Our reading this morning is from the book of Genesis, starting in chapter 11 and verse 27.
Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor and Haran, and Haran fathered Lot.
Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his kindred in Ur of the Chaldeans.
And Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife,
Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah. Now Sarai was barren. She had no child.
Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son
Abram's wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan.
But when they came to Haran, they settled there. The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in
Haran. Now the Lord said to Abram, Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house
to the land that I will show you, and I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make
your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors
you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. So Abram went, as the Lord
had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran.
And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered,
and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan.
When they came to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem,
to the oak of Morah. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram
and said, To your offspring I will give this land. So he built there an altar to the Lord who had
appeared to him. Hear the word of the Lord.
Good morning everyone. Now I need to confess to some poor planning on my part. When I sort of broke up
the book of Genesis for our next preaching series, I didn't realise that the first sermon from Genesis
16 would be given on Mother's Day. And I think if I had, I would have just pushed it back a week,
because I don't think, I can think of very few passages in the Bible less appropriate to preach
on Mother's Day than Genesis chapter 16. So that's entirely my fault. I'm sorry about that, but here we
are, and we're going to press on. Let me pray, and then we'll get into the Word of God together.
Heavenly Father, we thank you that we can gather here, and that we can sing your praises,
and hear your Word. Lord, we pray that this part of Scripture, even today,
might, you might make it precious to us, and teach it, and instruct us by it,
for the strengthening of our faith. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Well, before we get into chapter 16 itself, I want to kind of reorient us in the book of Genesis
more broadly. But first, by way of introduction, the word Christian occurs three times in the New
Testament, three times. And it began, the use of the word Christian, as a designation other people
would give to Christians. Christians weren't calling themselves Christians. Other people were
calling them Christians. In the first century, what Christians called themselves, well, they used other
words. The most common four ways Christians referred to themselves in the New Testament are firstly as
brothers and sisters, around 270 times. Secondly, as disciples, around 250 times. Then as believers,
around 80 times. And fourthly, as saints, around 70 times. Now, disciples is a bit of a special case,
because that really is just concentrated in the four Gospels. It's kind of the words that the Gospel
writers and Jesus used. So, outside the Gospels, Christian most commonly referred to themselves,
not as disciples, but as brothers and sisters, i.e. referring to our relationship with one another,
and as believers, a way of designating our relationship with God.
Who are we? We are believers. A Christian is someone who has faith. A Christian is someone who believes.
And so, the creeds in the early church, as they developed, creeds that would be declared by people
who were presenting for baptism, or by the whole church when gathered together, quickly took the form
of statements of faith. I believe in God the Father Almighty, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
and in the Holy Spirit. Now, in the Bible, the supreme model of faith is the Old Testament figure of Abraham.
Galatians 3 verse 9 says,
Those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
New Testament writers frequently refer to Abraham when they want to discuss
the need for faith, or the nature of faith.
And it's this foundational figure of Abraham, whom we're going to follow,
over the next few weeks, in this central part of the book of Genesis, from chapters 16 to 25.
Now, we have spoken on Genesis before at church, but we left off this series in chapter 24,
in 2024 at chapter 15.
So, if you've joined Grace since then, well, you missed out on those talks,
but even if you were around in 2024, you've probably forgotten them.
So, let me briefly summarise what's come in Genesis so far.
I mean, it's pretty familiar to most of us, so we'll keep it brief.
Genesis is the book of creation.
It tells us how God created the heavens and earth by his word,
making all things good,
with humans in a special place,
as his image bearers.
Genesis is the book of the fall.
It tells of the sin and rebellion of humanity
that plunged the world into disorder and misery
and brought God's curse upon the world.
And Genesis is the book of God's promises.
It tells of the promises God gives to reverse the curse
and undo the effects of the fall.
But the promises of God are placed within a narrative,
within a story.
Now, if we just had a list of God's promises,
you know, if the Bible were just a list of all the things God promised us,
well, that itself would be wonderful,
because God's promises are wonderful.
But God has given us more than that.
And we see God's promises play out in a story,
a true story,
an historical story, narrative.
And so we see real people receive God's promises,
wrestle with God's promises,
trust God's promises,
and doubt God's promises,
all in the midst of their messy experiences of life.
