Sarah and Hagar
Sarah and Hagar are intricately woven into the Abrahamic faiths through their key roles. Sarah is seen as the mother of what will later be called Judaism, and Hagar is the mother of Ishmaelites (later: Muslims). They are both wives of the patriarch Abraham (or Abram, as he was known at first), and as you will see on Sunday, things get what you might call "complicated."
Egyptian Desert
Sometimes we wonder if holy scripture has anything to do with our lives. Then we read a story like that of Abram, God's promise to an old man who has no heirs, a barren old wife, and then. . .a story evolving that rivals any good soap opera! If we read the accounts of Abram and Sarai--their original names when first we meet them--we see them as refugees from their home country, there is rivalry between Abram and his nephew Lot, there is a journey to Egypt, where the Egyptian ruler decides he wants Sarai, and Abram tells her "Tell him you're my sister," because otherwise, the ruler will probably kill Abram. Well, Abram and Sarai ARE distant kin within a tribe, so on one level, this isn't exactly a lie. But it isn't the truth either. And when the Pharoah begins to experience bad luck, he connects it to Sarai, confronts Abram, and when he learns the truth, he throws both Abram and Sarai out of the country.
Night sky
Ultimately, we get to God's promise to Abram to give him descendant who will be as numerous as stars in the sky. Well, that seemed a bit impossible. Abraham (re-named by God) is in his eighties, Sarah isn't much younger, and. . .still God promises.
When God doesn't come through in what Sarah considers a timely fashion, she takes matters into her own hands. Thus begins the passages we will reflect upon this coming Sunday. I am copying the verses here, so that if you want to read the two key passages ahead of time (and pay attention to the various translations of words), you can.
Genesis 16:1-16
Hagar and the Ishmaelites’ origins
Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to have children. Since she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar, Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from giving birth, so go to my servant. Maybe she will provide me with children.” Abram did just as Sarai said. After Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram’s wife Sarai took her Egyptian servant Hagar and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife. He slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant. But when she realized that she was pregnant, she no longer respected her mistress. Sarai said to Abram, “This harassment is your fault. I allowed you to embrace my servant, but when she realized she was pregnant, I lost her respect. Let the Lord decide who is right, you or me.”
Abram said to Sarai, “Since she’s your servant, do whatever you wish to her.” So Sarai treated her harshly, and she ran away from Sarai. The Lord’s messenger found Hagar at a spring in the desert, the spring on the road to Shur, and said, “Hagar! Sarai’s servant! Where did you come from and where are you going?”
She said, “From Sarai my mistress. I’m running away.”
The Lord’s messenger said to her, “Go back to your mistress. Put up with her harsh treatment of you.” The Lord’s messenger also said to her,“
I will give you many children,
so many they can’t be counted!”The Lord’s messenger said to her,“
You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son.
You will name him Ishmael[a]
because the Lord has heard about your harsh treatment.
He will be a wild mule of a man;he will fight everyone, and they will fight him.
He will live at odds with all his relatives.”[b]
Hagar named the Lord who spoke to her, “You are El Roi”[c] because she said, “Can I still see after he saw me?”[d] Therefore, that well is called Beer-lahai-roi;[e]
it’s the well between Kadesh and Bered. Hagar gave birth to a son for Abram, and Abram named him Ishmael. Abram was 86 years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael for Abram.
Footnotes:
Genesis 16:11Or God hears
Genesis 16:12Or He will reside near all his relatives.
Genesis 16:13Or God who sees or God whom I’ve seen
Genesis 16:13Heb uncertain; or Have I really seen God and survived?
Genesis 16:14Or the Well of the Living One who sees me or whom I’ve seen
Genesis 21:1-2
1Isaac’s birth
The Lord was attentive to Sarah just as he had said, and the Lord carried out just what he had promised her. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son for Abraham when he was old, at the very time God had told him. Abraham named his son—the one Sarah bore him—Isaac.[a] Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old just as God had commanded him. Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born. Sarah said, “God has given me laughter. Everyone who hears about it will laugh with me.”[b] She said, “Who could have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse sons? But now I’ve given birth to a son when he was old.
Hagar and Ishmael evicted
The boy Isaac grew and stopped nursing. On the day he stopped nursing, Abraham prepared a huge banquet. Sarah saw Hagar’s son laughing, the one Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham. So she said to Abraham, “Send this servant away with her son! This servant’s son won’t share the inheritance with my son Isaac.”
This upset Abraham terribly because the boy was his son. God said to Abraham, “Don’t be upset about the boy and your servant. Do everything Sarah tells you to do because your descendants will be traced through Isaac. But I will make of your servant’s son a great nation too, because he is also your descendant.” Abraham got up early in the morning, took some bread and a flask of water, and gave it to Hagar. He put the boy in her shoulder sling and sent her away.
She left and wandered through the desert near Beer-sheba. Finally the water in the flask ran out, and she put the boy down under one of the desert shrubs. She walked away from him about as far as a bow shot and sat down, telling herself, I can’t bear to see the boy die. She sat at a distance, cried out in grief, and wept.
God heard the boy’s cries, and God’s messenger called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “Hagar! What’s wrong? Don’t be afraid. God has heard the boy’s cries over there. Get up, pick up the boy, and take him by the hand because I will make of him a great nation.” Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well. She went over, filled the water flask, and gave the boy a drink. God remained with the boy; he grew up, lived in the desert, and became an expert archer. He lived in the Paran desert, and his mother found him an Egyptian wife.. . . . . . . . . .
Cup of Coffee
Join us this Sunday, June 23 at St. Philip's in Laurel, either for 8:00 or 10:15 services. Robert's Bible study is at 9:00. 522 Main Street--corner of 6th & Main in Laurel, MD. Free parking! Hot coffee! Diverse and friendly folks!