not the son through whom the covenant that the Lord made with Abram would be fulfilled.
Fulfillment would come through Isaac as recorded in Genesis 15.
“Ishmael” was promised however, that he would become a great nation (Gen.21).
Genesis 16:12, “He will be a wild donkey of a man, his hand will be against everyone, and everyone's hand will be against him; And he will live to the east of all his brothers.”
The Lord prophesied that Ishmael would wander the deserts like a wild donkey and would be a man who loved the freedom of roaming the desert, but would be constantly in conflict with others.
It is implied that he would also be a man of courage but would be an aggressor full of hostility.
Henry M. Morris commenting on Genesis 16:12, writes, “The long history of the Arab peoples, who are descended from Ishmael, is an obvious commentary on the fulfillment of this ancient prophecy, seen most vividly at present in the current Israeli-Arab hostilities” (The Genesis Record, page 331).
The sentence “And he will live to the east of all his brothers” is incorrectly translated because of confusion in translating the preposition panim and should be translated “he will live in opposition to all his brothers.”
“To the east”: (1) Preposition ‘al (lu^), which is used to express opposition and means, “against” (2) Preposition panim (syn!P*) (paw-neem), which means, “in the face of.”
This prophecy indicates that Ishmael and his descendants, who are the Arabs would live in opposition to their blood relatives and in particular the Jews who are related to the Arabs since they share the same father, Abram.
H.C. Leupold commenting on Genesis 16:12, writes, “Apparently, the fellow himself as well as his descendants will not be of a peaceable disposition. We should say, he will carry a chip on his shoulder and have his finger on the trigger” (Exposition of Genesis 1, page 505).