Now, I love biblical narrative,
as we're coming to in Genesis,
but we do need to come to biblical narrative
with the right expectations.
Biblical narrative,
you know,
tells stories,
it engages in storytelling with an economy of words.
Now, in this modern era,
we're used to really lengthy, drawn-out stories.
You know, Harry Potter,
The Wheel of Time,
if anyone's ploughed through that, I haven't.
How many seasons of The Gilmore Girls were they?
And they're all the same.
I mean, that...
And you think about it,
like, if you're in the entertainment industry,
you know, if you're producing TV series for Netflix,
or something,
it's actually a win for you
if you can come up with something
that goes on for 10 seasons.
Because you make more money
if you can hook people on a long story
that just drags on and on and on.
But biblical narratives are concise.
Their literary power comes from conveying much,
much meaning with few words.
There's a simple elegance here
that gives room for our imagination to soar.
So what I want us to do
is step through Genesis chapter 16,
verse by verse,
and it would be really helpful
if you can have your Bibles open,
because I want you to see the power of this story.
In Genesis 16,
we're picking up the story of Abram
and his wife, Sarai,
which began in chapter 11.
Now in time,
soon God will change their names
to Abraham and Sarah,
the names by which we better remember them.
But for now,
they're still Abram and Sarai.
In chapter 12,
God called Abram to leave his homeland,
his father's household,
journey to the land of Canaan,
and God gave Abram promises.
There were several promises,
but they revolved around two main ideas.
The first idea in the promises God gave Abram
is the idea of nationhood,
that God would make Abram into a great nation,
give many descendants
who would inherit the land of Canaan
as their possession.
The second main idea
in the promises God gave Abram
is the idea of universal blessing.
In you,
all the families of the earth
shall be blessed,
God promised.
Through Abram's family,
the curse of sin would be reversed
and God's blessing would be restored.
But time had passed
and there was a problem.
Chapter 16, verse 1.
Now Sarai, Abram's wife,
had borne him no children.
How could Abram become a great nation
and how could he be a source
of universal blessing
for all the families of the earth
when he himself had not a single offspring?
For God's promises to have any hope of fulfilment,
Abram needed a son.
But Sarai, Abram's wife,
had borne him no children.
Indeed, that obstacle has been evident
from the very beginning,
before God even first called Abram,
from the reading that Sean read out,
Genesis chapter 11, verse 30,
now Sarai was barren,
she had no child.
So the obstacle of Abram's
and Sarai's childlessness
has been ever-present
throughout their journeying.
But as the weeks and months
and years ticked by,
it weighed more and more heavily upon them.
And so when sometime after arriving in Canaan,
the Lord spoke again to Abram
in chapter 15,
Abram cut to the chase right away.
Just look back at chapter 15.
After these things,
the word of the Lord
came to Abram in a vision.
Fear not, Abram,
I am your shield,
your reward shall be very great.
But Abram said,
O Lord God,
what will you give me?
For I continue childless
and the heir of my house
is Eliezer of Damascus.
And Abram said,
Behold, you've given me no offspring
and a member of my household
will be my heir.
Now on that occasion,
God renewed his promise.
As he promised,
verse 4,
the word of the Lord came to him.
Chapter 15, verse 4,
This man shall not be your heir.
Your very own son shall be your heir.
And he brought him outside and said,
Look toward heaven
and the number of stars,
if you're able to number them.
Then he said to him,
So shall your offspring be.
And at that time,
Genesis 15, verse 6,
Abram believed the Lord
and he counted it to him
as righteousness.
But still,
the years passed.
Still,
the promise was unfulfilled.
Still,
chapter 16,
Sarai,
Abram's wife,
had borne him no children.
The words of the promise receded into the past,
into memory.
Perhaps it was time to speed things up a bit.
Perhaps it was time to help God keep his promise.
So,
Sarai came up with a plan.
Chapter 16, verse 1,
She had a female Egyptian servant,
whose name was Hagar.
And Sarai said to Abram,
Behold now,
the Lord has prevented me from bearing children.
Go into my servant,
it may be that I shall obtain children by her.
Now,
there are several things we might notice about Sarai's plan.
Let's start with the personal.
It's no surprise
that Sarai deeply feels
the grief of her childlessness.
Not just grief,
but probably some shame too,
given the cultural expectations of her day.
She feels this.
It is painful for her.
A deep grief.
Notice in Sarai's words,
she doesn't mention God's promise.
She doesn't mention God's blessing.
Rather,
she bitterly dwells on what God had withheld.
The Lord has prevented me from bearing children.
I don't think we should judge Sarai too harshly here.
Someone,
whether they're married or unmarried,
who longs for children
and whose longing for children is unfulfilled,
someone in that position like Sarai
will feel the passing of years
in an acutely painful way.
And the Scriptures,
as a whole,
are tender
toward those who experience
the grief of childlessness.
that said,
it's worth noting that everything that follows in chapter 16
begins with Sarai's sense
that God is a miser.
It begins with Sarai's sense
that God has withheld something good from her,
something which she strongly,
and indeed rightly,
desires.
And with this sense
that God has held back
this good thing from her,
Sarai takes matters into her own hands.
I wonder how many of our own
sinful behaviours,
actions,
habits
begin in the same way.
God hasn't given me this,
so I need to get it for myself.
But what about Sarai's plan itself,
this plan she comes up with?
Well, there were no fertility clinics
in the year 2000 BC
or thereabouts,
so Sarai proposes
a rather extreme form of surrogacy.
Abram would take Sarai's maid servant
as a concubine
or as a second and junior wife
and Hagar's children
would be counted as Sarai's children.
That's Sarai's plan.
Now, this strikes us as extreme.
It's worth realising, though,
this kind of surrogacy
was practised at times
in the ancient world,
at least among the nations.
For ancient people
of this time
and in this part of the world,
what Sarai proposes here
was an option.
It was an option.
However, it's an option
that the Bible never endorses,
never endorses using a slave girl
as a surrogate mother,
and it certainly was using her.
And there are a couple of clues
in the text
that Sarai's plan
is not such a good one.
The first red flag
is just that little detail
that Hagar is an Egyptian servant,
an Egyptian servant girl.
It might just trigger a memory
for readers of Genesis
to back in chapter 12,
where there was another episode
where an Egyptian came between
Abram and Sarai in their marriage.
On that occasion,
it was an Egyptian man,
Pharaoh,
and God opposed Pharaoh
by striking Pharaoh's household
with plagues
so that he couldn't insert himself
between Abram and Sarai
in their marriage.
Well, now we find another Egyptian,
a servant girl,
about to be placed in between them.
There's a second warning sign, perhaps,
and that is when Sarai says,
it may be that I shall obtain children by her,
the expression obtain children
is literally the verb to be built.
It may be that I will be built through her.
And it's the same verb
that's used in Genesis chapter 2, verse 22,
when the Lord God literally built a woman
from the rib taken from Adam.
If Sarai is to be built
in terms of bearing children,
well, it is the Lord who will build her,
not Sarai's scheme.
In any case, this is Sarai's plan,
and you might notice that Abram doesn't argue,
he doesn't put up a fight at all.
Verse 2,
and Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.
Just as another husband
had been at a critical earlier moment in Genesis,
Abram is passive
and silent
and entirely complicit.
Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.
So after Abram had lived 10 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.
10 years.
I mean, we can understand
why Sarai was tired of waiting.
But notice in verse 3
that the words Abram's wife
and her husband
tell us no new information.
I mean, you could have,
you could cross those words out of verse 3,
it wouldn't change the sense of it at all,
except that,
what are those words doing?
They're just there to draw attention
to what is relevant,
the information that's relevant.
Sarai, Abram's wife,
gave Hagar to Abram,
her husband.
Can you feel
the text's horror
at what is taking place here?
Likewise,
the Egyptian,
her servant,
adds no new information.
It just tells us
the things we need
to know about Hagar.
The two things
we need to know about her,
that she's an Egyptian,
an outsider,
and that she was a slave girl,
she was powerless.
This is something done to her,
not by her.
But do you notice
something else about verse 3?
Let me just read part of it together
and see if you can pick up
an echo here.
Abram's wife
took Hagar
and gave her
to her husband.
Does that remind you
of anything?
You know,
just as with the expression,
Abram,
listen to the voice
of Sarai,
we have another echo
of Genesis chapter 3.
Genesis chapter 3,
the woman
took some of the fruit
and gave it
to her husband.
Do you hear it?
Abram's wife
took
Hagar
and gave her
to her husband.
With just a few words,
Genesis 16
has been framed
as a parallel
to the fall
in Genesis 3.
And once we realise
that,
the similarities
are striking.
There's the same
suspicion
on the part
of the woman
that God
has withheld
something good.
There's the same
passive capitulation
on the part
of the man.
There's the same
taking of matters
into their own hands.
The only thing
missing
is the serpent.
The faith
of Genesis 15
is immediately
followed
by the faithlessness
of Genesis 16.
And Genesis 16
is to Genesis 15
what Genesis 3
is to Genesis 2.
We know
how badly
things turned out
in Genesis 3.
Well,
what's the outcome
here?
Verse 4,
and he,
Abram,
went into Hagar
and she conceived.
Immediately,
Hagar
becomes pregnant.
It seems
almost effortless
after all
the waiting
Abram and Sarai
had had
to that point.
This would,
you think,
be what Sarai
had hoped for.
She wanted
Hagar
to bear children
so that those
children could
be Sarai's.
And Sarai's
grief and shame
would come
to an end
as Hagar
bore children
for her.
But when we
rely on ourselves
and our plans,
we never
make things
better
and quickly
things turn
sour in
Abram's
household.
Verse 4 again,
and when she,
that's Hagar,
saw that she
had conceived,
she looked
with contempt
on her
mistress.
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.
And 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.
Notice
the progression
in verses
4 to 6,
from Hagar
to Sarai
to Abram,
then back
to Sarai,
then back
to Hagar.
First Hagar
looked with
contempt
on her
mistress.
The servant
girl
understandably
starts to
imagine that
her rank
in the
household
has increased.
Her status
has risen
because she's
the one
who's been
able to
fall pregnant
to Abram
and bear
a conceiver
child for
him.
Rather
than relieve
Sarai's
torment,
Hagar's
pregnancy
has only
increased
it.
Sarai
then,
feeling
tormented
by Hagar,
blames
everything
on her
husband.
You know,
this is
your fault,
the Lord
judged
between
you and
me.
And Abram
is once
again
completely
passive,
he refuses
to accept
any
responsibility,
he just
tries to
appease
his wife
and he
says,
well,
you go
and do
whatever
you want.
so
Sarai
treats
Hagar
so
harshly
that she
runs
away.
I mean,
Genesis
16
verses 1
to 6
is an
absolute
train wreck.
Abram and
Sarai blow
it big
time.
Everything
they say
and
everything
they do
is
deplorable.
Doubting
and
forgetting
God's
promises
or
tiring
of
waiting
on
them,
they
take
matters
into
their
own
hands.
They
try
to do
for
themselves
by
very
dubious
means
what
God
had
already
promised.
Galatians
chapter 5
verse 6
says that
faith
works
through
love.
In
Genesis
chapter 16
when faith
fails,
love
goes
with
it.
Not
once
do
Abram
or
Sarai
pause
to
consider
Hagar
her
needs,
her
well-being,
her
dignity.
She
is
used,
abused
and
abandoned.
After
the
magnificent
sweeping
promises
of
Genesis
12
and
15,
Abram
and
Sarai
quickly
proved
themselves
to be
utterly
unworthy
of the
promises
they
had
received.
And as
we read
this chapter
it is
plain as
day to
us
that the
greater
obstacle
to the
promises
of God
would not
be their
childlessness
but their
faithlessness.
And the
questions these
verses raise
for us
are
can the
plans of
men
derail
the plan
of God?
does
our
faithlessness
nullify
God's
faithfulness?
When
we
wobble
in
faith
as
Abram
and
Sarai
wobbled
does
God
wobble
in
his
commitment?
In
one sense
Genesis
16
leaves
those
questions
hanging
unanswered.
In
another
sense
though
they'd
already
been
answered.
In
Genesis
chapter
15
when
God
renewed
his
promise
to
Abram
when
God
Genesis
15
verse
18
made
a
covenant
with
Abram
the
Lord
bound
no
one
but
himself
he
gave
an
unconditional
promise
that would
not be
revoked
that could
not be
undermined
not even
by the
faltering
faith
of those
who
received
the
promise
what
God
had
promised
he
would
do
and
friends
brothers
sisters
I don't
know about
you but
I actually
find the
betrayal of
Abram
and Sarai
in this
chapter
something
of a
comfort
to me
I mean
here is
the
Bible's
great
hero
of
faith
the
one
the
New
Testament
will
hold
up
as
the
example
of
faith
committing
this
complete
blunder
this
catastrophic
failure
God
and
what
we're
going
to
see
in
Genesis
in
the
weeks
to
come
is
we
are
going
to
see
Abram
Abraham
as he
will
be
grow
in
faith
he
often
gets
things
wrong
but
gradually
over the
course
of his
life
he
learns
that
God
is
trustworthy
and
he
learns
what
it
means
to
trust
a
trustworthy
God
all
of
us
every
single
one
of
us
who
believes
in
Jesus
we're
like
the
man
in
the
gospels
who
exclaims
to
Jesus
I
do
believe
help
my
unbelief
like
Abram
and
Sarai
we
who
believe
are
believers
who
still
have
a
lot
of
growing
in
faith
to
do
but
when
we
wobble
in
our
faith
in
God
he
never
wobbles
in
his
commitment
to
us
what
secures
our
future
is
not
the
strength
of
our
imperfect
faith
but
the
unbreakable
might
of
his
unfailing
word
Jesus
said
all
that
the
father
gives
me
will
come
to
me
and
whoever
comes
to
me
I
will
never
cast
out
God
does
not
need
our
help
to
keep
his
promises
God
keeps
his
promises
so
take
heart
take
heart
brothers
and
sisters
take
heart
believers
in
the
unfailing
promise
of
God
but
what
of
Hagar
who'd
been
abandoned
by
Abraham
who'd
been
mistreated
by
Abraham
who'd
been
mistreated
by
Sarai
forced
to
flee
what
would
become
of
Hagar
well
let's
briefly
consider
in the
second
half
of
this
chapter
what
becomes
of
Hagar
verse 7
chapter 16
verse 7
the angel
of the
Lord
found her
by a
spring
of water
in the
wilderness
the spring
on the
way
to
Shur
now
Shur
is in
the
northern
end
of the
Sinai
peninsula
it
stands
between
Canaan
and
Egypt
so
Hagar
it seems
is
fleeing
back
to her
homeland
back
to
Egypt
if
Abram's
still
living
in
Hebron
which is
the last
place
that he'd
been
sort of
given
that we've
been told
he's living
in
Genesis
if he's
still
living
there
she may
already
have
covered
around
about
110
kilometres
on her
journey
back
to
Egypt
she's
pregnant
she's
vulnerable
she's
alone
and she's
been
travelling
through
inhospitable
terrain
but she's
not
forgotten
not
by
God
the
angel
of the
Lord
found
her
by a
spring
of
water
in the
wilderness
in
verse
8
and he
said
Hagar
servant
of
Sarai
where
have
you
come
from
and
where
are
you
going
she
said
I'm
fleeing
from
my
mistress
Sarai
now
the
angel
of
the
Lord
presumably
knows
exactly
where
she's
come
from
and
exactly
where
she's
going
he
addresses
her
for
starters
as
Hagar
servant
of
Sarai
he
knows
who
she
is
he
came
looking
for
her
he
found
her
the
Lord
found
her
so
he
knows
the
answer
to
the
question
before
he
asks
it
but
by
asking
!
the
angel
of
the
angel
of
Sarai
to
share
her
own
mind
Hagar's
voice
is
heard
for
the
first
time
in
the
chapter
a
dignity
that
Abram
and
Sarai
never
afforded
her
but
the
angel's
next
response
might
surprise
us
verse
9
the
angel
of
the
Lord
said
to
her
return
to
your
mistress
and
submit
to
her
the
angel
sends
Hagar
back
to
Sarai
in
fact
the
language
here
is
even
more
striking
in
Hebrew
than
in
English
I
won't
go
into
the
details
but
verse
9
directly
echoes
a
couple
of
phrases
in
verse
6
where
Abram
says
to
Sarai
your
servant
is
in
your
power
and
where
the
narrator
tells
us
Sarai
dealt
harshly
with
her
well
the
language
here
is
echoing
those
phrases
!
He
makes
it
clear
that
what
he's
asking
Hagar
to
do
going
back
to
Sarai
to
submit
to
her
would
not
be
easy
so
what's
going
on
here
if
you
were
to
adopt
the
most
critical
stance
you
might
say
God
is
sending
her
back
to
a
potentially
abusive
household
enabling
her
mistreatment
but
if
we
don't
adopt
that
stance
and
I
want
to
be
very
clear
this
is
absolutely
not
a
general
command
that
women
fleeing
abusive
homes
should
be
sent
back
to
them
that's
not
what's
going
on
here
this
is
a
specific
situation
it's
descriptive
not
prescriptive
but
it's
still
surprising
even
unsettling
so
what
do
we
make
of
it
well
I
think
this
little
section
this
section
here
from
verse
9
to
12
of
chapter
16
vaguely
parallels
Genesis
chapter
12
verses
1
to
3
so
you
remember
in
Genesis
chapter
12
verse
1
the
Lord
sent
Abram
he
commands
him
to
go
out
from
his
country
his
people
his
father's
household
to
the
land
of
Canaan
well
now
here
in
chapter
16
verse
9
the
Lord
sends
Hagar
turns
her
back
from
her
native
country
from
the
people
of
Egypt
back
to
Canaan
back
to
rejoin
Abram's
household
both
sendings
that in
chapter
12
that in
chapter
16
were
difficult
to
obey
both
sendings
called
for
faith
and
in
both
chapter
12
and
chapter
16
the
sending
is
followed
by
a
promise
here
in
chapter
16
return
to your
mistress
and submit
to her
verse 10
the angel
of the
Lord
also said
to her
I will
surely
multiply
your
offspring
so that
they cannot
be numbered
for multitude
and the angel
of the Lord
said to her
behold you
are pregnant
and shall
bear a
son
and you
shall
call his
name
Ishmael
because the
Lord has
listened
to your
affliction
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
before we
look at the
details of
the promise
notice in
passing
three times
verse 9
verse 10
verse 11
we read
the angel
of the Lord
said to her
again another
example of
repetition
that isn't
actually required
to make sense
of what's
taking place
here
but it's
it's repeated
three times
so that we
realize
that here
the Lord
who on
multiple
occasions
had spoken
to Abram
is speaking
to this
lowly
lonely
Egyptian
slave girl
but what
are the
promises
that the
Lord makes
to Hagar
here
some are
positive
some are
a bit
ambivalent
the positive
verse 10
offspring
that cannot
be numbered
for multitude
it sounds a bit
like the promise
given to Abram
in chapter 15
could it be
that God's
promises to
Abram
would be
fulfilled
through the
son of
Hagar
also positive
is verse 11
the name
that
Hagar
is to give
her son
Ishmael
means God
hears
and the
explanation
is because
the Lord
has listened
to your
affliction
the birth
of this
son
the promise
of
that he
would
become
a multitude
of
descendants
these
were
God's
kindness
and mercy
to Hagar
in the
midst of
her
hardship
he
listened
to her
affliction
this
son
would
turn out
you see
not to
be a
gift
for
Sarai
as
Sarai
had
planned
but rather
a gift
to her
slave
girl
Hagar
more
ambivalent
is the
promise
in verse 12
a wild
donkey
of a
man
hand
against
everyone
you remember
from chapter
12
that
Abram's
family
line
was to
be a
source
of
blessing
for all
the
families
of the
earth
Hagar's
son
Ishmael
would be
a much
more
divisive
figure
a focal
point
not of
blessing
but of
hostility
who would
dwell
over
against
all
his
brothers
universal
blessing
you see
would not
come
through
this
line
the
line
of
Ishmael
rather
like
the rest
of the
nations
the
descendants
of
Ishmael
the
hope
for
blessing
for
Ishmael's
line
would be
the
line
of
another
son
of
Abram
and
so I
think
the
significance
of
God
sending
Hagar
back
to
Abram
and
Sarai
is
not
just
the
physical
and
material
security
that
household
would
provide
for
her
that
I
mean
she
was
in
a
very
vulnerable
position
pregnant
runaway
slave
nothing
no
possessions
or
anything
to her
name
very
vulnerable
position
but
the
significance
of
her
returning
to
Abram
and
Sarai's
household
is
less
that
material
security
but
that
God
is
sending
Hagar
back
to
the
place
of
blessing
back
to
the
family
through
whom
God
had
promised
to
bring
blessing
to
all
the
families
of
the
earth
she
had
been
driven
out
by
Abram
and
Sarai's
cruelty
she
was
invited
back
by
the
Lord's
kindness
and
Hagar
responds
in
verse
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
therefore
the
well
was
called
Beelahairoi
that
means
the
well
of
the
living
one
who
sees
me
it
lies
between
Kadesh
and
Bered
Hagar
powerless
mistreated
afflicted
this
nobody
in the
story
of
Abram
and
Sarai
was
seen
and
heard
by
God
I'm
going to
return to
that in
a moment
but first
let's
just
briefly
consider
the
outcome
in
verses
15
and
16
Hagar
does
clearly
return
to
Abram
because
we read
in
verse
16
and
Hagar
bore
Abram
a son
and
Abram
called
the name
of his
son
whom
Hagar
bore
Abram
was 86
years
old
when
Hagar
bore
Ishmael
to
Abram
notice
the number
of times
we hear
the names
Abram
and
Hagar
in
these
two
verses
the
one
name
we
don't
hear
is
the
name
Sarai
there's
no mention
of her
Sarai's
plan
had
failed
this
son
is
Abram's
and
Hagar's
not
Sarai's
Sarai
no doubt
continued
to feel
the grief
of that
but as
things would
turn out
that was
not because
the Lord
was being
unkind
to
Sarai
or
miserly
toward
her
it was
just
that God
had in
fact
planned
better
things
for
Sarai
although
Sarai
herself
didn't
realise
that yet
but that's
to get
ahead of
ourselves
I want
to close
with a
contrast
we see
in chapter
16
between
those
two
women
Sarai
and
Hagar
Sarai
focused
on what
God
had not
given
her
taking
matters
into
her
own
hands
and her
plans
failing
Hagar
!
Hagar
enabled
by
God's
promise
to her
to go
back
into a
difficult
situation
in
obedience
to
his
command
it
was
enough
for
Hagar
to
say
God
has
seen
me
God
has
seen
me
you
know
I
think
I
believe
verse
13
may
actually
be
the
only
place
in
the
entire
Bible
where
someone
other
than
God
gives
a
name
to
God
where
God
is
named
by
someone
other
than
God
himself
there
are
many
times
of
course
when
God
gives
new
names
to
people
he'll
do
that
for
Abraham
and
Sarai
shortly
there
are
places
where
God
declares
his
own
name
so
that
we
can
call
him
by
the
names
he
gives
us
but
here
alone
do
we
have
a
human
given
the
honour
of
assigning
a
name
to
God
verse
13
so
she
called
the
name
of
the
Lord
who
spoke
to
her
you
are
a
God
of
seeing
for
she
said
truly
here
have
I
seen
him
who
sees
me
it is
this
desperate
Egyptian
slave
girl
who
wondrously
came to
know
that
God
saw
her
even
in
her
loneliness
and
desolation
and
affliction
what a
comfort it
is
that the
Lord God
is the
God
who
sees
the
God
who
sees
will you
pray
with
me
heavenly
father
you
have
given
us
many
great
and
precious
promises
in
your
word
and
through
the
Lord
Jesus
Christ
we
thank you
Lord
God
that
you
are
faithful
and
you
will
keep
every
promise
you
have
given
us
we
know
that
our
faith
is
imperfect
so
thank
you
that
when
we
wobble
in
our
faith
you
never
wobble
in
your
commitment
to
us
please
as
you
taught
Abram
and
Sarai
to
trust
you
we
pray
that
you
would
teach
us
grow
us
in
faith
show
us
that
we
can
believe
you
in
everything
you
have
said
that
we
might
cling
to
you
we
thank
you
Lord
God
that
you
are
the
God
who
sees
you
see
our
affliction
you
do
not
leave
us
alone
in
our
affliction
but
you
are
with
us
you
comfort
us
and
you
give
us
your
promises
as
a
hope
to
which
we
may
cling
we
thank
you
for
the
way
that
in
your
son
you
entered
into
this
world
and
into
our
affliction
and
our
suffering
so
that
the
curse
of
sin
might
be
removed
and
we
might
receive
your
promised
blessing
and
so
we
pray
that
we
might
dwell
and
delight
in
your
comfort
and
the
certainty
of
your
word
to
us
in
Jesus
name
we
pray
!
to